So much of the interest surrounding Kawhi Leonard’s free agency decision stemmed from the fact that he had the unique ability to make whichever team he joined the favorites to win an NBA title. Following his decision to join the Los Angeles Clippers, which came with an added wrinkle that no one expected, that ended up being exactly the case.
According to Jeff Sherman, the lead bookmaker at Westgate, the Clippers are now the favorites to win the 2019-20 NBA title after they got Leonard to sign to a four-year max contract and pulled off a gigantic trade to acquire Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder. The team sits at 3/1 to win it all, jumping up from 16/1 odds earlier in the week.
2019-20 NBA Championship updated
LAC 3/1
Mil 4/1
LAL 6/1
Phi 7/1
GS, Hou 10/1
Uta 12/1
Den 14/1
Bos 20/1
Por 25/1
Bkn 30/1
Ind, Dal 40/1
SAS 50/1
Tor, Mia, Sac 80/1
OKC, NO, Orl 100/1
NYK, Atl, Chi, Det, Phx 200/1
Min, Mem 300/1
Wsh 500/1
Cha, Cle 1000/1— Jeff Sherman (@golfodds) July 6, 2019
Those older odds came when rumors indicated Leonard might have been headed to the Lakers, which put the purple and gold at even odds to win a ring. But the pipe dream of pairing him with LeBron James and Anthony Davis did not come to fruition, leading to them dropping to 6/1 odds. Milwaukee, meanwhile, still has the best odds to win the Eastern Conference and the second-best odds to win it all.
Leonard and George form a formidable pairing out in L.A., and while the league is as open as it has been in some time with the number of players who have changed teams this summer, it makes sense that the Clippers’ dynamic duo makes them the favorites to win it all three months out from the start of the season.
