Kawhi Leonard will make his free agency decision at some point, but no one is really sure when that is. There have been zero reports about where Kawhi will sign from reputable reporters, only very random whispers in the wind from redditors, random Twitter users, and people we’ve learned to just ignore.
Almost all of those point to the Lakers as his destination, which isn’t surprising given that most all of these “reports” come from Lakers fans, but whenever Leonard does announce his choice, no one will be shocked if he does indeed join forces with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. It’d be a homecoming and a chance to win a championship, all wrapped into one. He’s proved he can carry a team on his back and do it as the lone superstar, so even those that rail against the superteam era would give him a pass.
Leonard, after last season, is effectively teflon — James and Davis, however, most certainly aren’t. Speaking much more strongly than random Lakers fans suddenly turned insiders is what is happening about three and a half hours east of Los Angeles, where the Lakers championship odds have made an aggressive move in the past 10 hours.
It started with a $10,000 wager on the Lakers at 7-4 to win the 2019-20 title at the Westgate SuperBook, pushing them to 5-4 in the process.
in comes 10k on Lakers at 7/4 to win NBA Championship
— Jeff Sherman (@golfodds) July 2, 2019
Overnight, action was aggressive enough to push the Lakers all the way to Even odds, which is a pretty significant move and would indicate that there is big money expecting Kawhi to end up in L.A. — and not in Toronto or with the Clippers, who have fallen to 14-1 and 16-1 respectively.
2019-20 NBA Championship updated
LAL Even
Mil 6/1
Phi 10/1
GS, Tor, Hou 14/1
LAC 16/1
Utah, Den 20/1
Bos 25/1
Bkn, Por 30/1
OKC 40/1
Dal, SA, Ind, NO 60/1
Mia, Sac, Orl 100/1
NYK, Atl, Chi, Min, Phx 200/1
Det, Mem, Wsh 300/1
Char, Cle 1000/1— Jeff Sherman (@golfodds) July 2, 2019
Vegas odds don’t tell it all, but they can indicate that smart people have learned something of value. The lack of leaks from Kawhi’s camp still don’t make this an assured thing, because this could just be people talking with those in the Lakers organization that feel confident after a good meeting — or just very confident Lakers fans wanting to slap some money down early.
Still, this is definitely something, as the Lakers are expected to jump to -200 to win the title should they get Leonard, and clearly some folks felt the need to get big money down now before that happens.
