Odds to Win the NBA Western Conference: Clippers and Lakers Ready to Take the Leap
The NBA’s Western Conference has seen??a enormous shakeup on top and for the very first time in four times, the Golden State Warriors are not the favorite to represent the West in the NBA Finals. That distinction??belongs to the Los Angeles Clippers, that left the biggest splash in the offseason from nabbing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Online sportsbook??BetOnline has got the Clippers as +225 faves to win against the Western Conference and progress to their first NBA Finals in company history. Are ” the Los Angeles Lakers, their Staples Center roommates . Next about the oddsboard are the Houston Rockets (+400), Golden State Warriors (+800) and Utah Jazz (+900) to round out the top five.
After being fairly insignificant for the past couple of seasons, then the Clippers and Lakers stole back the spotlight and have four of the top 10 NBA players to their rosters. These two franchises completely discredited the NBA landscape with their offseason moves and will probably be in the thick of this come playoff time.
The Clippers are stacked because they were a 48-win team without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and didn’t have to sacrifice any roster depth to bring both of these studs. And while I can commend Kawhi and George as the reasons for why they are the faves, the simple fact they can still roll out Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell against opposing instant components makes them very dangerous.
In terms of the Lakers, they can’t be disregarded as sliced liver. They will have an extremely inspired LeBron James, who also missed the postseason for the first time since his second time in the NBA, and have arguably the best center in the league at Anthony Davis. However, if I had to make a choice between both teams, I’d still have to decide on the Clippers because I am dubious of the Lakers’ supporting cast.
The Lakers had to scavenge through the scrap pile of staying free agents after holding out hope for Kawhi to sign with them ended up??knocking somewhat mediocre players. Do not get me wrong, I think Danny Green, DeMarcus Cousins and Jared Dudley are good players. But when you pile up this roster vs??the Clippers or a number of??the other contenders in the West, I feel as though they’re one injury away to getting this house of cards fall on itself.
The reigning Western Conference champions for five straight seasons, this will be actually the best cost (+800) that bettors have observed for the Golden State Warriors to win the West in a long time. And personally, I believe that they can still easily win their summit because they have Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
Steph is probably going to have a enormous season offensively (second-best chances to Acquire NBA MVP) and Draymond remains a monster defensively, so I believe talk??of the Warriors’ death is a bit premature.
The X variables for just how far they could go come down to when Klay Thompson can return from his ACL tear and how nicely D’Angelo Russell meshes together with their crime. Thompson is not expected back until February or March and in case you are the Warriors, there’s no purpose to hurry him back since you want him to get the postseason.
As for Russell, I am actually much higher with this acquisition compared to most and he’ll be a superb scorer/playmaker to incorporate into Steve Kerr’s crime. Russell averaged 21 points per game last year without nearly the quantity of high-end gift in Oakland and I think he can initiate the offense??to take off some pressure Curry and allow him come off screens and unleash the three-pointer.
I believe the Warriors at +800 are a steal and those odds will fall considerably when the season gets underway.
The two teams that have great price and??rosters that may compete are the Denver Nuggets (+1000) and Utah Jazz (+900). Both groups made the playoffs last season and made some roster tweaks which can only help their chances to make the NBA Finals.
The Nuggets flamed out of the next round following a challenging seven-game series together using the Blazers but the??natural growth within the organization is tough to fade, particularly with the evolution of center Nikola Jokic into a top-10 NBA player.
Jokic led all centers in assists per game and the Nuggets have depth at every position to make a deep postseason run. My favourite movement was their purchase of??Jerami??Grant in the Thunder to perform up alongside Jokic.
A lot of times last season the Nuggets were a casualty of a Paul Millsap defensive miscue and??it cost them against the Blazers. I guess Denver’s within an up trend and it would not shock me to see the Nuggets at the top of the Western Conference standings once the season concludes.
Compared to the Nuggets, the Jazz made the splashier moves in the offseason by trading for Mike Conley in the Grizzlies and registering for Bojan Bogdanovic in the Pacers. Conley will be the Jazz’s best point guard since they traded Deron Williams at 2011. Guard play has been a source of frustration of Utah if they played the big boys in the playoffs since that commerce.
Conley’s shooting and defense doubles down on just what exactly the Jazz do best as they were already one of the top defensive teams in the NBA and they will be a pest to play . I’m not as high on these when compared with the Warriors or Nuggets but I do think they have a wonderful shot to make it to the Western Conference final.
Odds as of August 14 at BetOnline
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