Suddenly, out of nowhere, the LA Clippers have become something they’ve never been before.
New Jersey bookmakers have unanimously established them as the outright favorites to win the NBA Championship in 2020.
At the weekend their odds on an outright win went from around +10000 (10/1) to +300 (3/1). NJ sportsbook market leader FanDuel went as low as +290 as the previous favorites, LA Lakers, were abandoned.
Others like the Resorts Casino Sportsbook and PointsBet respectively were offering odds on the Clippers of +300 and +320.
The Lakers have demoted to second place at +490 by FanDuel but at +400 by Resorts and PointsBet, Then comes Milwaukee Bucks (+600), Philadelphia 76ers (+700) and at +1200 the Golden State Warriors, the losing NBA finalists this year.
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Raptors odds plunge from 10/1 to 50/1
And what of the Toronto Raptors, the team that recently shocked the Warriors to clinch their first-ever NBA crown? As dramatically as the Clippers odds came down, the Raptor’s soared – from around +1000 (10/1) to +50000 (50/1). Yes, that’s right; by that much.
And all for the selfsame reason that the Clippers were promoted, and the Lakers demoted – Kawhi Leonard.
The spearhead of the Raptor’s stunning capture of this year’s NBA crown, parted ways with the Toronto team last week. More perplexing for the sports bookies and punters, he didn’t go where he was expected to.
Instead of joining Anthony Davis and LeBron James at the Lakers, he linked up with Paul George at the rival Clippers.
That really put the cat among the pigeons. So, up to the top of the betting leader board went the Clippers and down came the Lakers.
The news that Leonard had signed with the Clippers could also have repercussions among the punters.
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Betting on Lakers has been heavy
Betting on the Lakers was reported to be heavy last week with very little interest in the Clippers.
Major international bookmaker William Hill which has sportsbooks both in New Jersey and Nevada is reported to have taken $9,500 and $10,000 wagers at 5-1 in late June.
It also claimed that up to last week, 47% of the money wagered on the NBA championship was on the Lakers.
Caesars, another New Jersey/Nevada sportsbook operator had a similar story. Nearly five times as much money, they said, had been bet on the Lakers as on any other team.
It will interest, however, to see what transpires now that the end-point of Kawhi Leonard’s destination is a known fact.
