Media

Report: Lakers already favored to win 2021 NBA championship

Published by

Ryan Ward

October 6, 2020 1:42 am

The 2019-20 NBA season isn’t even over yet, and early odds for next season’s championship have already surfaced. The Los Angeles Lakers are two wins away from winning it all this season, and the odds already favor them for next season.

Once the NBA Finals matchup between the Lakers and Miami Heat concludes, the offseason will get underway with a lot of uncertainty about how things will transpire. The league and its players still have to go through the free-agency process and the NBA Draft.

Obviously, both free agency and the draft can change the direction of a franchise. For example, if Anthony Davis were to do the unexpected and leave the Lakers as a free agent, that would drastically change the outlook for the storied franchise.

A few other things will come into play as well, like blockbuster trades. If the Milwaukee Bucks decide they can’t re-sign Giannis Antetokounmpo and trade him, that will shift the odds dramatically for Milwaukee and the team that trades for him.

Needless to say, these championship odds will certainly change over the next few months once players start moving, whether in free agency, trades or through the draft. These odds will also shift with coaches around the league getting hired and fired.

Ryan Ward

Ryan is a veteran sportswriter who has covered the NBA and NFL for nearly a decade. Along with numerous exclusive interviews with professional athletes, Ryan has been credentialed by the Los Angeles Lakers since 2011. Follow him on Twitter @RyanWardLA.