Lakers guard Kobe Bryant faces 66/1 odds to win the 2016 NBA Championship, according to one gambling website (AP Photo/Don Ryan)
The champagne poured out like a flowing stream. The confetti dropped from the air like a heavy downpour. The elation swept over both the team and its passionate fanbase.
The Golden State Warriors celebrated their first NBA championship since 1975 after eliminating the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday in Game 6 of the 2015 NBA Finals. That left the Lakers presumably missing that winning feeling they captured in 16 times in the franchise’s 67-year-history, the most recent happening five years ago. It did not help the Lakers finished last season with their worst record in franchise history.
So, it seems hardly surprising that gambling website, Bovada, pinned the Lakers with 66/1 odds to win the 2016 NBA title. The favorites still rested on Cleveland (3/1), Golden State (5/1), Oklahoma City (7/1), Chicago (10/1), the Clippers (10/1) and San Antonio (10/1).
The Lakers are expected to fare much better than last year.
They have the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, a significant consolation prize for a lost season that might be used on Duke’s Jahlil Okafor, Spain’s Kristaps Porzingis, Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell or China’s Emmaneul Mudiay. The Lakers expect full recoveries for Kobe Bryant (right shoulder) and Julius Randle (right leg). They have other promising young players, such as Jordan Clarkson, Tarik Black and the 27th and 34th picks. The Lakers have enough cap space to sign one free agent to a max contract, such as Memphis’ Marc Gasol, Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge, Cleveland’s Kevin Love, Miami’s Goran Dragic, the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan or Dallas’ Rajon Rondo.
Yet, all of that also contributes to the uncertainty to the Lakers’ immediate future. Things seem even more difficult when you consider the teams the Lakers will match up against in the Western Conference. That includes Golden State, who celebrated its first championship in the last 40 years after usually seeing the Lakers do so for so many years.
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