{"id":82385,"date":"2018-07-02T06:40:47","date_gmt":"2018-07-02T13:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=82385"},"modified":"2018-07-02T06:40:47","modified_gmt":"2018-07-02T13:40:47","slug":"lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/","title":{"rendered":"LeBron to Lakers Shortens Los Angeles NBA Title Odds, Cavs Now 500\/1"},"content":{"rendered":"

LeBron James is taking his talents to Los Angeles, and while that’s major news throughout the sports world, in Las Vegas it has sportsbooks scrambling to readjust their 2018-19 NBA Finals odds.<\/p>\n

\"LeBron
LeBron James is officially a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. (Image: ESPN)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sportsbooks had taken a possible LeBron signing<\/a> into account for multiple teams in their NBA futures, including the eventual winning Los Angeles Lakers. Prior to James’ Sunday announcement, the Westgate SuperBook had LA at 8\/1 to win the championship next June.<\/p>\n

Had James not committed to Los Angeles and stayed in Cleveland or signed elsewhere, the Lakers were going to be listed at 100\/1. But with him reaching a four-year, $153.3 million contract to play in purple and gold, those odds today stand at just 7\/2 (+350).<\/p>\n

\n

Despite James joining Los Angeles, the Golden State Warriors, winners of three of the last four NBA Finals, remain the heavy favorites at 10\/11. The Boston Celtics join the Lakers with the second-shortest odds (7\/2).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Houston Rockets (7\/1) and Philadelphia 76ers (14\/1) round out the top five.<\/p>\n

West is Best<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Western Conference was already thought to be supremely superior to the East. James’ addition only further tilts the power.<\/p>\n

But unless the Lakers make additional moves, with San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard the primary target, Los Angeles will struggle to get to the Finals, so say the experts.<\/p>\n

\n

Championship contenders? No. It’s not yet clear the Lakers will even be better than last season’s Cavaliers, who did play the Warriors close in two games but still got swept by an average of 15 points per game in the NBA Finals,” ESPN Insider <\/i>Kevin Pelton wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Leonard wants to join LeBron, but the Spurs will demand a premium for their franchise star. If the Lakers figure out a way to bring Kawhi to the team, odds would be expected to shorten to around 2\/1 to 3\/1 on the Lakers winning their first title since 2010.<\/p>\n

William Hill reports there’s a lot of money on the Lakers<\/a> in 2018-19. In fact, Nevada’s largest sports betting operator says more money has been wagered on Los Angeles than any other team.<\/p>\n

The Celtics are next, followed by the Cavs, the latter a bet that now seems very unlikely of paying.<\/p>\n

‘Believeland’ Back to Cleveland<\/b><\/h2>\n

With LeBron again leaving town, the odds on the Cavs reaching their fifth consecutive NBA Finals are slim.<\/p>\n

“Thank you Northeast Ohio for an incredible four seasons. This will always be home,” James said on social media.<\/p>\n

Those Ohioans are left with a Cavaliers team that the experts in Las Vegas give little to no chance of bringing the city another title next year. With James’ departure, Cleveland’s odds have ballooned from 12\/1 to 500\/1.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unlike James’ first time departing Cleveland, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert took a classier route in thanking the superstar for delivering the city its first major professional sports title in 52 years.<\/p>\n

“LeBron, you came home and delivered the ultimate goal. Nothing but appreciation and gratitude for everything you put into every moment you spent in a Cavaliers uniform,” Gilbert said in non-Comic Sans font.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LeBron James is taking his talents to Los Angeles, and while that’s major news throughout the sports world, in Las Vegas it has sportsbooks scrambling to readjust their 2018-19 NBA Finals odds. Sportsbooks had taken a possible LeBron signing into account for multiple teams in their NBA futures, including the eventual winning Los Angeles Lakers. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":82388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLeBron to Lakers Shortens Los Angeles NBA Title Odds, Cavs Now 500\/1<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"LeBron James is leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for Los Angeles, and the move has sportsbooks in Las Vegas greatly shortening the Lakers' NBA title odds.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LeBron to Lakers Shortens Los Angeles NBA Title Odds, Cavs Now 500\/1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LeBron James is leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for Los Angeles, and the move has sportsbooks in Las Vegas greatly shortening the Lakers' NBA title odds.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-02T13:40:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/lebron-james-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1890\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1063\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CasinoorgDevinO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/\",\"name\":\"LeBron to Lakers Shortens Los Angeles NBA Title Odds, Cavs Now 500\/1\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/lebron-james-4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-02T13:40:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-07-02T13:40:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\"},\"description\":\"LeBron James is leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for Los Angeles, and the move has sportsbooks in Las Vegas greatly shortening the Lakers' NBA title odds.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/lebron-james-4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/lebron-james-4.jpg\",\"width\":1890,\"height\":1063,\"caption\":\"LeBron James is officially a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. (Image: ESPN)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports Betting\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"LeBron to Lakers Shortens Los Angeles NBA Title Odds, Cavs Now 500\/1\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\",\"name\":\"Devin O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Devin O'Connor\"},\"description\":\"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"LeBron to Lakers Shortens Los Angeles NBA Title Odds, Cavs Now 500\/1","description":"LeBron James is leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for Los Angeles, and the move has sportsbooks in Las Vegas greatly shortening the Lakers' NBA title odds.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"LeBron to Lakers Shortens Los Angeles NBA Title Odds, Cavs Now 500\/1","og_description":"LeBron James is leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for Los Angeles, and the move has sportsbooks in Las Vegas greatly shortening the Lakers' NBA title odds.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2018-07-02T13:40:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1890,"height":1063,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/lebron-james-4.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Devin O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CasinoorgDevinO","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Devin O'Connor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/","name":"LeBron to Lakers Shortens Los Angeles NBA Title Odds, Cavs Now 500\/1","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/lebron-james-4.jpg","datePublished":"2018-07-02T13:40:47+00:00","dateModified":"2018-07-02T13:40:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf"},"description":"LeBron James is leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for Los Angeles, and the move has sportsbooks in Las Vegas greatly shortening the Lakers' NBA title odds.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/lebron-james-4.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/lebron-james-4.jpg","width":1890,"height":1063,"caption":"LeBron James is officially a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. (Image: ESPN)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lebron-to-lakers-shortens-los-angeles-nba-title-odds-cavs-now-500-1\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sports Betting","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"LeBron to Lakers Shortens Los Angeles NBA Title Odds, Cavs Now 500\/1"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf","name":"Devin O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","caption":"Devin O'Connor"},"description":"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82385"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}