Oddsmakers lower LA’s championship odds after missing out on Irving.
The Los Angeles Lakers top trade target, Kyrie Irving, will head to the Western Conference. However, Irving won’t don the purple and gold; instead, he’s heading to the Dallas Mavericks and creating a new tandem with superstar Luka Doncic.
LA and Irving have been linked to each other for quite some time, and when he requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, the Lakers were favorites to land the former 2016 champion.
LA’s title odds increased from +5000 to +3000 on Friday. However, now that Kyrie is a Maverick, LA’s title odds went back to +5000, according to oddshopper.com.
The purple and gold were in on Kyrie throughout the summer. It’s no secret the Lakers brass were trying to trade for Kyrie and that superstar LeBron James would have loved to acquire Irving. LA didn’t pull the trigger in the summer, and seven months later, LA low-balled the Nets in their package, who preferred the Mavericks deal instead.
Even though the 30-year-old is an extraordinary player, he comes with a ton of baggage off the court. But on the court, he perfectly fits with James (as we’ve seen before) and Anthony Davis, who would have been lethal together.
According to BetMGM, the Lakers have the 14th-best odds to win the 2023 title, and if LA cannot make another impactful trade, they can kiss their hopes at an NBA title goodbye.