2016 NBA Championship Odds: Lakers Put Towards Back Of The Pack

The Lakers were given 66/1 odds to be the NBA Champion of 2016.

Other notables include Cleveland (3/1), Golden State (5/1), and the Clippers (10/1)

Well, at least we’re on the list, right?

Despite tons of hype and hope heading into next year, LakersNation reports that the LA Lakers are not in the conversation, or anywhere near the top of the 2016 NBA Championship odds, for that matter.

That’s pretty sad for people to think they don’t have a chance.

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Now I’m not at all saying we should all put our eggs in one basket, but the Lakers deserve a way better chance than 66/1.

To put things in perspective, the Raptors (40/1), Wizards (40/1), and Celtics (50/1) all apparently have a better shot at winning the title than the Lakers do.

What the heck? No.

The only team out of those three put above the Lakers that I could respect in the slightest is Washington.

The Wizards put on a clinic against the Toronto Raptors, sweeping them in round one (if you can’t even get a game off of the Eastern Conference playoffs, don’t talk trash).

So, with all due respect Raptors fans, turn off your Xbox.

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John Wall and Bradley Beal’s full health and focus is the only thing stopping Washington from making a charge at the East.

For all we know, if Paul Pierce’s fingertip had been an eyelash smaller or the ball released just a split second earlier, the Hawks could’ve been done in round two and D.C. would’ve put up a huge fight to Cleveland.

But that didn’t happen. Don’t count that out next year though.

While there is concern in the nation’s capitol that Pierce won’t be returning to the Wizards and possibly get a reunion with Doc Rivers in LA, Washington has plenty of talent after the fact to scare anybody in their conference.

And then there’s Boston.

For all intents and purposes, the Celtics are definitely a dark horse.

What I don’t understand is how they’re  a better dark horse than the Lakers.

Especially when all the potential moves of free agency and a looming top tier draft pick coming to the city of angels.

Boston gave Cleveland a run for their money in a handful of instances within their first round clash, but they clearly are not the kind of team that could make it all the way to the NBA Finals at the point their at — not even in the East.

Even if the Celtics did somehow miraculously make it to the Finals in 2016, they would get destroyed no matter who the Western Conference representatives would be.

Heck, even if it was New Orleans.

Bottom Line: Lakers are far better than their title odds would indicate

With the Lakers, while yes the West is most definitely the tougher of the two conferences, the playoffs provide LA with a chance to see juggernauts take each other out before colliding with the purple and gold.

Now all the Lakers have to do is put their momentum into action.

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Full 2016 NBA Championship odds here

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