Los Angeles Lakers NBA Championship Odds 2022-23

The current Los Angeles Lakers NBA championship odds are . They currently hold the sixth-best odds to win the NBA title after the Celtics, Clippers, Warriors, Bucks and Suns. Odds have actually drastically shifted in the Lakers favor over the last several weeks as several sportsbooks have reported an influx of early bets for the Lakers to take the 2023 title. Bettors this year have surprising hope for this Lakers team this year after a rather disappointing season last year, when bettors also hammered Lakers bets. Entering the 2021-22 season, over 25% of total NBA preseason bets were on the Lakers, and they obviously failed to deliver.

Los Angeles Lakers NBA Championship Odds & Futures 2022-23

This Lakers team had an extremely disappointing season last year from both a basketball perspective and a betting perspective. They went 33-49 on the season with a pitiful 12-29 record on the road despite having one of the most talented and experienced groups of players in the league. They also were among the very last teams in the league on covering the spread, which they only were successful in doing in 42.7% of their games. 

Last season, the Lakers entered having the best odds to win the Western Conference. This year, they are trailing just the Clippers, Warriors, and Suns at +600, which seems overly optimistic given what they put NBA fans through last season, ending in 11th in the West. 

That all being said, hope is certainly not lost – some circumstances weren’t in their favor last year which hopefully won’t be the case this year. Both Lebron and Anthony Davis were out for considerable amounts of time due to injury, limiting them to 56 games and 40 games, respectively. If the two can minimize injury, then this team may be able to maintain some form of consistency from their star power, which can hopefully translate into wins for the franchise. And of course there is still Russell Westbrook, who just exercised his player option to remain with the Lakers. There’s no doubt this trio did not live up to expectations last season, but hopefully they’ve found a way to make up for lost time and get back on track.

Reasons Why Los Angeles Can & Can’t Win NBA 2022-23 Championship

Strengths

• Experience: New talent has won over the league in recent years with young talent like Luka Doncic, Ja Morant, Jayson Tatum, and Trae Young emerging as some of the league’s top players. While this is advantageous in its own right, to have Lebron, Davis, and Westbrook, who all have 10+ years of experience in the NBA is a different level of beneficial. Not only does it help to have experienced talent from a success perspective, but generational talent like them also helps shape the younger, less experienced players into something special. There is very little that these three haven’t seen, which helps to prepare them and the rest of their team for any situation.
• Starpower: Having Lebron on your team is a strength enough without the likes of Davis and Westbrook alongside him. He is probably the greatest (or second greatest) basketball player of all time – between his experience and his shooting capabilities, he alone can scare teams away just from his reputation. Of course last season is not a good example of any sort of starpower given how it went, but there is no denying that three of the greatest basketball players ever are on one team, which will be dangerous if they ever figure out how to use it.

Weaknesses

• Chemistry: Starpower and experience tend to hold a lot less value when you can’t put it together on the court. The chemistry this last season just didn’t exist within this Lakers team. In their defense, it’s hard to maintain chemistry when two of your best players are rotating off the injured list every game. If Lebron and Davis can stay healthy, and they can figure out how to not only have chemistry among their big three players, but also within their rookies and bench players, then they would be virtually unstoppable.
• 3-Point Shooting: The Lakers were probably one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the league last season, knocking down just 34.7% of their three-point shots. Davis hardly shot outside the arc and Westbrook couldn’t seem to knock them down with any sort of consistency, and the great Lebron boasted a 35.7% three-point percentage. Considering they lost several games within three to six points, this could have been the difference maker in their playoff status as a team.