Here’s a luxury known to the Los Angeles betting market: a relevant question about which area franchise will be the next to win a professional sports championship.
It matters here because many of the teams are good. Real good. The market teams collectively are on an uptick.
The Dodgers, Rams, Clippers and the Chargers have high expectations, including a World Series triumph by the Dodgers in 2020 and a Super Bowl for the Rams in 2022.
The Los Angeles Angels and the Lakers have crumbled beneath their expectations, but at least the bar is set high.
So, what do the books say about who’s next to launch a parade?
And what do you think?
Let’s rank from most likely to least likely. If two teams win in the same season (say MLB Dodgers and NFL Rams) it will go down as a tie.
We’ll also compare the teams with DraftKings odds.
Dodgers (+400 to win the World Series)
They are the shortest championship price of all the teams, which signals a major word: R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
The Dodgers are +400 along with the New York Yankees to win it all.
They have a terrific pitching staff, the ability to lure free agents and a lineup so deep that DraftKings operator Johnny Avello termed it ‘Murderers Row’ last month. This team is built for 162 games. It remains to be seen whether the Dodgers will be an October 2022 juggernaut.
Avello, incidentally, gave mylasports.com bettors a real nugget a few weeks back. He told gamblers that the Dodgers have been exceptional on the run line this year. That means they cover the 1.5 runs when they win.
The Dodgers covered that number in every one of their June wins this year. Astounding.
Avello said this week:
“The bettors have been all over that. With that team, you are not afraid to lay the run and a half. Gamblers don’t want to put up all that juice for the Dodgers on the moneyline, but the run line is something they are willing to do.
“Heck, you can even do 2.5 runs with this team. It’s been a while since we have seen a lineup like that and it makes sense that we haven’t seen one.
“You want to get that many good hitters in one place, you might need a payroll of $500 million.”
Johnny Avello, DraftKings
Los Angeles Rams (+1100 on the repeat line)
Encores are not expected in the NFL. The Rams are the defending Super Bowl champs with, as you might expect, generous odds.
Cooper Kupp was magic for them in the post-season, the defense came together at the right time and the Rams got the bounces. The Rams made a huge fourth-down conversion to keep the game alive when they trailed the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16 late in the fourth quarter.
They got a huge pass-interference call one play away from losing the game and then they made a big defensive stop. It looked like destiny and destiny doesn’t repeat.
This price indicates the NFL difficulty of repeating and yet pays tribute to the Rams as a good team.
Los Angeles Clippers (+600 to win NBA championship)
Nope. The books aren’t fooled. The Clippers opened at +600, tied with the Boston Celtics for the top spot. Boston later moved to +550.
What happens with a full season of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George? The books say the Clippers will be right there for the NBA title. Skeptics will say they look overvalued.
There’s not much room for over-achieving at this price. A big season by both Leonard and George has already been baked into this line.
The Brooklyn Nets carried similar odds when they inked Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, both injury prone, a few seasons back. It’s been a flop.
The players try to coast through the regular season and turn on the juice in the playoffs.
It rarely works.
This is one bet Clippers backers may wait on. So while they have shorter odds than the Rams, in our opinion, the Rams are more likely to win a ring sooner.
Los Angeles Chargers (+1400 to win the Super Bowl)
The Chargers have a phenom quarterback in Justin Herbert and great offensive weapons. They can learn from the Bengals last year. Cincinnati reached the big game behind quarterback Joe Burrow (drafted in the same class as Herbert) and a surprise defense. The Bengals D nearly brought them to the promised land.
See what the Chargers can do in that area. If they can upgrade, they are serious.
Los Angeles Lakers (+1100 to win the NBA title)
No, you don’t see them as chalk. Not after they missed the playoffs.
But somehow this team climbed from +1700 to +1100 in recent days. The Lakers are still in need of a rebuild and LeBron James is more of a detriment than a strength.
They are a title longshot, but if a couple of moves happen, the bettors will jump aboard the expectation train.
“You have to figure some players got on board with the initial price because they figured the Lakers are going to do something, even if we don’t know what that is,” Avello asserted. “No way this team is simply going to lay back and start the season without adding somebody.
“The Kyrie Irving rumors, I think, generated some pretty good business.”
Speculation had Irving coming to LA to reunite with James, whom he won a championship with for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017. Irving scuttled those rumors by staying with the Brooklyn Nets.
Now the talk is about Kevin Durant coming to L.A. from the Nets. Do the Lakers want half a season from him and all the injuries? They might. They are the NBA version of the New York Yankees. If one free agent is not available, they will find another.
Los Angeles Angels
All the best-laid plans. They kept all-world Mike Trout. They had Joe Maddon, a player’s manager. But they stumbled, Maddon is gone and Trout is scuffling.
Their sub .500 first half is a head-scratcher to many. As for a title? Not this year. Odds of +11000 to win it all look short. They would have to make up several games just to get a Wild Card spot.
