The start of the free agency period continues to draw closer now being less than a week away with the bulk of the focus on what LeBron James will do in this next chapter of his career.
According to Jess Golden of CNBC Sports Business, the latest odds from BetDSI Sportsbook has the Lakers as an even greater favorite to land James this offseason while the Washington Wizards have now entered the picture as the sixth-highest betting favorites.
These latest betting lines came just shortly before it was reported that the 33-year-old isn’t looking to do a recruiting tour to help him determine his next landing spot He is also aiming toward making it a quicker decision for himself and not draw it out like his first time around in 2010 where he had meetings with several teams around the league before deciding to join the Miami Heat. All of this has given off the stronger notion that his choices could be more limited than what the current betting odds are with the Cleveland Cavaliers well in the picture with teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers being on the shortlist.
The Lakers have the appealing situation with the chance to ink two players to max deals while also possessing a group of promising young talent with Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart. Meanwhile, the 76ers have just created enough potential salary cap space to ink James to a max contract in free agency with the chance to be paired alongside rising stars in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
What has also stood out in these last betting odds have the Houston Rockets completely out of the picture as a landing spot. Houston has an intriguing situation for James to possibly play alongside his close friend Chris Paul along with likely league MVP James Harden. However, there would be much roster shifting in order to get him a lucrative deal that would pay him near the max. The inclusion of the Wizards is just as puzzling as there hasn’t been any talk of them being in the picture as a landing spot.
Nonetheless, it appears that this decision for James this offseason could see some major shifting around the league.