Who wins the NBA title?

Next year, not this year. I think the Warriors have it pretty much wrapped up…

The bookmakers still like the Dubs and Rockets in 2019, but early odds are out from the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook and rumored LeBron James suitors are littered among the top ten:

  • Warriors: 5-4
  • Rockets: 7-2
  • Sixers: 7-2
  • Celtics: 8-1
  • Lakers: 20-1
  • Heat: 20-1
  • Spurs 25-1
  • Cavs: 30-1
  • Raptors: 40-1
  • Jazz/Thunder: 60-1

Sixers 7-2? Heat and Lakers 20-1? Cavs 30-1?

That’s all LeBron (and Paul George) in free agency.

It’s interesting to see the Sixers that high, and especially above the Celtics. Some some people think the Bryan Colangelo situation is warding LeBron away from Philadelphia and others think it makes no difference whatsoever. I’m in the latter camp. If LeBron wants to play with Ben Simmon and Joel Embiid on a supermax contract, I don’t think he gives a shit about who the general manager is. I don’t think this weekend dig really matters one way or another:

Think about it, though, if you’re working at a company like… I don’t know, say Campbell’s Soup, and you were given the choice to move to any department in the building with two co-workers of your choice, you’d probably do it, right? Your immediate supervisor would be Brett Brown and Colangelo would just sort of be there in a less hands-on role, like the HR manager. He would bring in some of your new co-workers, and you may or may not like them, but you still report to Brown and you still work primarily with the two original folks. I think most people would probably jump at the opportunity.

For what it’s worth, one of the concepts floating around out there is that you could potentially replace Colangelo with ex-Cavs GM David Griffin, with whom LeBron has a good relationship. Griffin recently appeared on Zach Gelb’s CBS Radio show and was asked about James possibly joining up with Simmons and Joel in Philadelphia. Griffin said that he felt like the Sixers might have “a leg up” due to the connection between James and Simmons, who share an agent in Rich Paul:

“…if I knew the boxes he was going to check I would have a better feel for it. I do think it’s significant that Rich Paul is the representative for Ben Simmons as well, so he’s going to know the organization very well. That will certainly give them a leg up. I know Brett Brown is somebody that you’re going to look at when you’re LeBron. You’re going to look at Pop, you’re going to look at the coach in LA. All the teams that he’s went to, coaching is going to matter, and I think because Ben has intimate knowledge of Coach Brown that will probably help.”

Listen below: