It’s very rare for teams these days to repeat as champions in the NFL, NHL or Major League Baseball. In the NBA, though, it’s still quite common because one superstar player can make such a big difference. The Toronto Raptors recently won their first-ever NBA title, and they have a realistic chance of repeating in the 2019-20 season if Kawhi Leonard re-signs.

Leonard’s Status Hangs Over Dinos’ Repeat Bid

Currently, the Raptors are +600 second-favorites at Sports Interaction to win next season’s championship. Needless to say, those odds are going to get much, much longer if Leonard, who became just the third player in history to win an NBA Finals MVP with two different teams, leaves in free agency. Most believe he’s either staying put – maybe on a shorter deal – or heading to the Los Angeles Clippers. It’s never been a secret that Leonard wants to play close to his hometown of L.A. Danny Green is also a free agent, while Marc Gasol has a player option for next season.

Davis Deal Vaults Lakers To Favoured Role

The Los Angeles Lakers missed the playoffs this past season yet are the +275 title favourites following the trade for New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis. That deal actually won’t be made official until next month for salary-cap and other reasons, but it’s done. Now the Lakers have arguably two of the five best players in the league in Davis and LeBron James.

They also are targeting a third star in free agency with plenty of cap room: Reports are the No. 1 target is Hornets point guard Kemba Walker. LeBron surely will reach out to Leonard again, but it’s not believed Kawhi has any interest in the Lakers. L.A. is going to have very little depth after trading three rotation players and the No. 4 overall pick in this year’s draft (plus two future first-rounders) to New Orleans for Davis. Basically, it will be LeBron, Davis, Kyle Kuzma, whichever free-agent addition and not much else.

The Western Conference appears there for the taking because the Golden State Warriors, the West champions the past five seasons, have been decimated by injuries. Both Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson suffered serious injuries in the NBA Finals. Durant went down with a torn Achilles tendon in Game 5 and Thompson a torn ACL in Game 6. Both are free agents as well. There’s a good chance Durant leaves, but he’s not playing next season regardless. Thompson probably re-signs but also might miss all of 2019-20. The Warriors are +850 to win it all next season and even that seems optimistic.

2020 NBA Championship Team Odds

The Clippers are +1000, but those odds will shrink considerably if Leonard signs with the team. Houston, which has been eliminated by the Warriors in the past two postseasons, is +950 amid rumours that stars Chris Paul and James Harden no longer see eye-to-eye.

The Milwaukee Bucks, who were vanquished by the Raptors in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals, are +650. The Bucks have Giannis Antetokounmpo, the likely 2018-19 regular-season MVP, locked up through the 2020-21 season. Their big concern is All-Star guard Khris Middleton, who is a free agent. Milwaukee can offer him much more money than any other team, so Middleton probably re-signs.

The Philadelphia 76ers, who might have been once unlucky bounce from beating the Raptors in Game 7 of the conference semifinals, are +1100. They have two key free agents in Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris. Free agency starts July 1, although no contracts can be made official until July 6.