Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban remains optimistic that the NBA will resume regular-season play before June begins.
“If I had to guess, based off the people I’ve talked to at the (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) and other places, the over/under would be June 1, and I’m taking the under,” Cuban said recently in a Skype interview with Dallas local news.
“Hopefully, by the middle of May, we’re starting to get back to normal and the NBA is playing games, maybe not with fans, but we’re playing games.”
If the NBA agrees with the billionaire entrepreneur, the 15-18 games that remain on most regular-season schedules could take place from mid-May to mid-June, with playoffs starting at the end of June.
LeBron still hesitant to play without fans
Los Angeles Lakers superstar Lebron James doubled down on his previous statements regarding playing games without fans as a guest on the Road Trippin’ podcast recently.
“What is sport without fans?” Lebron said. “There’s no excitement. … You wanna go on the road and just dethrone the home team because of their fans. That’s what brings out the competitive side in players.”
James said he believes players could return to action with a week’s worth of preparation, but dismissed the narrative that time off was good for his 35-year-old body.
“When you’ve been building six months of conditioning and preparation, my body was asking me when we stopped playing, what are you doing?”
Silver says everything is on the table
Despite paying constant attention to projections and financials, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver still doesn’t have answers for when the regular season might resume.
“We’re exploring all options to resume our season if and when it is safe to do so,” Silver said. “Nothing is off the table.”
Silver will need cooperation from league players if his priority is to get games played under any circumstances. While fans are extremely important to the league and its success, the potential loss of television revenue is something that might drive a return to play that does not include packed stadiums.
Lakers and Bucks remain NBA title favorites
While there are indisputable differences in the prices being offered at popular sportsbooks in New Jersey and Las Vegas, the Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks are still set to be the two best teams in the NBA when play resumes. With the Lakers leading the Western Conference and the Bucks on top of the east, the two powerhouse franchises seem destined for an NBA Finals matchup.
Here are futures odds for the 2020 NBA Championship from top online sportsbooks:
DraftKings
Los Angeles Lakers +250
Milwaukee Bucks +250
Los Angeles Clippers +333
Houston Rockets +1300
Toronto Raptors +1800
Boston Celtics +2000
FanDuel
Milwaukee Bucks +240
Los Angeles Lakers +270
Los Angeles Clippers +340
Houston Rockets +1200
Boston Celtics +2000
Toronto Raptors +2400
888 sport
Los Angeles Lakers +250
Milwaukee Bucks +250
Los Angeles Clippers +333
Houston Rockets +1300
Toronto Raptors +1800
Boston Celtics +2000
William Hill in Vegas (mobile app)
Los Angeles Lakers +200
Milwaukee Bucks +240
Los Angeles Clippers +300
Houston Rockets +1600
Boston Celtics +1800
Toronto Raptors +1800
Las Vegas continues to be a bad place to bet favorites but is providing an additional three dollars of value to Houston Rockets bettors.
FanDuel is offering incredible value on the Toronto Raptors as their price is a whopping six dollars higher than every other book.
Fans of either the Lakers or Clippers should also head over to FanDuel to place their bets, as their prices are the best available on those two teams and much better than what can be found in Las Vegas. This is not surprising considering the close proximity Vegas and LA share as there is sure to be a great deal of public money keeping prices on both those teams lower than usual.
