As the Toronto Raptors bask in the afterglow of their first-ever NBA championship, the team’s prospects for the upcoming NBA campaign have taken a downturn, with their over/under win total for the 2019/2020 season at 45.5 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Raptors have been among the winningest teams in the NBA over the past four years, averaging 56 wins per season, including a 58-win campaign in 2018/2019. However, the team is now feeling the effect of off-season departures, most notably the loss of NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who left for the Los Angles Clippers via free agency.
With the NBA undergoing an unprecedented shakeup in rosters this summer that has seen several superstar duos join forces, the loss of Leonard has tempered expectations in Toronto. The newly crowned champions have slipped to a lengthy plus-3300 wager to successfully defend their title in 2020.
However, the Raptors remain a –300 bet to return to the playoffs for a seventh straight year. And despite the loss of Leonard, the club maintains minus-110 odds of posting over 45.5 wins next season.
While the Raptors have seen their projected win total fall, the arrival of Leonard and six-time NBA all-star Paul George in Los Angeles have raised expectations for the Clippers, who now sit as a minus-110 bet to win over 55.5 games next season.
Long overshadowed by the rival Los Angeles Lakers, the Clippers are coming off a 48-34 campaign that lifted them into the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years. Playoff success has continued to elude the Clippers, who have bowed out in the first round in each of their past three appearances. But with Leonard and George in the fold, the Clippers find themselves in unfamiliar territory as plus-350 favourites to win their first-ever NBA championship.
Elsewhere on the NBA win totals, the Milwaukee Bucks are once again expected to top the NBA standings. Winners of an NBA-best 60 games last season, the Bucks look to the new season sporting a line of minus-110 to win OVER 56.5 games on those NBA odds.
Winners of 51 games in 2018/2019, the Philadelphia 76ers sport a win total of 53.5 for the upcoming campaign. However, those expectations are tempered with minus-115 odds favouring the under.
The Lakers are the team expected to make the biggest gains, sporting minus-120 odds of winning over 51.5 games after picking up just 37 wins last season, while the Charlotte Hornets, winners of 39 games last season, are listed at minus-110 to win under 24.5 games in 2018/2019.
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