An NBA bettor stands to win $1.1 million if Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and the rest of the L.A. Lakers win the Finals in June.
According to BetMGM’s insights, one user hammered $100,000 on the Lakers to win the NBA Finals at +1000 odds.
Key insights
- The Lakers are among the most popular futures bets thanks to Luka Doncic.
- Another BetMGM bettor risked $80,000 on the Cavaliers to win the Finals.
- Caesars reported five-figure bets on the Warriors, Cavs, Lakers, and Thunder.
The Doncic trade left Dallas Mavericks fans pining for the Slovenian superstar they once called their own. It also breathed new life into the Lakers, at the center of one of the NBA playoffs' biggest publicly-recorded bets.
Although the +1000 odds indicate they only have a 9.1% chance to win the league Finals, they're 10-4 with the third-best net rating against teams with top-10 point differentials since the trade.
On the other side of the bracket, one BetMGM user splashed their cash on the Eastern Conference victor Cleveland Cavaliers to win a world championship.
The big-money bettor placed $80,000 on the Cavs at +600 to win their first Larry O’Brien Trophy since 2016 and second in franchise history. The bet would yield a total payout of $560,000.
Historical betting trends
Notably, each of the last two league champions were one seeds—the Boston Celtics in 2024 and Denver Nuggets in 2023. This year’s top seeds include the Cavs (64-18) and Oklahoma City Thunder (68-14), who each took one game off the other during the regular season.
52 of 78 (66.7%) all-time NBA champs were also their conference's top seed, giving the Cavs' bettor historical credence.
The challenge comes from this version of Cleveland’s team only having one playoff series win under its belt. That was last year’s first-round triumph over the Orlando Magic before they lost to the eventual champion Celtics in five games during the conference semifinals.
However, the Cavs split this season’s series with the C’s at two matchups apiece.
More NBA betting big shots
Elsewhere around the league, a Caesars New York bettor risked $28,785.71 on the Golden State Warriors (-185) to eliminate the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference playoffs' first round. That would earn a total payout of $44,345.55.
Only eight times since the NBA adopted a best-of-seven format for its first-round series has a seven seed eliminated a two seed from the playoffs. That’s just 18.2% of all series, and every instance saw the series hit at least six games.
The precedent gets even more harrowing looking at all-time results, as only 12 of 82 (14.6%) matchups ended with seven seeds knocking off two seeds.
Meanwhile, a Caesars Louisiana patron dropped $14,565.35 on the Lakers (-200) to knock the Minnesota Timberwolves out of the postseason. L.A. won the only contest between the teams following the paradigm-shifting trade, and Doncic eliminated the Wolves in the Western Conference Finals last year with the Mavs. The bet would pay $21,848.05.
Caesars also reported a couple of $10,000 bets, one on the Cavs to win the Eastern Conference (+190) and on the Thunder to win the NBA Finals (+185), which would earn $28,500 and $29,000 payouts, respectively.
