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Warriors Odds: Vegas Likes Golden State More Than Me

By Peter Dewey

The Warriors are looking to find their championship form again next season.
The Warriors are looking to find their championship form again next season. / Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
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I know it’s football season, but I can’t help but get excited for the NBA to start up again in a month. 

While the rest of the sports betting world focuses on this week’s college football and NFL slate, I’m taking a look at the latest odds to win the Western Conference in the 2021-22 season. Basically, the NBA is back. 

The rest of my basketball junkies know the feeling. 

WynnBET released its opening Western Conference standings, and the Golden State Warriors (yes, the same Warriors that missed the playoffs the past two seasons) are second in the odds to win the West. 

Odds to Win the Western Conference in 2021-22 Season

  • Los Angeles Lakers: +160
  • Golden State Warriors: +450
  • Utah Jazz: +700
  • Phoenix Suns: +800
  • Denver Nuggets: +1000
  • Dallas Mavericks: +1200
  • Los Angeles Clippers: +1200
  • Memphis Grizzlies: +3000
  • New Orleans Pelicans: +4000
  • Portland Trail Blazers: +4000
  • Oklahoma City Thunder: +10000
  • Sacramento Kings: +10000
  • San Antonio Spurs: +10000
  • Houston Rockets: +20000
  • Minnesota Timberwolves: +2000

Look, I know that Klay Thompson is expected to return this season, with the Warriors targeting a return for their All-Star guard on Christmas Day, but he hasn’t played a game in two seasons. 

When healthy, Thompson is one of the game’s best two-way players, but he’s just endured two severe injuries in a torn ACL and a torn Achilles in consecutive years. If you think he’s going to walk in and be the same player he was in 2019 from day one, you’re a fool, and it’s possible that he never reaches that level again. 

Golden State was absolutely terrible without Steph Curry on the floor last season, as they were 8.6 points better per 100 possessions with Curry on the floor versus off the floor. Golden State was just 2-7 in the nine games Curry missed, and the additions of rookies Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga isn’t enough to make the Warriors an instant contender.

Oddsmakers seem to think Golden State will find its 2016 form with Thompson back, but that was five years ago. Kevin Durant has come and gone. Draymond has regressed as a shooter. 

James Wiseman, Moody, and Kuminga are on a completely different timeline than Golden State’s three-best players, and the return of a washed-up Andre Iguodala and the addition of the oft-injured Otto Porter Jr. isn’t going to put the Warriors over the top.

It will all rest on the shoulders of Thompson, and it seems the expectations for the second Splash Brother are growing by the day. That’s just not fair to Klay. 

The Warriors didn’t want to punt the future by taking Wiseman, Kuminga, and Moody in the last two NBA drafts, but if they really want to maximize the rest of Curry’s prime, they need to add more proven talent to this roster. 

Thompson will make the Warriors better in the 2021-22 season, but asking for his return to move them from missing the postseason to a contender for the No. 1 seed is a major ask, and one that I’m not confident in until we see how this team performs this coming season.

Who's your early pick to win the Western Conference? Get in the action on the WynnBET app.

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