Odds for Lakers', Cavaliers' Total Season Wins After LeBron James' Decision
With LeBron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Los Angeles Lakers, oddsmakers set the over/under win totals for each team heading into the 2018-19 season.
Per OddsShark, the Lakers' total is 53.5. The Cavs are at 29.5.
In James' second stint with the Cavaliers, the franchise won at least 50 games and reached the NBA Finals for four straight seasons.
Dating back to 2013-14, the Lakers' high-water mark for wins was 35 last season. Their five-year playoff drought is the longest in franchise history. (They had never before gone three seasons without a playoff berth.)
James hasn't played on a team that has won fewer than 50 games in an 82-game season since the 2007-08 Cavaliers went 45-37.
If the Lakers hit the over, their 19-game improvement would be the largest in a full season since they went from 48 wins in 1970-71 to 69 in 1971-72.
The last time James left Cleveland, the Cavs fell from 61-21 in 2009-10 to 19-63 in 2010-11.
