With all the chaos surrounding the Sixers and Bryan Colangelo right now, it's easy to forget the Sixers have a pretty bright future. They have two young stars in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, earned the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and won their first playoff series since the 2011-12 season. Oh, and they have plenty of money to spend in the offseason. LeBron James did tell a joke at Colangelo's expense (see story), but that doesn't automatically mean he's crossed the Sixers off his list of possible destinations.
It looks like Vegas didn't let the Colangelo situation overshadow all the signs pointing to the Sixers being a contender next season. In Westgate Las Vegas' opening odds to win the 2019 NBA Finals, the Sixers are 7/2, tied for second-best with the Rockets and behind only the Warriors, at 5/4.
Below are Westgate's odds, courtesy of Keith Smith.
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It's interesting to see Cleveland so far down the list at 30/1. While James certainly doesn't have the best supporting cast and the Cavs won't be in contention if he leaves (Westgate says the Cavs' odds will fall to 500/1 if LeBron signs elsewhere), those are very low odds for the defending Eastern Conference champions.
Seeing the Celtics have worse odds than the Sixers is a major surprise. Given that the Celtics beat the Sixers in the playoffs in five games without Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving, it's hard to fathom how the Sixers could have better odds than Boston. Unless the Sixers land James or perhaps another major name like Paul George or Kawhi Leonard, you'd think a healthy Celtics team would still have an edge over the Sixers.
But LeBron is the ultimate x-factor. According to Smith, the Celtics will have the best odds to win the Eastern Conference if James signs with anyone besides the Sixers. That basically means Westgate feels James' influence is large enough that, in a season where he turns 34, he would immediately transform the Sixers from the second or third-best team in the Eastern Conference to one of the top title contenders.