SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — The Golden State Warriors open their 2021-22 regular season against the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The Warriors have the third best odds (+900) to win the 2022 NBA Finals, according to BetMGM via Vegas Insider.
Despite missing the playoffs last season and only making the NBA’s inaugural play-in tournament, Golden State is expected to do more this upcoming season.
The Warriors are tied with the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks as the third favorite to win it all — trailing behind only second favorite Lakers (+400) and number-one favorite Brooklyn Nets (+240).
Note: +900 for the Warriors means bet $100 and win $900 if they win it all. +900 for the Warriors means bet $50 and win $450. +240 for the Nets means bet $100 and win $240, etc.
Golden State had the eighth-best odds heading into last season at +2500 to win the championship, according to Basketball-Reference.
The difference?
Warriors five-time All-Star guard Klay Thompson is expected to return later this season.
He is scheduled to be cleared to practice next month, and the team will evaluate when he will return based on how he practices.
Thompson, 31, missed all of the 2019-20 season with a torn ACL and the entire 2020-21 season with a torn Achilles.
The sharpshooter last played in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals where he scored 30 points on 8-of-12 shooting before tearing his ACL late in the third quarter as the Toronto Raptors won the game to win their first NBA title.
If Thompson could return to form, the Warriors will have its star core of Stephen Curry, 33, and Draymond Green, 31, that won it all in 2015.