Lakers News: After All The Trades And Free Agent Signings, Are The Lakers Favored To Win The NBA Championship?

Staples Center should be buzzing in 2019-20. While the Los Angeles Kings have sputtered since winning the Stanley Cup in 2014, the two NBA tenants are among the best teams in the league.

According to oddsmakers, the Los Angeles Clippers are the favorites to win the Finals at 7/2 odds, ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks, who are listed at 11/2. The Los Angeles Lakers have the third-best odds at 6/1.

The Clippers have 5/2 odds of reaching the Finals, while the Lakers have the second-best odds at winning the West at 15/4.

It might be odd for many in Los Angeles to consider the Clippers as title favorites. Since moving from San Diego in 1984, they had reached the playoffs just four times in 27 seasons in L.A.

But the Clippers began to turn things around, reaching the playoffs in six of their past seven seasons. While they have never reached the Western Conference Finals, the Clippers added reigning MVP Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to a team that overachieved to a 48-34 record under veteran head coach Doc Rivers.

Meanwhile, the penny-pinching days of former owner Donald Sterling are over and new owner Steve Ballmer has the wise experience of former Lakers legend Jerry West as an executive on the team.

As the Clippers turned a corner after years of questionable leadership, the Lakers might be recovering from the unfavorable press about their front office. First, there was Magic Johnson's abrupt exit as team president and then came a report from ESPN's Baxter Holmes that Laker staffers described Pelinka's penchant for disingenuous "storytelling."

Winning can change perceptions fairly quickly and the Lakers have not only added some new and exciting faces to their roster but also a more experienced and eager coaching staff that can potentially make many disregard their recent turmoil.

Gone are head coach Luke Walton, and assistants Mark Madsen and Jesse Mermuys. In Walton's place is former Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel, who takes over after a forgettable stint with the Orlando Magic. Vogel is joined by assistants Lionel Hollins and Jason Kidd — both of whom had their struggles as head coaches with the Brooklyn Nets. The Lakers failed to lure famed Golden State Warriors assistant Ron Adams but their mere interest in the veteran coach speaks to the level of importance the front office has placed on the upcoming season after LeBron James missed the playoffs for the first time since 2005.

Vogel may need to get the Lakers off to a good start to quiet any talk of internal problems. The Lakers have a legend hungry for more championship rings in James and he's going to be sharing the court with arguably the best big man in the game in Anthony Davis.

Pelinka appears to have done a solid job filling out the roster around James and Davis. He added DeMarcus Cousins, a four-time All-Star who has battled injuries in recent years. Cousins recently stated that he wants to play the full 82-game season after having failed to play more than 65 games since the 2013-14 season.

The rest of the roster is composed of players the Lakers are hoping can produce with stars around them. Kyle Kuzma, Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are back and joined by Avery Bradley, Danny Green, Troy Daniels and Quinn Cook.

What is missing from the roster is a pure 3-point shooter. The NBA game has shifted to teams placing a premium on hurling up shots from beyond 25 feet and the Lakers in recent years have noticeably had a shortage of players who can consistently be a threat from beyond the arc.

Should the Lakers fail to surge into the postseason, there may be some finger-pointing at the coaching staff, as well as Pelinka, for not adding a sharpshooter.

But the Lakers appear to have more optimism entering the season than at this time in 2018 after they made a splash by signing James.

"It's going to be a fun season," Davis said Saturday at his introductory press conference. "I like our roster. I like every player that we have. I'll put our roster up against anybody. I feel like that in a seven-game series, we'll come out victorious."