Bettors liking Los Angeles Lakers' title odds despite no big moves from the team

The Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat saw their championship odds improve at sportsbooks when news broke Thursday that Kevin Durant was requesting a trade from the Brooklyn Nets and reportedly eyeing those two contenders.

Bettors, however, have been gravitating toward a team that hasn't made any significant moves to a roster that missed the playoffs last season — the Los Angeles Lakers.

In a 24-hour span, beginning Thursday afternoon, multiple sportsbooks reported receiving a surge of betting interest on the Lakers to win next season's championship. The Lakers' title odds moved from 22-1 to 10-1 at Caesars Sportsbook, where Los Angeles attracted 3.5 times more betting handle than any other team since Wednesday afternoon. Included in the rush of Lakers action was a $10,000 bet at 22-1 odds from a bettor in New York, according to Caesars.

«People always think the Lakers will end up with everybody,» Eric Fenstermaker, senior trading manager for Caesars Sportsbook, said Friday in a company release, adding that the book took enough $1,000 and $500 bets on the Lakers to make Los Angeles its largest liability in the NBA title market.

DraftKings also saw a flurry of bets on the Lakers. Since Thursday afternoon, more bets had been placed on the Lakers than had been placed on any other team, a DraftKings spokesperson told ESPN.

The Nets saw their odds lengthen from 15-2 to 35-1 at Caesars Sportsbook after the news of Durant's trade request. Fenstermaker said Brooklyn would likely grow to even bigger long shots.

«The Nets being 35-1 now is probably still too low, but it depends what they get back for Durant,» Fenstermaker said. «If they're going to punt and roll with [Ben] Simmons and a bunch of no-names, they're going to be 80-1 or