Charles Barkley eviscerates NBA title odds shift following Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade

The NBA title odds shifted drastically over the weekend after one of the most stunning trades in NBA history. The Lakers’ odds to win the NBA title improved after they landed Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks, while the Mavs odds took a hit after acquiring Anthony Davis from LA.

Prior to the blockbuster trade, the Lakers had 40-1 NBA title odds, according to ESPN Bet. Los Angeles is now down to 16-1 to win the NBA title after landing Luka Doncic.

As for the Mavericks, they went from 25-1 odds to win the NBA title ahead of the trade to 33-1. NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley joined Get Up on ESPN Monday morning to discuss the trade and the NBA title odds shift. According to Barkley, the odds movement is crazy. Not only that, but Barkley believes the Mavericks have a better chance of winning the NBA Finals than the Lakers.

“Anybody that thinks that’s legit, come on,” Charles Barkley said. “Anybody that thinks that’s legit. There’s no way, if you know anything about basketball, you think the Lakers, with a bunch of little 6-5, 6-7 guys running out there, compared to Anthony Davis, [Dereck] Lively, [Daniel] Gafford, Kyrie [Irving], Klay [Thompson], Quentin Grimes, if you think that Lakers team right now is better than the Mavs, that’s the stupidest.

“… Listen, that’s why they build those pretty buildings in the desert. People are stupid.”

Fellow NBA analyst Michael Wilbon also appeared on Get Up to discuss the trade centered around Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis.

Wilbon agrees with Barkley that the Mavericks have a better chance of winning the NBA title than the Lakers do after the trade, no matter what the odds say.

“It is to be ignored. Chuck is right,” Wilbon said. “Remember, people forget what odds are for. They are to not just encourage, they are to entice betting. So we’re going to say the Lakers are better now and a better favorite, because we want you people to build more palaces in the desert, as Charles points out. It doesn’t mean anything. It is to be ignored at all costs.”

The trade between the Mavericks and Lakers was shocking on multiple levels as Doncic is a top 5 player in the NBA who has earned first-team All-NBA honors five times in his career, despite being only 25 years old.

It seems as though no one across the NBA suspected that the Mavericks were interested in trading him, and Dallas reportedly approached the Lakers about the deal.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the season unfolds and if the Lakers or Mavericks end up contending for the title this year.