Breaking down the NBA championship odds movement following the De’Aaron Fox-Zach LaVine trade on Sunday night.
Peter Dewey | Feb 2, 2025
In this story:
- Sacramento Kings
- Chicago Bulls
- San Antonio Spurs
Another night in the NBA, another blockbuster trade.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Sunday night that the San Antonio Spurs are landing star guard De’Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings in a multi-team deal that also involves the Chicago Bulls.
LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first-round picks and three-second round picks are heading to Sacramento in exchange for Fox. The Bulls, the third team in this deal will receive Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, their own 2025 pick – which was previously traded to San Antonio as part of the DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade a few offseasons ago.
While this deal isn’t as big as the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis blockbuster on Saturday night, it is a massive move for two teams in the play-in tournament mix in the Western Conference.
San Antonio finally has a star to play alongside Victor Wembanyama while the Kings are re-tooling their core around Domantas Sabonis. Ironically, Sacramento is reuniting LaVine and DeRozan, who spent time together in Chicago, making the playoffs in one of their seasons together.
Here’s how this deal has impacted the latest odds to win the NBA Finals this season.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Spurs Odds to Win the NBA Championships Skyrocket After Landing De’Aaron Fox
Earlier today, the Spurs were +60000 at DraftKings Sportsbook to win the NBA Finals.
Now, they’ve seen those odds cut all the way down to +15000 after landing Fox. This season, Fox is averaging 25.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game while shooting 46.9 percent from the field and 32.2 percent from 3.
He’s easily the best teammate that Victor Wembanyama has ever had, and the key to this trade for San Antonio is that it didn’t move on from any of its other young core pieces.
Stephon Castle, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan are all saying put despite this deal. Instead, the Spurs decided to give up some of their treasure chest of draft picks to land the All-Star guard.
San Antonio is currently the No. 12 seed in the West and four games under .500. While it still faces an uphill battle to make the playoffs, there’s no doubt that oddsmakers view that as much more likely following this move.
Oddsmakers Not Buying Kings in NBA Championship Odds After Zach LaVine Addition
The Kings have not seen a change in their odds at DraftKings Sportsbook, remaining at +13000 to win the title this season.
Sitting at .500 and in the No. 10 spot in the West, the Kings could be bound for the play-in tournament for the second straight season.
While losing Fox hurts – and he won’t be easy to replace – a starting group that features LaVine, DeRozan, Malik Monk, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis is still solid. Plus, the Kings now have three- first-round picks at their disposal to further upgrade the roster prior to this season’s deadline – or in the future.
Still, at +13000, the Kings don’t have better odds than any team but San Antonio that is still in the mix for a play-in spot out West.
The Bulls, who are in a full tear down and may move on from Nikola Vucevic in the near future, have stayed steady at the bottom of the odds board (+100000) to win the title this season.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Find Peter Dewey's NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.