Golden State Still Open as 2020 NBA Championship Favorites After Klay Thompson Tears ACL in Series-Ending Loss

• Despite their loss to the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals, Golden State is still favored to be 2020 champs
• The Warriors are the +300 chalk
• Golden State is also the +400 betting choice to win it all next season

Are the Golden State Warriors done like dinner? Not according to the sportsbooks.

The Toronto Raptors beat the Warriors Thursday in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to with their first title.

Golden State is expected to rebound.

2020 NBA Championship Odds

*Odds taken 06/14/19. 

Is Golden State Entering the Golden Years?

Generally, when the end comes for a sports dynasty, the fall isn’t pretty. There isn’t a slow and steady decline. Usually, great teams suddenly plummet off a cliff.

After winning four Stanley Cups in a row from 1980-83, the New York Islanders were swept in the 1984 final by the Edmonton Oilers.

The Isles have been trying to get back to the Cup final ever since.

The Los Angeles Lakers played in seven NBA Finals between 2000-10, winning five of them. Then Showtime was canceled without further notice.

Broken Down and Beaten

It wasn’t just that Golden State got beat by the Raptors. It was the way that the Warriors were beaten. They broke down and went to pieces.

Throughout the playoffs, the Warriors overcame injuries to key players like DeMarcus Cousins and Kevin Durant and kept on rolling.

Even if Warriors are able to keep Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant in free agency, it'll be a fight to reach playoffs in the Western Conference. Thompson's ACL rehab could take him into February or March — and Durant likely misses entire season. Devastating turn of events. https://t.co/xKXayv9p34

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 14, 2019

In the Finals, though, the wheels came off in every direction. Subs Andre Iguodala and Kevon Looney were hurt. Durant tried to play hurt in Game 5 and ruptured his Achilles tendon. Klay Thompson, who’d also been battling through an injury, tore his ACL in Game 6.

Since the start of the 2014-15 season, the Warriors have played 433 regular-season and playoff games. How much can these guys have left in the tank?

Little Love For Raptors

Toronto’s first title doesn’t appear to have impressed many outside of #WeTheNorth.

The Raptors are equal fourth betting choice alongside those perennial playoff failures the Houston Rockets at +1000.

The Lakers, who didn’t make the playoffs last season, are +800 to win it all.

The NBA’s Uncertain Landscape

There were indications of cracks in Golden State’s armor at times during the regular season. The Warriors endured a 2-6 skid in November and a 2-4 slide in February.

Now, those cracks look to be a seismic fault. Durant is out for the season, and realistically, with a torn Achilles, will KD ever be the same player?

Torn achilles from the league's best player
Torn ACL from Game 6 Klay
Torn quad from DeMarcus Cousins
Broken collarbone from Kevon Looney

That's what it took to end the Warriors dynasty

— Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) June 14, 2019

Thompson will be on the sidelines until February. And both are also free agents, as is Cousins. Will any of them be back in the Bay Area at all?

The NBA is heading into its wildest summer in history. Look at the list of other free agents? Kawhi Leonard. Kyrie Irving. Kemba Walker. Nikola Vucevic. Jimmy Butler. The landscape of the Association figures to look at lot different come the first week of July.

The last two NBA champs not named the Warriors were both crowned at Oracle Arena. pic.twitter.com/rjTbjwQWTd

— ESPN (@espn) June 14, 2019

Playing the Warriors at these odds isn’t a bet. It’s a donation.

Milwaukee looks to the best bet at this point. In reality, the wisest play here is the waiting game. The smart money will want to see how free agency shakes out.