Los Angeles Clippers 2024-25 Season Preview, Betting Odds

Competing in the brand-new Intuit Dome won't be enough to mask the shortcomings of a Los Angeles Clippers team which lost a major piece this summer, and this NBA season preview validates that with oddsmakers projecting a fall from grace in 2024-25.

Here's a look at all betting odds pertaining to the Clippers and the probability of the team still being a contender in a stacked Western Conference despite a slew of changes.

Los Angeles Clippers' 2024 Offseason Acquisitions 

Los Angeles Clippers' 2024 Offseason Departures

Los Angeles Clippers' 2025 NBA Championship, Western Conference, Pacific Division Betting Odds

Odds as of October 17, 2024 at FanDuel

With nine-time All-Star Paul George electing to depart the organization in favor of signing with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Clippers have gone from a team with legitimate championship aspirations to one that could ultimately struggle to secure a top-six seed and avoid the play-in tournament. 

The front office did everything in its power to accumulate talent to compensate for no longer having George, but replacing an elite-level wing who can drop 20 or more points in his sleep is a near impossible task, and the likes of Derrick Jones Jr. and veteran Nicolas Batum aren't capable of replicating such production.

Best Bet: None

Three different teams have won the Pacific Division over the last three years, with the Clippers barely doing so in 2023-24 as just five games separated all five teams. The competition is intense, as the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, and Sacramento Kings all won at least 46 games last season, and the Clippers perhaps suffered the greatest summer blow of all. 

It was reassuring to witness Kawhi Leonard suiting up for all but 14 games during the regular season, but when the team needed him most during the opening round versus the eventual Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks, he was absent for all but two outings in a series which went the distance. He's carried teams on his shoulders before, like we saw during the Toronto Raptors' 2019 title run, but that feels like an eternity ago with Leonard's body continuing to fail him.

That rules out a possible championship or even conference championship almost entirely, leaving a second-straight Pacific crown as the only plausible scenario, even though that's still unlikely considering the circumstances. Leonard is also expected to miss the start of the season, or at the very least the season opener, which is already an awful sign of things to come.

Los Angeles Clippers' 2024-25 NBA Win Total, Make Playoffs Odds

Odds as of October 17, 2024 at FanDuel

Last season's 51-31 win-loss record marked the third time in five years that Los Angeles won at least 60 percent of its games. It was also the first time since 2017 that the team achieved fifty victories, although there have been a number of shortened seasons sprinkled throughout since.

Best Bet: UNDER 37.5 Wins, -115

Winning 14 fewer games isn't easy to do, but that's the type of shift not having George around presents, on top of the fact that Leonard's health is forever in limbo.

James Harden isn't the points machine he once was and just recently turned 35 years old, so when Leonard inevitably misses time, a great deal will be asked of the three-time scoring champion at a stage of his career in which being the No. 1 option is a tall order.

Los Angeles Clippers' 2024 NBA Cup Odds

Odds as of October 17, 2024 at FanDuel

The Clippers finished last in West Group C during the inaugural in-season tournament with a 1-3 record, although they had to contend with the likes of the Mavericks and Denver Nuggets. They've got a reasonable draw this time around in West Group A, yet still only have the fourth-best odds behind the Minnesota Timberwolves, Kings, and Houston Rockets. 

Los Angeles Clippers' 2024-25 NBA Awards Odds

Odds as of October 17, 2024 at FanDuel

Best Bet: Norman Powell For NBA Sixth Man Of The Year, +2200

Norman Powell was just outside of the top three in voting for the 2024 Sixth Man of the Year hardware, securing 65 total points and a pair of first-place votes. It was the second year in a row that Powell finished in exactly fourth place, but there's reason to believe he can move even higher.

The 31-year-old forward averaged 13.9 points on 48.6 percent shooting across 76 appearances with only three starts while ranking second overall in second-unit scoring for players with at least 60 games played off the bench. Powell was also the fourth-leading scorer on the team behind the Clippers' Big Three, and with one of those players no longer in the picture, an increased role is probably in the cards. 

Voters love scoring, and Los Angeles needs Powell to provide that and then some. The base is there to make it happen, and more touches means greater numbers and more of a reason to honor Powell for his efforts. The only worry now is whether or not he'll need to start, therefore eliminating him from this conversation. 

2024-25 NBA Team Previews, Betting Odds