One DraftKings Bettor Will Collect Over $3 Million If The Clippers Reach The NBA Finals

Written By Derek Helling on March 5, 2020 - Last Updated on June 13, 2022

One bettor is confident that a Los Angeles team not named the Lakers will go further than LeBron James’ squad in the NBA playoffs this year. The undisclosed individual showed that confidence by placing a Clippers futures bet of nearly $1 million earlier this week.

If Kawhi Leonard’s LA squad wins the Western Conference this year, that bettor would collect over $3 million on the wager. While it’s unknown which state the bettor placed the wager in, it’s clear which sportsbook took the bet.

DraftKings accepts big money Clippers futures bet

Never one to shy away from risking a huge loss, DraftKings accepted the $976,000 wager on the Clippers to win the West. DraftKings Sportsbook currently accepts either online or retail wagers in eight states.

It’s possible that the bettor could have traveled to one of those states to make the wager, so there’s no telling where the person actually calls home. The individual could well have been a Californian.

Regardless of whether he or she was a Clippers fan before placing the bet, that seems a foregone conclusion to some extent now. The line on the Clippers reaching the NBA Finals this year was +230 when he or she placed the bet.

Should the Clippers actually go on to represent the West in the NBA’s championship series, this bet would pay out $3.2 million. Whether or not the Clippers make Leonard an NBA champion for the second consecutive year by winning that series, the bettor would profit over $2.2 million.

There is one significant obstacle to that profit. It’s also now the same party that DraftKings’ hopes rest on for avoiding this loss.

Anthony Davis and James could be on “Team DK”

Entering play on Wednesday, March 4, the Lakers sit 5.5 games in front of the Clippers in the Western Conference standings. While grabbing a one-seed versus a two-seed may be irrelevant because the Clippers and Lakers share an arena, the Lakers remain a formidable opponent that the Clippers will likely have to go through to win the West.

The Clippers have proven themselves up to the task so far. They have won both meetings with the Lakers to this point.

The two teams will face off twice more during the regular season, however. Additionally, it’s quite common for a team that won the regular-season series with another team to fall to that same squad in a playoff series later in the year.

James is a playoff powerhouse, and this will be the first real chance for talented big man Anthony Davis to make a playoff run of his own. Of course, DraftKings’ hopes don’t all rest on the Lakers.

There are other teams that could get hot and derail the Clippers prior to a potential LA Western Conference Finals showdown. For example, the Clippers might have to face the likes of Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks right off the bat.

If the Clippers emerge out of the NBA West this season, it will be a hard-fought victory. One bettor out there will be a couple of million dollars richer, as well.

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Derek Helling

Derek Helling is a lead writer for PlayUSA and the manager of BetHer. He is a 2013 graduate of the University of Iowa and covers the intersections of sports with business and the law.

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