NBA: The Surprise Team That has the Best Odds to Land Kyrie Irving in Free Agency

Kyrie Irving is one of the top NBA free agents in the 2019 class. The former NBA champion is a six-time All-Star, and he is one of the best point guards in the NBA. After two seasons in Boston, Irving will either re-sign with the Celtics or seek greener pastures with another franchise when free agency starts.

Although the speculation is he will join another superstar and head to the New York Knicks, Las Vegas oddsmakers have a sneaky pick above the Knicks as the favorite to sign him. Keep reading to find out which teams Vegas believes have the top odds of signing Kyrie Irving.

Los Angeles Clippers

• Odds: +1000

The Clippers made the playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference after winning 48 games in the 2018-19 season. Led by record-setter Lou Williams and Patrick Beverley in the backcourt, the Clippers should have enough salary cap space to sign one and possibly two free agents to maximum contracts.

Kawhi Leonard looks like he could end up in L.A.’s red, white, and blue, and adding Kyrie Irving to the mix would make him one of the most dominant players in the Western Conference. If the Clippers add both players, then they would almost certainly be one of the top teams out west.

Los Angeles Lakers

• Odds: +750

Kyrie Irving rushed to get out of LeBron James' shadow in Cleveland, and that’s how he ended up in Boston. He quickly realized that being the leader sometimes isn't all it's cracked up to be when no one wants to listen to what you have to say.

Irving to the Lakers would mean a reunion in Los Angeles for him and James. They have excellent chemistry on the basketball court together, and both put up clutch performances in Cleveland’s Game 7 NBA Finals win over Golden State in 2016.

A roster with James, Irving, Brandon Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma would be a good one on paper, but could the Lakers make enough additional moves to land Irving and also trade for Anthony Davis?

Boston Celtics

• Odds: +350

The team with the third-best chance to land Irving is the team he played for during the 2018-19 season. Although the Celtics seemed to play better without Irving, such as during their 2018 playoff run to the Eastern Conference Finals, he can still sign a maximum deal with Boston for more money than he could earn with any other club.

There's also the possibility that the Celtics swing for the fences and trade for Anthony Davis, which could sway Irving into staying. Irving leaving the Celtics always seemed like a foregone conclusion, but a big-money contract and another superstar in green might get him to stay.

New York Knicks

• Odds: +300

The Knicks were hoping for a best-case scenario of signing Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in free agency coupled with landing the No. 1 pick and drafting Zion Williamson. Although they ended up with the No. 3 pick in the draft, bringing in Irving and another superstar could help the Knicks become a playoff team.

It makes sense for the Knicks to sign two franchise-changing superstars during free agency, as every move that has been made for the last two years has been for July 1, 2019, the first day of free agency. We should deem anything less than signing at least one of the top 10 free agents as a failure for the franchise.

Brooklyn Nets

• Odds: +250

The Brooklyn Nets are the leader in the clubhouse to sign Kyrie Irving according to Las Vegas, and with good reason. They have a solid young roster, excellent coaching and development, and a potential breakout player in All-Star D'Angelo Russell. Although Russell is listed as a point guard, he would work better at the two guard position with Irving being the primary ball handler and distributor.

Almost everyone agrees Kyrie Irving has the best ball-handling skills in the league, and possibly the best in NBA history, so having two players in the backcourt that can each put up 25 points per game in the Eastern Conference would make the Nets a formidable team to go up against in the playoffs.