(Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)
Preseason basketball rarely comes with a storyline this loud. On Saturday, October 10, the Toronto Raptors and LA Clippers share a floor at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, less than a month after the trade that sent Kawhi Leonard back to Toronto was finally completed. Tip-off is 6:30 p.m. ET.
The catch for bettors is that the game itself is not on the board. As of Wednesday morning, none of FanDuel, BetRivers, Fanatics or LetsBetMD had posted a moneyline, spread or total for it, which is normal for an exhibition three days out. The value right now is in the futures markets on these two teams, and that is where the best bets below come from. The game lean is included for when the online sportsbooks do open it.
The Trade Behind The Game
The deal was agreed on June 30 and sat frozen through the summer while the NBA investigated the Clippers for salary-cap circumvention tied to Leonard. It closed on September 14. Toronto got Leonard. The Clippers got Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, a pick swap and two second-rounders, and were also hit with a $30 million fine, the loss of five first-round picks and a one-year suspension for owner Steve Ballmer.
Leonard is 35 and coming off one of the best seasons of his career: 27.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists across 65 games, a Second-Team All-NBA selection and a seventh-place finish in MVP voting. Toronto went 46-36 last season, finished fifth in the East and lost a seven-game first-round series to Cleveland. Adding that player to that team is a real upgrade, and the futures prices are only partly paying for it.
Raptors: A Flat Opener And A Missing Star
Toronto’s first exhibition was forgettable. The Raptors lost 129-105 to Miami in Quebec City on October 3, trailing 76-55 at halftime. RJ Barrett and Tyreke Key led with 15 points each, Scottie Barnes had 11 on 5-of-11 shooting before sitting the second half with Immanuel Quickley, and the team shot 29% from three. The one bright spot was 25 forced turnovers.
Leonard did not play in that game, and Darko Rajakovic indicated he likely will not play in Vancouver either. That takes the reunion angle off the table and it should take some air out of any Raptors price too. Still, one bad half in the first week of October says very little about a 46-win team that kept Barnes, Barrett and Quickley and swapped Ingram for a better player.
Clippers: Thin, Hurt, And Not As Bad As The Number
The Clippers opened with a 104-101 win over Golden State in Honolulu on Sunday. Rui Hachimura, signed away from the Lakers, scored 21 points in 15 minutes on 8-of-11 shooting with four threes. Darius Garland added 15 in his 15 minutes. No. 5 pick Keaton Wagler shot 3-of-15 but hit the go-ahead 19-foot step-back with 14 seconds left. The starters sat the entire second half.
The injury list is the concern. Ingram, who averaged 21.5 points in 77 games for Toronto last season, is recovering from surgery on a partially torn Achilles and will miss the start of the season. Bradley Beal was not expected to begin camp on time because of right knee inflammation. What is left is still an NBA rotation: Garland, Hachimura, Max Strus, Brook Lopez, Derrick Jones Jr. and a top-five pick, coached by Tyronn Lue, on a team that went 42-40 a year ago and whose stated goal is the playoffs.
Raptors Vs Clippers Odds
All prices are from Wednesday, October 7. A dash means the book had no price on that market.
Fanatics is carrying most of the team markets here, so line shopping is limited to the title price, where BetRivers at +2500 beats FanDuel (+2200) and Fanatics (+2000) by a clear margin on Toronto. That gap is a reminder to check more than one of the best betting apps before placing any long-term bet.
SHOP NBA ODDS AT FANATICSHow To Play The Game When A Line Posts
With Leonard expected to rest and Ingram unavailable, this is a rotation-minutes game, and those are close to coin flips. The lean is Toronto on the moneyline at a short price: the Raptors are the designated home team in a building that sold out for them last year, Rajakovic kept most of his starters on the floor into the second half in Quebec City, and a 24-point loss tends to sharpen the next effort. Lue, by contrast, pulled every starter at halftime in Hawaii.
That lean has a limit. Around -150 it stops being a bet, because nobody outside the two coaching staffs knows the minutes plan. If the number opens higher than that, the game is better left alone, and I would not touch a preseason total at any number.
Best Bets
Raptors Over 45.5 wins (-132 at Fanatics). This is the price that stands out. The market is asking Toronto to match last season’s 46 wins with Leonard in place of Ingram. Leonard played 65 games last season and the Raptors will manage him carefully, which is the obvious risk, but the supporting cast already proved it can win 46. The juice is fair for the edge.
Clippers Over 27.5 wins (-120 at Fanatics). A 14.5-win drop from 42-40 is a steep markdown for a team with Garland, Hachimura, Strus and Lopez. The loss of five first-round picks does not change what this roster can do this season, and the organization is aiming for the postseason, not the lottery. The risk is health: if Ingram’s return drags and Beal’s knee lingers, the depth gets exposed quickly.
Raptors to win the Atlantic Division (+600 at Fanatics). One for small stakes. Toronto finished third in the division last season and sits fourth in the betting behind New York, Philadelphia and Boston, yet it is the team that added a Second-Team All-NBA forward. Six-to-one is enough to take a modest position.
The Raptors to make the playoffs at -227 is not a serious option at that price, and the Clippers at +600 to reach the postseason asks too much of a roster starting the year without its projected top scorer. Before betting any of these, it is worth comparing current sportsbook promos, since a boost on a season-long market can move the math.
BetBest PriceSportsbookRaptors Over 45.5 regular-season wins-132FanaticsClippers Over 27.5 regular-season wins-120FanaticsRaptors to win Atlantic Division (small stake)+600Fanatics