LeBron James’ first three games of his career as a number two option have gone pretty well, mostly because he actually hasn’t been a number two option. As the Lakers have eased Luka Dončić into his career in the purple and gold, James has continued to orchestrate the offense amid Dončić’s struggles.
To be clear, Dončić will not average 14.7 points on 35.6% shooting for the remainder of his career with Los Angeles. But James — averaging 22.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 8.7 assists per game since Dončić joined the roster — shouldn’t see his production dip too much even once Dončić finds his form. Over the last three games, James has still averaged 22.4 more touches and 6.8 more potential assists per game than Dončić has.
Tonight, Los Angeles will travel to Portland to take on the Trail Blazers, who had been one of the hottest teams in the league prior to the All-Star break before losing each of their past three games.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, the Lakers are three-point favorites and the point total is set to 227.5. Below, I’ve highlighted my favorite prop bets centered around The King.
Best LeBron James Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
LeBron James to Record a Double-Double (-110)
First of all, James scoring 10 points is a given; the last time he didn’t score double-digit points in a regular-season came on January 5, 2007, by far the longest such streak in NBA history. He’s also had at least 10 assists 20 different times this season and at least 10 rebounds 15 times, and his 10 triple-doubles are the second-most in the league. As a reminder, he’s 40 years old. Although he’s only posted one double-double while playing alongside Dončić, neither of his first two games with him were competitive, so James played fewer minutes than usual.
Over the last 15 games, Portland has been extremely good at defense, allowing the sixth-fewest points, ninth-fewest rebounds, and third-fewest assists per game to opposing players, and if it plays up to that form tonight, it’ll be hard for James to record a double-double. But over their last three games, the Trail Blazers gave up two monster performances to Nikola Jokić and have allowed the third-most points and fifth-most assists across that span. It’s a question of which Portland team will show up tonight, but given that the Trail Blazers are without three of their four centers, it’s far from out of the question that James could grab 10 rebounds for the first time with Dončić as a teammate.
LeBron James O2.5 Three-Pointers Made (+145)
Portland has been one of the best three-point defending teams this season, allowing just 12.9 made threes per game, the sixth-lowest rate in the league, even though opponents are converting at the 10th-best percentage. Wing Toumani Camara — likely to draw the primary James assignment — is holding opponents to 1.8 percentage points worse than usual from beyond the arc, the second-best defensive mark on the team among players who have appeared in at least 40 games.
However, James has been on a tear from beyond the arc in recent games, making three or more three-pointers in each of his last six games and shooting 46.8% from beyond the arc over that span even after missing two game-tying three-point attempts in the last five seconds of last night’s loss. Perhaps his hot shooting is a fluke and is due for a downturn at some point, but what’s not a fluke is the offensive scheme that JJ Redick has put in place since Dončić’s arrival. While playing alongside Dončić, James has attempted exactly half of his field goals from beyond the arc, a mark that would be 13.3 percentage points higher than his previous high three-point attempt rate across a full season. Dončić’s gravity allows James to get easier, less physically intensive looks and possibly even prolong his career for another season or two.
