NBA Championship Odds – NBA Finals Betting Lines 2024

Now that the dust has settled from the free agency flurry, the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets are neck-and-neck as favorites to emerge victorious in next year’s finals. Let’s take a look at where the NBA Championship odds stand now.

NBA championship odds for 2023-24 have been cemented for the summer’s back half.

After a flurry of movement once free agency opened, we’re largely playing the waiting game for either Damian Lillard or James Harden — or both — to have their trade requests fulfilled.

Otherwise, it’s been the standard August lull for NBA odds, with little roster movement or any news-cycle happenings for that matter. 

When action resumes, the Boston Celtics appear poised to make another deep run from the Eastern Conference, with the defending champion Denver Nuggets seen as favorites to conquer the West once more. There are still plenty of hopefuls down the list, so let’s get to it.

Here are the latest NBA title odds. 

2023-24 NBA Championship odds

Who has the best 2024 NBA championship odds?

Denver Nuggets (+475 to +500)

It’s no surprise that the defending champion Denver Nuggets are among the favorites to repeat, with Nikola Jokic putting on a true display of dominance all season and Jamal Murray returning to play the best non-Bubble ball of his career en route to a title. Most of the crew will return, and the hope is that Bruce Brown’s departure can be made up in the margins. They’re the team to beat until proven otherwise.

Boston Celtics (+475 to +500)

The Boston Celtics, spent most of last season as the outright favorites, but infamously flamed out in the conference finals. Not content to run it back, Brad Stevens thus swung a deal for Kristaps Porzingis, giving this Celtics core its first potent scoring threat with size — albeit an oft-injured one. While they have lots of big looks to throw at Jokic, this is not a roster without questions.

Milwaukee Bucks (+600 to +850)

Priced a notch below the favorites are the 2021 champion Milwaukee Bucks, whose championship threat has been a bit subdued by back-to-back underwhelming playoff exits amid key injuries. They did bring back a key piece in re-signing Khris Middleton to a three-year deal, but questions about both his durability and receded depth on the rotation’s fringes face this not-so-young-anymore roster.

Phoenix Suns (+625 to +650)

The Phoenix Suns also saw their odds improve after reaching a deal to acquire Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards. The high-scoring guard will now form a potent Big 3 in the desert with fellow All-Stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. While the front office has done a solid job of rounding out the roster on a shoestring budget, questions remain about the depth being able to support a title run, especially if any of the stars miss time.

Miami Heat (+900 to +1,000)

Rounding out the favorites are the Miami Heat, who have made a few tweaks to the roster since free agency opened, such as re-signing Kevin Love and reuniting with old friend Josh Richardson while losing Gabe Vincent and Max Strus to the Lakers and Cavaliers, respectively.

Now, the talk of South Beach has less to do with what’s already happened than with what may be next to come: Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard has requested a trade, and wants it to be to the Heat, although the outcome remains murky. 

2023-24 NBA Finals odds over time

Here’s a look at how NBA championship odds stack up league-wide this season. We’ll be updating throughout the season to show how the odds race evolves. 

Understanding NBA Finals odds

Sportsbooks will post NBA Finals futures as early as the summer before the season starts. These NBA futures are constantly adjusted throughout the offseason as players get hurt or are traded. Once the regular season begins, NBA finals odds will change daily as teams win and lose games and as more players are injured or traded. Sportsbooks will also adjust the NBA title odds based on handle and liability to certain teams.

NBA Championship odds will usually look like this:

This means that on a $100 bet, you’ll stand to win $240 if the Bucks win the NBA title. If it’s close to the end of the regular season or even during the playoffs and the NBA has a very dominant team, you might see that a team has a minus sign (-) ahead of its odds. 

• Golden State Warriors -150

This means that if you bet on the Golden State Warriors during the 2018-2019 NBA season you would have needed to bet $150 to profit $100 if the Warriors won the championship.

Above we have posted the American odds for the NBA championship. However, these are easy to convert to decimal odds or fractional odds with our odds converter tool.

Past NBA Finals winners

The Denver Nuggets hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2023, toppling the eighth-seeded Miami Heat by a 4-1 score.

Here are the last 10 NBA Finals winners, along with their opening odds.

Teams with the most NBA Championships

No team has ever enjoyed a longer stretch of dominance than the Celtics, who won eight straight championships from 1959 to 1966. The franchise’s stunning superiority was due in large part to the spectacular play of Bill Russell, who won 11 titles in his 13 years in the league.

NBA Championship odds trends

• The Western Conference has won 14 of the last 21 NBA Championships.
• A No. 1 seed has won the championship in 11 of the last 21 seasons.
• The last time a non-Top-3 seed won the championship was 1995 (Houston, No. 6).
• The Golden State Warriors have won four of the past eight NBA titles, and been Western Conference champions in two of those four seasons they didn’t lift the Larry O. 

How to bet NBA Finals odds

There are many strategies to consider when making an NBA futures bet on which team will win the championship. Obviously, you’re looking to bet on who you think can navigate through the NBA playoffs and come out on top. So just because a team is in first place at the NBA All-Star break, it doesn’t mean that’s the best roster to win in the postseason. 

One thing to consider is the conference the teams play in because a team needs to win its conference before it can win the NBA title. The West has long been considered the better of the two conferences, but the East’s depth of elite teams hasn’t been this great in decades. 

Also, consider how an injury may affect a futures bet. Let’s say the Milwaukee Bucks are a heavy favorite to win the Eastern Conference and a short favorite to win the NBA title. But what happens if Giannis Antetokounmpo gets hurt? In that case, a futures bet on another East contender has tremendous value. 

Other things to consider are strength of schedule, and even load management. Maybe a team is undervalued in the futures market because it has played the more difficult portion of its schedule early on. Or perhaps a team has more losses than it should because it has been sitting its best player on the second half of back-to-back games all season. 

Check out more insight into how to bet on basketball.

Where to bet on the NBA Finals

If you’re in a state that allows mobile, or online betting, make sure you know which sites are the best basketball betting sites. The best betting sites offer sharp odds, quick payouts and are safe and secure when it comes to depositing and withdrawing your money. 

NBA In-Season Tournament odds

Team
Boston Celtics	+700
Denver Nuggets	+950
Milwaukee Bucks	+1,000
Phoenix Suns	+1,100
Golden State Warriors	+1,200
Los Angeles Lakers	+1,300
Cleveland Cavaliers	+1,300
Philadelphia 76ers	+1,400
Miami Heat	+1,500
Sacramento Kings	+1,500
Atlanta Hawks	+2,000
Oklahoma City Thunder	+2,200
Dallas Mavericks	+2,200
Minnesota Timberwolves	+2,200
New York Knicks	+2,200
Los Angeles Clippers	+2,500
Memphis Grizzlies	+2,800
New Orleans Pelicans	+2,800
Chicago Bulls	+3,500
Orlando Magic	+3,500
Brooklyn Nets	+3,500
Indiana Pacers	+3,500
Utah Jazz	+4,000
Toronto Raptors	+4,000
Houston Rockets	+5,000
Charlotte Hornets	+5,500
San Antonio Spurs	+6,000
Portland Trail Blazers	+7,000
Washington Wizards	+7,500
Detroit Pistons	+7,500

Odds as of July 25, 2023.

The NBA made a splash in Sin City during Summer League with the announcement of a brand-new In-Season Tournament scheduled to tip off on November 3, 2023. The inaugural event will feature all 30 clubs and will consist of Group Play and Knockout Rounds culminating in a Championship game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on December 9, 2023. Visit our NBA In-Season Tournament odds page for more details and analysis heading into the 2023-24 campaign.

NBA Championship Odds FAQs

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