2023-24 NBA Championship Betting Odds Table
The Denver Nuggets were dominant during their playoff run to the Larry O’Brien trophy, going 16-4 and losing just one game at home. Before the 2022-23 season, the Nuggets had the ninth shortest odds to win the championship at +1,800. There has not been a team to win the NBA Championship after being outside the top 10 in preseason outright odds, with the longest odds being those of the 2015 Warriors, at +2,800. All odds provided by Betway.
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Team
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Outright Odds
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Denver Nuggets
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+450
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Boston Celtics
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+550
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Milwaukee Bucks
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+650
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Phoenix Suns
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+900
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Los Angeles Lakers
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+1,100
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Dallas Mavericks
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+1,200
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Golden State Warriors
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+1,200
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Philadelphia 76ers
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+1,400
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Los Angeles Clippers
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+1,800
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Miami Heat
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+1,800
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Denver Nuggets Odds Analysis
For some reason no one really gave the Denver Nuggets a chance to win the NBA championship even after they finished the regular season with the best record in the West. They went through their competition like swiss cheese on their way to winning the title, losing just four games throughout the playoffs.
They’ll bring back the same core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., and Aaron Gordon next year which is a great sign. They will also have Kentavious Caldwell-Pope back and will likely try to hammer out a deal for bench extraordinaire Bruce Brown.
They’re well-coached, they’re well-rounded, and all of their top players are still in their primes or about to enter their primes, so they’re a great shout to go back-to-back in 2024, though the +450 odds leave a little to be desired this early in the game.
Boston Celtics Odds Analysis
The Boston Celtics just keep pounding on the championship door but they just can’t quite find their way through. They lost in the NBA Finals in 2022 and have lost in the Eastern Conference Finals in four of the last seven years. They’ll be bringing back nearly all of the usual suspects, so they have that familiarity and chemistry going for them.
The big thing is that they need to get far more consistent play from their two big name All-NBA guys, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Joe Mazulla is a solid coach who should only improve in his second year on the job, but it will be the progress of Tatum and Brown as consistent playoff performers that will set them apart this year.
They might want to supplement their roster with another dynamic scorer to take pressure off the top two guys and/or grab a veteran who’s won a championship to help teach this young team how to finish the job. At +550, we’re not touching the Celtics right now, though they’ll likely be making another deep playoff run.
Milwaukee Bucks Odds Analysis
Safe to say that despite whatever moral platitudes Giannis Antetokounmpo was preaching after losing in the first round in five games to the No. 8 seed, last season was a massive disappointment for the Milwaukee Bucks, who canned their coach, Mike Budenholzer, just two years after leading the team to an NBA title.
They replaced him with another recently fired champion, Nick Nurse, formerly of the Toronto Raptors. Nurse should definitely get a tune out of these players and the new coach bounce should give the Bucks a little something extra too.
Giannis should be working on his free throw shooting and his jump shot in the offseason so he can be more of a consistent threat late in games, and the Bucks also desperately need some athleticism on their roster, an area which was sorely lacking last year outside of Giannis and Jrue Holiday and which was an especially glaring issue against the Heat.
Best Of The Rest
While the Nuggets are our best bet to win in 2024, the Phoenix Suns at +900 are probably the team offering the best value. They’re getting a much-needed reset after moving on from head coach Monty Williams and point guard Chris Paul and will no doubt be major buyers in the offseason as they look for depth behind Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
The only other teams that we believe can actually go out and win the 2024 NBA championship are the pair of teams from LA. As we say every year, if the Clippers can stay healthy, they’ll be a contender, and if the Lakers can get a more consistent tune out of Anthony Davis and maintain the way they played post-trade deadline, they’ll be in the mix too.
