With players beginning to report for training camp and a preseason slate of games approaching, some teams have heavy odds to make a strong run this season.

After the NBA offseason and Olympic Games took place this summer, sportsbooks have begun to decipher which teams are the favorites to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy come season’s end. While many squads are hopeful of making a deep run into the playoffs during the 2024-2025 season, only a certain few hold the talent necessary to win its respective conference and play in the NBA Finals. The Boston Celtics are the reigning champions after dominating the 2024 postseason with a record of 16-3 throughout each round.

The team is also favored on FanDuel sportsbook to repeat as title winners at +300, with a number of motivating factors at play for the Celtics this season. Star players Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each experienced negative experiences with the US Olympic team, as Tatum failed to make any real contributions and Brown was left off the team entirely. 

Brown’s absence is especially noteworthy since his teammates Tatum, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White all made the team without him. He was vocal about not being included as well, making it known that he was displeased, figuring he was also coming off a Finals MVP performance less than a month prior. 

Tatum’s case is more the US team’s coaching staff showing favoritism towards its veteran stars rather than younger players such as Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton. With a result that ended in a gold medal, though, it is hard to challenge the strategy of head coach Steve Kerr and the rest of his staff. 

If Brown and Tatum can use these experiences to drive them to reach new heights during the new season, the Celtics could easily return to the Finals and win a second straight championship. Many around the league also believe that the Celtics title run in 2024 was mainly due to injuries sustained by players on opposing teams. 

Stars such as Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Haluiburton and Jimmy Butler all missed either a portion or the entirety of their series against Boston during the postseason. Boston was only able to beat who was in front of them, however, and winning a title in the NBA is always extremely difficult to accomplish whether injuries are a factor or not. 

Behind the Celtics are the Oklahoma City Thunder, coming off a second round loss to the eventual Western Conference winners, the Dallas Mavericks. The Thunder are listed at +700 to win the title which comes as a slight surprise figuring the team is full of youth and still gaining playoff experience. Players such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are still all entering their prime years, so envisioning a Finals run for the squad seems a tad hopeful from FanDuel, especially when one notices which teams are listed behind them. 

The Denver Nuggets won the title in the 2022-2023 season, cementing Nikola Jokic’s status as the best player in the NBA currently and making it seem as if the Nuggets would be a force for years to come. Unfortunately, Denver went out to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of the playoffs last and resembled a franchise that is more figuring out its roster rather than a title contender. The Nuggets failed to surround Jokic with the same level of talent he saw throughout 2022-2023 and really didn’t make any further improvements this offseason as well. 

The team brought in point guard Russell Westrbook in a move that left many confused, figuring Westbrook is most effective with the ball in his hands yet Jokic should be the main focus of the Denver offense at all times. At +900, the Nuggets still hold favorable odds for bettors with Jokic being a two-time Most Valuable Player and still having the likes of Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. around him for this upcoming season. 

Joining the Nuggets with odds of +900 to win the Finals are the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers, two teams that, unlike the Nuggets, made moves in the offseason to enhance efforts from the previous year. 

The Knicks traded for forward Mikal Bridges, reuniting him with college teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo to create the “Nova Knicks” as many have begun to call them. Having all been drafted out of Villanova University, it should be expected that each can reclaim the chemistry that brought the university a National Championship in 2018. 

The 76ers signed possibly the best free agent available this offseason in Paul George, as the Southern California native chose to depart the Los Angeles Clippers for the east coast in free agency. He will be joined by 2022-2023 Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid and rising star Tyrese Maxey. 

Having swapped the historically playoff-nondependent Tobias Harris for George, Philadelphia could look to make its first trip to the Finals since 2001, not having won a title since 1983. Brunson, Bridges and the other “Nova Knicks” will be attempting to bring Knicks fans their first title since 1973, so both teams have droughts that will play a factor in its motivation for the new season. 

The Mavericks are listed at +1000 despite winning the Western Conference last season and adding sharpshooter Klay Thompson in free agency. The team is once again led by superstar Luka Doncic and fellow-star Kyrie Irving as it hopes to return to the Finals and help Doncic cement his status as one of the best players in the league with a championship. With Thompson in the fold, Dallas’ offense should run fairly smoothly as Doncic can drive and kick out to either Irving or Thompson for a three, or find PJ Washington and Derek Lively for a lob attempt. 

Where Dallas could struggle is on the defensive end, as Doncic, Irving and Thompson aren’t exactly known as plus defenders and lack the size needed to possibly match up with Oklahoma City, Denver or even Minnesota, which the team defeated in the Western Conference Finals last season. 

With a number of contenders vying for championship supremacy this season, sportsbooks such as FanDuel will constantly be changing title odds once the season begins play this fall. While teams such as Boston, Oklahoma City and Denver should prove to be dominant throughout the regular season, the playoffs is where the best players have to step up and franchises find out if it is truly ready to win the Finals each season.