NBA 2024-25 Championship Winner Betting Preview – Odds, Tips & Predictions

The Celtics entered the 2024-25 season as the red-hot favourite to make it back-to-back championship, after they waltzed their way to their 18th of them last season. Early in the season, nothing much has changed, but while they are clearly the team to beat there are a number of teams that will require plenty of beating. Chief among them are the supremely talented young Oklahoma City Thunder, who appear to have taken a big step forward as expected, while a host of other Western Conference teams will be very good – whether they have enough to beat the most well-rounded starting five we have seen in a long time, however, remains to be seen. Prior to the season there was a clear top eight in this market on most NBA betting sites, but outside of the top couple things have tightened up a little, with teams like the Cavaliers and even the Lakers establishing themselves as outside contenders. Below, we take a look at the chances of all those teams as we head into the new season.

Boston Celtics 

Last season’s championship was about as clinical a performance as you could get in the NBA. After picking up Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday in the previous off-season, the Celtics always looked like being a pretty tough team to beat with a starting five consisting of those two alongside Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the vastly improved Derrick White, with Al Horford coming off the bench. And so it proved. They won 64 games during the regular season, seven more than any other team in the league and an incredible 14 more than any other team in the Eastern Conference, so it was little surprise to see them waltz through to the NBA Finals without too much of a concern – they lost just two games in those three series. Up against Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the Mavericks they clearly had the better all-around team in the Finals, too, and it showed, as they won in five games – the sole loss coming with the Celts already up 3-0 and seemingly pretty keen to win the chip on their home floor in Game 5.

Not too much has changed for the boys from Beantown coming into season 2024-25, nor would they have wanted it to. Both defensively and offensively this team has everything you could hope for, and even if many of the teams that they will need to beat to win a second consecutive championship might have a better individual player than they have, no one has as good a team. They well and truly deserve to be favourites, and their start to the season has done nothing but re-affirm their status at the top of the tree. They kicked things off by beating the Knicks, who many expect to be their biggest rival in the Eastern Conference, by a casual 23 points, and they have already put plenty of other teams to the sword too – and all this without Kristaps Porzingis. There are a lot of good teams in the league this season, but very few great ones. The Celtics are the exception. They are beautifully balanced and after last season now have experience going all the way, which will invariably hold them in good stead come the playoffs. Though their odds are short and not particularly tempting, they are very clearly the team to beat.

What brings them here? Ever since acquiring Porzingis and Holiday a couple of off-seasons ago the Celtics have been primed to be at the top of the table for a while, and after their dominant performance last season they will be tough to beat again in 2024-25.

What could hold them off? Not much. The Celtics have an extremely well-rounded team, are well-coached and now have championship experience. The fact that they won’t have the best player in numerous playoff series could be the one black mark against them.
 
Injury report. Porzingis had foot surgery after last season and is expected to be out until December, while Jaylen Brown has had to deal with a hip injury early in the season which has seen him miss a couple of games.

Bet on the Boston Celtics to win the NBA Championship @ $3.60 with PlayUp

Oklahoma City Thunder

Ever since they traded Paul George for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a litany of high draft picks, the Thunder have looked well set up for the future, but few would have predicted them to have been as good as they are already this soon. They have taken giant strides forward over the past couple of seasons, going from 24 wins in 2021-22, to 40 the next season and then a huge 57 last year – enough to earn them the number one seed in a very competitive Western Conference. We all know what Gilgeous-Alexander can do, though the extent of his rise has exceeded the expectations of most, but the immediate impact of Chet Holmgren and the rapid rise of Jalen Williams has created a unique, wildly talented and very young three-headed monster that will hold this franchise in good stead for many years to come. Add to the mix the elite defense of Lu Dort – which will this season be joined by more of the same from Alex Caruso – and you have a very, very dangerous team which is only going to be improving the more time they spend on the floor both individually and as a collective.
 
Improvement for an already very good team was expected this season given how young they are, and the early signs are that they have done exactly that. The Thunder won their first six games of the season up until the time of writing, and none of those games were close. Incredibly, each of those six wins was by a double-figure margin, with the closest result being a 12-point win over the Spurs. They haven’t had the hardest start to the season, but they did beat the Nuggets by 15 points and a couple of mid-tier teams with consummate ease. Gilgeous-Alexander is doing what Gilgeous-Alexander does and has established himself as the MVP favourite, Chet Holmgren already looks better than last season, and Jalen Williams has continued on his merry way as the most unheralded member of a prodigious trio. Lu Dort is shooting the lights out, Alex Caruso is a valuable addition of the bench, Cason Wallace looks ready for more minutes – the positives just keep adding up for the Thunder. They may be young, but this looks like the best team in the Western Conference, and the biggest threat to the Celtics. Whether they can bring it all together in the playoffs might remain a question mark given their youth, but they already have one season of postseason action under their belt. Anything less than a Conference Finals appearance would be a disappointment for this team, and they are very capable of going beyond that too.

What brings them here? As mentioned, that Paul George trade has set the Thunder up for a long time, with Gilgeous-Alexander and some of those high draft picks beginning to turn into superstars.
 
What could hold them off? A lack of experience would probably be the main concern for the Thunder. They have plenty of talent and ability at both ends of the floor, but they are very, very young and really have just one season of playoff experience behind them.
 
Injury report. New recruit Isaiah Hartenstein, who will be another valuable addition once healthy, is out until probably December with a fractured hand, while Jaylin Williams (not Jalen Williams) is on a similar timeline due to a hamstring injury.

Bet on the Thunder to win the NBA championship at $6.50 with UniBet

New York Knicks

The Knicks have crept up the list of championship favourites early in the season, shortening from $10 to $8.50 with some betting sites. While that’s not a huge change, it’s indicative of how tight the league is below the Celtics that the subtle change in odds has seen them leap from sixth to third in this market. Interestingly they didn’t actually enjoy all that good a start to the season, with a big loss to the Celtics in their opening game and another to the Cavaliers two games later, but when they have been on they have looked very good, most notably in a 25-point win over the Pacers and a 30-point win over the Pistons. Jalen Brunson has, of course, been leading the way for them, while new recruit Karl-Anthony Towns has shown what he is capable of – he had a slow start over the first three games before exploding for 44 points on 17-25 shooting against the Heat. 

The trade that brought Towns in did move the needle for the Knicks, though whether that was in a positive or negative direction depends on who you asked. Towns doesn’t have the playmaking skills or Julius Randle, for whom he was traded in – or certainly the self-belief in his playmaking skills – but he is a far better shooter, a more efficient scorer, and more willing and able to play within the flow of an offence. Donte DiVencenzo was also included in that trade and is a major loss, though with Mikal Bridges coming in they have plenty of wing ability on the roster. With everyone fit and firing this is a really, really well-rounded starting five; among Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns there is not really a weak link. Already last season this was a good team, but the moves that they have made in the off-season should really make them better, even if they have suffered a couple of early defeats to good teams. There are some similarities between this team and the Celtics – they might not have the best player on the floor in a lot of postseason series, but as far as starting fives go, theirs could be as good as any team aside from the Celtics. They should get better as the season goes on and they become more accustomed to playing with each other, and will be a tough out in the playoffs for any team. The big question is whether they have enough out and out talent to match it with the best of the best. At worst, however, they should put themselves right in the mix. 

What brings them here? The Knicks have benefited enormously from bringing in Jalen Brunson a couple of seasons ago, while they have gradually acquired plenty of solid players to surround him with.

What could hold them off? The Knicks get the most out of themselves and have a very deep roster, but they don’t boast the star power of many other contenders. Brunson is a bonafide superstar, but not at the level of guys like Jokic and Doncic, and their next best player is not as good as the second fiddles on many other teams.

Injury report. Mitch Robinson is expected to be out until the beginning of December with an ankle injury, while Precious Achiuwa will have his hamstring re-evaluated at some point in November.

Bet on the Knicks to win the 2024-25 NBA Championship at $9.00 with PlayUp

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks were a surprise participant in the NBA Finals last season in the eyes of many, yours truly included. They have probably the best backcourt in the league in the form of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, but with an enormous drop down to their third best player it always looked like a top-heavy roster which would struggle against the best teams in the business in a seven-game series. They didn’t, and while some of their lesser lights such as PJ Washington and rookie Dereck Lively II played important roles, Irving and Doncic were the reason they were able to go so deep. They were, however, not able to even remotely challenge the Celtics, going down in a disappointing NBA Finals 4 games to 1, with that solitary victory coming when the Celts had virtually wrapped up the series and realistically wanted to win the championship back on their home floor. That result didn’t bode particularly well for the Mavericks’ ability to beat the Celtics with their roster as it was constructed, but they should be a little better this season than last. 

The addition of Klay Thompson to the Mavericks roster in the off-season is obviously not as significant as the same move might have been a few years ago, but even in the twilight of his career as he is, Thompson will provide a consistent outside threat who will open up space for the Mavericks stars, and probably have a handful of game-changing nights over the course of the season. Washington should continue to develop into his role with this team while development is expected of Lively II in his second year, and Spencer Dinwiddie provides a valuable back-up at the point guard position after moving across to Dallas. Once again this team’s fortunes will be very contingent on the performances of Doncic and Irving, but the Mavericks should be a more well-balanced team this season than they were last, when they made it to the final two. The Mavericks are capable of once again going deep into the playoffs this season, but they have some very good teams that they need to beat to go all the way.

What brings them here? The Nuggets have been right around the Championship mark for a couple of years now, with Nikola Jokic continuing to go about carving one of the best careers in history and plenty of very able support around him.
 
What could hold them off? Like the Celtics, the Nuggets have the least glaring deficiencies or concerns in the championship race. Their loss to the Timberwolves did show that they are fallible, but there are no major weaknesses in this team.
 
Injury report. The Mavs are looking pretty healthy early in the season. Maxi Kleber has missed the start of the season with a hamstring injury, but shouldn’t be out for too long.

Bet on the Mavericks to win the 2024-25 NBA Championship at $11.00 with PlayUp

Minnesota Timberwolves

Last season was an unexpected one for the Timberwolves, who exceeded surely even their own ambitions by finishing 3rd in the Western Conference and then making their way through to the Conference Finals. Most impressive of all was their Conference Semi performance, in which they beat the Nuggets in a topsy turvy seven-game series. Few expected them to win that; up against the reigning champions, one of the most well-drilled sides in the league and with Nikola Jokic leading the charge, while they were an inexperienced team being led by Anthony Edwards in his third season, and who have been attempting to upend the status quo by having two bonafide big men among their most important players in Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert. But win it they did, coming back from a 3-2 deficit to make their way into the Conference Finals. Unfortunately that was all she wrote as they lost in five games to the Mavericks, but nonetheless it was an impressive season for the Wolves.

That two-big man setup actually worked fairly well last season, even if they did lack the offensive firepower of many of the teams around them – though Edwards is continuing to advance his game each and every year – but on the eve of the season they upended it entirely by trading Karl-Anthony Towns. That was a shock move, and perhaps even more surprising is that in doing it they didn’t completely move away from the double big man setup. They brought in Julius Randle, who presumably they hope will add a bit more dynamism and passing from the four position, though he is not as polished a player as Towns in. But they also brought in Donte DiVencenzo, who will bolster their already league-leading defence even further and provide some much-needed outside shooting to the mix.

That trade certainly changes things for the Timberwolves, though whether it’s for better or worse remains to be seen. They will miss the outside shooting of Towns and Randle has been known to have a major impact on his team’s offence – and not always in a positive way – though he will provide some added playmaking. Donte DiVencenzo, meanwhile, will be a valuable player, capable of hitting outside shots, facilitating on basic plays when needed and defending at a high level. But the success of this team will still hinge primarily on them being as good as anyone in the league defensively. If Edwards takes a big step forward then that will help them to become a good team offensively, but they are not going to be as good as many other contenders at that end of the floor, so for them to compete with the best they will need to once again be very difficult to score against. Early in the season they haven’t been quite as defensively potent as they were last season, but it is still a very small sample size. The Timberwolves are an interesting team, with an enigmatic bunch of players led by someone who could one day be the best in the league, but is not currently at that level. As an outside threat they do pose some danger, but they probably don’t have quite the ceiling that some other teams paying similar odds to win the championship do, and as a result it’s hard to see them as presenting particularly good value.

What brings them here? The Timberwolves skyrocketed into title contention last season, with defence being the cornerstone of this team.

What could hold them off? The Timberwolves don’t have nearly as much offensive potency as many other contenders. For them to compete they need to be elite defensively, and probably for Edwards to take a big step forward too.

Injury report. The Timberwolves are pretty healthy early in the season, with only a minor ankle injury to Rudy Gobert on their injury list at the time of writing.

Bet on the Timberwolves to win the 2024-25 NBA Championship at $13.00 with Unibet

Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers 2023-24 season was dictated heavily by injury. A team with a generational talent in Joel Embiid leading the charge and a second fiddle in Tyrese Maxey who last season established himself as a genuine star of the league, they started the season off really positively and looked likely to pose perhaps Boston’s biggest threat in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, Joel Embiid suffered a long-term injury which meant he only managed 39 games for the season, and unsurprisingly, with him watching on from the sidelines they were unable to compete at nearly the same level. He returned just in time for the playoffs and lo and behold, they won eight in a row to secure the 7th seed – Embiid playing five of them – but in a competitive series they lost in the first round to the Knicks. The health of the big Cameroonian will again have a significant say in their season, but they have a little more backup this season round in the form of a guy by the name of Paul George.

His acquisition gives the Sixers a super dangerous trio in their starting lineup, but as it did last season, injury will play a major role in their fortunes. If each of George, Embiid and Maxey is healthy, this team could be anything. His presence gives them more scoring, more playmaking and more defence, and the fact that he doesn’t demand being the number one option means that he will be well-suited to this team. But George missed the first few games of the season as did Embiid, and with Maxey subsequently leading an otherwise relatively thin roster, the Sixers unsurprisingly struggled. As a result their odds to win this year’s championship have nearly doubled from what they were at the start of the season, but there is still plenty of reason to be optimistic about their fortunes. Obviously there are a couple of concerns – they need George and in particular Embiid to play enough games this year to ensure that they secure a decent seed to avoid playing, well, Boston, too early in the playoffs, while they will also need them healthy in the playoffs if they’re to do any damage. What’s more, with such a significant new addition to the team they will obviously want to get as many reps in their legs as a collective as possible throughout the course of the season to iron out the invariable growing pains. But as a team at longer odds, they’re far from the worst bet for this year’s championship. The Sixers might have a lower floor than a couple of other teams on this list, but equally they have a higher ceiling, and that’s ideal for a longer odds outsider. Certainly a lot needs to go right for them to challenge for this year’s championship, but if they stay healthy, the Sixers could be extremely dangerous in the postseason.

What brings them here? The Sixers have had an interesting few years, but Embiid has been one constant, and last year Maxey took a big step towards being a dangerous second fiddle to him. Now with George in the mix, this is a really talented, capable team. 

What could hold them off? Injury will be the main concern, as it was last year and as it has been in the early stages of this season. How this new trio gels together will also be interesting to watch, with the group having obviously never played together before. 

Injury report. George and Embiid both missed the first few games of the season with their respective ailments, but the former returns in early November while Embiid should theoretically not be too far behind.

Bet on the 76ers to win the 2024-25 NBA Championship at $13.00 with PlayUp

Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets have been a big drifter in the championship market early in the season, with a couple of disappointing losses early raising question marks about whether they have enough depth around Nikola Jokic to once again compete at the pointy end of the season. But this could very easily be a case of a kneejerk reaction which will ultimately prove unwarranted. The Nuggets have, of course, been a contender for the past couple of seasons, having won the championship in 2023 and been right in the mix once again last season. In neither of those seasons would they have been competitive without the best player in the world in Nikola Jokic, while Jamal Murray has been a capable second fiddle particularly in the postseason. Outside of those two, they have never been exactly riddled with talent, but what they have had is a well-rounded roster with a bunch of role players – namely Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who know what they need to do to a tee. 

This season they are without KCP, but while he is no doubt a loss that needs to be replaced, his absence doesn’t exactly preclude them from contention. Attempting to fill his shoes is second year player Christian Braun, who is more than capable of becoming a valuable starting five member. Their bench is thin and the addition of Russell Westbrook could be either helpful or harmful, but on the face of it this team is not all that different to the one which won the championship just a couple of years ago. Once again, they will be reliant on Nikola Jokic being completely dominant if they’re to compete, and there is no reason to think that he won’t be. Jamal Murray has been a contributor to their early season woes – he has not looked himself to start the season – but he has many times in the past struggled at points throughout the home and away season but shown an ability to elevate his game to another level when it matters most. The Nuggets have the best player in the world, a relatively settled line-up and an experienced coach, and they should be once again expecting to finish right near the top of the Western Conference and give the championship a shake, even if they have started slowly. Their drift in the betting odds has been arguably too rapid, and it would be no surprise to see them shorten again as the season wears on. At up to $15 with some betting agencies, the Nuggets look like some really good value to win the championship at this point in the season.
 
What could hold them off? The Nuggets have not started the season all that well, with a lack of depth and some indifferent form from their second fiddle in Jamal Murray certainly not helping. Whether Jokic has enough help around him will remain the question mark for the Nuggets throughout the season.

Injury report. Jamal Murray entered concussion protocols a few games into the season, which will see him out for likely just a short period.

Bet on the Nuggets to win the 2024-25 NBA Championship at $15.00 with PlayUp

Los Angeles Lakers

There are a number of teams sitting next in line in the championship betting, a little way below the above seven teams, and the Lakers are probably the most interesting among them to talk about – so that’s what we are going to do! They shortened slightly early in the season courtesy of a strong start which saw them win their first three games of the season – and against the Timberwolves, Suns and Kings no less. That winning form hasn’t really continued though, with consecutive losses to first the Suns and then comfortably to the Cavaliers, while a couple of games later they were really disappointing when going down by double figures to a young Pistons team. Of course, at this stage of the season there is no need to ride every result, but the Lakers have certainly shown some reason to be optimistic about their chances of outperforming expectations this season.  

The most talked about team in the league does have a reasonable group of players outside their star duo, with Austin Reaves hopefully continuing to develop, D’Angelo Russell capable of lighting up offensively on his night – albeit not always with a great deal of consistency – and Rui Hachimura providing some added offensive firepower. But this is LeBron James and Anthony Davis’ team. James, at nearly 40, is too old to lead a team to a championship on his own, even if he remains one of the better players in the league, but Davis appears to be continuing to grow accustomed to the role of this team’s best player as the years go by – and as he stays on the court. Last season he managed a career high 76 games, and that continuity has unsurprisingly led to a start to this season which suggests he could be in for one of the best of his career – if, of course, he stays healthy. Davis has been dominant early, averaging well over 30 points on excellent shooting to go with over 12 rebounds and some elite defence, and if that continues and LeBron also stays healthy, the Lakers will be a good solid team capable of winning close to 50 games. Good enough to beat a team like the Celtics or the Thunder in a seven-game series? Probably not. But they do have both a  very good top-end and some reasonable depth at their disposal, so they are certainly capable of posing a challenge for most teams in a league both in an individual match-up, and in an extended series. Realistically a championship is hard to envision, but it’s not entirely out of the realms of possibility.

What brings them here? The Lakers have been hovering around the edge of the playoffs since their bubble championship back in 2020, but if LeBron and Davis can be as healthy as they were last year they could climb a little ways up the Western Conference standings.

What could hold them back? Injuries will be a constant concern, even if both those two stars have been healthy for a while. LeBron is nearly 40 and Davis has been as injury prone as anyone in the league throughout the course of his career, and if either of them go down it will hurt the Lakers significantly.

Injury report. Having said all that, the Lakers are pretty healthy early in the season. Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood have been unavailable early in the year, but their main guys have been fit and raring to go. Davis suffered a slight ankle tweak against the Pistons early in November, but it certainly didn’t look like an injury that would keep him out for long, if at all.

Bet on the Lakers to win the 2024-25 NBA Championship at $26.00 with PlayUp

There is no denying that the Celtics are the team to beat, and even at odds as short as what they are, they look tempting. With such a well-rounded roster, they are more insulated from the impact of potential injury than many of their competitors too, which further adds to their championship credentials. The Thunder, too, are looking better by the day, and even if they are young, their talent is undeniable and they now have postseason experience after last season, too. But the team that stands out as presenting perhaps the best value on the board is the Nuggets. Certainly they have holes in their roster, but it’s nothing that they haven’t dealt with for – or more accurately, nothing that Nikola Jokic has not been able to deal with. They are not the best team in the league, but they have the best player, and their odds have ballooned too much based purely on a slow-ish start to the season. They will likely shorten as the season goes on, so at $13 early in the year, they are one of the best bets in this market.

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