NBA Finals Odds: Nets Still Tops Amid Kyrie Drama

The race for the NBA Finals is about to resume in a few days, and the NBA championship odds are fresh for the upcoming 2021-22 season

The health-hopeful Brooklyn Nets are atop the 2021-22 NBA Finals odds across the board.

They're chased closely by LeBron James and the L.A. Lakers, who saw movement with their NBA title odds after the draft night acquisition of Russell Westbrook. 

Let's check out where every team stacks up with the new NBA season on our doorstep.

2021-22 NBA Championship odds

NBA Championship odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook are live within a five-minute delay.

Compare NBA futures odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.

NBA Championship favorites

The Brooklyn Nets enter the 2021-22 season as title favorites at +250. The Nets limped through the playoffs – losing Kyrie Irving, with James Harden a shell of his usual self – and still came within Kevin Durant's toe of knocking off the eventual champs in Game 7 of the East semis. Keeping their stars rested will be of paramount importance for BK, who bolstered their depth noticeably in the offseason, just in case.

The biggest question facing the Nets' season at present is Kyrie Irving's vaccination status. As Kyrie has yet to be jabbed, and doesn't seem thrilled about doing so. Equally not-thrilled, the Nets have effectively banished him until he is vaccinated, setting up by far the season's biggest wild-card variable.

Sitting second are the Los Angeles Lakers (+400), who acquired Russell Westbrook and a slew of former All-Stars, veterans and ring-chasing youngsters in the offseason, making themselves the on-paper favorites in the West. The Lakers face some undeniable mileage and basketball logistics questions ahead of this season, but count on LeBron James to continue finding ways to make it work.

The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks sit third at +650. While they finally got over their playoff hump, many skeptics pointed to the Nets' ailments as a huge key to the Bucks' triumph. Regardless, they have the hardware now, and a permanent spot in NBA history. Despite losing defensive workhorse PJ Tucker to the Heat in free agency, Milwaukee returns the rest of its core and can play with the confidence and continuity a championship defense affords. 

The Golden State Warriors – perhaps the team with the widest range of outcomes this season – sit fourth at +1,200. In the new year, the Warriors will return All-Star Klay Thompson after back-to-back ACL and Achilles injuries sidelined him for two full seasons. They also have a plethora of young assets that could be used in a variety of win-now trade scenarios. With Steph Curry still playing at an MVP level, they remain a threat, even after the collapse of their dynasty. 

Rounding out the Top 5 are the Utah Jazz (+1,400). The Jazz were the NBA's best regular-season team a year ago but crumbled in the playoffs, losing in six to the Clippers, who played the back end of that series without Kawhi Leonard. Utah is deep, talented and well-coached, but has several inherent flaws – including the ability for teams to go small against reigning DPOY Rudy Gobert – that seem to be exposed come playoff time.

Understanding NBA Championship 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, suspended or are traded. Once the regular season begins, NBA finals odds will change daily as teams win and lose games and as more players get hurt, suspended 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:

• Milwaukee Bucks +240

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 is 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.

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 can I bet on NBA Championship odds?

You can bet on NBA Championship odds at every online and casino sportsbook. Find ratings and reviews for the best basketball betting sites for betting on NBA futures your area.

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