Coming out of the All-Star break, this is when things start getting good — for the NBA and bettors alike. It’s the perfect time to update NBA championship futures bets too, and that’s what we’re doing here. Keep on reading to know which teams you should have money on the rest of the way!
2024 NBA Championship Odds
The NBA championship odds have been in flux all year long. But with 50 games of the season already down, they’re starting to get more fixed. Here’s where things stand at this moment, per the best NBA betting sites:
| Team |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Celtics | +300 | +300 | +300 |
| Denver Nuggets | +450 | +450 | +450 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | +450 | +450 | +450 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | +600 | +600 | +600 |
| Phoenix Suns | +1400 | +1400 | +1400 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| New York Knicks | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | +2200 | +2200 | +2200 |
Every player, bettor, and fan knows the All-Star break is a mental reset on the long NBA season. There are under 30 games to go and now is the team to start getting into gear for the playoffs. In other words, it’s time to put in effort — which is lacking in the first half of the season (and the All-Star game, as you probably saw).
For bettors, this means the final time period to lock in a potential NBA championship contender at good odds. Remember, if a team goes on a run from here til the end of the season — which happens routinely — those odds will be slashed and so will potential winning payouts. So the time is now to lock in these bettor-friendly prices! As for who, we got you in the next section.
Betting Advice For 2024 NBA Championship
We want to take a different approach to betting on the 2024 NBA champ. A little do’s and don’ts with the top betting frontrunners. Remember, who you don’t put money on matters just as much as who you do. With that in mind, here’s our expert advice:
Do Bet: Boston Celtics
The C’s are the betting frontrunners for the NBA title — as they should be. Boston has been the best team wire to wire (43-12 record right now), and it hasn’t been particular close. The franchise swung and hit a home run over the offseason. In two separate deals, Boston sent out Marcus Smart, Malcolm Brogdon, and Robert Williams III in exchange for Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis.
Holiday and Porziņģis have made Boston, the already consistent Eastern Conference Finals fixtures, into an even better team. Seriously, we’ll take their starting lineup over anyone else’s in the league. It’s that quality that makes the Celtics a no-brainer bet for us.
Don’t Bet: Milwaukee Bucks
We’ll be honest: we vouched hard for the Bucks in this same bet before the season started. How could you not with one of the league’s best one-two punches in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Dame Lillard? Months later, we’re admitting we were wrong. This team isn’t winning a title, not this season, and probably not ever with Doc Rivers.
Rivers is the third head coach Milwaukee has employed in the last calendar year. He’s also the most overrated. No coach has consistently underperformed like Rivers has in the last two decades. Here you have a coach that hasn’t reached a conference finals since 2012 despite having talents like Blake Griffin, Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Chris Paul — most of which during their primes. We fully expect the trend to continue with the Bucks’ own superstars so avoid this Bucks' bet like the plague.
Do Bet: Denver Nuggets
On the surface, the Nuggets have taken a step back this season compared to last year. They’re “only” 36-19 and behind three other teams in the Western Conference. However, this is the classic case of an NBA powerhouse that knows they're good, and is more than comfortable “flipping the switch” when the playoffs start. Don’t get it twisted, this is pretty much the same team that bulldozed their way through the postseason (going 16-3) and into an NBA title.
Denver will be more than ok. Getting them at +450 odds is a steal right now for a reigning champion with arguably the most impactful player in the league.
Don’t Bet: Los Angeles Clippers
We want to believe in the Clippers, we really do. Since December 1 — once they shook off a nasty six-game-losing skid after trading for Harden — they’ve been the NBA’s best record-wise. In the almost three months since then, LA is an impressive 28-7.
But even then, we can’t just trust this roster. Harden, Russ Westbrook, and Paul George are all perennial playoff chockers. Kawhi Leonard is not in the same category, but he also can’t be trusted to stay healthy when the playoffs start and he can’t “load manage” his minutes. We still firmly believe this team will implode when the big playoff moments arrive. Save your bucks and fade ‘em!
How To Bet On NBA Futures?
NBA futures bets are available in many flavors, not just the championship winner. Similar wagers exist for the conference and division titles, plus player awards like MVP and Rookie of the Year. Get all those bets at one of the below bookmakers, which are all rated the highest in our latest sportsbook reviews. Any one of these sites has the NBA odds you need, plus lucrative sign-up bonuses for free play too. The underneath table has all the details you need:
