The NBA season is just one week away, with the first game of the new year featuring the New York Knicks at Boston Celtics. In the nightcap on Tuesday, October 22, we’ll get the Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers.
As the defending champions, there are special repeat and three-peat bets involving the Celtics. The odds of a repeat are +310. If you want to wager on Boston to win three straight titles (a bet that doesn’t pay off until 2026) you will get odds of +1000.
NBA Championship Odds 2024-25
The Celtics are the favorite to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy for an 18th time, paying +310. As Eastern Conference champions, you can get +155 on the Celtics.
The next best bet, and leader from the Western Conference, is the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC was knocked out in the Conference Semifinals last year, and are paying +700 to win their first NBA championship in Oklahoma. As the Seattle Supersonics, they were NBA champions in 1979, but they have not won another championship since. The team moved to Oklahoma City for the 2007-08 season, and they were Western Conference champions in 2012.
The Knicks are the third betting favorite when it comes to winning the NBA championship at +800. The Philadelphia 76ers are paying +900, the 2022-23 champion Denver Nuggets are +950, and the Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks are at +1000. The Milwaukee Bucks are the only other team below +3000, and they are paying +1400.
First-Time NBA Champion
Of the favorites listed above, only Minnesota hasn’t won an NBA title. The other teams in the NBA to never win a championship are the Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic, and Utah Jazz.
Betting on a new NBA champion in 2025 pays +400. Wagering against a first-time champion pays -575.
Regular Season MVP
The same familiar faces are expected to be the main competitors for the 2024-25 MVP award. The favorite is Luka Dončić at +370. The Mavericks star finished third in voting last year, eighth the year before, and fifth the year before that. He was the scoring champion last year, he’s been an All-Star five times, and he is still just 25 years old.
Nuggets all-everything center Nikola Jokić has won three of the last four MVP awards, and he is the second betting favorite at +400. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the MVP runner-up last season, and the Oklahoma City guard is paying +425 to win the award this season. Giannis Antetokounmpo, a two-time winner of the MVP, is paying +800.
As the NBA continues to go more international, the only player from the United States in the top-five is Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards. The 23-year-old is a two-time All-Star and was a gold medalist in Paris this summer, and he is paying +1000 to win the MVP.
Rookie of the Year
The NBA’s Rookie of the Year was a unanimous choice in 2023-24, and Victor Wembanyama was the clear front-runner from the time he was drafted. This year’s race is going to be much closer, with several players having legitimate chances to win the award.
The preseason favorite is Zach Edey at +450. The 7-foot-4 center was drafted by Memphis with the ninth overall pick. Behind him is Reed Sheppard at +650. A guard from Kentucky, he was taken by the Houston Rockets with the third overall pick. The third betting favorite is small forward Zaccharie Risacher at +900. He was the top pick in the draft of the Atlanta Hawks, and he won’t turn 20 until next April. He was the fifth international player to be selected first overall, and the second consecutive top pick from France.
The second overall pick was also from France. Center Alex Sarr was taken by the Washington Wizards, and he also won’t be 20 until the spring. Sarr, along with Stephon Castle (San Antonio Spurs) and Matas Buzelis (Chicago Bulls) are paying +1000 to win Rookie of the Year.
Donovan Clingan, who won a second NCAA men’s basketball championship last April with the Connecticut Huskies, was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers, and he is paying +1700 to win Rookie of the Year.
Player Stat Leaders
Dončić won the scoring title last year, and he is the +140 favorite to do it again this season. Joel Embiid of the 76ers was the scoring leader last year when he got hurt, and he is a strong candidate to win it this season at +300. He won the scoring title in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Gilgeous-Alexander is paying +450, and Antetokounmpo is at +600 to win his first scoring title.
Not surprisingly, the betting favorite for three-point field goals per game is Stephen Curry at -275. Dončić is the only other player close to Curry, paying +600.
Wembanyama is a huge favorite to finish the season as the shot-blocking leader. He is paying -450. Gilgeous-Alexander and Marcus Smart are tied at +550 to lead the NBA in steals this season.
With over 25 years of experience as a distinguished sports writer for renowned platforms such as Fox Sports and ESPN, Kyle Garlett is a sports betting specialist who has been at the forefront of documenting the global surge in sports betting and online gaming. Based in Denver, Colorado, Kyle hosts an NFL betting YouTube show and podcast. Kyle also has two sports books published by HarperCollins.
Kyle graduated the Azusa Pacific University in 1996 with a B.A. Degree in Communication and Journalism.
