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

The NBA playoffs are here, with 16 teams still in the hunt to win the 2025 championship. Realistically, however, the number of those with a legitimate chance is much smaller. The Celtics and Thunder, as they have all season, sit way ahead of the chasing pack as the favourites, while the Cavaliers are clearly the most favoured team to beat them, though there are still plenty of quality teams further down the pecking order that won’t go down without a fight. Below, we take a look at all of the favourites to win this year’s title.

Oklahoma City Thunder 

The Thunder have been embroiled in a two-way battle for favouritism with the Celtics for much of the season, and with the postseason now underway they have edged ahead. That in itself is testament to just how good the Thunder look, because the Celtics have been playing some pretty high-quality basketball of their own. By the end of the regular season, the one-seed in the Western Conference had amassed an enormous 68 wins, and they have shown no signs of slowing down in their first round series against the Grizzlies.

The Thunder put in an absolutely dominant display in Game 1, getting out to a 49-point lead within three quarters against the Grizzlies before ultimately winning 131-80. It takes two teams to tango and clearly Memphis did not play particularly well, but the Thunder were unbelievable in that game, and even more frighteningly for anyone with the misfortune of playing them in the coming weeks, they did that with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander playing only 23 minutes and scoring 15 points. This is far from a one-man team – they have a whole lot of offensive options and just about every player on their roster is a high-quality defender, so whoever they play against will have a tough time at both ends of the floor. Young they might be, but this team is more than ready to win a championship, though their odds are nothing to get particularly excited about.

What brings them here? Trading Paul George for Gilgeous-Alexander and a huge number of draft picks 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 back? 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. The Thunder have plenty of depth to cover injuries, but they don’t need it at the minute, boasting a virtually clean bill of health.

Bet on the Thunder to win the NBA Championship @ $2.60 with PlayUp

Boston Celtics

The Thunder might have crept into favouritism, but don’t let that take away from just how good this Celtics team is. They were the best in it by a large margin last season and have only got better in 2024/25, with another season of playing together under their belt and the development of Payton Pritchard into the Sixth Man of the Year, as if a team boasting five All-Star quality starting five members and another off the bench in Al Horford needed any more help. They might not have finished on top of the Eastern Conference, but they still won 61 games and while they will have to play an extra away game in the Conference Finals if they end up there against the Cavaliers, they are more than capable of overcoming that.

The Celtics entered the regular season with the 2nd best offensive rating in the league behind the Cavs, and the 4th best defensive rating, and they will likely step things up on both ends of the floor – particularly the defensive one – in the postseason. That was evident in their first game of the playoffs when they kept the Magic to only 86 points, though that was hardly an anomaly – four of their last five regular season opponents failed to get past 94 points too, so clearly they are stepping things up when they need to. The Celtics probably have to face the third best team in the league in order to make the NBA Finals, which makes their path slightly tougher than that of the Thunder, but there is still good reason to believe that the Celtics are the best team in it, and their championship pedigree may well come in handy when the whips are cracking. They and the Thunder are hard to split, but at slightly better odds the reigning champs might be the better bet.

What brings them here? The Celtics have made numerous very savvy moves in recent years to complement the Tatum/Brown combo they have had for years, and the result is one of the most well-balanced teams we have seen in a long time.

What could hold them back? Not much. The Celtics have an extremely well-rounded team, are well-coached and now have championship experience. Not having home court advantage in potentially the Conference Finals or NBA Finals is one minor concern.

Injury report. A Jayson Tatum wrist injury has popped up in their first round series against the Magic, but it won’t likely hold him out for more than a game or so, if that.

Bet on the Celtics to win the NBA championship at $3.00 with PlayUp

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavaliers burst out of the blocks in season 2024/25 and were largely able to maintain it through the course of the year, winning 64 games and earning the number one seed in the Eastern Conference as a result. Brilliantly coached and with a well-rounded roster, they were the best offensive team in the league throughout the course of the regular season, ending it with an offensive rating of 121.0. Though not quite as good defensively they are still more than stingy enough to compete at that end, with a defensive rating of 111.8 the 8th best in the league and their twin towers of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley a formidable force in the paint.

The Cavaliers are really, really good, and will make things difficult for the Celtics if they end up facing off against one another, and the Thunder if they get out of the East and face them. The question marks surrounding them basically relate to how good those two teams are – the Cavs are great and have a lot of good players, but they don’t have a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or a Jayson Tatum and while they are very well-rounded, don’t have quite the depth of talent of those two teams either – hard to believe given they do have Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Deandre Hunter as well as Allen and Mobley running around. But the Cavs do have plenty going for them, and even those two aforementioned teams would not want to take them lightly in a seven-game series. The Celtics and Thunder still deserve to be ahead of them on this list, but the Cavs aren’t without a chance.

What brings them here? The Cavaliers have been slowly building for a few years, though last season it seemed like Mitchell had had enough and was set to go elsewhere. He didn’t, and he would probably be pretty happy that he didn’t at the moment, because alongside Allen, Mobley and Garland, he’s now on a championship contender.

What could hold them back? Like a couple of other teams in this conversation, the Cavaliers will not have the best player in a lot of series if they are to go deep into the playoffs. They also don’t have much experience individually or as a collective deep in the playoffs.

Injury report. The Cavaliers entered the playoffs with a clean bill of health.

Bet on the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the NBA Championship at $6.50 with PlayUp

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors have had a topsy turvy season. After a brilliant start, they slipped back to the pack and looked for all money likely to fall out of the playoffs in a packed Western Conference. But a trade for Jimmy Butler has, so far at least, paid dividends. It has made this a mighty old team, with the 35-year-old Butler joining the 36-year-old Steph Curry and 35-year-old Draymond Green as its leaders, but as far as this season goes, that does not appear to matter. Green continues to be one of the game’s absolute elite defenders, while Butler has slotted in seamlessly alongside the ageless Curry, who continues to defy opposing defensive schemes with his unsurpassed shooting and off-ball movement.

Since Butler joined the team the Warriors have been playing with a renewed vigour at both ends of the floor, particularly on defence. They’ve been a top-ten offensive team since that time, but at the defensive end they are unsurpassed, boasting a defensive rating of 109.0 with Butler on the team. He certainly helps in that regard, and as we have all seen time and time again, he becomes a substantially better offensive player when the playoffs come round too – something he showed in the Warriors Game 1 win of their first round series against the Rockets. They are going to have a tough run to a championship if they were to get there, as will every team in the West, and there is no guarantee they even make it out of the first round. But while the Warriors’ winning years came in no small part due to their elite offence, it was a league-leading defence which did the job in 2022, and they appear to have something resembling that again this year. It would be unbelievable for this team to somehow win the championship again this season, but while it is not likely, this is a franchise that knows how to win them, with a couple of players who have more championship experience than anyone in the league has for many years.

What brings them here? The Warriors did not really look like being in this discussion until Butler came into the team, and they abruptly turned a corner.

What could hold them back? The Warriors’ most important players are all well and truly on the wrong side of 30, while many of the rest of them are still very young.

Injury report. Like many of their competitors, the Warriors have virtually a clean bill of health entering the playoffs.

Bet on the Warriors to win the NBA Championship at $17.00 with Unibet

Los Angeles Lakers

It’s been a fascinating season for the Lakers, but the end result is that they entered the playoffs as the three-seed in a competitive Western Conference and appear to have as much chance as anyone in the West of beating the Thunder. Of course, it is not with the team that they came into the season with, Luka Doncic slotting into the starting five at the expense of Anthony Davis in one of the most stunning trades in NBA history. But while that might have thinned them out a little at the five, it’s given them an incredibly dangerous trio of ball-handlers in Doncic, Austin Reaves and a guy called LeBron James. But few would have doubted the capacity of this team to put points on the board, and it their defence without Davis which seemed likely to be the biggest cause for concern.

It hasn’t been. The Lakers have instead been just as good at that end of the floor without their big man patrolling the perimeter, with some erratic and unpredictable defensive schemes seeming to throw opposing offences off-balance, even without necessarily great individual defenders on the floor. They’re not elite defensively by any means, but since the trade they have slightly improved their defensive rating, and with Doncic running around they invariably have more strings to their bow on offence. This team clearly does not have the depth of any of the above three which may well prove to be their downfall, but any side boasting as much top-end talent as this one is capable of winning on any given night. With LeBron still capable of stepping up his game to be one of the best players in the world when needed, Doncic consistently at that level and Reaves a genuinely good NBA player, it’s not beyond this team to make a deep run, and they aren’t the worst value at $21 with international betting sites like Unibet.

What brings them here? The Lakers hovered between being a very good and decent team during the LeBron/AD era, but with Doncic they’ll be looking to take things up a notch the remainder of the season.

What could hold them back? The Lakers don’t have all that much depth beyond their top three players, and they have not played together for as long as most of the other main contenders. It will be interesting to see who takes control in clutch situations.

Injury report. The Lakers have a pretty clean bill of health, with a Maxi Kleber foot injury really their only cause for any concern.

Bet on the Lakers to win the NBA Championship at $21.00 with Unibet

Los Angeles Clippers

As far as outsiders go, the Clippers are far from the worst chance of winning this season’s NBA championship. They have been really solid for much of the season, initially due the quality play of a rejuvenated James Harden and significant improvement of Ivica Zubac, and as expected they only got better once Kawhi Leonard returned. Having now had a enjoyed an extended run of time on the floor, the former MVP is returning to some elite form, and started the playoffs in fine style with 22 points on 9-15 shooting in Game 1, and 39 points on a brilliant 15-19 in Game 2.

The Clips ended the regular season with 50 wins, the same as both the Lakers and the Nuggets, but their regular season records against both of those teams meant they finished below them both in 5th. That earned them a first round matchup with the Nuggets, and the early signs have suggested that it is an extremely tightly matched one. The Nugs won the first game of the series in overtime but the Clippers bounced right back, thanks in no small part to Leonard, with a three-point victory to tie things up. There is absolutely no guarantee that they will advance even out of the first round of the playoffs and if they do they will have to face the Thunder, so it’s very likely that they will not make it past the Conference Semi-Finals. But they will be a tough beat against whoever they play, and even far more fancied teams like the Thunder will not exactly be thrilled to see them in a seven-game series.

What brings them here? The Clippers haven’t really loomed as a championship contender with their roster as it’s currently constructed, but a better-than-expected season from Harden and massive improvement from Zubac have helped them exceed expectations.

What could hold them back? For starters, they are going to have a very tough run to get even beyond the Conference Semi-Finals, while they also simply don’t have as many good players as the absolute top teams.

Injury report. The Clippers are another team with a clean bill of health early in the playoffs.

Bet on the Clippers to win the NBA Championship at $26.00 with Unibet

New York Knicks

The Knicks have constructed a solid, deep roster over the past couple of seasons, but for much of the season they have looked a level or two below where they need to be to truly contend for a title. They were long destined to finish third in the Eastern Conference, a long way below the Cavaliers and the Celtics, and ultimately only just held onto that spot with the Pacers ending up just a win behind. Offensively, the Knicks’ multi-pronged attack has been dangerous, with a regular season offensive rating of 117.3 the fifth best in the league. At the other end of the floor, however, they have simply not been good enough.

The Knicks have not been a bad defensive team by any stretch of the imagination, but a defensive rating of 113.3 is right around mid-league and pretty out of character for a team coached by Tom Thibodeau. They have plenty of good individual defenders like OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, but Karl-Anthony Towns has never exactly been renowned for his rim protection, nor has Jalen Brunson ever been regarded as a good defender. The Knicks were handed a first round matchup against a plucky Pistons team that they can ill-afford to take lightly, and that showed over the first couple of games; the Knicks winning the first only for the Pistons to bounce back and take Game 2. They should win that series but are far from guaranteed, and realistically even if they do it’s hard to imagine the Knicks being better over seven games than teams like the Thunder, Celtics and Cavaliers.

What brings them here? The Knicks have a solid roster that they’ve built over the past couple of seasons – good enough, at least, to have them towards the top of the East.

What could hold them back? They just don’t have as many elite players as other teams. Brunson is really good but not as good as most other contenders number one guy, and while the Knicks are deep, that depth is not at the level of some other teams.

Injury report. The clean bills of health continue with the Knicks, who have all their players available entering the playoffs.

Bet on the Knicks to win the NBA Championship at $41.00 with Unibet

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves have had their problems this season, with the move to trade out Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVencenzo not exactly having the desired effect. It was a trade questioned by many, but realistically it probably didn’t move the needle all that far in either direction. Minnesota was again a good defensive team this season – not league-leading like in 2023-24, but a defensive rating of 110.8 was still the 6th best in the league. They were actually 8th in offensive rating too, giving them a net rating that was 4th best in the NBA, albeit a long way behind 3rd and only slightly ahead of a bunch of other teams. And unfortunately for the Wolves, that net rating did not translate to a high seed – they only managed 6, though with another win or two they could have been as high as 3rd.

But they came out of the blocks hot in a tough first round clash with the Lakers, winning Game 1 by a lazy 22 points in Los Angeles. Unfortunately for them, the tables turned in Game 2 as the Lakers jumped out to a 19-point lead at the first break and ultimately held on to win by nine points. That looks set to be a tight and tough series, as will every ensuing one the Timberwolves play in if they manage to advance out of the first round. They still probably do not quite have the offensive firepower to go with the best teams, with Anthony Edwards not good enough to carry the team on his own and not enough support around him. The Timberwolves are a solid, gritty team, but it’s very hard to imagine them going all the way and winning the 2025 championship.

What brings them here? The Timberwolves were a strong team last season and have been decent enough again in 2024-25.

What could hold them back? They don’t have the cattle. Edwards could be the face of the league one day but he’s not there yet, and they don’t have any elite players outside him.

Injury report. Would you believe it, the Timberwolves have basically a clean bill of health, with only rookie Rob Dillingham on the injury report.

Bet on the Timberwolves to win the NBA Championship at 41.00 with PlayUp

As it has been all season, the race for the 2025 NBA championship is being run in two according to betting sites, with a clear third hovering along behind them. For any team to cause an upset they will have to play incredibly well, though each of the Lakers, Warriors and even the Clippers at longer odds could cause those top teams some problem. But as much as the odds are not particularly enticing, it is hard to go past the Thunder and Celtics. Both are elite teams at both ends of the floor, and while the Thunder have only got better as the season has gone on, it’s the Celtics who have been there and done that before, and at better odds they are well-placed to go two from two.

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