The 2024-25 NBA season ended with a bang, as the Oklahoma City Thunder snuck past the surprisingly plucky Indiana Pacers in a thrilling seven-game series to capture their first NBA title since the franchise moved from Seattle. Now, with the NBA Draft in the rearview mirror and free agency in full swing, it’s time to turn the page to 2025-26.

Below, we’ve broken down the latest 2026 NBA Championship odds, identified betting value, and made our early pick to win it all. Whether you’re placing an NBA bet today or just scouting the futures board, this guide has you covered.

Check out our latest NBA odds, or read more about the Eastern Conference and Western Conference title races.

NBA Championship Odds

Check out the latest NBA Championship odds, courtesy of the best sports betting sites:

After capturing last year’s title, the Thunder are early favorites to repeat. But the rest of the board is wide open. The Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets have both made big swings this offseason in an attempt to close the gap on Oklahoma City. The Eastern Conference, meanwhile, is in shambles.

The Pacers and Boston Celtics look primed for down years following the respective Achilles injuries to Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum. With each of the last 2 Eastern Conference champions potentially falling back to the pack, it’ll be fascinating to see which team takes advantage and represents the East in the NBA Finals.

You can compare more odds and line movement on our NBA odds page or check out picks from our best handicappers.

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NBA Championship Favorites

The following teams are considered the top favorites to win the 2026 NBA Championship:

Oklahoma City Thunder (+260)

Fresh off their first title in Oklahoma, the Thunder are deserved favorites heading into 2025-26. Based on the way Sam Presti has masterfully assembled his young roster, there’s no reason to believe OKC won’t be in the mix for years to come.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is fresh off of his first career MVP award, and I have a hard time believing it’ll be his last. SGA was at his best for most of the Thunder’s recent championship run, and he’s entrenched as one of the most unguardable players in the league. Not only did the Thunder ink Gilgeous-Alexander to a lucrative new contract extension this offseason, but they did the same with both Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. OKC’s young core is locked in for the foreseeable future.

Winning GMs know how to exploit the margins, and that’s exactly what Presti has done. Last year’s offseason acquisitions of Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein gave the team a couple of wily veterans who fit in seamlessly next to the young stars. Because they’re loaded with countless draft picks for the next several years, we can expect the Thunder to continue to surround Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, and Holmgren with high-quality role players. Most importantly for the team, most of the supporting players will be on fairly cheap contracts.

As is the case with every team, health will be key. Holmgren has endured his fair share of injury issues early in his career, but Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams have been durable enough. Oklahoma City will also introduce one of the league’s most compelling rookies next season in Nikola Topic, who sat out all of last season with an ACL tear. Despite not having made any splashy moves to add to the roster this summer, the Thunder are worthy favorites at +260 to win it all again next year.

It’s worth noting, of course, that winning consecutive titles is incredibly difficult. We haven’t seen any team accomplish the feat since the Kevin Durant-led Golden State Warriors did it in 2017 and 2018.

Houston Rockets (+700)

Speaking of Durant, he’s now a member of the Houston Rockets. Houston nabbed the future Hall-of-Famer in a trade just before the draft in June, and his presence is the main reason they’ve jumped the odds boards. The Rockets have spent the past half-decade in the midst of a difficult rebuild, but it’s finally starting to bear fruit. Houston surprisingly finished as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference just behind OKC last year, and they look even more imposing on paper heading into 2025-26.

Durant gives the Rockets something they sorely lacked a season ago: a proven scorer. Houston was one of the league’s stingiest defenses, but their inability to generate consistent offense when it mattered proved to be their undoing in their first-round series loss to the Warriors. Jalen Green has shown flashes over the years, but he was never quite able to put it all together in a Rockets uniform. Green and Dillon Brooks were shipped to Phoenix in exchange for KD, who will instantly become the undisputed No. 1 offensive option.

He’s far from alone, however, as the Rockets boast the league’s best young roster this side of Oklahoma City. Alperen Sengun is fresh off of his first-career All-Star appearance last year, while Amen Thompson may punch his first All-Star ticket this coming season. The Rockets have been active in shoring up their supporting cast, as well. Fred VanVleet and Jabari Smith put pen to paper on new contracts, while Tari Eason is likely to do the same before the season begins. The team added even more wing versatility by signing veteran swingman Dorian Finney-Smith to a big-money free-agent deal, too.

What complicates the Rockets’ path to the Finals, of course, is that they share a conference with the mighty Thunder. I’d still side with OKC if the two teams were matched up in a playoff series starting today, but Houston is a lot closer now than they were a month ago. At +700, the Rockets are understandably among the title favorites, but their path to their first championship since 1995 won’t be an easy one.

Denver Nuggets (+800)

The 2023 champs are still very much in the mix. The Denver Nuggets haven’t advanced beyond the second round of the postseason in either of the 2 years since their championship, but they’re among the most-improved teams on paper heading into the new campaign.

Of course, it all starts with 3-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who is still the most unique weapon in the sport. Jokic is still only 30 years old, and he’s shown zero signs of slowing down. All he did last season was average 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 10.2 assists, averaging a triple-double for the first time in his incredible career.

The issue with the Nuggets in recent years has been the lack of help. Jamal Murray has been inconsistent and battled injuries, while Michael Porter Jr. never quite lived up to the massive contract the Nuggets gave him several years ago. They’ve rectified that situation, however, by trading Porter Jr. to the Brooklyn Nets this offseason in a trade for Cameron Johnson. Not only is Johnson a better player than MPJ in just about every regard, but he’s a superior fit as a big-bodied spot-up shooter to pair with Jokic.

Johnson is also significantly cheaper, and moving off of Porter Jr.’s contract allowed the Nuggets to add a few more pieces, including Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. in free agency. Denver also made a shrewd move by dealing Dario Saric to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Jonas Valanciunas. JoVal has his warts defensively, but he’ll be the best backup center they’ve had for Jokic since the Mason Plumlee days.

Frankly, you can pretty easily make a case that Denver is a bigger threat to Oklahoma City’s reign atop the West as of now. At +800, I love the value we’re getting on a Nuggets team with most of that 2023 championship core still intact.

New York Knicks (+850)

The New York Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals this past season for the first time since 1999. While they ultimately fell short of reaching the Finals, they’re listed as co-favorites to win the conference as of now in 2025-26. Sure, it helps that Boston and Indiana have endured devastating injuries to their respective franchise players, but it is what it is.

Despite a run to the conference finals, the Knicks still decided to part ways with longtime head coach Tom Thibodeau. He was replaced by 2-time Coach of the Year Mike Brown, who was fired by the Sacramento Kings early last season. Brown cultivated a winning culture during his time in Sacramento – which is really no small feat – and the Knicks’ brass seems to think he’s the right guy to help them take the next step.

As far as the roster goes, things don’t look a whole lot different than they did the last time we saw them. New York did add a couple of useful bench pieces in Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele, but this team will remain heavily dependent on Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns to do the heavy lifting.

It’s safe to assume Brown won’t ride his starters quite as heavily as Thibodeau did, which could pay off by the time the playoffs roll around. Thibs is notorious for playing his starters incredibly heavy minutes even in regular-season games, which runs the risk of the players burning out come playoff time. That shouldn’t be a factor under Brown, so a long playoff run is a real possibility, especially in a weakened Eastern Conference.

Cleveland Cavaliers (+850)

The Cleveland Cavaliers were on top of the world for most of the season, only to ultimately crash out in the second round of the playoffs against Indiana. The Cavs essentially went wire-to-wire at the top of the East in 2024-25, and their early postseason exit was one of the most shocking results of the playoffs.

With the East looking a bit weaker now, however, the Cavs are again expected to contend. Cleveland’s core appears due to return, and they’ve added a few useful bench pieces in Lonzo Ball and Larry Nance Jr. this summer. There is constant buzz about the potential for LeBron James to return (yet again) via trade, but it looks more likely that the Cavs will simply run it back with the core of the roster that just won 64 games.

The Cavs weren’t a fluke last season in spite of that playoff letdown. They finished 28-11 against teams with winning records and won a whopping 41 games by at least 10 points. They also had a plus-9.5 point differential, which was the second-highest mark in the sport behind only OKC (plus-12.9).

A Knicks-Cavs Eastern Conference Finals wouldn’t be a huge surprise if both teams stay relatively healthy. I still think whichever team emerges from the West is more likely to go on to win the title, but it’s hardly a foregone conclusion, especially if those teams beat each other up en route to the Finals.

NBA Championship Betting Value

Looking for teams that might outperform their odds? Here are two with sneaky title potential:

Orlando Magic (+2000)

The Orlando Magic took a bit of a step back last season and finished 7th in the East, but they did deal with some major injuries. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are 2 of the league’s brightest young stars, and the Magic added some much-needed shooting with the trade for Desmond Bane just before the draft.

The Magic were among the league’s stingiest defenses a season ago, but scoring was an issue. Adding Bane gives them another guy who can score from all 3 levels, and he shores up a guard spot that was a weakness for Orlando last season. If Jalen Suggs returns to form after an injury – as he should – the Magic have a legitimately imposing starting unit.

If Banchero and Wagner continue to improve, this team could potentially sneak its way as high as No. 3 in the East. As we saw in the most recent playoffs, all bets are off once you get to the tournament. The Magic’s defensive rating of 106.8 was the second-best mark in the league last season – trailing only the Thunder’s 104.7 – and I don’t expect them to slip on that side of the floor.

I just think the Magic’s +2000 title odds are a little too long for a team that could find itself with home-court advantage throughout a significant portion of the playoffs. We just saw what Indiana did in the East, and the Magic are similarly knocking on the door.

Los Angeles Clippers (+3000)

The Los Angeles Clippers have been an enigma for quite some time, yet they’ve quietly made the playoffs in 14 consecutive seasons. That’s the longest streak of any team in the NBA, if you can believe it. LA took the Nuggets to 7 games in the first round of last year’s playoffs before losing, but they’re reloading this offseason in an attempt to secure the franchise’s first-ever title.

James Harden is back. Kawhi Leonard is back, too, and he looked no worse for the wear last season after dealing with a rash of injuries. As always, Leonard’s health will be the primary factor that determines whether the Clips can make a real run. There’s always reason to doubt given how often he’s been sidelined, but he also has a pair of championship rings already.

LA is quietly surrounding their aging stars with legitimate talent, too. The Clippers have beefed up the frontcourt with Brook Lopez and John Collins this summer, while they’re rumored to be the frontrunners to land both Bradley Beal and Chris Paul, as well. There’s no getting around the fact that this is potentially going to be the NBA’s oldest roster next season, but experience counts for something, right?

This was a team nobody wanted to play in last year’s playoffs, and I think their roster looks even better heading into 2025-26, especially if Beal and/or CP3 come to town. The West is awfully daunting, but the Clippers are a phenomenal value at +3000 to finally win it all.

The Best NBA Championship Longshot

The 2024-25 campaign was an unmitigated disaster for Philadelphia (+6000) Injuries to Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George effectively doomed the team before the season even started, and they were never able to recover. This in spite of the fact that Philly entered the year among the favorites to win the East.

Embiid, like Kawhi, has dealt with enough injuries to where it’s impossible to trust him to stay healthy. If he does, however, he’s still an MVP-caliber player. Embiid still averaged nearly 24 points with 8 rebounds across 19 games last season, and he’s just a year removed from averaging nearly 35 points per game. He’s not getting any younger at 31, but I’m optimistic.

The Sixers parlayed their awful record into the No. 3 pick in the draft, and they used it on former Baylor standout VJ Edgecombe, who should step in right away and give Philly some quality minutes on the wing. Jared McCain looked like the real deal as a rookie last year before injuries derailed his season, too, while Quentin Grimes was a breakout star down the stretch of the season after coming over from the Dallas Mavericks via trade. Philly is widely expected to retain Grimes in free agency.

Again, the East looks like it’ll be even worse than usual thanks to the injuries to several different stars. Who’s to say the Sixers can’t go from the lottery to the Finals in the span of a year? I think they’re undervalued at their +6000 NBA championship odds.

NBA Championship Predictions

It’s hard to bet against the Thunder, but teams don’t often enjoy favorable injury luck in consecutive seasons. Oklahoma City has all the makings of a potential dynasty, but winning consecutive titles is incredibly difficult in the modern NBA.

I love the value with Denver at +800. Jokic is still the best player in the sport, and the Nuggets have spent the summer surrounding him with a much deeper and more coherent roster. Surviving the minutes Jokic spends on the bench hasn’t been easy for this team in recent years, but they’re better equipped now heading into 2025-26.

Find more expert NBA picks and daily betting previews throughout the season.

Bet: Denver Nuggets (+800)

NBA Finals Winners

The following is a list of the most recent NBA Champions: