Having met in the NBA Finals in each of the past three seasons it’s no wonder that the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers are well ahead of the pack on the opening odds to win the 2018 NBA championship. And it’s Golden State that is pegged as the favorite.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
The Warriors are set as the -175 favorites on the early odds to win the 2018 NBA championship, after they dispatched the Cavaliers in just five games in the NBA Finals this spring. Golden State has now topped Cleveland twice in the NBA Finals, beating them for the championship both this past year and in 2015. The Cavaliers won the championship in 2016.
That 2016 victory for Cleveland was notable in that they came back from a 3-1 series deficit in the NBA Finals to claim the title. The Warriors then proceeded to bulk up in the offseason, adding superstar Kevin Durant to the roster. Durant was named the 2017 NBA Finals MVP.
And Durant is expected to be back with the Warriors for next year along with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson. That has them a step ahead of the Cavaliers on the futures, with LeBron James and company looking to regroup and set at +350 to win in 2018.
It was actually the Boston Celtics, and not the Cavaliers, who were the top seed in the Eastern Conference this spring, but they’re back at +1200 on the odds to win the 2018 NBA championship along with the San Antonio Spurs. Boston fell in five games in the Eastern Finals to the Cavaliers this past season, while the Spurs were swept in the Western Finals.
From there it’s a pair of Western Conference clubs on the 2018 NBA title odds, with the Houston Rockets at +2500 and the Los Angeles Clippers at +3300. The Toronto Raptors and the Washington Wizards are seen as the next best contenders from the Eastern Conference at +5000 odds to win the 2018 NBA championship, with the Oklahoma City Thunder at +6600.
The only other teams below +10000 on the early 2018 NBA title odds are then the Memphis Grizzlies and the Milwaukee Bucks, who are both set at +7500. A dozen teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, are listed at +10000, with the Atlanta Hawks at +20000, the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons at +30000, and the Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, and Sacramento Kings offering up the longest of the longshot future payouts at +50000.
