Who Are Favorites For The NBA Championships?

The NBA season is one of the most grueling for a professional athlete, which doesn’t even include the playoffs. There are 82 regular-season matches, which is a considerable amount, although that’s only half of the massive 162 that the 30 teams in an MLB season have to deal with.

The long stretch between October and April in the NBA makes it even more important to peak at the right time, especially with the team trades now done and dusted after early February. Who will compete in the opener at the NBA Finals beginning on June 5?

One team that had a very quiet trading window was the current title holders. When the Boston Celtics won the NBA Championships in 2024, they registered a record 18th title, edging ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers.

It was the Celtics’ first title in 16 years, as they were the dominant force in the regular season. In the postseason, they boasted a 16-3 record, needing just five games to defeat the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals.

There was a boost to their relatively quiet offseason dealings last year when Kristaps Porzingis And Jrue Holiday were acquired and became key components of the push to number 18.

Can the Celtics do it again? Jayson Tatum said the team had “reached the top of the mountain” when they beat Dallas 4-1, and the bookies are putting them in the mix again even though the 2024-25 season hasn’t seen the same kind of dominance.

With Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who signed a $300 million five-year contract extension in the summer of 2023, still to reach their prime, the Celtics are still strong enough to be in the box seat regarding the business end.

The current champions also boast Derrick White and Holiday’s best defensive guard duo, offering sufficient going forward to be two-way elite players.

The Celtics currently trail the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland has only ever won one title when LeBron James led them to an astonishing turnaround against the Golden State Warriors.

In the last decade, the quiet revolution has brought consistency, and they have reached the postseason in the last two years. Cleveland now has a Fab Four of their own: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. They are a true team rather than leaning on one individual.

The other contenders squeezing the Celtics as favorites are Oklahoma City Thunder. NBA odds suggest there’s little to choose between them. Thunder had lost less than ten times in the first 50 regular season matches, improving on the solid 2023-24 schedule when they finished the 2023–24 season at the top of the Northwest Division and the Western Conference to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in four years.

Oklahoma has wisely kept the core personnel from last season. A big part of their success has been the trio of Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The latter has been vocal in calling for a winning team and has turned into an outrageously hot offensive player, averaging over 32 points per game.

The Canadian was averaging almost 40 points from the floor at one point in this current streak. Holmgren has recently returned from injury after three months out of the game with a hip fracture, so the mood music is suitable for a title charge.

The Thunder had a relatively quiet deadline with no headline-grabbing, so regaining Holmgren at center feels like a new signing after such a long stretchout. The obstacle to any title hopes is the potential opponent further down the line in the playoffs, which could be one of the Dallas Mavericks and the LA Lakers.

The latter’s odds have changed dramatically from total outsiders to moving in the top half-dozen of possible winners with the dramatic trade of Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks. Los Angeles thought they had also acquired hugely talented center Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets before the medical checks on the player stalled the deal.