2022-23 NBA Championship Odds: Warriors Favored To Repeat

The Golden State Warriors are your 2021-22 NBA champions after beating Boston in six games to capture their fourth title in eight years.

But before the dust even settles on the Dubs’ incredible victory, we’re already looking ahead to next season’s NBA championship odds. 

Over at sportsbook Bovada, Golden State is the favorite to win next season at +500 odds.

Check out the full 2022-23 NBA championship odds below.

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Who Is Favored To Win The 2022-23 NBA Championship?

Odds as of June 20 at Bovada

NBA Championship Odds

The Favorites

It should be self-explanatory why the Celtics and Warriors are the two teams at the top of this list.

The Celtics have a deep, young, well-coached team that should remain intact for the most part next season. There were times in the Finals when the Celtics looked like the better team, and one could argue the biggest reason they lost was their constant turnovers and self-inflicted wounds. 

The Warriors, though, have the kind of chemistry, pedigree and experience that can lift them over a “better” team on paper and there’s reason to believe they could be even better next season if all their top guys can actually stay healthy. Klay Thompson in particular could be better after looking a little hobbled at times this season.

Next are the Nets, who are too high on this list for our money. Brooklyn underachieved this season and reportedly may be parting ways with Kyrie Irving. The Nets still have premier talents on the roster in Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons, but we don’t really know what to expect from that duo – especially Simmons. 

They have the talent to win a bunch of games even if there’s drama throughout the season, but they feel too high here. 

The Clippers are next at +750 (tied with Milwaukee) but have a bunch of questions of their own with Kawhi Leonard being the biggest one. One of the top players in the league when healthy, Leonard has been rehabbing an ACL injury for more than a year, and while a theoretically healthy tandem of Leonard and Paul George should make for a contender in the West, we’re not sure how realistic it is to expect that. The Clippers are too high here given that uncertainty.   

NBA Championship Odds: Best Long Shots

Why not take a couple stabs at some long shots this far out from next year’s NBA Finals? Top players change teams often in the NBA and big trades happen every offseason. You never know how some of the teams lower on this list might look a year from now.

The Toronto Raptors (+6000) are one of those teams. With great coaching and management and some elite talent in place, it’s not hard to see the Raptors being near the top of the East again if they pull off a trade to bring in a star. Who that star might be is the question, but we’ve seen Masai Ujiri swing for the fences before and there's a lot of smoke around OG Anunoby being part of a package to acquire a bigger name. Continued development from Scottie Barnes could also be a big boost.

The New Orleans Pelicans (+4000) are interesting if you squint real hard and see a slimmed-down and healthy Zion Williamson in front of you. The Pels already have a good supporting cast with CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas under contract. The missing piece and massive question mark is the health of Zion. When healthy, we have seen him dominate. But there are legitimate questions about whether he will ever be fully healthy again.

NBA Championship Odds: Best Bet

Milwaukee Bucks (+750)

The Nuggets and Mavericks are interesting as well at +1500 with the Mavs having acquired Christian Wood and the Nuggets potentially getting a healthy Jamal Murray back in the mix, but the Bucks are the best value on the board right now.

Would anyone really have been surprised if the Bucks beat the Celtics in the Eastern Conference final with a healthy Khris Middleton? The 2021 champions were every bit as good as the Celtics when at full strength and they have the whole band back together again next season.

There’s really no reason the Bucks should have longer odds than Boston and Brooklyn, so we’re all over Milwaukee at this recency bias-fueled number.

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How To Read 2022-23 NBA Championship Odds

At the sportsbook – a fancy way to say NBA betting site – you’ll notice that the odds are listed like this:

Let’s pretend you believe that the Lakers are the team to beat based on the odds listed above. If you were to lay down $100, you’d see a payout of $310 – you get your $100 back, plus your earnings of $210. At +210, the Lakers’ implied probability to win with these odds is 32.26 percent. Or maybe you’re set on the Milwaukee Bucks. If you were to bet $100 on the Bucks to win the 2022-23 NBA championship and it hits, you’d get $700 – your $100 is returned and you’d get $600 in profit.

Check out our Odds Calculator to see how much you’d win based on the odds and amount wagered, as well as the implied probability of all odds.

What Are NBA Futures?

Futures bets made on events that have yet to take place. You make a bet like this far off in advance of the event, in this case the team to win the championship. To make a bet like this, you would first use the info contained in this article to handicap your wager. Once you’ve made your decision on which team you think has the chops to win the 2022-23 NBA championship, you’re ready to go. For further information on how to bet on NBA games, be sure to check out Odds Shark’s guide to basketball betting.