With the Boston Celtics as heavy favorites to repeat as champions, there are a few other teams to look at for this year’s title - with a longshot in the Eastern Conference in mind.
The new-look Thunder, the Redick-led Lakers, and the fast-paced Pacers. How can each of these teams come out of nowhere to win a ring?
Boston Celtics (+310)
Oklahoma City Thunder (+700)
New York Knicks (+800)
Philadelphia 76ers (+900)
Denver Nuggets (+950)
Minnesota Timberwolves (+1000)
Dallas Mavericks (+1000)
With 10 teams making the playoffs and play-in, the Western Conference has looked like a battlefield since the expansion of the Play-In games. Last season outside of Oklahoma City’s early arrival, there weren’t many surprises out west regarding teams making or missing the playoffs.
The teams that missed the playoffs - Houston, Utah, Memphis, San Antonio, and Portland still have a lot of work to do in order to become championship contenders (with Houston being the closest to one). Looking at the former play-in teams, the Los Angeles Lakers catch our eye.
The Lakers are sitting at +3000 to win their first ring since the bubble and give LeBron James his fifth NBA title. New coach JJ Redick is looking to join Nick Nurse, Ty Lue, and Steve Kerr as 1st year coaches to win an NBA Championship. While the Lakers didn’t add a superstar piece this summer, there’s reason to believe they upgraded their roster in more efficient ways.
Dalton Knecht was a lottery steal as a SG/SF that can play on both sides of the ball while providing some great scoring off the bench. Should Christian Wood stay healthy, he’s a solid backup to the AD/Jaxon Hayes duo that really needs to step up defensively down the stretch of the season.
Los Angeles is one deadline or early season move away from contending and should LeBron sense some urgency if the Lakers are a top 3 seed down the stretch of this season, his transition to a point forward role could be the difference in Los Angeles catapulting up the West.
I don’t think LA will have worse odds than +3000, so if you are a believer in the impossible (a 40-year-old leading a team to a title), the Lakers are a fun but worthy bet.
Oklahoma City has the second-best odds to Boston this season. While the Celtics looked unstoppable last postseason, we have to remember that repeating in the NBA is extremely difficult. Miami and Golden State are the only two teams to repeat since 2010 behind their star-studded roster.
While Boston has their own roster full of talent, so do the Thunder and now more than ever OKC can match up with anyone. The Thunder bring in Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein while keeping most of their future picks intact at Sam Presti’s disposal.
This careful construction of a contender has led to here - where OKC is now favored to win the West with one of the best scorers in the NBA that will play alongside some of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. Unlike any other team in the NBA (including Boston because of some lack of depth), OKC doesn’t need anything else to complete their roster.
Their offense pieces Shai, JDub, Chet, Isaiah Joe, and Aaron Wiggins fit perfectly with the defensive minded Wallace, Caruso, Dort, Hartenstein, and Jaylin Williams. The rebounding issues are fixed with Caruso and Hatenstein joining the team while their offensive woes against Dallas should get corrected as this core group enters their second year together.
This is the year for Sam Presti and at +700 I’m willing to take a gamble on the Thunder winning a ring in the smallest market in the league.
The experts are looking at Boston to run through the Eastern Conference once again, with the C’s +155 to win the East at the end of the season.
Right behind them sits New York, Philly, Milwaukee, and then the big drop off to the Miami, Cleveland, Orlando, and Indiana group.
Outside of these eight mentioned teams the rest of the conference is a far ways away from competing for a ECF appearance. Let’s start with a team that can beat Boston.
I wrote about the Indiana Pacers and Tyrese Haliburton a few years ago, describing him as a Hall-of-Fame talent on and off the court. There’s something about this team and Rick Carlisle that makes them a contender in my eyes. I don’t think they are scared of Boston or anyone in the East because of their fun offense. That’s right… Fun.
Indiana plays with a pace that can run the Celtics, Knicks, and especially 76ers out of the gym. This is how Mahomes wins close games - pace. Indiana was one play away from taking a 1-0 series lead in the ECF against Boston and then went on to lose two of their games at home by three points each - without Haliburton and Mathurin.
Indiana comes into 2024-25 as the deepest team in the NBA. Haliburton, McConnell, Nembhard running the show. Sheppard, Mathurin, Nesmith, Walker in the frontcourt. Siakam, Toppin, Isaiah Jackson, and Myles Turner in the paint. This team runs about 12-men deep and with their pace in the postseason I’m not sure Boston is getting a sweep off this squad again.
Rick Carslile won his first ring with Dallas in 2011 at +2000 in the preseason to win with their O/U sitting at 49.5. The Pacers are +6000 to win the 2024-25 ‘chip with their O/U sitting at 47.5 on most books.
Should New York and Boston get each other on one side of the bracket, Indiana would be a squad neither of those favorites would want to face in late May.
Our Best Bets to Win:
Oklahoma City Thunder (+700)
Los Angeles Lakers (+3000)
Indiana Pacers (+6000)