NBA championship futures odds: 3 longshots worth investing in after All-Star break

NBA championship futures odds: 3 longshots worth investing in after All-Star break

The NBA comes out of its All-Star break with a full slate of action on Thursday, as teams play the final third of their schedule looking to position themselves for lengthy playoff runs.

Due to a lighter path to a championship with 76ers star Joel Embiid injured and the fact they’ve been the most impressive team all season, the Boston Celtics have emerged as the betting favorite in 2024 NBA Championship odds, a role they’ve played most of the past few months and have only strengthened.

At to win the Eastern Conference, the loaded Celtics have emerged as basically an even-money favorite to reach the Finals, and are to win the title.

The defending champion Denver Nuggets enter the final stretch run as the Western Conference favorite, placed at to return to the championship round and to repeat. With MVP favorite Nikola Jokic leading the way as a cheat code and continuity in place since the same starting lineup returned intact from last season, the Nuggets are favored out West.

This despite entering play against Washington on Thursday in fourth in the conference, running third in their own division behind the Timberwolves and Thunder.

If we don’t get a Denver-Boston finals, who should we target in NBA futures to cash in on a more unlikely championship run? Here are three options.

NBA championship futures odds bets to consider

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Phoenix Suns NBA title odds ()

Bradley Beal has only played 30 of Phoenix’s 55 games this season and left the second-to-last game prior to the All-Star break five minutes in due to a hamstring injury. The Suns are 19-11 in games he’s appeared in, and since he finally got back from his nagging issues right before 2024 began, the team is an impressive 17-7.

He’s successfully found a way to co-exist with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, averaging 18.2 points and 4.5 assists while shooting just under 50 percent. If Beal can get healthy and stay right, backing the Suns and their “Big Three” at this price provides great value.

Beal’s hamstring injury isn’t considered serious since he’s expected to try and suit up for Thursday’s rivalry game against the Mavericks. He also had a procedure to fix his broken nose, so the presumption is that he’ll be fine for the stretch run.

Phoenix Suns NBA futures odds:

Durant, despite being 35 years old, is fifth in the league averaging 28.2 ppg and doesn’t seem to have lost anything off his fastball. He can still carry a team for stretches, close games with the best of them and is averaging numbers in line with his career averages despite now being on the older side and coming off injury-filled seasons.

With Booker and Beal to lean on, he can trim his workload some to ensure he’s fresh for the playoffs, where he averaged 29 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists before going out in the West semis against the Nuggets.

Beal, Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Eric Gordon, Royce O’Neale, Drew Eubanks and Thaddeus Young are now on board in addition to head coach Frank Vogel, so this is a relatively new group Durant and Booker are heading up. There are a lot of winners in this bunch replacing Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton and T.J. Warren among last season’s supporting cast.

The Suns have a very difficult schedule going forward, but that’s only going to sharpen their teeth and get them battle tested for a championship chase.

Minnesota Timberwolves championship odds ()

The Timberwolves come out of the break with the most victories and fewest losses in the West and will join the Celtics in the 40-win club with their next victory, which could come as early as Friday against visiting Milwaukee in a nationally televised showdown on ESPN. They were barely a .500 team last season and ended up as the No. 8 seed after surviving Oklahoma City in the final play-in.

Even though they’re being viewed as just arriving on the scene, this group is loaded with veterans and a championship window that is seemingly just opening is actually already closing. Point guard Mike Conley turns 37 years old in October. Center Rudy Gobert and key reserve Kyle Anderson are now in their 30s. Star forward Karl-Anthony Towns is in his prime and turns 29 in November. The sense of urgency will be there.

Minnesota Timberwolves NBA futures odds:

Chris Finch has found a way to get the Timberwolves to defend with intensity almost every night, which is why they’ve been at or near the top of most metrics on that side of the ball. Gobert leads the NBA in defensive win shares, Towns ranks second and Anthony Edwards is fourth.

Edwards seems poised to take the next step forward, too. Time isn’t a concern for the 22-year-old, but he’s old school in terms of playing every night and going hard, emerging as one of the league’s top two-way players. In addition to defending on the wing, he’s averaging 26.2 points and led Minnesota in scoring in every game of last season’s first round against Denver, averaging 31.6 points. He’ll be ready to handle more this postseason.

There is no easy matchup looming in the Western Conference, but holding on to homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs would go a long way in propping up the Timberwolves and would make getting a 22-to-1 return on a No. 1 seed a solid play any way you slice it.

More NBA wagering: NBA MVP odds | NBA Rookie of the Year odds | NBA prop betting

Cleveland Cavaliers odds to win NBA Finals ()

With Embiid’s future in doubt, the Bucks slumping, defending East champion Miami and the upstart Knicks struggling with injuries, and Indiana unlikely to play enough defense to have staying power, there’s only currently one logical choice to come out of the conference if it’s not Boston.

The Cavaliers have already overcome injuries to point guard Darius Garland and Evan Mobley that have limited them to 29 and 30 games respectively, ranking second in the East.

Cleveland had the best record going into the All-Star break over the past 10 games (9-1), surpassing Milwaukee for first place in the Central Division. It now has to hold on to that No. 2 seed because that provides a homecourt edge over every team not named the Celtics and keeps it on the other side of the bracket until a potential conference finals.

Cleveland Cavaliers NBA futures odds:

Garland and Mobley have returned and have looked like themselves as top-five picks since getting healthy. Jarrett Allen joins Mobley in averaging a double-double and has scored 17.1 points and grabbed 11.4 rebounds over the past 10 games while protecting the rim extremely well. He and Mobley give the Cavs a frontcourt tandem that is, from a defensive standpoint, on the same level as Minnesota’s Gobert and Towns, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez.

Leading the way as the straw that stirs the drink is All-Star Donovan Mitchell, who ranks fourth in the NBA in scoring at 28.4 points per game. He’s at the stage of his career where he’s ready to take a step forward and get to a conference finals, which is something he never did at Utah, topping out in a pair of semis.

Mitchell has failed to get out of the first round on four occasions and has only shot over 50 percent from the field in one of seven postseasons. He’s due.

Led by Sixth Man of the Year candidate Caris LeVert, the Cavs have a better bench than they get credit for. That’s why they were able to survive those early injuries, so J.B. Bickerstaff has enough to at least reach the Eastern Conference finals. Getting a roster like Cleveland’s at 25-to-1 as a potential No. 2 seed is well worth a gamble.