We’ve scanned every major online sportsbook to show you where you can find the best valued odds on each NBA team to win the NBA Finals
The NBA Finals represent the culmination of the season for the National Basketball Association. The series is one of the most highly-anticipated events in all of sports and provides a large portion of handle for major sportsbooks in the United States. The winner of the series comes from either the winner of the Western Conference Finals or Eastern Conference Finals.
The NBA Finals typically take place in June each year. The NBA Playoffs include a Play-In Tournament, Quarterfinals, Conference Semifinals, Conference Finals, and ultimately the NBA Finals. The 2022 NBA Finals saw the Golden State Warriors defeat the Boston Celtics in six games.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics are tied for the most NBA championships in league history with 17 apiece.
There are three major markets when it comes to betting on NBA Finals futures. Here is an analysis of the three most popular NBA futures types:
The market for betting on a team to win the NBA Finals is by far the largest one. It makes perfect sense why, considering everything that is at stake in the series. This market is usually available for the entire calendar year with odds for the next season opening up the day after the previous season’s NBA Finals.
The NBA odds associated with the market for NBA Finals winner are constantly changing with the massive amount of player movement in the league and the multitude of season-altering injuries that occur.
If you have any interest in placing a futures bet on the NBA Finals winner, we thoroughly recommend watching out for the latest breaking news around the league and some of the major trends. By doing this, you will be able to capture some of the value from the lack of oddsmakers’ adjustments to the odds.
The matchup and outcome exacta wagers for the NBA Finals are quite difficult to win given the nature of them. These bets are basically parlays with multiple legs that are individually hard to win. To win this type of bet, you must correctly predict the winners of both Conference Finals, the winner of the NBA Finals, and the number of games that team will win in.”
An example of a matchup and outcome exacta wager would be to take the Boston Celtics to defeat the Sacramento Kings in four games. To win the long odds bet, the Celtics and Kings would both need to make it out of their respective conferences and the Celtics would have to win by way of a sweep.
Most major sportsbooks do not offer this type of wager until the start of the NBA Finals, but some will offer it in advance, typically before the NBA Playoffs begin.
One of the most popular futures bets for the NBA Finals is wagering on who emerges at the end of the series as the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. Stars will draw the best odds in most cases, but the value can be found on any number of role players. In most cases, the NBA Finals MVP betting market does not open up until a few days prior to the Finals starting.
If your desire is to place a futures bet on the NBA Finals, then it is important to note just how simple the entire process is! All major sportsbooks do an outstanding job of categorizing their platforms with sport titles, individual subcategories, and sometimes an even more granular category on top of that. If the interface is simplified, it becomes that much easier to find the right bet you want to place.
At your favorite sportsbook, head to the ‘NBA’ section, then be on the lookout for a section labeled something similar to ‘Futures’ or ‘NBA Finals Futures’. All reputable sportsbooks have a section devoted specifically for the NBA Finals when the time comes.
If you want to place a bet on who will win the NBA Finals, all 30 teams are listed throughout the calendar year with associated odds. For exacta wagers, it is usually best to wait for the clearest odds when the NBA Finals approaches. Betting on the NBA Finals MVP is difficult from an actual betting perspective considering the stars usually win the award, but there still can be some value found on the long odds players.
One thing to note about NBA Finals futures bets is that they can be parlayed with futures bets in other sports at most major sportsbooks. For example, you are able to parlay Stephen Curry to win NBA Finals MVP with the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series and the Boston Bruins to win the Stanley Cup.
NBA Finals betting has far more to it than just futures bets. For each individual game, the standard markets of the moneylines, spreads, and totals can be bet on for the full length of the game, by quarter, and by half. Player props are also a popular division of NBA Finals betting where you can bet on the over or under for stats like points, rebounds, and assists.