Look Ahead to 2024 NBA Championship Futures Odds

The Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in five games in the 2023 NBA Finals, and are the early odds-on favorite to win the title again, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. 

Denver’s stars in Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray each have multiple years left on their contracts. They’re also both entering their primes. Jokic is 28 and Murray is 26. It’s safe to say this duo isn’t going away anytime soon. The Nuggets could be a threat to win the title for a while.

Repeat champions aren’t uncommon in the NBA. Since 2000, teams have won back-to-back championships five times. The last team to repeat was the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors who swept the Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s also the last time the same two teams met in the Finals in back-to-back seasons.

Here are the top odds for every team to win the 2024 NBA Championship, courtesy to Fanduel Sportsbook.

In the NBA, you usually need a superstar caliber player to win the title. The Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns, and Golden State Warriors are the four teams that definitely have one among the five favorites. The best player on each of those squads has won a regular season NBA MVP at some point in their careers. 
The Boston Celtics don’t have a current MVP on their roster. This is much more important than people may realize. Since 2000, only the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons and the 2018-19 Toronto Raptors are the only teams to win the title without an MVP winner. Of course, it’s possible Jayson Tatum and/or Jaylen Brown win an MVP at some point in their careers, but using recent history, Boston isn’t the smartest bet to win the title next season.

The Suns, who were eliminated by Denver in six games, were perhaps better than that outcome initially showed. The Nuggets, the eventual champs, lost just two other games in the postseason, going 16-4 overall in the playoffs. Phoenix, meanwhile, pushed their chips all-in even further by acquiring Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards. It cost them Chris Paul, but now the team has Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Beal at their disposal along with new head coach Frank Vogel, who won an NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.

It’s weird to call the team that just lost the title a “dark horse”, but the Heat currently have the 8th best odds to win the title in 2024. Miami won the Eastern Conference in 2023 despite having the worst offense in points-per-game during the regular season. However, the Heat’s issues came to light during the Finals. Miami failed to reach the century mark in four-of-five games.

Miami returns its key stars in Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo for next season, but could lose guards Gabe Vincent and Max Strus to free agency. But, it may not be that big of a deal. The Heat have built a reputation of maximizing player’s talent no matter their draft position. Plus, they’re in the market for a big fish.

The Heat are no strangers to acquiring star players. In 2019, Miami traded for Jimmy Butler and in 2011, the Heat signed LeBron James and Chris Bosh to form a “superteam” alongside Dwyane Wade. Pairing up a player like Portland’s Damian Lillard with Butler and Adebayo could make Miami a serious contender in 2024. 

Another team to keep an eye on are the Memphis Grizzlies. Memphis currently has the 11th best odds to win the NBA Title next season at +2600. The Grizzlies finished 51-31 last year which was the second best record in the Western Conference. Memphis also has no key free agents it has to retain.

There are two factors holding the Grizzlies back from being much higher on this list. First off, All-NBA guard Ja Morant was suspended 25 games for appearing to flash a gun while on Instagram live. Morant was suspended eight games by the team last season for appearing to do the exact same thing. As long as he stays out of further trouble, it shouldn’t affect Memphis come playoff time.

It’s also possible forward Brandon Clark misses most (if not all) of next year after tearing his Achilles in March. Clark has proven to be a solid rotational piece in his four seasons. The forward has scored over 10 PPG each year. If the Grizzlies can stay afloat without Morant and/or Clark, their odds to win the title can easily skyrocket.