- The Brooklyn Nets have +260 odds to win the NBA Championship.
- Bettors can pair the Nets with the Los Angeles Lakers and put a unit on each to lock in profit if either wins the chip.
- Bettors could also effectively take the other side of that bet by betting on all the mid-tier contenders.
LAS VEGAS - With many eyes being drawn to the NFL and college football seasons, it becomes an excellent time to get value on the top contenders in the NBA.
None of them are prohibitive favorites, as the Brooklyn Nets, who have +260 odds to win the NBA Championship, are the biggest favorite available.
However, at +260 odds at online gambling sites bettors could pair the Nets up with another team - say, the Los Angeles Lakers at +325 - place a unit on both, and lock in profit if either of them win.
NBA Championship 2021-2022 Betting Odds
- Brooklyn Nets +260
- Los Angeles Lakers +325
- Milwaukee Bucks +900
- Golden State Warriors +1200
- Phoenix Suns +1600
- Utah Jazz +1600
- Denver Nuggets +1800
- Los Angeles Clippers +1800
- Philadelphia 76ers +1800
- Dallas Mavericks +2200
- Miami Heat +2500
- Atlanta Hawks +4000
- Boston Celtics +4000
- Chicago Bulls +4000
Note that the Milwaukee Bucks are sitting at +900 odds, which allows bettors to bet on the Bucks as well as seven teams with longer odds than them, and still lock in profit if any of those teams wins.
For example, one could put a unit on the Bucks, the Phoenix Suns, the Golden State Warriors, the Utah Jazz, the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Dallas Mavericks and still be guaranteed profit if any of those eight teams win.
If one was willing to risk a push if the Bucks won, the Miami Heat could be included in this group of teams as well, bringing the total up to nine.
This is, in effect, a method of fading the top two teams and the mid-low level teams - it’s more or less a bet that the Lakers and the Nets won’t win, and that a huge underdog won’t win either.
Huge underdogs rarely win the NBA Championship though - the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021 were a relative underdog - for most of the season, they had the third or fourth shortest odds - but not a huge one.
Underdogs Or Favorites?
Between these two bet constructions, NBA betting fans can choose to roll with the favorites (the Lakers and Nets) or the underdogs (the Bucks and the rest).
In both cases, the odds are such that they can lock in a profit if their vision of how the season will play out comes to pass.
Betting on the Lakers and Nets has mildly lower upside than betting on the group of eight, but it’s hard to go wrong with units on the biggest favorites in the league.
However, the prospect of injury looms large in the minds of online gambling fans after 2021’s season, which saw James Harden and Kyrie Irving absent as the Nets fell to the Milwaukee Bucks.
It’s possible that injury news could make this bet better to place during the season as opposed to before the season.