NBA championship odds, picks: Clippers, Cavaliers worth betting as title long shots

The clock is ticking on the NBA regular season, which ends on Sunday ahead of next week’s play-in tournament. But there’s still plenty of time to mine value in the championship futures market.

Consider that the Warriors, who retain virtually every key piece from last year’s title-winning roster, are dealing as the fourth choice to win it all (10/1) at BetMGM as of Friday morning. They’re tied with the Nuggets – who have already clinched the West’s No. 1 seed – and the 76ers, who have seemingly flipped a switch behind MVP favorite Joel Embiid.

Still, with six teams priced at 10/1 odds or shorter, it’s hard to find much of an edge among the favorites in the title market. Instead, now is the best time to speculate on high-upside teams whose title prices are being inflated by the possibility of an early exit.

Here are the latest NBA championship odds at BetMGM and a few long shots worth betting ahead of the end of the regular season:

I’ve had my eye on the Clippers for weeks, as the duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have been absolutely lethal when healthy.

Of course, that last part is key: George (knee) hasn’t played since March 21, while Leonard’s injury history is well documented. Still, those two should both be ready for a full workload in the postseason, and a likely win on Friday should protect the Clippers from the play-in tournament.

It all adds up to a heck of a lot of value for a team that entered the year among the title favorites even with the omnipresent injury risk – and before we saw Leonard return to his superhero-level play that once carried the Raptors to a title. This should be a lot closer to 10/1 than 20/1.

It can take a while for the betting public to catch up to the “new” team on the block. Clearly, that’s the case with the Cavaliers, who are one of the best teams in the league on paper despite an afterthought title price.

Cleveland ranks second in net rating (+5.8) and first in defensive rating (109.9) across the entire season, buoyed by the elite interior duo of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Yet this team also features two backcourt assassins in Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell — with the latter boasting elite playoff production in his time with the Jazz.

The Cavaliers may not have a ton of post-LeBron accolades to their credit, but they’re built to win in the playoffs with elite interior defense, versatile bigs and two high-level shot creators with late-game chops. Don’t be surprised if they give the Bucks all they can handle in Round 2.

Look, nobody is giving the Pelicans a legitimate shot to win it all. And that’s fine; I don’t think they will, either. But I’m still intrigued by this team’s immense upside at such a long-shot price.

Superstar forward Zion Williamson (hamstring) hasn’t played since Jan. 2 and likely won’t return for the postseason, even as the team continues to provide updates. But what if he did? The former No. 1 pick is still one of basketball’s best pure scorers and would be a ridiculous luxury for New Orleans, which has won eight of its last 10 games to move into a tie for the No. 7 seed.

The Pelicans boast the league’s second-best net rating (+12.2) over that 10-game stretch, and they spooked the top-seeded Suns in last year’s opening round with Williamson on the shelf then, too. Given the chaos across the league this year, I’m all for sprinkling a few bucks on a 200/1 long shot with a theoretical title ceiling if everything breaks right.

The Inquirer is not an online gambling operator, or a gambling site. We provide this information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only.