- The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 to win their first NBA Championship in 50 years.
- Despite the victory, Milwaukee is a +700 third choice in the 2020 NBA Championship Futures Odds.
- The Brooklyn Nets are a +325 favorite in the futures market, just ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers at +475.
The Milwaukee Bucks may have won the 2021 NBA Championship in impressive fashion but they still haven’t reached the status of a ‘public’ team. That’s the only thing to conclude based on the first look at the NBA futures betting board following the Bucks’ championship win. At BetOnline.ag, Milwaukee has been installed as a +700 third choice to repeat as NBA Champions. They’re behind two teams beloved by the betting ‘public’–the Brooklyn Nets at +325 and the Los Angeles Lakers at +475. Right behind Milwaukee are the Phoenix Suns (+900), the Golden State Warriors (+1000) and the Los Angeles Clippers (+1400).
The Bucks are at least getting more respect than they were a couple of weeks ago. The Westgate Las Vegas posted some of the earliest NBA futures odds on July 5 and at that point they were a +1000 fourth choice. At the time these numbers went up Phoenix held a 1-0 lead in the best of 7 NBA Finals though that gave them a negligible boost in the futures market–the Suns were then one of three teams at +2000 along with the Utah Jazz and Philadelphia 76ers. Here’s how the top tier of the futures betting board looked then:
ODDS TO WIN 2021-2022 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP FROM WESTGATE LAS VEGAS AS OF JULY 5, 2021
Brooklyn Nets +300
Los Angeles Lakers +450
Golden State Warriors +800
Milwaukee Bucks +1000
Los Angeles Clippers +1000
Philadelphia 76ers +2000
Utah Jazz +2000
Phoenix Suns +2000
Denver Nuggets +3000
Atlanta Hawks +3000
Miami Heat +3000
Another anomaly–the Bucks are priced higher now that they’ve actually won a championship than they were prior to the start of the 2020-2021 NBA Season when they were a +550 second choice. Here’s what the odds board looked like then:
ODDS TO WIN 2020-2021 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP PRIOR TO THE START OF THE SEASON
Los Angeles Lakers +275 Milwaukee Bucks +550 Brooklyn Nets +600 Los Angeles Clippers +650 Boston Celtics +1400 Miami Heat +1600 Denver Nuggets +1800 Golden State Warriors +2500 Toronto Raptors +2500 Philadelphia 76ers +2500 Dallas Mavericks +2500
As for the Phoenix Suns, they were a +4000 choice along with the Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers.
At the top of the current 2021-2022 futures odds are perennial public darlings the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers. For whatever reason, the public is willing to overlook the Nets’ dysfunctional nature and the Lakers’ lack of depth behind LeBron and Anthony Davis.
Here’s the full field rundown of the current NBA Futures odds from BetOnline.ag:
ODDS TO WIN 2021-2022 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP FROM BETONLINE.AG AS OF JULY 20, 2021
Brooklyn Nets +325 Los Angeles Lakers +475 Milwaukee Bucks +700 Phoenix Suns +900 Golden State Warriors +1000 Los Angeles Clippers +1400 Philadelphia 76ers +1400 Utah Jazz +1600 Denver Nuggets +1800 Dallas Mavericks +2500 Miami Heat +2500 Atlanta Hawks +2800 Boston Celtics +3300 New York Knicks +3300 Portland Trail Blazers +3300 New Orleans Pelicans +5000 Toronto Raptors +5000 Indiana Pacers +6600 Memphis Grizzlies +6600 Washington Wizards +8000 Chicago Bulls +10000 Charlotte Hornets +10000 San Antonio Spurs +20000 Sacramento Kings +20000 Cleveland Cavaliers +20000 Orlando Magic +20000 Detroit Pistons +20000 Minnesota Timberwolves +20000 Houston Rockets +50000 Oklahoma City Thunder +50000
