LAS VEGAS -- With the Cleveland Cavaliers completing their historic comeback to win the NBA Finals over the Golden State Warriors after trailing 3-1, the questions now are whether the Cavaliers can repeat, if the Warriors can bounce back and reclaim the crown or if another team can emerge to challenge the clear top two teams.
The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has had odds to win the 2016-17 NBA title since May 29, before the Finals started. The Warriors opened as the 3-2 favorites (+150 as a money line) and were actually been bet lower to 7-5 (+140) before being raised to 7-4 (+175) after losing on Sunday night. The Cleveland Cavaliers opened as the second choice at 5-2 and had been raised to 3-1 before being lowered to 5-2 after winning the title.
The San Antonio Spurs are a solid third choice at 6-1, while the Oklahoma City Thunder opened at 8-1 and have been bet down to 7-1.
After that foursome, there aren't any other teams at single-digit odds.
Now, we know there is a lot of uncertainty when looking at these "too-early" odds (as some people call them, though we don't think it's ever too early to try to find betting value) as we haven't even had the draft and there can be a lot of changes during free agency, but let's see if we can find some value on the board.
Here are my very early value bets for next year's NBA title:
