By signing Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant following the 2019 NBA season, the Brooklyn Nets immediately entered their name into the NBA title odds conversation. Although everyone knew Durant would need to take time to properly rehab his Achilles’ injury, nobody would call Nets fans crazy for thinking they would be real contenders for an NBA title in short order. While the Nets are still looking for that elusive first NBA championship, the New Jersey/New York basketball scene has seen its fair of success, although not recently.
While the Knicks are the only area team to nab a title, it has been almost five decades since they were last on top of the NBA mountaintop. Their last title was back in 1973 with the only other title coming in the 1970 campaign. While the Knicks once again rose to promise in the 90s with Patrick Ewing and company, they took a massive downturn into obscurity (or worse, laughingstock territory) and have stayed there for most of the last decade and then some. But hope is on the horizon for the denizens of Madison Square Garden with their young core led by R.J. Barret and bruiser Julius Randle.
The NBA Title Odds Picture Out East
Although the Knicks and Nets have had trouble putting together competitive seasons in recent memory, the rest of the NBA title odds picture is a sight to behold. Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks were expected to dominate the season—and for the most part they have—but there is so much parity right now in the middle tier of the NBA landscape that really anything can happen.
The Boston Celtics dynamic duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown can take the edge off Kemba Walker while Toronto looks like it has another do-it-all superstar in Pascal Siakam. While the Celtics and Raptors look like they aren’t going anywhere, everybody’s favorite preseason darling, the Philadelphia 76ers, have all the talent on paper, but can they put it together on the court?
The NBA Title Odds Out West
Out West is a similar story. It seems like on any given night any of the teams out west can beat one another. Yes, the Lakers and Clippers are probably going to be the two giants remaining at the end of the season, but the Houston Rockets have two MVP candidates in both James Harden—who is trying to singlehandedly break basketball—and Russell Westbrook.
Even the Denver Nuggets deserve a seat at the NBA title odds table. Yes, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. are holding their own under the immense shadow of everybody’s favorite big man passer, Nikola Jokic, and his beautiful style of basketball.
And who can forget about the Dallas Mavericks, who have some of the sneakiest chances to climb up the NBA title odds board. Luca Doncic might just take the mantle from LeBron James as the best all around basketball player in the NBA, and the Unicorn, Kristaps Porzingis, might just need to be away from New York in order to rediscover his inimitable floor game.
But it does not stop there with guys like Devin Porter of the Suns liable to go off for 50 on any given night or even teams like the Indiana Pacers have a shot waiting for dominant point guard Victor Oladipo to recover from his 2019 season-ending injury. No matter which of these teams (or any others) you think you should make a wager on this season, make sure to check in on NJ-Bet for all the latest NBA Title Odds new and notes.
