After 53 years of waiting, the New York Knicks finally secured a long-awaited NBA championship. Although Madison Square Garden is raising a new championship banner next season, New York will not be the favorite to repeat as 2026-27 NBA champions.
Even after the Knicks thoroughly dominated the last two months of the season, DraftKings’ 2026-27 NBA Finals winner odds show the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder as the co-favorites to win the title next season. Coming off of a memorable seven-game series in the Western Conference finals, San Antonio and Oklahoma City are both at +250.
The Spurs will continue to build around superstar center Victor Wembanyama, and are expected to return most of the team’s young core. Offseason development from Stephon Castle in his third year and Dylan Harper in his second year will be key to San Antonio elevating to another level.
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Oklahoma City fell short of the NBA Finals, but are still only a season removed from the 2025 title. Without a healthy Jalen Williams, the Thunder didn’t have enough firepower to stay with San Antonio. Armed with ample draft capital and some intriguing role players, Oklahoma City could fortify its rotation to keep pace with the Spurs.
Despite being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, the Boston Celtics (+550) are the top Eastern Conference team over the champion Knicks. Although Boston’s postseason exit was a disappointment, star wing Jayson Tatum wasn’t quite back to normal after returning during the regular season from last postseason’s Achilles injury.
With Tatum expected to be fully healthy for 2026-27, Boston hopes to regain its 2024 title form with Tatum and Jaylen Brown forming a dynamic duo. There’s also a chance the Celtics make a trade for Milwaukee Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. In DraftKings’ market for Antetokounmpo’s next team in 2026-27, Boston is second in odds (+175) behind the Miami Heat (-130) but still ahead of the Greek Freak returning to Milwaukee (+800).
Even if Boston stands pat, they’ll be favored in the East if Tatum and Brown return to form.
New York (+700) comes in fourth in next season’s title market after dominating the postseason. Although New York will be a popular pick to repeat as champions because of a weaker Eastern Conference, no NBA team has repeated as champions since Golden State in 2017 and 2018.
Over the last 10 years, the offseason favorite in NBA championship markets has usually failed to bring home a title. Eight NBA champions in a row have not been the preseason favorite.
Indiana, Denver among other contenders
The market for title contenders drops considerably after the top four teams.
Coming in at +2800 odds the Indiana Pacers and Denver Nuggets both hope to get back to the Finals after trips earlier this decade. Indiana’s season depends on the healthy return of point guard Tyrese Haliburton after he sat out this season with an Achilles injury.
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Since its 2023 championship, Denver has failed to reach the conference finals while keeping most of its core around Nikola Jokić. After another second-round exit, would the Nuggets entertain a big move to keep Jokić’s championship window going?
A logjam of teams are next at +3000 odds. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves are all intriguing teams with clear flaws.
Cleveland will see what happens with a full season of James Harden in the lineup after a promising run to the Eastern Conference finals. Earning the No. 1 seed out of the East, Detroit will try to prove its unexpected top seed wasn’t a fluke.
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Fascinating decisions highlight the Lakers’ summer with the impending free agency decision of LeBron James. DraftKings’ latest market for James’ next team has Los Angeles (-165) as the leader with Golden State (+200) and Cleveland (+425) as the other top teams. Should James return, the Lakers still need a better supporting cast around Luka Dončić. Austin Reaves has a player option and could test the free-agent market.
As the current favorite to potentially land Antetokounmpo in a trade this summer, the Miami Heat (+4000) are a team to keep an eye on.
2027 NBA title odds
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
|
+250
|
|
|
+250
|
|
|
+550
|
|
|
+700
|
|
|
+2800
|
|
|
+2800
|
|
|
+3000
|
|
|
+3000
|
|
|
+3000
|
|
|
+3000
|
|
|
+4000
|
|
|
+4500
|
|
|
+5500
|
|
|
+6000
|
|
|
+7500
|
|
|
+8000
|
|
|
+9000
|
|
|
+9000
|
|
|
+10000
|
|
|
+10000
|
|
|
+12000
|
|
|
+12000
|
|
|
+12000
|
|
|
+20000
|
|
|
+25000
|
|
|
+25000
|
|
|
+25000
|
|
|
+50000
|
|
|
+70000
|
|
|
+100000
|
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