Who is the favorite to win the NBA title?
With almost exactly one month left until the NBA playoffs get underway, it is time to start looking at who are the favorites to go all the way and be dubbed NBA champions for the 2020-21 season. Last year the Lakers rolled behind Lebron James and they are considered to be one of the favorites this year, but a team who has made several fantastic moves now find themselves as the favorites.
Here are the top five expected to win it all this year according to the NBA experts from Bettingsider24.
No. 1 Brooklyn Nets (+250)
When the season began, this was not considered to be a team to win it all, but several key additions have made this one of the toughest teams in the NBA right now, maybe the toughest. Already the team had Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, but the additions of James Harden and Blake Griffin make this one of the dominating teams in the NBA. Their big four are as good as any in the league and, because the East is not as tough, they have an easier road to the finals.
No 2. Los Angeles Lakers (+325)
The Lakers have dropped to fifth in the Western Conference, but that has come as a result of the loss of Lebron James and Anthony Davis for a substantial amount of time. Both are expected to be back by the time that the NBA playoffs get underway, so the playoff position for the Lakers will simply not matter. Any team with Lebron on it is going to be considered a favorite, so they should not be discounted in any way.
No. 3 Los Angeles Clippers (+500)
The Los Angeles Clippers find themselves surging of late, moving up to the third spot in the conference standings and they are 9-1 in their last 10 games at the time of this writing. The Clippers had their own battles with injuries, as star guard Paul George was out for a time and Kawhi Leonard has battled with the injury bug himself, but this team is as deep and talented as anyone when they are healthy and most already believe that whoever wins between the Clippers and Lakers is going to be NBA champions.
No. 4 Utah Jazz (+800)
Sad as it is to say, the team with the best record in the NBA rates no higher than fourth according to oddsmakers in their chances of winning the NBA title. No doubt that Utah is a sensational basketball team and Donovan Mitchell is a premier score. However, the Jazz face the challenge of not having two or three superstar players. It is true that center Rudy Gobert is great in rebounding and is a solid score, but the other three teams ahead of them in this list have three or four players who could dominate on the court. Utah is lacking this.
No. 5 Milwaukee Bucks (+950)
Milwaukee has two big time players in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middeleton who are averaging nearly 50 points per game between them. However, after that this is not a deep team. They do have four other scores averaging in double digits, but the team does not rebound well. This is not a team built for the NBA playoffs.
