2020 NBA Championship Futures

After the most active offseason we’ve ever seen in this league, the dust has finally settled and we have the 2019-20 NBA Championship Futures to look at. For the first time in a long time, the Warriors aren’t the favorites and for the first time ever the Clippers are the favorites. There are a lot of teams vying for it this year and you can get decent odds on just about any team. Let’s take a closer look.

Of course, the biggest move(s) of the off-season saw Kawhi Leonard and Paul George make their way to the Los Angeles Clippers. These two along with the returning Patrick Beverley should make up one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. It remains to be seen if Kawhi will take the same sort of rest he did last season and whether or not that costs them in the standings, but this team is going to be very good next year and when playoff time rolls around they will be contenders.

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The other team in LA is the Lakers and they are getting major play from the sportsbooks as well. With LeBron James teaming up with Anthony Davis, it’s easy to see why. There is some red flags here though. LeBron is not getting any younger and this team gave up the farm to get Davis. They might not have enough left after to make any additions at the deadline to fill holes. Of course, people always want to play for a winner and play in LA. Health is a big factor here though and it’s surprising to see them as the second favorite.

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The consensus third favorite is last year’s best team in the NBA, the Milwaukee Bucks. A lot of this is expecting Giannis Antetokounmpo to get better and for the team to perform at a high level again. Brook Lopez is back along with Khris Middleton, but the loss of Malcolm Brogdon hurts. How much? Only time will tell.

You can get pretty great odds on the Philadelphia 76ers as well and this is the team that most expect to compete with the Bucks for East dominance next season. The addition of Al Horford gives them a strong veteran and proven Giannis defender. Joel Embiid remains amazing and Tobias Harris provides scoring punch. The question with this team is Ben Simmons who can be dominating at times, but his shooting is non-existent. A game plan around that or an improvement in that category would mean a lot here.

One of the most shocking moves of the offseason saw Russell Westbrook head to the Rockets to team with James Harden. The Harden-Chris Paul marriage was doomed after their second round exit to the Warriors and Westbrook needed a shake-up. This is a very interesting team that very well could be the best in the West if everything goes right. It’s just hard to imagine them finding enough buckets for these two who are used to having the ball in their hands at all times.

Other interesting teams include the Nuggets and Jazz who could be fighting for the top seed in the West this season. Home court matters and these teams have young players who will improve. Don’t sleep on them. The same can be said about the Warriors who still have Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Stephen Curry. That trio dominated before Kevin Durant and can dominate after him. The Celtics may very well be better just by getting rid of Kyrie Irving and adding Kemba Walker. NBA champion good? Maybe not, but they could challenge for top seed in the East and anything is possible after that.

Complete odds for the 2020 NBA Championship are below.

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