The best NBA championship bets for the 2019-20 season

The NBA season is just a few days away, and if you’re throwing some money on some of the award winners this season, we’re here to help.

Let’s start with the big one: the best bets we think you can make on the team that will win a ring in 2019-20. Now, that doesn’t mean necessarily betting on the favorites (although, for what it’s worth, the odds are pretty good due to the parity that resulted from a wild and crazy offseason). So a few of these might be darkhorses due to their odds.

Here are a few For The Win picks (all odds courtesy of BetMGM):

Golden State Warriors (+1000)

Are we SO sure that the Dubs are going to be buried in the uber-competitive Western Conference, especially when Klay Thompson comes back? Remember, they made it to the Finals mostly without Kevin Durant in the postseason last year, and now they’re going to head into the season with Steph Curry, D’Angelo Russell and Draymond Green as their new Big Three before Thompson returns. I could see a scenario in which their experience and shooting carrying them all the way to the Finals and maybe gutting out a seven-game series. It’s all about those odds, too, which seem low to me. — Charles Curtis

Los Angeles Clippers (+325)

Part of me wanted to go complete Galaxy Brain here and take the Wizards at +20,000. The team has one of the NBA’s most dynamic backcourts in John Wall and Bradley Beal — could you imagine if they finally figured things out?

But I won’t do that. I’m instead going to be boring and go with the Clippers at +325. When you consider that the Clippers added Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to a group that already had playoff-caliber talent, I think +325 is a solid return here. No, it’s not exactly a darkhorse bet, but it’s the smart move. — Andrew Joseph

San Antonio Spurs (+6600)

I don’t love any of these bets, but I do sort of love taking a flyer on the Spurs. The Spurs won 48 games last season, and went 32-9 at home with a roster that was totally in flux. DeMar DeRozan has had time to learn the system, Dejounte Murray is healthy, and they grabbed DeMarre Carroll, who is a good basketball player. I don’t think they’ll win, but at +6600…If Popovich can get the offense grooving, and LaMarcus Aldridge gets going, and they make a trade at the deadline, I mean … crazier things have happened? — Nate Scott

Denver Nuggets (+1800)

You’re telling me I can get 18/1 on a team that finished second in the West last season, has great depth, emerging stars (Jamal Murray and Gary Harris), and a bonafide superstar (Nikola Jokic) who still hasn’t peaked?

The top of the West is loaded, but the two unproven Los Angeles teams are overshadowing some great established squads like Denver and Utah, both of which are much better bets than the short odds you’ll get with the Clippers or Lakers.  — Nick Schwartz

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