The Golden State Warriors are your 2022 NBA champions, but Las Vegas has already moved on to the 2022-23 season.
It may be 12 months before the 2023 champion is named, but Caesars Sportsbook already has title odds up and ready for all 30 teams — and unsurprisingly — the Warriors start their title defense at the top of the list.
While Golden State’s presence atop these rankings was a given, Brooklyn’s might be a bit more surprising. The Nets have won just a single playoff series since signing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons did not even play last season. The betting public believes in their talent, though, so Vegas has installed them as the Eastern Conference’s early co-favorite along with the defending Eastern Conference champion Celtics.
Milwaukee may well have won the East if Khris Middleton had been healthy, but without him, the Bucks lost to the Celtics in the conference semifinals. They are just behind Boston and Brooklyn at plus-750. The Suns and Clippers, the two 2021 Western Conference finalists, are right on their behind at plus-800.
If you’re wondering about the 2020 champion Lakers, they’re all the way down at plus-2200. You could argue their odds should be significantly worse. They missed the playoffs last season, and with all reports indicating that they are unwilling to surrender assets to move Russell Westbrook, their interest in fixing last season’s problems appears to be rather limited. In fact, based on how the Nuggets looked the last time they were healthy, the notion that their odds are even is a tad insulting to Denver. But LeBron James has reached the NBA Finals 10 times. Vegas needs to insulate itself against the risk he poses when healthy.
The odds dip significantly from there. No other team after the Nuggets or Lakers has better than 50-to-1 odds. Remember though, these odds account only for what Vegas expects at this very moment. All it will take to shake things up is one blockbuster move. If you think you have an idea of how this offseason is going to play out, you can take advantage of that by betting now.
Warriors NBA championship gear now available
The Golden State Warriors have won their fourth NBA title in the last eight seasons. Now, you can celebrate with championship hats, shirts, hoodies, and more. See the entire collection here.
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