NBA futures odds: Spurs, Thunder co-favorites to win 2026-27 title, 76ers and Knicks strong contenders
Here's a look at the latest NBA title odds ahead of the 2026-27 season
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The 2026-27 NBA season begins on Tuesday, Oct. 20 with a rare tripleheader featuring the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons in an afternoon contest before the defending champions New York Knicks host the Philadelphia 76ers in the first of a primetime doubleheader. The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs will be the nightcap in a rematch of last year's Western Conference Finals.
It's an unprecedented time for the NBA in terms of parity. Whether that's a result of the additional constraints on high-spending teams, impactful players developing quicker than before or more big trades happening, the league is in a great spot when it comes to intrigue. There have been no repeat champions since 2019 and if that trend continues, the end of the 2026-27 season will see a ninth new champion in nine years.
We'll go over the latest NBA title odds from DraftKings ahead of the season. I'll slot the teams into tiers based on how the market views them and give a brief analysis of the determining factors in their championship chase.
Oklahoma City and San Antonio are co-favorites to win the title and there's a good reason why. These teams are loaded with young talent, draft picks and savvy management. In an era that is going to be defined by how teams operate against stricter rules for contenders, the Thunder and Spurs have enviable foundations. These teams played a grueling seven-game series in the Western Conference Finals a season ago, and there's little reason to believe there won't be a rematch. The Thunder lost their nerve late in Game 7 but were also missing Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a host of role players, a healthy Thunder team is likely once again top 60 regular season wins and make a legitimate championship push.
The Spurs, fresh off a run to the Finals, feel like they have something to prove. Victor Wembanyama is all but a lock to win Defensive Player of the Year (-360) if he can stay healthy, but the big question will be how the guard rotation sets up. Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle showed they could lead the way as starters, but De'Aaron Fox is the veteran with a massive contract. If those roles can be established early with buy-in from the players, San Antonio has the talent to get back to the Finals and get the job done this time.
Philadelphia looks like a fantasy 2k team with Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid and LeBron James as a potential starting lineup. Add in bench pieces like Anfernee Simons, Dean Wade and Adem Bona and you've got an excellent rotation. The most obvious question is Embiid's health. He has been notoriously unlucky with injuries, especially late in the season. The 76ers won't need him against most of the East, but they'll need him to take down New York and Boston in a playoff series.
New York brings back its championship starting five and key bench players, though it did have to swap Mitchell Robinson for Andre Drummond. There's a tradeoff defensively with Robinson, but Drummond has hit more than 60% of his free throws over the last two seasons. That's a good enough mark to where teams cannot implement hacking strategies like they did against Robinson in key playoff moments. Jalen Brunson showed he is capable of leading a championship team and Karl-Anthony Towns will be playing for an extension. Even though the 76ers have the talent on paper to match the Knicks, I'd lean with New York as my pick out of the East.
The Celtics have done some weird things over the last few seasons. For a while, it seemed like they would do everything in their power to win a championship. And once they won in 2024, it felt like they were trying to remain competitive while cutting costs. Paul George, who has played 78 combined games over the last two seasons, is in for Brown. Kristaps Porzingis is gone. Al Horford is gone. Derrick White and Jayson Tatum remain, but they are clearly going to be counting on the young, unproven talent around them to step up. That's fine in the regular season but in the playoffs, rotations get tighter and even the slightest weakness gets exposed.
Cleveland made the Eastern Conference Finals a season ago before completely imploding against a red-hot Knicks team. The Cavaliers tried to make some moves this offseason, but ended up bringing everyone back. There's a good team here which should make the playoffs without much trouble but beyond that, it's hard to feel inspired. James Harden's playoff struggles are a broken record at this point, and Evan Mobley has plateaued with his development. Donovan Mitchell can only do so much, especially against the teams in Tier 2.
The Raptors are going to try running it back with Kawhi Leonard, who somehow managed to play 65 games last year. He has only hit this mark twice in the last seven campaigns. Toronto has a great young core and Leonard's postseason heroics are well-documented but similar to Cleveland, I don't think this roster stacks up favorably to Philadelphia, New York or Boston.
Miami is an interesting unit. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo form one of the most intimidating frontcourts in the NBA, and they can bully opponents on the interior. Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson will do enough to stretch the floor. Bobby Portis is a viable rotation player. Head coach Erik Spoelstra always finds a way to get the most out of his players. And yet, the East is competitive enough to the point where even the slightest deficiency will get picked apart come playoff time. Antetokounmpo is still a star, so there's a possibility of a deep playoff run. I'd bet against it.
Nikola Jokic is arguably the best player in the world, and he alone can propel the Nuggets to the postseason. Jamal Murray is one of the league's top playoff performers, and this is a solid starting lineup. I don't believe DeMar DeRozan will have a big impact off the bench and similar to Boston, the Nuggets are relying on big contributions from relatively unproven players.
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards has already racked up quite the list of superstar playoff victims. He's taken down Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry (sort of) and LeBron James in postseason series. That's not something most people do in their entire careers, let alone by age 25. Edwards alone is good enough to take this team to the playoffs and beyond. Adding LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga to the mix is either going to be beautiful or complete chaos. That variance is likely why the Timberwolves are in this tier but if I had to pick a team to legitimately challenge San Antonio and Oklahoma City, it's Minnesota.
Tyrese Haliburton returns to the floor and the last time he was on it, the Pacers were giving the Thunder a true fight in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. This Indiana team may have been unfortunate in the draft lottery but a core led by Haliburton and Pascal Siakam has proven itself to be good enough to win games at the highest level. The middle of the East is fairly loaded, so Indiana cannot afford major ebbs and flows throughout the season.
This seems like a make-or-break season for Houston's young core. Alperen Sengun disappeared in the playoffs a year ago. Jabari Smith Jr. has largely failed to live up to his lofty draft status. Amen Thompson's offensive limitations were on display in the postseason. Kevin Durant's presence did little to ease Houston's end-of-game execution concerns. Fred VanVleet coming back will help this team be more efficient offensively, and Marcus Smart is a good veteran defender who can swing a playoff series. However, Houston won't be a serious threat until someone from the young core makes that superstar leap. It's hard to forecast one happening in 2026-27.
Luka Doncic (+400) is my pick to win MVP this year. He's going to put up gaudy numbers, but now he's the centerpiece of the Lakers for real. Austin Reaves should be an excellent running mate but there are going to be some serious criticisms if L.A. starts slow. The price point for Walker Kessler was indefensible from almost every aspect, and the big man will need to deliver All-Star level production to justify the deal. Letting go of Rui Hachimura, a player who has shot 51.6% from 3-point land in the playoffs in his career, is another head-scratcher. Doncic is capable of elevating the players around him to new heights, and he'll need to do that for the Lakers to be more than first-round playoff fodder.
The Warriors probably shouldn't be in this group. Maybe it's nostalgia or respect to a modern dynasty, but I can't completely dismiss Curry, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr despite the setbacks over the last few seasons. Jimmy Butler will return determined to prove he's still a star in this league, and that can be a dangerous thing. Butler took a Heat team with far less talent to the Finals. The Porzingis situation is worrying but the Warriors have enough to stay in the playoff mix in the West. I'm not picking them to win the title and they're likely going to be in the play-in tournament. But it's hard not to root for one last magical run.
Oklahoma City has been on fire over the last three seasons. The 2023-24 Thunder won 57 games and had the No. 1 seed in the West, but they did not have playoff experience and it showed. The 2024-25 Thunder grew up in front of our eyes with Williams, Chet Holmgren, Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace all having big moments en route to a title. The 2025-26 Thunder returned to the West Finals and took the Spurs to seven games despite missing some key players. I can't pick against a healthy Oklahoma City team, even with San Antonio looking equally capable of winning it all. Give me the Thunder to snap the NBA's streak of different champions at eight. I'd back the Knicks at +360 to come out of the East to face Oklahoma City in the Finals.
As I said earlier, Edwards' playoff resume is almost unmatched for his age. Kuminga and Ball might be a bit reckless at times but they are talented basketball players. We saw how clunky Minnesota's offense looked against the Spurs, especially when Edwards was double-teamed. Ball alone can solve a lot of those problems, even if it comes with some erratic play. Kuminga can fit exactly how the Timberwolves want to play on both ends of the floor. They are rightfully behind the Thunder and Spurs in the West but I believe they are the only team with more than a puncher's chance of taking out those squads and making the Finals.
Written by Chinmay Vaidya
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