Cavaliers favored to win NBA title — next year

By Case Keefer (contact)

Monday, June 15, 2015 | 1:20 p.m.

The Cleveland Cavaliers remain in position to win an NBA championship. It just might take an extra year.

Cleveland is nearly three times more likely to win its first Larry O’Brien Trophy at the end of the 2015-2016 season than it is later this week in the 2015 NBA Finals, according to the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook.

The world’s largest sports book posted odds to win the 2016 NBA Finals for all 30 teams Monday morning, and the Cavaliers were alone at the top of the board. Cleveland opened at a plus-225 (risking $1 to win $2.25), with the next lowest odds belonging to the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder at 5-to-1 apiece.

It’s a much more enviable standing than the Cavaliers’ current plus-750 price to overcome a 3-2 deficit and defeat the Warriors for this year’s title. The Cavaliers are 4.5-point underdogs going into tomorrow night’s game 6 at home.

If they’re healthy and return their core, the Cavaliers project to never come in as an underdog on their home floor next year. They’re listed at minus-180 (risking $1.80 to win $1) to win the Eastern Conference next year with the Chicago Bulls at 11-to-2 and the Atlanta Hawks at 9-to-1 as the closest competitors.

The Bulls are 12-to-1 to win the 2016 NBA Finals, with the Hawks filing in behind at 20-to-1.

The Los Angeles Clippers and San Antonio Spurs round out the overall top five in future odds at 10-to-1 and 12-to-1, respectively.

The Western teams have bloated prices because of the conference’s perceived strength, which is major part of the reason the Cavaliers stand alone as the favorite. Free agency, of course, looms large and can change everything.

At this time last year, for instance, the Cavaliers opened at 60-to-1 to win the title and 25-to-1 to prevail in the Eastern Conference before they signed LeBron James.

Check out the full list of future odds below. I’ll bold a couple of my favorites.

Odds to win the 2016 NBA Finals

Cavaliers — 9-to-4

Warriors — 5-to-1

Thunder — 5-to-1

Clippers — 10-to-1

Spurs — 12-to-1

Bulls — 12-to-1

Hawks — 20-to-1

Pelicans — 20-to-1

Rockets — 20-to-1

Wizards — 30-to-1

Pacers — 30-to-1

Grizzlies — 30-to-1

Raptors — 30-to-1

Heat — 30-to-1

Blazers — 40-to-1

Mavericks — 40-to-1

Celtics — 80-to-1

Bucks — 80-to-1

Pistons — 80-to-1

Jazz — 80-to-1

Suns — 80-to-1

Lakers — 80-to-1

Nuggets — 80-to-1

Knicks — 80-to-1

Nets — 100-to-1

Kings — 100-to-1

76ers — 200-to-1

Magic — 200-to-1

Timberwolves — 200-to-1

Hornets — 200-to-1

Odds to win the 2016 Eastern Conference

Cavaliers — 5-to-9

Bulls — 11-to-2

Hawks — 9-to-1

Wizards — 14-to-1

Pacers — 14-to-1

Raptors — 14-to-1

Heat — 14-to-1

Celtics — 35-to-1

Bucks — 35-to-1

Pistons — 35-to-1

Knicks — 35-to-1

Nets — 45-to-1

76ers — 80-to-1

Magic — 80-to-1

Nets — 80-to-1

Odds to win the 2016 Western Conference

Warriors — 5-to-2

Thunder — 5-to-2

Clippers — 5-to-1

Spurs — 6-to-1

Pelicans — 10-to-1

Rockets — 10-to-1

Grizzlies — 15-to-1

Blazers — 20-to-1

Mavericks — 20-to-1

Jazz — 40-to-1

Suns — 40-to-1

Lakers — 40-to-1

Nuggets — 40-to-1

Kings — 50-to-1

Timberwolves — 100-to-1

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.