2021 NBA Championship Odds: 5 Teams Set Franchise Records With Best and Worst Odds

Just over a week away until the NBA tips off for its 2021 season, Kyle Newman has a breakdown of the latest NBA Championship odds. There are five teams that set franchise records.

Kyle Newman

Wed, October 13, 11:49 AM EDT | 4 min read

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2021 NBA Championship Odds: 5 Teams Set Franchise Records With Best and Worst Odds

Five NBA teams have new franchise records for their NBA Championship odds. One of them has set a new franchise-best, while four of them have new franchise worsts.

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Brooklyn Nets Best Odds In Franchise History

Coming off a disappointing 2020 campaign, the Nets have come back stronger than ever. At least, that’s what oddsmakers believe. As a result, they’re given +250 odds, or an implied 28.6% chance to win the NBA Championship. That’s by far the best in franchise history.

In fact, it’s one of just three times the Nets have been given better than +1000 odds to win the NBA Championship before the start of a season. The first time was in 2003, +800, and the second time was in 2020, +600. Unfortunately, both seasons ended with seven-game losses in the Conference Semi-Finals to the eventual NBA Champions.

Teams With Worst Odds In Franchise History

Detroit Pistons

To say that expectations are low for the Pistons this ear would be an understatement. Last season’s second-worst team and NBA lottery winner is given +100000 odds to win the NBA Championship. That ties them for the worst odds in the league.

That’s a new low, even for a Pistons’ team that has known low NBA title odds for a long time. They hit as low as +20000 in 1994. Since 2010, they’ve been at +10000 or worse in every single season. Their worst, before this one, was in 2017 when they were given +63000 odds. The Pistons finished with the 9th best record in the Eastern Conference that year.

Houston Rockets

Like the Pistons, the Rockets are given +100000 odds to win the NBA Championship. Unlike the Pistons, the Rockets aren’t used to odds these poor. We’ve tracked odds back as far as 1984, and the Rockets have had odds of +10000 or worse just once before this season. That came in 2016 when they were given +16000 odds.

At +100000, the Rockets have broken their previous franchise-worst by more than six times over. Of course, those 2016-17 Rockets went on to win 55 games and win a playoff series.

Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder is another member of the +100000 club. They are, however, the only team here whose odds span two franchises. That’s right, even going back to the Seattle Supersonics days, this franchise has never had odds this bad.

Their previous worst ever was in 2019, +25000. The Supersonics’ worst was in 1986 when they were given +20000 odds. In 2019, the Thunder managed to win 44 games and claim the 5th spot in the West before falling in 7 games in the first round. In 1986, the SuperSonics finished under .500 but snuck into the playoffs and shocked the world by reaching the Western Conference Finals.

San Antonio Spurs

Truth be told, the Spurs odds aren’t that terrible. Sure, +35000 odds to win the NBA Championship aren’t great, but that’s just another bad season for many teams. For the Spurs, though, it’s the worst season in their franchise’s history.

Their worst season before this? That was last year when they were given +25000 odds. In 2020, they got to the play-in tournament. This year, they’re given the 6th worst odds in the NBA. The Spurs haven’t finished with a bottom-six record in the league since 1996-97, and they were given +1500 odds to win the NBA Championship that year. That season led to the rise of Tim Duncan.