2021 NBA Futures Odds – Will the Lakers Repeat?

The Los Angeles Lakers ran through the NBA bubble en route to their 2020 NBA Finals victory. And while the Lakers celebrate their 17th title, and LeBron James celebrates his fourth, it is already time to look ahead to the 2020-2021 campaign. With several dangerous teams returning to full health, and multiple contenders emerging in the 2019-2020 season, the Lakers appear to have plenty of competition at the top of the NBA.

Here is a look at the odds to win the 2021 NBA Finals. As you will see below, there are six teams at 9/1 odds or less to win the title. That implies that there is not as clear a favorite as in other NBA seasons. And while the Lakers are at the top of the list of favorites, their chances to repeat are anything but a sure thing for those making NBA picks.

The top three favorites to win the NBA Finals in 2021 will be largely unchanged from a roster perspective from this season. They are headlined by the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers will be looking to repeat after a run in the Orlando bubble that culminated in an NBA championship. They will be led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, even if the supporting pieces around them are changed.

Los Angeles’ second team, the Clippers, are also among the favorites to win the NBA Finals. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George experienced disappointment by only reaching the second round of the playoffs this season. But Leonard is a multiple-time Finals MVP and the Lakers are likely to benefit from having home games again in the upcoming season.

Rounding out the list of three favorites is the Milwaukee Bucks. Led by two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks have been the top seed in the Eastern Conference for two straight seasons. The question for them is whether Antetokounmpo can improve his perimeter scoring enough to make them a legitimate threat to win the East and get to their first Finals as a group.

Right below the top three, you will notice two teams with something in common. The Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors both have superstar players set to return from injury this coming season. For the Nets, that means that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving will be joining a roster that made the playoffs without them last year. If Durant can reach the form he possessed before his injury, that could spell huge trouble for the rest of the league.

The Warriors, meanwhile, will get Steph Curry and Klay Thompson back healthy for the next season. Two of the most lethal outside shooters in the history of the game, Curry and Thompson are capable of scoring from anywhere on the floor. Their return will allow Draymond Green more space to operate, as their roster will resemble their recent championship teams when the Splash Brothers get back to action.

Below the Nets and Warriors, there are a number of teams with young nuclei that could make some surprising runs through the NBA Playoffs. We just saw the Miami Heat get to the Finals behind a cast of young players, with the veteran Jimmy Butler leading them. The Boston Celtics could claim the East this year as well, as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown lead a young roster with virtually endless upside.

Behind them, the Nuggets and Mavericks are two Western Conference teams that showed the world what they could do in the bubble. Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic emerged as absolute superstars for Denver while in Orlando. And the combination of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis nearly toppled the mighty Clippers for the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. Both of these teams could be attractive dark horse picks to win the title next year.