The 2026-27 season is one of the most highly anticipated campaigns in NBA history. With so many moves made to bring big names to new places, this era of parody appears to only get bigger and better this year.
For the NBA championship, there could be so many teams that enter contention. If you feel great about a particular group, it may not be a bad idea to lock in your picks early. Just looking at last year’s preseason odds, the San Antonio Spurs were +6600, ranking 17th in the entire league. They jumped all the way to 62 wins and advanced to the NBA Finals.
These are the five favorites to win the championship in 2027.
Oklahoma City Thunder (23% Chance, 23¢ Yes)
The Thunder are looking to accomplish a historic feat this season. Over each of the last three years, Oklahoma City has entered the playoffs as the top seed in the Western Conference. If OKC can finish number one for a fourth consecutive season, they would join the Boston Celtics (1983-88) and the Los Angeles Lakers (1981-1990) as the only two franchises to accomplish that mark.
You could argue that the Thunder got worse this summer, with moving off of Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins. But they were able to bring in a couple of impressive rookies, with Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz joining the OKC program.
If Oklahoma City did not face injuries to Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell in last year’s Western Conference Finals, they definitely could have defeated San Antonio, and would have been favored to beat the New York Knicks. I think the Thunder are still the best team in the NBA, which correctly puts them as the favorite to win the 2027 championship.
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San Antonio Spurs (22% Chance, 22¢ Yes)
Just behind OKC is the reigning West champion Spurs. Last year, they made it all the way to the NBA Finals in their first playoff rodeo together. Six of the Spurs’ top seven players experienced their first minutes of playoff basketball last season.
With Victor Wembanyama poised for another monstrous year, a second/third-year jump from Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle and that experience from last season, San Antonio is going to be a huge force in both the regular season and the playoffs.
Since 2019, no team has made the NBA Finals in back-to-back years, so San Antonio would have to break that trend in order to win a title. But there is no question that the Spurs will be right there with the Thunder, if healthy.
Philadelphia 76ers (11% Chance, 11¢ Yes)
The 76ers will have all eyes on them this year. Adding Jaylen Brown and LeBron James to the Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe core is going to be cinema for the basketball world.
But there is a lot that Philadelphia has to figure out, in a short amount of time. They have to integrate these four All-Stars together, which is not going to be easy. All of them are used to having the basketball in their hands.
I think it could be a challenge for Philly to get home court in the Eastern Conference. However, there is no denying the talent that the 76ers have. If they can put it all together, maybe Philadelphia could come out of the East and win it all this season.
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New York Knicks (8% Chance, 9¢ Yes)
The defending champs seem to be pretty low on this, coming in at number four. But the NBA has not seen a back-to-back champion since the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors with Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.
New York still has a fantastic roster, led by their terrific starting lineup. After winning a championship, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns are going to have tons of confidence.
They should still be seen as the best team in the East, in my opinion, but with how loaded the conference is, I would not be shocked if they got knocked off early.
Minnesota Timberwolves (6% Chance, 7¢ Yes)
This is definitely the most shocking team in the top five. I know Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball will make for a super entertaining backcourt, but I believe there is such a significant dropoff from OKC and San Antonio to the next best West team.
I would put teams like Miami, Indiana, Toronto and Cleveland all above Minnesota, just because they are all in the East. The Timberwolves do not have the best depth, especially in the frontcourt, and there is going to be immense pressure on an aging Rudy Gobert to clean up a lot of mistakes defensively.
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