The Celtics have won the 2024 NBA Finals, completing a stellar campaign that saw them title favorites from the first regular-season game through the entirety of the postseason. To nobody’s surprise, BetMGM and other sportsbooks already list Boston as the odds-on favorite to win the 2025 championship.
The Association hasn’t seen repeat champs very often in the modern era. In the past decade, only LeBron James’ superteam Heat (2012 & ’13) and the Steph Curry and Kevin Durant Warriors (’17 and ’18) have won back-to-back titles.
A reigning champion hasn’t even sniffed a second consecutive Larry O’Brien Trophy over the past six seasons. In the six postseasons since the 2018-19 campaign, no defending champ even made it out of the second round of the playoffs.
Could these Celtics buck the recent trend of fresh champions each year? Here’s how BetMGM views Boston’s chances of repeating as NBA Finals champs in 2025, and where the other 29 teams in the Association rank in the futures betting market.
Expected to return the majority of its core rotation next season, Boston sits atop BetMGM‘s odds board for the 2025 NBA Finals as +310 favorites.
The 2023-champion Nuggets have the next-shortest title odds at +750, with the 2024 runner-up Mavericks +950) and the regular-season Western Conference-champion Thunder +950 tied for third-shortest. The Timberwolves and Bucks (both +1000) round out the top six.
Let’s take a look at the full odds board for the 2025 NBA Finals.
| Team | Odds |
| Celtics | +310 |
| Nuggets | +750 |
| Mavericks | +950 |
| Thunder | +950 |
| Bucks | +1000 |
| Timberwolves | +1000 |
| Knicks | +1600 |
| 76ers | +1600 |
| Clippers | +2000 |
| Warriors | +2500 |
| Lakers | +2500 |
| Suns | +2500 |
| Heat | +3500 |
| Grizzlies | +3500 |
| Cavaliers | +5000 |
| Pacers | +5000 |
| Magic | +5000 |
| Pelicans | +5000 |
| Kings | +5000 |
| Hawks | +10000 |
| Bulls | +10000 |
| Spurs | +10000 |
| Rockets | +10000 |
| Raptors | +25000 |
| Jazz | +25000 |
| Nets | +50000 |
| Hornets | +50000 |
| Wizards | +50000 |
| Trail Blazers | +50000 |
| Pistons | +50000 |
It’s an inherent benefit that Boston plays in the Eastern Conference, as these odds and the 2024 NBA Playoffs have proven. The West is stacked right now, and it doesn’t look like the power dynamic will swing back to the East’s favor anytime soon.
That’s why three of the four teams with the shortest 2025 Finals odds — and four of the top six — play in the West. Heck, you can go even further down the list and realize that the East only has four teams listed in the top 12!
Assuming veteran big Al Horford plays out the final year of his contract — which will tack an extra $9.5 million onto his career earnings — Boston could have the opportunity to completely “run it back” with its core rotation in the 2024-25 season.
Of course, that requires Jayson Tatum to either opt into the final year of his deal or sign a supermax extension with the Celtics. As a perennial All-NBA selection, Tatum has already met the criteria to sign a supermax deal in July, one that has been projected at a record five years/$350 million.
Derrick White would also need to re-sign for Boston’s core to remain intact. It’s possible White follows 2024 Nuggets champion Bruce Brown’s example and gets a more lucrative deal with a lesser team (in Brown’s case, the Pacers — then a trade to the Raptors). However, since GM Brad Stevens acquired him from the Spurs, DWhite has seemed like a “bleed Green” type of player.
Jaylen Brown is already locked up via his record-breaking supermax contract through 2029. Jrue Holiday’s player option won’t come until after the 2026-27 season. Big man Kristaps Porzingis will be under contract until at least the end of the 2025-26 campaign, as will backup point guard Payton Pritchard. The Celts also have a $2 million club option on Sam Hauser this summer.
The Celtics own the rights to two picks in the upcoming NBA Draft, pick No. 30 in the first round and pick No. 54 in the second. The latter pick originally belonged to the Mavs but landed in Boston as part of the Grant Williams trade.
Given the Celtics’ strong track record of drafting solid young prospects over the past decade — not to mention Boston’s increasingly expensive team payroll — it seems probable that Brad Stevens will use both these picks on June 26 and 27.
Sporting News’ NBA Draft expert Kyle Irving’s most recent mock draft projects Clemson big man PJ Hall to the Celtics at pick No. 30 and Arizona forward Keshad Johnson landing in Boston at pick No. 54.
Hall would provide the Celts with size off the bench in a relatively down year for free-agency bigs, and he could learn a lot under Horford if the veteran runs it back one more year. Johnson could be a worthy successor in the Sam Hauser role if Boston loses the reserve three-point marksman in free agency.
Of course, the Celtics will have much better and healthier competition in the 2024-25 season. The East was so severely banged up in 2023-24 that Boston locked up first place a month before the season ended. Reigning MVP Joel Embiid dealt with injuries all season, as did the Jalen Brunson-led Knicks and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and the Bucks in the postseason.
And in the postseason, it benefited from the Heat not having Jimmy Butler in the first round, the Cavs playing multiple games without Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen in the second round, and the Pacers losing Tyrese Haliburton midway through the Eastern Conference Finals.
The West should also have a better representative in the 2025 Finals than the 2024 Mavs. Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets remain one of the most complete and balanced squads on both ends of the floor, and it stands to reason that Coach of the Year Mark Daigneault should help the young-gunning Thunder take another big step forward next year. The Clippers always have a chance to make noise if healthy, and the Wolves seem well on their way to perennial contention.
The No. 1 reason to bet the Celtics to win the 2025 NBA Finals: consistency. Boston consistently proved itself as the best team on both ends of the floor in 2023-24, and Brad Stevens should be able to keep the majority of his core rotation intact for its championship defense.
It’s much easier to win in the NBA once you’ve done it before, so expect Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to be even better in 2025. And with one of the best veteran supporting casts of the 21st century around them, the Celtics should remain firmly atop BetMGM‘s NBA Finals futures boards for the long run.
