NBA championship prediction: Eastern Conference has value in parity era
The Knicks haven’t stopped celebrating their NBA title win as they prepare to ride up the Canyon of Heroes in New York City.While it may be too early, even for them, to look forward to next season, sportsbooks have already told us what they think.The Spurs and Thunder — supposedly the “real” NBA Finals teams —find themselves atop the betting odds board as co-favorites to win the 2027 NBA championship after stellar seasons that fell short.The choice echoes a sentiment that many in the sports world believe to be true despite the outcome we just witnessed: the Western Conference is the league’s superior conference.
That narrative isn’t new.NBA talking heads have clung to the idea that the Eastern Conference is the junior varsity of the NBA for more than two decades (read: since Michael Jordan retired … the second time) despite evidence that the league is more balanced than ever before.We know the last eight NBA champions have all been different, but what isn’t discussed as much is the fact that the Eastern Conference has won four of those championships: Raptors in 2019, Bucks in 2021, Celtics in 2024, and Knicks this season.Yet bet365 sportsbook has the Western Conference listed as a -185 favorite to produce next year’s champion, while the Eastern Conference is listed at +145.Those odds translate to a 61 percent chance for the West and a 39 percent chance for the East.We haven’t even reached the NBA Draft, let alone the free agency and trade season that will come later in the summer, but after watching the Finals, it feels like the sportsbooks are undervaluing the East’s contenders and overvaluing teams in the West.Yes, the Thunder and Spurs are young and likely to get better with internal growth alone, but the rest of the conference can’t say the same.The Nuggets, Lakers, and Rockets all have rosters built around aging superstars and have major holes to fill if they hope to compete with the teams at the top.The Timberwolves appear to be at ...