We are down to four teams in the race for the Larry O’Brien Trophy, which means it’s time to look at the latest NBA Finals odds.
Will the Oklahoma City Thunder defend their title? Or will another team stop OKC from being the first repeat champion since the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors?
As we get set for the NBA Conference Finals, let’s dive into the latest odds and make our NBA Finals winner predictions.
2026 NBA Finals Betting Odds
All basketball odds used for these 2026 NBA Finals predictions are current as of Monday, May 18, and courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
- Oklahoma City Thunder (-165)
- San Antonio Spurs (+310)
- New York Knicks (+550)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (+2000)
Remember to make your wagers on the top NBA playoff betting apps.
Who Will Win the 2026 NBA Finals?
Oklahoma City Thunder (-165)
It’s hard to pick against the defending champions, especially with how easy they’ve made things look this postseason.
The Thunder swept the Suns and Lakers to reach the conference finals, where they will face their toughest challenge yet in the San Antonio Spurs.
OKC lost four of five games against San Antonio during the regular season, but I’m not expecting that to matter much in this series. The Thunder have home-court advantage, are fully healthy, and have been on this stage before.
I expect Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who won his second consecutive NBA MVP award on Sunday, to lead his team to another NBA title, so I’m getting in on these -165 odds as my NBA bet of the day.
NBA Finals Contenders
San Antonio Spurs (+310)
The Spurs offer better value than the Thunder at +310 odds, so I can see the appeal of backing San Antonio to win it all, especially since it played so well against OKC during the regular season.
However, expecting Victor Wembanyama to win the NBA title in his first playoff run is a tall order, even for one of the most gifted players the league has ever seen.
From top to bottom, the Spurs lack playoff experience, which could be the difference in a seven-game series against the Thunder or even in a potential NBA Finals matchup against the Knicks.
San Antonio will be an NBA Finals contender for years to come, but winning a title right now is probably a year too soon for this group.
New York Knicks (+550)
If I’m making a pick further down the board, I’m backing the Knicks to win the NBA Finals at +550 odds.
New York is a significant favorite to reach the Finals for the first time since 1994, as they will have home-court advantage against a fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers team coming off consecutive seven-game series.
By contrast, the Knicks have played just 10 playoff games, and they’ve won seven in a row after starting the postseason slowly against the Hawks in Round 1. Mike Brown’s decision to run the offense through Karl-Anthony Towns is paying dividends, and Jalen Brunson is still a clutch closer in crunch time.
While New York will be an underdog against OKC and San Antonio, it did beat the Spurs in the NBA Cup earlier this year and will give either team a fight.
NBA Finals Sleeper Pick
Cleveland Cavaliers (+2000)
The Cavaliers have the longest price on the NBA Finals odds board for good reason.
Cleveland is in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2018, the final season of LeBron James’ second stint with the franchise.
The decision to unite James Harden with Donovan Mitchell has paid dividends thus far, albeit against teams in Toronto and Detroit that struggle to score the basketball. And still, both of those series went seven games. That mileage should come into play against the Knicks.
Even if Cleveland got past a more experienced New York squad, I expect it would meet a similar fate as the 2018 Cavs did - a sweep at the hands of the Western Conference champ.
