NBA Finals 2017 Betting Odds: Cavaliers Not Favored To Repeat? Warriors Next Year's Best Team?

Stephen Curry Warriors — The Golden State Warriors are favored to reach the finals for a third straight year. Getty

After losing Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers, members of the Golden State Warriors were adamant that they would be back next season to compete for the title. The oddsmakers seem to be in agreement, making this year’s runners-up the favorites to win the 2017 NBA Finals.

The Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas gives Golden State 7/4 championship odds, putting them just ahead of Cleveland, who has 5/2 odds after winning the first title in franchise history. Before the Warriors became the first team to blow a 3-1 series lead in the finals, the 2015 champs won more games in one season than any team in NBA history, and their nine-playoff losses equaled their nine regular-season defeats.

"It's not a good feeling, like I said," Stephen Curry said after Game 7. "At the end of the day, we want to keep this memory so that it will fuel us as we stay together as a team. Because like Draymond (Green) said, this ain't the last time you're going to this stage."

Cleveland has an easier road to the finals, playing in the weaker Eastern Conference, where LeBron James has reached the finals in six straight seasons. But playing in the West hasn’t derailed the Warriors over the last two seasons, with Golden State winning 140 regular-season games during that time.

Golden State and Cleveland are favored to meet in the finals for a third straight year, and if they face off again for the championship in 2017, it would mark a first in the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics met in the finals three out of four times from 1984-1987. Boston won the East every year during that span, but L.A. fell to the Houston Rockets in the 1986 conference finals.

Shortly after the Warriors beat the Cavs in last year’s finals, Cleveland was named the betting favorite to win it all in 2016.

It might not be long before the current 2017 championship odds see a significant shift. Free agency begins on July 1, and some of the league’s best players will have the opportunity to change teams.

The San Antonio Spurs (6-1) have the third-best odds after winning 67 regular-season games, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder (7-1), who defeated the Spurs in the second round. Westgate oddsmaker Jeff Sherman told ESPN.com that the Thunder’s odds assume Kevin Durant will return, but Oklahoma City could very well lose their best player this offseason. Durant’s contract expires in less than two weeks, and the Warriors are one of the favorites to sign him.

James is expected to opt out of the final year of his contract, but it would be stunning to see him leave Cleveland for a second time. The Cavs should return with the core of their team intact, as Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson are all signed for four more years. Iman Shumpert has three years left on his contract, but J.R. Smith will reportedly decline his player option and become a free agent.

Four of the five teams with better than 20/1 odds play in the West. The Celtics have the second-best odds in the East, ahead of the Toronto Raptors, who took the Cavs to six games in the conference finals.

The Brooklyn Nets have the worst championship odds at 500/1. Eight teams are tied with 100/1 odds.

2017 NBA Finals Odds

Golden State Warriors 7-4

Cleveland Cavaliers 5-2

San Antonio Spurs 6-1

Oklahoma City Thunder 7-1

Los Angeles Clippers 16-1

Boston Celtics 20-1

Miami Heat 25-1

Toronto Raptors 25-1

Chicago Bulls 40-1

Atlanta Hawks 40-1