Cleveland Cavaliers Fans Will Not Like Their Championship Odds For 2025

The oddsmakers do not like the Cavaliers' chances of winning their first NBA title since 2016.

Apr 18, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) and guard Donovan Mitchell (45) reacts after a basket during the second quarter against the New York Knicks in game two of the 2023 NBA playoffs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers won 48 games and were bounced in the second round of the playoffs this season, but to be fair, they ran into the buzzsaw that was the Boston Celtics.

The Cavaliers finished with the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference and actually boast a pretty fearsome quartet of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. All four of those players are still young, and Mobley in particularly is an ascending talent.

You would then think that Cleveland would have fairly decent odds to win the NBA championship next season, especially considering the Cavs play in an Eastern Conference that doesn't contain any truly dominant teams outside of the Celtics.

Well, you would be wrong.

FanDuel Sportsbook has released its odds for the 2024-25 NBA championship winner, and they apparently don't think too highly of the Cavaliers.

Cleveland has been given +5000 odds to win the title next June. That is the same odds as the New Orleans Pelicans, who were swept in the first round of the playoffs earlier this spring. The Indiana Pacers and Memphis Grizzlies were also tied with the Cavs.

Meanwhile, the Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers were all given better odds than the Cavaliers in spite of the fact that all three teams had to participate in play-in games back in April just to qualify for the postseason, with the Warriors getting routed by the Sacramento Kings.

Is Cleveland clearly more talented than any of those squads? Maybe so, maybe not. But again, the fact that so many fringe playoff teams in the West have been presented the same odds (or better) than the Cavs seems strange given the level of fierece competition in the conference.

Assuming that the Cavaliers hold on to Mitchell, they should at least be contenders to make the Eastern Conference Finals next season.

Perhaps the oddsmakers will like Cleveland a bit better once the team hires a head coach (which should be very soon) and it becomes clear that the Cavs will be retaining Mitchell. Adding a couple of more pieces this offseason certainly wouldn't hurt, either.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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