Betting the 2025 NBA playoffs: Futures bets to make, best long shots - ESPN

The 2024-25 NBA playoffs begin Tuesday with the play-in tournament, and the first round starts on Saturday, with the winners of each best-of-seven series advancing to the conference semifinals.

So what are the bets to make before the playoffs get rolling? And what teams stand out as potentially undervalued and overlooked?

Here are NBA betting experts Andre Snellings, Eric Moody, Eric Karabell, Jim McCormick and Steve Alexander with the bets and teams they have their eyes on.

Odds are as of publication time. For the most up-to-date odds, visit ESPN BET.

Oklahoma City Thunder to win the NBA Championship (+170): I predicted the Thunder would win it all before the season started and nothing I saw over the last five months has changed my mind. They're young. They're talented. They're healthy. And they're as deep as any team playing in the postseason. They've been working up to this challenge for the last five years and the future is now. OKC's second unit is as good as half the league's starters. — Alexander

Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA Championship (+1400): When everyone is locked in, especially LeBron James and Luka Doncic, the Lakers are a tough team to beat. Los Angeles has the fourth-best odds to win the championship, and considering the playoff track record of both stars, I'm backing them. — Moody

Donovan Mitchell to win Eastern Conference Finals MVP (+275): The Cavaliers are, in my opinion, at least co-favorites with the Celtics to win the conference. And the argument can be made that they should be favorites by themselves with the news that Jaylen Brown is dealing with a knee injury and Kristaps Porzingis hasn't played more than four consecutive games since the beginning of February. If the Cavs win the Eastern