NBA betting preview: Thunder lead loaded West; Flagg in a class of his own - ESPN

After the arduous, methodical process of building their roster, the Oklahoma City Thunder finally broke through last season and won their first NBA championship since moving from Seattle in 2008. Although OKC was never truly an underdog, having entered the 2024-25 campaign with the second-best title odds at +675, it's a different story heading into the 2025-26 season.

This year, the Thunder are +200 to win the NBA Finals, far outpacing the Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets in second place at +650, according to ESPN BET odds. Oklahoma City is the favorite across the sportsbook marketplace, but specific odds vary, getting as long as +250.

Either way, it's among the shortest odds for a preseason title favorite in the past decade. Since 2014, discounting an unprecedented run that saw the Golden State Warriors as odds-on preseason favorites for three seasons from 2016 through 2018, only the 2021-22 Brooklyn Nets (+240) had comparable odds to those of the Thunder this season, per data from SportsOddsHistory.com.

The optimism around OKC centers not only on its deep, talented roster remaining almost completely impact, but also that most of the players are still young and have room to progress.

«The Thunder had their breakthrough to win a championship at the start of their window and are not laden with veterans or players in contract years,» ESPN BET senior director Adrian Horton said over email. «Given that, there is a reasonable expectation that they can continue to improve year-over-year and build around an intact group of stars that aren't aging out or hitting free agency anytime soon.»

That said, not every bookmaker is as high on the Thunder. Caesars Sportsbook lead pro basketball trader David Lieberman is among the