The Oklahoma City Thunder’s championship celebrations feel as if they have just ended, but the NBA world has already turned the page toward next season. It has been a busy start to the offseason with each team searching for the inside edge to improve their chances.
DraftKings Sportsbook has already offered odds across futures markets for the 2025-26 NBA Finals and plenty more. Here are my picks for next year’s championship and who will be representing from the other conference.
NBA Champion: Houston Rockets (+700)
There is still plenty that can change this offseason, but the Houston Rockets have taken the necessary steps to cement themselves as legitimate title threats. Houston was eliminated by the Golden State Warriors in seven games during the opening round of the playoffs after going 52-30 in the regular season. Their collection of young talent has taken the next step in their progression, but the team was starved of a go-to scorer. Jalen Green was asked to fill these shoes and produced scoring outputs of seven, 38, nine, eight, 11, 12, and eight points across the series. This variable output from the former second-overall pick proved increasingly problematic for the franchise.
The Rockets responded by trading for the eighth-leading scorer in NBA history, bringing Kevin Durant to Houston and shipping out Green as a part of the package. While he cannot carry a team the way he once could, Durant remains one of the most effective scorers in the league and still has some gas left in the tank. Despite the struggles that occurred in Phoenix, Durant is coming off a season in which he averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists while shooting 43.0% from beyond the three-point arc.
Houston still kept their core in place and did not have to sacrifice the integrity of their team to bring in the future Hall of Famer. Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, and Reed Sheppard remain on the roster while Fred VanVleet, Steven Adams, Jeff Green, and Aaron Holiday are each returning. The Rockets also added Clint Capela and Dorian Finney-Smith through the free-agent market.
There are a variety of roster combinations and styles of play that Ime Udoka will surely experiment with throughout the season as the team looks to maximize its talents. There was a roster crunch in which there were not enough minutes for all the young talent to remain on their proper developmental tracks last season. Jalen Green being moved from the organization very well could end up being the best thing for players like Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard. Cam Whitmore was also recently traded away for future draft picks with no pathway toward him getting on the floor. The organization has built a foundation on its defensive mindset, and Durant will not interrupt this.
While the Oklahoma City Thunder are the defending champions and rightful title favorites, climbing the championship hill in two consecutive seasons is difficult. There have been just 13 back-to-back titles in league history. The Thunder are uniquely positioned to continue contending and surely will be in the mix next season. However, it felt as if everything that could go in OKC’s favor did go right down the stretch from both an injury perspective and how the playoff bracket shook out.
This past playoff run felt like the postseason growing pains that are necessary before Houston can climb into the true contending category. Durant arrives with two championship rings and 170 games of playoff experience to his name while checking the box for what they need from a skillset standpoint. The Rockets have officially arrived in the contending conversation and are my early pick to be crowned champions of the 2025-26 season.
Eastern Conference Champions: Atlanta Hawks (+1100)
In contrast to the Western Conference, the East is wide open with significant questions surrounding almost all of the major contenders. The Cleveland Cavaliers have flamed out of the playoffs in back-to-back seasons following successful regular seasons, and now have had two separate coaches question the mental toughness of this group. The New York Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau despite the head coach leading the organization to their best season in 25 years. Orlando did their best to catapult into the mix by trading for Desmond Bane, but they are still early in their organizational development arc. The Philadelphia 76ers are coming off a 24-58 season and are essentially running it back while hoping for better injury luck. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future is more uncertain than ever and it is tough to feel confident in the roster around him in Milwaukee despite him being the clear best player in the conference. The Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers will each be without their star player with unclear return timelines due to their respective Achilles tears.
The Atlanta Hawks recognized the window of opportunity and are now giving it their best chance. It was a busy offseason in which the franchise brought in Luke Kennard, Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Asa Newell. Jalen Johnson looked to be on the pathway to his first All-Star appearance before injuries derailed his season last year, while Dyson Daniels earned Most Improved Player honors. Last year’s first-overall pick, Zaccharie Risacher, also came into his own down the home stretch of the season.
Atlanta has found their identity by surrounding Trae Young with versatile, athletic defenders to make up for his shortcomings on that side of the floor. Young will always have his critics due to the nature of his play style, but he has matured on the court and is coming off a season in which he averaged 24.2 points and a league-leading 11.6 assists per game. It has been a rocky career to this point, but let’s not forget this is the same player who once took a less-talented Hawks roster to the Conference Finals and has no problem stepping to center stage and embracing the villain role.
Unlike many of these Eastern Conference teams, the vision for the Hawks from an identity standpoint is clear. This will be a full tryout for Young to prove that he can continue operating as the face of the franchise by leading the roster to some significant team success. It should be made clear that the bar to clear for being the best team in the Eastern Conference is lower this season than it has been in quite some time.
Getting +1100 odds is great value at this stage of the game, and I expect the Hawks to pick up some momentum in being viewed as a contender. Count on Jalen Johnson truly announcing his presence to the NBA world this season and for there to be a defined style in Atlanta that leads to team success. They have fewer question marks than many of the teams with shorter odds, so this is as great of an opportunity as the Hawks could ask for.
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