NBA Cup Odds: In-Season Tournament Odds for 2024

The 2024 Emirates NBA Cup — erstwhile known as the In-Season Tournament — will kick off on Tuesday, November 12.

The groups have been announced and the schedule will soon follow. NBA odds are available for the eventual tournament champion. Will the Los Angeles Lakers repeat after winning the inaugural event in 2023 or will another team emerge?

If you're looking to bet on more season-long NBA futures, check out our NBA Finals odds for the championship favorites. 

2024 NBA Cup odds

Favorites to win 2024 NBA Cup

Boston Celtics (+500)

The reigning NBA champions ran roughshod through the league last season but were ultimately bounced by the Indiana Pacers from the quarterfinals. The Pacers went on to face the Lakers in the championship Game, falling to the inaugural winners by 14 points.

The Boston Celtics didn't let that setback deter them as they finished with a 64-18 regular-season record before charging through the playoffs to win their record 18th championship. They'll mostly be running it back, and why not? Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown form one of the strongest 1-2 punches in the Association while the depth involving Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, and more shows how difficult they are to topple.

Still, they came up short last year as the Lakers (+2,200 this year) won it all in Vegas. 

The return of the NBA In-Season Tournament 🏆

Which division do you think is the ‘Group of Death?’ pic.twitter.com/O3GUzLhdSD

— Covers (@Covers) August 13, 2024

Oklahoma City Thunder (+600)

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the NBA's brightest stars full stop. He can't really be categorized as a player on the rise because he's already arrived. The Oklahoma City Thunder shocked everyone last year when they entered the postseason as the top seed in the Western Conference. Yes, they were unceremoniously dispatched in the West semis, but it was a year of growth nonetheless.

OKC came up short in the tournament as well, going 1-3 in group play and failing to qualify for the knockout stage. Each of their losses were close, and the Thunder should be even more of a cohesive unit than they were a year ago, especially after adding Alex Caruso in an offseason trade with the Chicago Bulls.  

NBA Cup groups

The league's 30 teams will all comPete in randomly drawn groups for the opening round, divided by conference, as listed below: 

NBA Cup explained

Group Play

Each team will begin the tournament in one of six groups, divided by conference and randomly drawn from tiers based on the previous season's record, to ensure relative competitive balance.

Within each group, all teams will play regular-season games against each other on designated Tournament Nights from November 12-December 3. Their records in those games determine who advances to the Knockout Round.

Knockout Round

The Knockout Round is comprised of eight teams:

• The winners of each of the six groups
• A wild-card team from each conference (the second-place team with the best record)

The Knockout Round is a single-elimination bracket. Teams in each conference with the best record will get homecourt advantage in these matchups.

The semis and finals take place in Las Vegas on December 14 and 17, with the winner of each conference facing off for the NBA Cup.

Teams that make the knockout round will be awarded portions of an as-of-yet undisclosed prize pool, increasing the further they make it. A Tournament MVP and All-Tournament Team will also be awarded after play has concluded. 

Understanding NBA Cup odds

Sportsbooks will post odds for the NBA Cup during the prior offseason. These odds are adjusted throughout the season as players switch teams, show steady improvement, or are injured. Sportsbooks will also adjust the NBA odds based on handle and liability to certain teams.

NBA Cup odds will usually look like this:

• Los Angeles Lakers +1,300

This means that on a $100 bet, you'll stand to win $1,300 if the Lakers win the tournament. If it's close to the end of the tournament and the NBA has a particularly dominant team, you might see a minus sign (-) ahead of its odds. 

• Denver Nuggets -180

This means you have to bet $180 to win $100 on a Nuggets tournament win.

Above we have listed the American odds. However, these are easy to convert to decimal odds or fractional odds with our odds converter tool. And don't forget to check out our NBA forum if you're interested in chatting with other basketball bettors about NBA odds. 

2024 NBA Cup MVP odds

Read our full NBA In-Season Tournament MVP odds analysis to learn more.