{"id":98929,"date":"2024-10-02T08:24:04","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T12:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=98929"},"modified":"2026-03-10T23:17:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T03:17:11","slug":"98929","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/02\/98929\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Odds: Breaking Down the Favorites in the Northwest Division"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Northwest <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/13\/nba-odds-breaking-down-the-favorites-in-the-southwest-division\/\" target=\"_self\">Division<\/a> has the potential to be one of the most competitive in the NBA for the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/12\/nba-odds-breaking-down-the-favorites-in-the-atlantic-division\/\" target=\"_self\">2024-25 season<\/a>. It includes the three best teams from last season, the Oklahoma City Thunder, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/19\/2024-25-nba-mvp-odds-can-nikola-jokic-win-a-fourth-mvp\/\" target=\"_self\">Denver Nuggets<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/05\/shaq-calls-timberwolves-star-worst-nba-player-of-all-time\/\" target=\"_self\">Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>, along with two rebuilding teams in the Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers. The top of this <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/10\/nba-odds-breaking-down-the-favorites-in-the-central-division\/\" target=\"_self\">division<\/a> promises to be a bloodbath. This 2024-25 NBA season preview will break down the Northwest <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/10\/nba-odds-who-will-win-the-nba-southeast-division\/\" target=\"_self\">division odds<\/a> and outlook for each team to see if they could win the division.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>NBA Odds: Breaking Down the Favorites in the Northwest Division<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"input-box\" spellcheck=\"false\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<h3><strong>Current Odds to Win the Northwest Division:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oklahoma City Thunder -120<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/01\/2024-25-nba-betting-preview-timberwolves-win-total-odds\/\" target=\"_self\">Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> +240<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Denver Nuggets +310<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Utah Jazz +50000<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Portland Trail Blazers +50000<\/span><\/p>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"input-box\" spellcheck=\"false\">\n<div id=\"waffle-rich-text-editor\" class=\"cell-input editable disabled-input\" dir=\"ltr\" role=\"combobox\" contenteditable=\"false\" aria-autocomplete=\"list\" aria-label=\"B5\" tabindex=\"0\">[tgdcta items=&#8221;1&#8243; id=&#8221;170460&#8243;]<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>Oklahoma City Thunder: The Favorites (-120)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">ESPN Sources: Free agent C Isaiah Hartenstein has agreed on a three-year, $87 million deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Hartenstein leave the Knicks for the top West seed eager to add his size, skill and physicality. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gbOpAw1Gsx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/gbOpAw1Gsx<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\/status\/1807775729246937230?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 1, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Thunder enter the season as slight favorites to win the Northwest Division, coming off their first division title since 2015-16. Oklahoma City has a young, talented roster led by last year\u2019s second-in MVP voting, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gilgesh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>. The Thunder finished with 57 wins and made significant offseason improvements, acquiring <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/carusal01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alex Caruso<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/harteis01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Isaiah Hartenstein<\/a>. With rising stars like <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willija06.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Williams<\/a> and<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holmgch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Chet Holmgren,<\/a> they are well prepared to improve on last year\u2019s success. OKC\u2019s blend of youth, depth, and strong coaching under <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/coaches\/daignma99c.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mark Daigneault<\/a> makes them a threat in the division and for championship contention.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Minnesota Timberwolves: Swinging for the Fences (+240)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Anthony Edwards on the Karl-Anthony Towns Trade <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/m8SS4cJ7W8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/m8SS4cJ7W8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; SneakerReporter (@SneakerReporter) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SneakerReporter\/status\/1840823519455928657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Minnesota made a deep run to the Western Conference Finals last season, led by their league-best defense and rising star <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/edwaran01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Edwards<\/a>. The team enters this season with even more hype after the <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/townska01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Karl Anthony-Towns<\/a> trade to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/01\/2024-25-nba-betting-preview-timberwolves-win-total-odds\/\" target=\"_self\">Knicks<\/a>. Swapping Towns for <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/randlju01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Julius Randle<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/divindo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donte DiVincenzo<\/a> could prove worthwhile, but the Wolves&#8217; chances of winning the division rely on their <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/goberru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rudy Gobert<\/a>-led defense. That, combined with Edwards&#8217; rise, could land them a division title.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Denver Nuggets: The Value Pick (+310)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I caught up with Nikola Joki\u0107 at Nuggets media day &amp; gems were DROPPED<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udc8e 6 new horses added to his collection<br \/>\ud83d\udc8e Jok\u2019s iconic pregame tradition of tying his wedding ring to his sneakers is NO longer a thing <br \/>\ud83d\udc8e The first time Joki\u0107 knew he wanted to be an NBA player was\u2026 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NhW5HaLJJn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/NhW5HaLJJn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Nadia Houneini (@nadiahouneini) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nadiahouneini\/status\/1840878550095728889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Denver Nuggets, led by three-time MVP <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jokicni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Jokic<\/a>, won the NBA title in 2023. Last season, they tied OKC with the second-best record in the NBA but lost the division due to tiebreakers. Denver still possesses one of the league\u2019s best cores, with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/19\/2024-25-nba-mvp-odds-can-nikola-jokic-win-a-fourth-mvp\/\" target=\"_self\">Jokic<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/murraja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jamal Murray<\/a>, and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/portemi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Porter Jr.<\/a> spearheading their attack. However, the loss of key role players like <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/caldwke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kentavious Caldwell-Pope<\/a> may hurt their depth. The Nuggets will likely be more focused on winning another championship than a division title, but with the best player in the division on their side, +310 to win, it seems like solid value.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"input-box\" spellcheck=\"false\">\n<div id=\"waffle-rich-text-editor\" class=\"cell-input editable disabled-input\" dir=\"ltr\" role=\"combobox\" contenteditable=\"false\" aria-autocomplete=\"list\" aria-label=\"B3\" tabindex=\"0\">[tgdcta items=&#8221;1&#8243; id=&#8221;170466&#8243;]<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>Utah Jazz &amp; Portland Trail Blazers: Rebuilding<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Jazz (+50000) and Trail Blazers (+50000) are both in full rebuild mode. Utah has committed to developing young talent around <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/markkla01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lauri Markkanen<\/a>, while Portland is focused on a youth movement featuring <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hendesc01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scoot Henderson<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sharpsh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shaedon Sharpe<\/a>. Neither team is expected to contend this season, with both projected to finish well below 30 wins. Utah proved last season that even while rebuilding, they can put together a solid team, but they still won\u2019t compete with the top three teams in the division. Portland will likely be one of the bottom three teams in the league next season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Northwest Division has the potential to be one of the most competitive in the NBA for the 2024-25 season. It includes the three best teams from last season, the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Timberwolves, along with two rebuilding teams in the Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers. The top of this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5284,"featured_media":98975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1248,1608,49087,20,21,62,22,23,24],"tags":[49402,2109,109,213,3723,72,438,4600,1489],"class_list":["post-98929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba-season-previews","category-basketball","category-basketball-betting","category-nuggets","category-timberwolves","category-nba","category-thunder","category-trailblazers","category-jazz","tag-2024-2025-season","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-jamal-murray","tag-karl-anthony-towns","tag-nba-betting","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-northwest-division","tag-shaedon-sharpe","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98929"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":180971,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98929\/revisions\/180971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}