2023 NBA Championship Odds – Celtics Skyrocket to +500 Favorites After Malcolm Brogdon Trade

• The Boston Celtics have the best NBA Championship odds after acquiring Malcolm Brogdon
• Brogdon was acquired without giving up any of their core pieces
• Are the Celtics a good bet to win the 2023 NBA title?

The first day of free agency was a quiet one for the Celtics. They have made a lot of noise on day two, signing Danilo Gallinari for the midlevel exception and swinging a ceiling-altering trade for Malcolm Brogdon. Boston gave up its 2023 first round pick, Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts and Juwan Morgan.

This is a steal for the Cs, and it’s no surprise it has provoked considerable movement in their NBA Championship Odds at FanDuel.

NBA Championship Odds

Odds as of Jul 01 at FanDuel

Brogdon Fits Perfectly in Boston

The Celtics needed another guard to help run the offense. Brogdon is slightly miscast as a floor general, yet his playmaking and ability to look after the ball will help the Celtics greatly. Al Horford and Derrick White were the only Cs with a better assist-to-turnover ratio than Brogdon in 2021-22, a category he ranked 34th in.

The Boston Celtics are now the favorites to win the 2023 NBA title @FDSportsbook ☘️

🏀 Celtics (+500)
🏀 Bucks (+600)
🏀 Suns (+600)
🏀 Warriors (+650)
🏀 Clippers (+700) pic.twitter.com/bdOKgTGEiv

— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) July 1, 2022

A career 37.6% shooter from deep and with a 50/40/90 season on his resume, Brogdon does not compromise Boston’s spacing and he’s another player who can create his own shot when required. Health concerns and inconsistent availability is what drove down the price and limited the interest in him. That allowed the Celtics to swing this deal without giving up any of their playoff rotation.

The Cs don’t need Brogdon to play 70+ regular season games. He’s expected to miss time, and they can carefully manage his workload. They have the depth and margin for error to still be competitive without him — Ime Udoka can roll with the rotation that just made the Finals plus Gallinari.

Very quick thoughts on the Brogdon to BOS deal:

-BOS gave up very little to get him

-Brogdon will miss time. So will Smart. BOS has depth to cover that w/ White & PP

-$17.1M TPE is still there til July 18, but I don't think it gets used now. There's tax and then there's TAX

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 1, 2022

Brogdon is, if anything, a luxury. He raises their ceiling considerably and frees up so many more lineup combinations for Udoka come the postseason.

Celtics are Decent Value at +500

Already among the NBA Betting favorites to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy next summer, FanDuel wasted no time moving the Celtics to the top of the market after this deal. Boston’s postseason rotation was thin at points in the 2022 playoffs. If healthy, there will be no such issue in 2023.

Brogdon is a great fit in Boston. He also has three years and $67M guaranteed left on his deal, and has played 48, 64, 54, 56, and 36 games over the last 5 seasons — two of which were COVID-shortened. Thus his chillier-than-expected trade market. https://t.co/GDlSDCKR0g

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) July 1, 2022

Indiana reportedly wanted Grant Williams, but the Celtics managed to retain Williams and Payton Pritchard. Boston has added two rotation players, bringing skills they desperately needed, without giving up any of their top eight players. This is an unbelievable coup for Brad Stevens, putting them in a very strong position to repeat as Eastern Conference champions.

Udoka was forced to play his starters huge minutes down the stretch and in the playoffs. The arrivals of Brogdon and Gallinari will help to ease the burden on Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, which should help keep them fresh for a deep postseason push. Tatum, in particular, looked burned out towards the back end of the Finals.

Turnovers also blighted the Celtics throughout the playoffs — Brogdon’s arrival means less time with the ball in Marcus Smart’s hands, and he can put Tatum and Brown in better positions on the offensive end.

The #Celtics 10-man rotation, barring future moves:

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Rob Williams, Al Horford … Malcolm Brogdon, Derrick White, Danilo Gallinari, Grant Williams, Payton Pritchard

Again, waiting on another big.

— Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) July 1, 2022

There is no way to interpret this trade other than a massive success for Boston. Even the worst-case scenario of injuries keeping Brogdon off the court isn’t really a loss for the Celtics, as they didn’t give any meaningful assets up.

They are deserving NBA odds favorites right now, though it might be worth waiting to see what moves other contenders make before placing a wager.