2024-25 NBA Northwest Division Odds and Predictions

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The NBA’s Northwest Division is one of the strongest in basketball, though that doesn’t mean it’s competitive at the top. With a mix of rising stars, veteran talent, and teams looking to make a deep playoff run, the Northwest has a lot going for it.

Unfortunately, those who bet on anyone other than the Oklahoma City Thunder to win it before the season are unlikely to be rewarded. OKC started the season at -110 to claim the Northwest Division crown for the 2nd year in a row, and they’re certainly well on their way. The Thunder’s odds to win it have since shifted to -10000 as we exit the All-Star break and begin the unofficial 2nd half of the 2024-25 regular season.

In this blog, we’ll break down the latest Northwest Division odds, analyze each team’s performance, and provide our predictions for who will come out on top.

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2024-25 NBA Northwest Division Odds

Here are the latest odds for the Northwest Division:

The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen a significant shift in their odds, moving from -110 at the start of the season to -10000 in February. This reflects their strong performance and emergence as the division favorite. The Denver Nuggets have seen their odds drop considerably from +300 before the season to +12500 now.

The Minnesota Timberwolves started the season as underdogs at +230, and their chances have since slid all the way to +50000. The Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers are both extreme longshots, with their odds drifting further out to +100000. Both teams are in rebuilding modes and are unlikely to challenge for the division title any time soon.

NBA Northwest Division Teams

Let’s take a closer look at the following NBA Teams competing in the Northwest Division:

Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder finished last season as the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs, which, by default, means they also won the Northwest Division. Oklahoma City finished 57-25 overall, though they were ultimately upset in the 2nd round of the playoffs by a much more experienced and battle-tested Dallas Mavericks squad.

Over the summer, the Thunder added a couple of versatile veterans in Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein to what was already a strong, deep, and young roster. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the face of the franchise, but Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are going to make several All-Star teams of their own over the course of their respective careers.

OKC is deep with quality role players, including Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe, and Caruso. That versatility makes them an extremely potent defensive team, and, in news that should surprise nobody, they lead the NBA in defensive efficiency. Oklahoma City is yielding just 102.3 points per 100 possessions, which is over 4 points better than the 2nd-place Orlando Magic.

The Thunder have built a sizable lead in the Northwest Division exiting the All-Star break. At 44-10, OKC has a hefty 8.5-game lead over the Nuggets, while they’re 14 games in front of Minnesota. They’ve been particularly dominant on their home floor, as evidenced by their gaudy 25-3 record at Paycom Center.

Needless to say, it would take a monumental collapse over the next couple of months for anybody but Oklhaomas City to win this division. Here’s hoping you got your bets in on the Thunder at their preseason -110 Northwest Division odds, because there’s very little profit potential in their updated -10000 odds.

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves advanced to the Western Conference Finals a season ago, only to wind up losing to the same Mavericks team that ousted the Thunder. Rather than running it back with a wildly successful young core, however, Minnesota’s brass opted to take the rsoter in a different direction.

Just a couple of weeks before the new season began, the Wolves shipped franchise cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in a deal that brought Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo back to Minneapolis. KAT has gone on to enjoy massive success with his new side, while the Knicks’ newcomers remain a work in progress. While both Randle and DiVincenzo have shown flashes, it’s probably not a coincidence that the Timberwolves have enjoyed an uptick in performance of late with both of them sidelined due to injury.

Randle’s fit next to Anthony Edwards offensively was always going to be a challenge. Randle is a score-first forward who needs the ball in his hands, while Edwards is also at his best when he’s pulling the strings. Since Randle went down with an injury, Edwards’ numbers have improved considerably. The 23-year-old former No. 1 overall pick is averaging 27.5 points per game for the season, but he improved that output to better than 30 points per game in January. Through a handful of games in February, Ant is averaging a robust 34.3 points per outing.

We’ll see how the Wolves fare once Randle returns to the lineup. Unfortunately, it’s far too late to expect Minnesota to make up that aforementioned 14-game gap between themselves and the Thunder in the standings. This could be a dangerous team come playoff time, but a division title isn’t in the T-Wolves’ immediate future.

Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets are another team that’s had to adjust on the fly. Since winning the championship 2 years ago, the Nuggets have been forced to navigate a series of roster changes. Due to the constraints of the salary cap, Denver has since seen key contributors like Bruce Brown, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Mason Plumlee, and Monte Morris leave for greener pastures.

The Nuggets will be a title threat as long as Nikola Jokic is around, however. The 3-time MVP is having what may be his best season to date, though he’s currently looking up at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the race for the league’s highest individual accolade. Jokic is averaging 29.8 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 10.2 assists per game. If he goes on to accomplish the feat, it will be the first time in his decorated career that he’s averaged a triple-double over the course of a full campaign.

Denver is considerably closer to Oklahoma City in the standings than Minnesota is, but an 8.5-game gap is still a large one to try and overcome. The Nuggets are another team that’s been in better form since an inconsistent start to the season, but the only way they’ll actually catch up to OKC is if the Thunder get blasted by a rash of injuries.

While it’s not impossible, I don’t like the Nuggets’ chances quite enough to take a flier on the +12500 Northwest Division odds.

Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz are going nowhere fast. The roster has some compelling young pieces, but we’re still waiting on the Jazz to land the kind of star that can accelerate their upward trajectory. Lauri Markkanen is a solid start, but he’s likely best suited as a secondary or tertiary offensive option.

Perhaps Keyonte George, Isaiah Collier, and Kyle Filipowski have shown promise, but it’s highly unlikely that any of them will eventually become superstars. Walker Kessler – who’s already one of the league’s best rim protectors – looks like a keeper. Still, he’s a defense-first player and not a guy who’ll go out there and put 20 points on the board every night.

The Jazz are just 13-41, and they’re likely to lose at an even healthier clip moving forward as they jockey for position in the upcoming Cooper Flagg sweepstakes.

Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers are another team headed for the lottery. Portland’s roster is quite a bit more experience than that of the Jazz, and they’ve improved to 23-32 on the season after a particularly rough start.

The Blazers have used defense to get back on track. Portland recently enjoyed a stretch in which they won 10 of 11 games, though they headed into the All-Star break as losers of 3 straight.

I suppose Portland has a very outside shot at nabbing a spot in the Western Conference Play-In Tournament, though even that’s rather unlikely.

NBA Northwest Division Predictions

Clearly, the Northwest Division is still the Thunder’s to lose. They entered the season as odds-on favorites to do just that, and we picked them to win then. Now, those odds have improved considerably ever since. They’ve been the most consistent team in the division, and their young core is playing with confidence and poise.

I suppose the Nuggets (+12500) are a viable bet considering they’re still mathematically alive, but it’s very difficult to imagine the Thunder losing enough games down the stretch to make that a remotely likely outcome.

Bet: Oklahoma City Thunder (-10000)

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