Shaquille O’Neal Locks In NBA Champion Prediction One Week Before Season

The 2024-25 NBA regular season will tip off on Tuesday, and the defending champion Boston Celtics are the team to beat this year.

Last season, the Celtics racked up 64 regular season wins, the franchise's highest win total since going 66-16 in their championship season of 2007-08.

While Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis is set to miss the start of this season due to injury, the team brought back all its key contributors. Jayson Tatum, Derrick White and Sam Hauser were all signed to contract extensions this summer, solidifying Boston's core for the long term.

However, other teams made big offseason moves to bolster their rosters and compete with the Celtics. Some notable ones include the Philadelphia 76ers signing Paul George, the New York Knicks adding Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, and the Oklahoma City Thunder bringing in Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso.

With this upcoming season inching closer and closer, NBA legend and TNT's "Inside the NBA" analyst Shaquille O'Neal made his official 2024-25 NBA champion prediction.

On O'Neal's podcast, " The Big Podcast with Shaq ," he named the Milwaukee Bucks his pick.

"I'm gonna go with the Bucks this year," O'Neal said.

The Bucks won the title in 2021. If they want to win another, the time is now. Giannis Antetokounmpo is 29 years old, and the other three members of their core four are all over 30: Damian Lillard, Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton.

Milwaukee's addressed two of last season's weaknesses this offseason: three-point shooting and defense .

They lost players like Jae Crowder, Patrick Beverley and Danilo Gallinari but added Gary Trent Jr., Taurean Prince and Delon Wright. The latter three players shot a combined 39.2% from three .

According to ESPN BET , Boston has the best betting odds to win it all this season at +290. After that, there's a bit of a drop-off. In fact, the Bucks come in at No. 8.

Here are the Top 10 teams with the best odds to win the NBA title in 2024-25:

1. Boston Celtics +290
2. Oklahoma City Thunder +675
3. New York Knicks +700
4. Philadelphia 76ers +825
5. Dallas Mavericks +1000
6. Denver Nuggets +1000
7. Minnesota Timberwolves +1000
8. Milwaukee Bucks +1300
9. Phoenix Suns +2000
10. Los Angeles Lakers +3300

NBA opening night will feature a doubleheader on TNT.

On Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the New York Knicks will face the Boston Celtics. Upon conclusion of that game, the Minnesota Timberwolves will take on the Los Angeles Lakers at 10 p.m. ET.

Related: Giannis Antetokounmpo Makes Bold Bucks Trade Prediction