erick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

After predicting that the Memphis Grizzlies will win 48.5 games and finish sixth in the Western Conference, Las Vegas is back, but this time with NBA championship odds. Coming into the season with a healthy core has Bovada giving the Grizzlies a 35/1 chance to win the title this season.

To put that into perspective, the Miami Heat, clearly, are the favorites at 11/5 and right behind them are the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Honestly, I can’t think of any other teams that have a legit change of winning the NBA championship, barring injury, this year. It speaks on the NBA’s parity.

For more perspective, Bovada has Memphis, the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers tied at the same odds.

If the Grizzlies can pull of a phenomenal run and walk away with the NBA title in June 2013, then Zach Randolph needs to play like he did against the San Antonio Spurs two years ago, Rudy Gay needs to be highly efficient on the offensive end and Marc Gasol would have to play as if he’s the best center in the NBA. All of these things can happen. The question is whether these three things can happen at the same time because the three haven’t spent too much time together due to injuries to the three in consecutive years (Gasol 2010, Gay 2011, Randolph 2012).

I’ve said this many times, but Bovada dropping their championship odds only means one thing: the NBA season is RIGHT around the corner.