The 2024/25 NBA season tipped off on Tuesday night, with the defending-champion Celtics opening the season in impressive fashion by knocking down a record-tying 29 three-pointers en route to a blowout win over the new-look Knicks.
While teams like the Knicks and the Sixers, who are incorporating new stars, will need some time to jell and could become greater threats to Boston later in the season, the Celtics’ performance on Tuesday was a convincing reminder of why they’re considered a good bet to become the first NBA champion to go back-to-back since Golden State in 2017 and 2018. The Bucks, Cavaliers, Pacers, Magic, and Heat are among the other clubs hoping to give the C’s a run for their money in 2024/25.
Over in the Western Conference, the Thunder are widely considered the favorites to finish the season with the best record after claiming the No. 1 seed in 2023/24 and then upgrading the roster by adding Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso over the summer. But the growth of young teams isn’t always linear and Oklahoma City will face plenty of competition in a stacked Western Conference.
The last two teams to win the West – the Nuggets and Mavericks – should be among the conference’s top teams again in ’24/25. The Timberwolves made the Western Conference Finals in the spring and appear poised to contend again despite an opening-night loss. The Lakers, Suns, and Warriors will be leaning heavily on older stars, but could certainly make some noise if things break right. The Grizzlies won 50-plus games for two consecutive years before being hit hard by injuries last season; they’re hoping to bounce back. And longer-shot contenders like the Pelicans, Kings, and Rockets are all determined to take a step forward this season too.
In terms of award races, will voter fatigue work against three-time Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic and four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert? If so, it could open the door for a first-time winner for each award, with Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander among the top MVP candidates and Victor Wembanyama considered the frontrunner for DPOY.
The Rookie of the Year field is an interesting one, with this year’s No. 1 pick (Zaccharie Risacher) not expected to make the same sort of immediate impact that Wembanyama did last season. Risacher is still a Rookie of the Year contender, but the favorite may be Zach Edey, given the significant role he’s expected to play for a Grizzlies team without a ton of depth at center.
Oddsmakers have pegged Wembanyama as the frontrunner for Most Improved Player in addition to making him the DPOY favorite, but there’s no shortage of breakout candidates around the league — Jalen Williams, Jalen Johnson, Josh Giddey, Jonathan Kuminga, Franz Wagner, and Cade Cunningham are among the Most Improved Player picks that bettors have favored this fall.
Last year’s top two finishers in Sixth Man of the Year voting – Naz Reid and Malik Monk – are primed to contend for that award again, though Reid isn’t the Timberwolves’ only potential candidate, as Donte DiVincenzo could be in the mix too. Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook and Pelicans wing Trey Murphy are a couple more possibilities I have my eye on, while Pacers swingman Bennedict Mathurin and Knicks guard Miles McBride are among those ranked highly by oddsmakers.
We want to know what you think. Are you predicting a Celtics repeat or do you expect another team to win the 2025 title? What team are you taking to come out of the West? Who are your picks for this year’s major awards? Who will be the biggest star to change teams at the trade deadline?
Do you have any other bold predictions to share for the upcoming season? Head to the comment section below to weigh in!
MVP: SGA
ROY Matas
6th Man Ayo
DPOY Wemby
COY Ime Udoka
MIP: Cam Thomas
ECF: New York over Boston in 7
WCF: OKC over Minnesota in 6
NBA Finals: OKC over NYK in 6
First coach fired: Billy Donovan
Bold prediction: Zion asks for a trade and gets dealt before the trade deadline to Cleveland.
1st pick (draft lottery) Brooklyn Nets (NY team gets priority)
How many PPG does Cam Thomas have to drop to win MVP?? 40PPG maybe? I think he is going to get the chance to drop as many as he can.
Honestly, I think he can get around 27 PPG. Who else is going to create offense for that team? He’ll be a forgotten guy in about 15 years but he’ll be good for this year.
its way too early to pick any awards this year. Rookie of the year is impossible this year since there is no favorite.
Boston repeats, Pistons make the playoffs and Cade wins Most Improved Player.
MVP: Luka Dončić
ROY: Zach Edey
6MOY: Bogdan Bogdanović
COY: J.J. Redick
MIP: Evan Mobley
LaVine to the Lakers
Bold prediction- Cleveland defeats Boston in 6 in Eastern Conference semis then go on to lose to the Thunder who just beat the Lakers in 5 in the WCF.
Chuck, who is your DPOY? Just curious.
I would do Lavine for Rui/Vincent/Russell pick.
God I hope he gets traded asap.
Whoops. Bam Adebayo
Great pick on DPOY! I think that was his goal after coming up short last season, correct?
If how he played last night is any indication of his play for the season I’d try to keep Rui and see if the Bulls would go for Vicent, Vanderbilt, Russell, Hood-Schifino and a first.
I agree; Rui showed last season that he was the best fit next to the starters. He’s a true 2-way wing these days.
I don’t think LaVine is a good fit for the Lakers unless he’s willing to play almost totally off-ball, tbh.
MVP: Luka Doncic (it’s his year, tbh. SGA is the only one who can really challenge him in raw stats; if the Mavs finish as a Top 4 seed, Luka probably wins)
ROY: Zaccharie Risacher (he’s the expected starting 3/4 on a team that thrives on offense; Edey might be the better player but ROY is heavily predicated on PPG and doesn’t care about playoff position relative to the other awards)
DPOY: Evan Mobley (Wemby still plays on a team that won’t even make the play-in imo; outside of him they have no consistent options. Mobley is the best individual defender on any playoff team and is expected to take a bigger role on both ends this year)
6MOY: Donte DiVincenzo (the Wolves badly need him to space the floor and I expect him to soak up a lot of the minutes where Conely is resting, with the offense running out of Anthony Edwards)
MIP: Jalen Johnson (I’m a big believer in him; he already took a leap so if he can take a second one to stardom, he’ll be a favorite, especially if the Hawks outperform expectations the way I believe)
Hot Takes:
-Wemby makes 1st team All-Defense and 2nd Team All-NBA but doesn’t win individual awards.
-Cavs take a leap under an actually functional offensive coach and finish Top-3 in the East.
-Pelicans finish outside of the West play-in (no defensive bigs [Herb Jones is a wing] and Ingram looks like he couldn’t care less about the team).
-Hawks finish 6th in the East, ahead of Indiana (Haliburton is going to get targeted by everyone and their mother on defense and they only have one actual 3 on their roster) and Miami (just not a believer in them this year).
-Jalen Suggs becomes a consistently good Point Guard for the Magic.
A couple things to point out. Don’t forget that Edey is projected to be the starting center on a playoff team.
I went with Mobley as MIP as I, like you believe this is the season he breaks out in a big way. I think Bam winning DPOY will be a case of the voters feeling like it’s his turn though.
Devin Vassell was pretty consistent before the stress fracture and the Spurs added CP3. He’s not anywhere near what he once was but if he can stay moderately healthy they should have a functioning offense.