The New York Knicks have a brand new star within the Huge Apple after buying and selling for four-time All-Star Karl-Anthony Cities. However don’t be shocked if their regular hand within the backcourt — level guard Jalen Brunson — leads the race for the NBA’s high particular person honor.
That’s simply considered one of The Athletic NBA employees’s daring predictions for the 2024-25 season. Try the remainder:
The story of the best gamers in NBA historical past. In 100 riveting profiles, high basketball writers justify their picks and uncover the historical past of the NBA within the course of.
The story of the best performs in NBA historical past.
Atlantic Division
Boston Celtics
Baylor Scheierman will contribute: The Celtics, who return 13 gamers from a championship staff, don’t have a lot house of their rotation and should not in a spot to prioritize the event of younger gamers. Scheierman, the staff’s first-round decide, will nonetheless discover his method onto the ground. His sharpshooting would possibly draw the headlines, however his fast pondering and sensible play will flip him right into a useful complementary piece instantly. After placing on 10-15 kilos over the offseason to deal with NBA physicality, his protection received’t be dangerous sufficient to cease him from touchdown alternatives to play. — Jay King
Brooklyn Nets
Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith will probably be traded: There’s not quite a lot of suspense with the Nets. They’re nonetheless in quest of a clear-cut franchise cornerstone, and they’ll seemingly seek for that within the 2025 draft after a season on the backside of the standings. The logical play is to maneuver Johnson and Finney-Smith to groups that can hand over high quality draft property and younger gamers with buried upside. The Nets are a little bit of a clean canvas with all of the room to present developmental initiatives an opportunity to develop, to allow them to rely on Johnson and Finney-Smith to assist set up a constructive tradition earlier than finally sending them to successful alternatives. The Nets obtained their decide again from the Houston Rockets this summer time, to allow them to gear up for the Cooper Flagg tankathon, however they’ve two extra first-rounders incoming. They will get inventive in how they handle their property, whether or not they need to place for an enormous commerce within the subsequent 24 months or simply transfer up within the draft. — Jared Weiss
New York Knicks
Jalen Brunson will win MVP: Brunson has gotten higher each season. He averaged 28.7 factors final season on good effectivity with generally dangerous spacing, and now he has the very best spacing lineup he’s ever had. Till I cease seeing him enhance, I’m anticipating him to take one other bounce. New York will probably be good. The offense ought to be the most effective within the league. Brunson is the staff’s greatest offensive participant. All of that very effectively may add as much as an MVP award. — James L. Edwards III
GO DEEPER
In New York, that is Jalen Brunson’s world — the one he created
Philadelphia 76ers
Ricky Council IV will begin by midseason: The Sixers had an intensive makeover this summer time to load the roster with veteran perimeter gamers, opening up a collection of lineups Nick Nurse can fill in round newcomer Paul George and the staff’s two incumbent stars. Kelly Oubre is coming off a season wherein he confirmed some defensive enchancment and located a viable offensive function. Caleb Martin arrives from Miami with the flexibility to fit in wherever, however he tends to undergo ebbs and flows. With all of the offensive expertise within the beginning lineup, Council’s defensive prowess may give him an opportunity to interrupt by way of and ship considered one of Martin and Oubre to the bench. Philadelphia wants somebody to be tenacious on the level of assault, and George, Philadelphia’s greatest perimeter defender other than Council, will get overworked if it’s all on him. Council shot 42 p.c from 3-point vary throughout summer time league, displaying he could possibly be a viable choice to house the ground after which dominate on the opposite finish. — Jared Weiss
Toronto Raptors
Raptors will end backside 4 within the East: Everybody has penciled within the Nets, Bulls, Hornets, Pistons and Wizards as the underside 5 of the Japanese Convention. Nevertheless, the Raptors badly want some cost-controlled expertise so as to add to Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley. It wouldn’t take a lot — perhaps a commerce of Jakob Poeltl — for the Raptors to lose their defensive basis and, subsequently, quite a lot of video games. I anticipate they’ll discover a method. Imagine. — Eric Koreen
Central Division
Chicago Bulls
Bulls will make the Play-In: For the third straight season, the Bulls will problem for the playoffs however fall brief. They’ll exceed expectations, whereas spooking their loyal however long-suffering fan base into believing the top-10 protected decide owed to San Antonio will probably be forfeited. However worry not. The Bulls will retain their choice. However they’ll do all they will to make it attention-grabbing. — Darnell Mayberry
Cleveland Cavaliers
Cavs will commerce considered one of their ‘core 4’: And it received’t be Donovan Mitchell. Look, the Cavs are getting into this season with their rotation items fully unchanged. This can be a good staff and an costly one, however there may be ample proof the items don’t match collectively for greatness. Maybe new coach Kenny Atkinson makes them match higher, but when he can’t, a commerce will materialize to maneuver both Jarrett Allen or Darius Garland to present Cleveland a unique, maybe extra dynamic, look heading into the playoffs. — Joe Vardon
Detroit Pistons
Pistons will make the Play-In: Hear me out … Sure, the Pistons have 31 mixed wins over the past two seasons. And, sure, it is rather, very uncommon for a staff to make a 10-plus win bounce in a single season with out main upgrades. Nevertheless, the underside of the East goes to be dangerous. Cade Cunningham had a stable season final season, and he’s now surrounded by spacing for the primary time in his younger profession with the additions of Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. In the event you inform me the Pistons are higher than the Wizards, Bulls, Nets, Hornets, Raptors and even the Hawks, I wouldn’t be shocked. — James L. Edwards III
Indiana Pacers
Pacers will end high 4 within the East: I don’t understand how I really feel concerning the Pacers within the postseason. I like Boston, New York and Philadelphia because the East’s top-three groups, however within the scrum for fourth, I’ll purchase Indiana. Pascal Siakam is a superb match, Tyrese Haliburton continues to emerge as a high level guard (and participant), they’ll be higher with a wholesome Bennedict Mathurin, and I like Andrew Nembhard with this staff. Oh, and so they nonetheless have Myles Turner. Their efficiency within the East finals as a wounded No. 6-seeded staff was admirable. And this season, they’ll show what we noticed final spring was actual. — Joe Vardon
Can Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers enhance on their East finals look from final season? (Trevor Ruszkowski / USA As we speak)
Milwaukee Bucks
One other MVP for Giannis: Antetokounmpo was spectacular final season. He was the primary participant in NBA historical past to common a minimum of 30 factors and 10 rebounds per recreation whereas capturing over 60 p.c from the sector. If the Bucks handle to safe a top-two seed in a top-heavy East, the Bucks may have the staff success wanted to place Antetokounmpo within the MVP dialog, and he’ll virtually definitely have the person numbers to tug it off. — Eric Nehm
Southeast Division
Atlanta Hawks
Jalen Johnson will common 20 factors per recreation: With Dejounte Murray’s 26.6 p.c utilization fee gone and no incoming gamers able to absorbing these further possessions, Johnson is prone to have far more shot-creation duty than a season in the past. Even with only a 19.1 utilization fee, he averaged 16.0 factors per recreation in his breakout third season. With Johnson, the closest factor the Hawks should a second star subsequent to Trae Younger within the beginning lineup, anticipate his workload to ramp up significantly … and anticipate him to have the ability to deal with it. — John Hollinger
Charlotte Hornets
Hornets will win greater than 30 video games: It might not sound spectacular, however you is probably not accustomed to the Hornets’ historical past. They’ve received 30-plus video games simply twice prior to now 5 seasons. In the event that they win 31, it will be a 10-win enchancment on final season. The Hornets appear to be taking the appropriate steps ahead with a brand new head of basketball operations and a brand new head coach. They even introduced again Kemba Walker (as an assistant coach). LaMelo Ball is wholesome once more, and Brandon Miller was the very best rookie within the league below 7-feet final season. There definitely will probably be rising pains, however Charlotte may pack a bit of extra sting than anticipated. — Mike Vorkunov
Miami Warmth
Bam Adebayo will grow to be a reliable 3-point risk: Adebayo began displaying final season how efficient he may be as soon as he steps outdoors of the 3-point line, and the Warmth want extra methods to open issues up offensively. Adebayo has mentioned he expects to aim 100-plus 3-pointers this season, and his time with Erik Spoelstra on the Olympics proved to his head coach that Adebayo is able to broaden his recreation. If Adebayo begins flattening these outdoors photographs persistently, he could find yourself having the very best offensive season of his profession. That might open up the ground for a Miami staff that has struggled to search out some pop on offense, even when Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro have been wholesome. — Will Guillory
Orlando Magic
The three-point capturing will probably be higher: Lengthy-distance capturing was Orlando’s Achilles’ heel final season, particularly within the playoffs when the staff struggled to hit open 3s in its collection in opposition to Cleveland. The addition of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was one of many league’s greatest offseason signings, and he’ll get quite a lot of open 3s from Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner drive-and-kicks. Rookie Tristan da Silva has an opportunity to grow to be a key function participant and flooring spacer earlier than playoff time. However will the additions be sufficient to propel the Magic past the playoffs’ first spherical, and even keep away from the East’s Play-In? That can depend upon Wagner bouncing again from a career-low 3-point proportion and on level guard Jalen Suggs solidifying his important capturing positive aspects from final season. — Josh Robbins
GO DEEPER
Creating his recreation and voice, Paolo Banchero seeks to dominate in 12 months 3
Washington Wizards
Jordan Poole’s counting stats will enhance: In his first Wizards season, Poole struggled earlier than the All-Star break, averaging 15.6 factors per recreation on 40 p.c capturing from the sector. After the break, with the ball in his palms extra typically and enjoying much less alongside Tyus Jones, he averaged 20.9 factors on 43 p.c capturing. This season, there’s no query Poole will probably be Washington’s main initiator, and with Brian Keefe as coach, Washington will look to play at an excellent quicker tempo. Which means extra possessions, extra shot makes an attempt and extra probabilities for assists. Whether or not Poole will probably be environment friendly is one other story, however the counting stats will rise. — Josh Robbins
Northwest Division
Denver Nuggets
Michael Porter Jr. will make his first All-Star Recreation: The Nuggets have by no means wanted extra from Porter Jr. than they want now. Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray have to ease again their regular-season utilization. Porter Jr. is larger bodily and extra able to deal with the grind of the season. He’s beginning to spherical into the prime of his profession. My guess? He goes for 22 factors an evening, the Nuggets are a top-three staff out west, and Jokić lastly has his first all-star teammate. — Tony Jones
Minnesota Timberwolves
Wolves may have a greater offense in 2024-25: One would assume buying and selling Karl-Anthony Cities would make the offense worse. However as nice individually as Cities is, it didn’t add as much as an awesome offense final season. The Wolves had been ranked seventeenth in offensive effectivity. Including Donte DiVincenzo’s capturing and Julius Randle’s playmaking, and growing the roles for Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid will assist the Wolves climb greater as a collective offense this season. — Jon Krawczynski
Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder
Jalen Williams will win NBA Most Improved Participant: Williams hit one other stratosphere a season in the past when not many had been watching regardless of Oklahoma Metropolis’s run to the highest of the West. Now he enters 12 months 3 — and ought to be getting into All-Star conversations. Williams wasn’t simply one of many NBA’s most effective shooters final season; he additionally took over video games along with his playmaking, particularly when coach Mark Daigneault would use him with the second unit. The passing improved all through the season, as did Williams’ pick-and-roll smarts. The Thunder handed him more and more formidable defensive assignments. Once they performed the Spurs, it wasn’t Chet Holmgren guarding 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama; it was Williams. If he continues on this trajectory, an environment friendly 25-point common with top-notch protection and secondary playmaking will arrive finally. Perhaps that point is quickly. — Fred Katz
Jalen Williams defends Victor Wembanyama final season. (Rob Ferguson / USA As we speak)
Portland Path Blazers
Shaedon Sharpe turns into a family identify: On this third season, the 21-year-old capturing guard will win the slam dunk contest at All-Star Weekend (ebook it) and can lead the Blazers in scoring. Even with final week’s setback — the Blazers introduced Sharpe will miss four-to-six weeks with a tear in his left shoulder — he ought to return in November and have loads of season to show his capturing and leaping abilities. Sharpe final season was beginning to blossom in December, compiling consecutive video games of 29, 25, 26, 24, and 27 factors earlier than growing an abductor pressure that led to surgical procedure in January and restricted him to solely 32 video games. Even with high-volume shooters Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant as teammates, the 6-foot-6 Sharpe has the expertise to be the No. 1 possibility and is able to pop onto the scene and validate why the Blazers took him seventh within the 2022 draft. — Jason Fast
Utah Jazz
Cody Williams will make a run at NBA Rookie of the 12 months: The Jazz are going to play their younger guys this season. That a lot has been made clear. Williams is as proficient because the day is lengthy. He can shoot, cross and dribble. He can play and defend each wing positions. His ability set goes to get him on the ground. Utah’s need to make a run for the highest decide within the 2025 NBA Draft will get Williams the runway to be impactful. The expertise will do the remainder. — Tony Jones
Pacific Division
Golden State Warriors
They’ll make a big commerce: In a barely upgraded type, the Warriors have the identical downside as a season in the past. They’ve loads of rotation-level NBA expertise however not sufficient top-end scoring or creation subsequent to Stephen Curry. I think about they’ll win sufficient video games to remain within the playoff combine, tick off a few succesful gamers who’re buried within the rotation after which, as soon as January or February nears, discover a consolidation commerce that higher balances the roster and rotation.
They’ve the first-rounders, versatile contracts and younger expertise to get a deal performed. They are saying they’ll be aggressive. Curry will exert some well mannered leverage if he is aware of there may be an improve on the market that’s moderately obtainable. One other facet to look at is Jonathan Kuminga’s contract talks. If he extends in October, collective bargaining settlement guidelines make him almost unattainable to commerce till subsequent summer time. If he doesn’t (my present guess), he stays an apparent and interesting commerce piece. — Anthony Slater
GO DEEPER
Thompson: Draymond Inexperienced is right here to construct the Warriors’ subsequent title, every time it comes
LA Clippers
A starter will probably be traded: The Clippers can’t tank this season with their first-round decide being a potential swap with the Thunder. And they’re going to by no means tank below Steve Ballmer, who’s opening up a brand new enviornment this season. President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank is pleased with the staff’s 13-year streak of successful seasons, the longest energetic streak within the league. However he by no means goes a season and not using a commerce, along with his first large one being the January 2018 Blake Griffin deal. Relying on what the Clippers appear like on the flip of the calendar yr, nobody ought to be thought-about untouchable. That features Kawhi Leonard and James Harden. — Legislation Murray
Los Angeles Lakers
Anthony Davis will end high 5 in MVP voting: Davis final completed within the high 5 in MVP voting within the 2017-18 season, when he positioned third as a 24-year-old for the Pelicans. He’s coming off arguably his greatest season as a Lakers participant and a summer time as the very best massive on the U.S. Olympic staff. The thrill in Lakers coaching camp is that coach JJ Redick goals to make use of Davis as a playmaking hub across the elbows and above the 3-point arc. If Davis can keep wholesome and the Lakers can construct upon their 18-6 file with their starters — two notable ifs — Davis ought to be within the combine for each NBA MVP and Defensive Participant of the 12 months (with the latter award extra seemingly). — Jovan Buha
Phoenix Suns
Suns will end high 4 within the West: The primary season of Phoenix’s massive three didn’t go effectively — 49 wins, first-round flameout, teaching change. But it surely’s a mistake to put in writing off the Suns in 12 months 2. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker stay elite. Bradley Beal ought to be higher. Level guard Tyus Jones is an ideal match. New coach Mike Budenholzer doesn’t have an ideal roster — and well being is all the time a priority — however he’ll maximize what he has and make Phoenix a contender. — Doug Haller
Sacramento Kings
Season will come all the way down to crunchtime(s): A glut of groups within the West ought to land someplace within the 44- to 50-win vary. The highest aspect of that can seemingly imply a playoff spot. The underside aspect could be the eleventh seed. Just a few swing ends in clutch, tight convention video games could possibly be the distinction between season success and large failure. The Kings now make use of De’Aaron Fox and DeMar DeRozan. Fox led the league in clutch factors final season, and DeRozan completed second in clutch factors the final two seasons. A part of the Kings’ perception in what could possibly be a tough DeRozan match is a confidence that Fox and DeRozan will energy them dwelling within the midrange on the finish of a handful of 50-50 video games. Whether or not they’re appropriate may outline their season. — Anthony Slater
DeMar DeRozan and De’Aaron Fox at the moment are teammates attempting to get the Kings again to the playoffs. (Sergio Estrada / USA As we speak)
Southwest Division
Dallas Mavericks
Mavs end outdoors the highest 4: The defending Western Convention champions ending outdoors the highest half of the convention? Perhaps it’s not as loopy because it sounds. The West will probably be stacked; chaos is to be anticipated when it’s packed so densely with good groups. Dallas was an awesome second-half staff final season, however the Mavs nonetheless had simply the fourth-best web score after the All-Star break. Luka Dončić performed the second-most video games of his profession final season. They added Klay Thompson, however he turns 35 in February. And other than their very own draw back dangers, there may be all the time a staff or two that surprises. Dallas may win 50 video games once more, however it could land it outdoors the highest 4 as soon as extra. — Mike Vorkunov
Houston Rockets
Rockets will end high six within the West: Name me loopy, however I don’t suppose the Rockets have even scratched the floor of their defensive ceiling below head coach Ime Udoka. Houston’s coaching camp focus has been cleansing up a few of final season’s errors, and a stronger, faster and extra skilled Alperen Şengün — together with the addition of Steven Adams — could be the distinction between a top-10 and top-three defensive unit. — Kelly Iko
Memphis Grizzlies
Scotty Pippen Jr. will probably be within the rotation: Pippen is the league’s solely two-way participant who has a significant probability of cracking his staff’s full-strength high 9. The undrafted Vanderbilt product was arguably the very best participant in summer time league after impressing in a late-season cameo that included the league’s second-highest steal fee (3.3 thefts per 100 possessions). He’s additionally the one level guard on the roster behind starters Ja Morant and Marcus Sensible (who seemingly will guard elite wings). Pippen may be energetic for 50 video games earlier than Memphis has to improve him to a full roster spot, though it may accomplish that sooner. — John Hollinger
New Orleans Pelicans
Zion Williamson will make an All-NBA staff: All indicators level to Williamson coming into this season in about pretty much as good a spot mentally and bodily as he’s been in his profession. He ended the 2023-24 season enjoying the very best basketball of his profession earlier than his unlucky damage within the Play-In Match in opposition to the Lakers. We already know he’s a pressure on the offensive finish. But when he focuses on enjoying with the identical effort and tenacity on the defensive finish that we noticed from him in March and April, there’s little doubt he’ll have the ability to solidify himself as one of many high 15 gamers within the NBA. — Will Guillory
San Antonio Spurs
Wemby, CP3 lead option to Play-In: Victor Wembanyama’s stellar Olympic run led to a bitter defeat to Crew USA, a loss he’ll maintain with him for a really very long time. Take into account it his origin story. He’s in all probability a shoo-in for NBA Most Improved Participant, and the addition of Chris Paul, even at age 39, ought to reverse the Spurs’ dismal 13-28 file in clutch-time conditions. Harrison Barnes will maintain down the floor-spacing fort till Devin Vassell returns, and coach Gregg Popovich pulls yet another magic trick out of his hat. — Kelly Iko
(Illustration by Kelsea Petersen / The Athletic; high images: Patrick Smith, Michael Reaves, Elsa / Getty Pictures)
