The start of the 2024-25 NBA season is on the horizon, with 30 teams chasing to capture the championship. Let’s take a look at the five current favorites for the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.
The Boston Celtics are the current favorite, and they are looking to be the first team to go back-to-back since the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, rightfully so. The Celtics returned the same roster that dominated last year’s regular season and playoffs. The lineup of Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis is arguably the best starting five in the league.
The only question marks on Boston’s roster could be the bench unit. Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser have proven to be good role players, but with Al Horford at 38 years old, the second unit could be flawed. If Porzingis continues to miss games due to injury, the frontcourt rotation is not strong. Not to mention the Eastern Conference is a lot stronger and the Celtics road to the finals may not be as sweet as last year.
Somehow the rest of the league allowed the No. 1 seed in the West that won 57 games last year to get better. After an incredible breakout season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have the second-best odds to win the finals. The Thunder only had two weaknesses that glared during the playoffs; Josh Giddey and rebounding. Fixing just one of those would improve this team, but GM Sam Presti had an absolute masterclass of an offseason.
First, he swapped Giddey for Alex Caruso, one of the best defenders in the NBA, without having to include any draft picks. Then the Thunder signed Isaiah Hartenstein to address their rebounding issues. With additions, they have so much line-up variability and incredible spacing.
OKC is still a very young team. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played at an MVP level last season and will need to repeat his production. Some of the young stars will have to take a jump, with Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren in mind to emerge as a true consistent second option. Gilgeous-Alexander is an offensive juggernaut, but the supporting cast will have to show up for the Thunder to win their first championship.
This is the best New York Knicks of the past 10 years. Fan favorites in Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and Hartenstein have now departed, replaced by new accusations in Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges. The defensive duo of Bridges and OG Anunoby is one of the best in the league, and KAT adds a new dimension to the offense.
Losing Hartenstein will heavily affect the offense. The Knicks scored 1.25 points per possession when Brunson ran a pick-and-roll with Hartenstein last season, the third-most efficient paring in the entire league. The bench is another issue. With Mitchell Robinson ruled out of the remainder of the calendar year, the starters will have to play a lot, which could lead to injuries that the team doesn’t have the depth to deal with.
The Philadelphia 76ers made one of the biggest splashes in the offseason, signing nine-time All-Star forward Paul George to a four-year deal. The addition of George hopes to take some of the offensive pressure off of the All-Star duo of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The 76ers completely retooled their roster, only bringing back 5 players from last season’s squad.
The question is can this team stay healthy? Everyone knows the injury history of Embiid and he reportedly won’t be playing in back-to-backs this season. George hasn’t played 60 games all but one of the last five seasons. On paper, the roster looks great, but if the top-end stars don’t play, it’s a lot of pressure on the role players to step up.
The Denver Nuggets still have the best player in the world in Nikola Jokic. It’s the players around him that may be an issue, in particular the backcourt. Jamal Murray struggles seem to be a legit concern. The Canadian guard only shot 40% from the field and 31% from three in the playoffs, and his poor performance continued into the Olympics. A return to form for Murray needs to happen for the Nuggets to be a true contender.
The loss of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also leaves a gaping hole at the shooting guard position. Head coach Michael Malone seems to be rocking with Christian Braun, but it wouldn’t be shocking if Julian Strawther steals the starting job. The second-year guard out of Gonzaga has averaged 18.8 PPG on 57 3P% through the first five preseason games.