Basketball is back! Time to say goodbye to your families and make watching League Pass your new bedtime routine. To celebrate Tuesday’s opening night, the Ringer NBA staff has gathered to offer some predictions and favorite story lines for the 2024-25 regular season. Which players and teams are worth your time? Which stars could get traded? And what two teams will end up playing for the Larry O’Brien trophy in June? Check out our takes below and let the games begin.
Who is the most interesting team heading into 2024-25?
Rob Mahoney: Philadelphia 76ers. The on-paper Sixers look like the best, most complete team of Joel Embiid’s career, with the irrepressible center right in the middle of his playing prime. I can’t wait to see how it all blends together: what heights Tyrese Maxey can reach, how Paul George picks his spots, how many times Guerschon Yabusele can dunk on LeBron. But really, I can’t wait to see how it all holds up and whether Joel can get an honest-to-goodness chance to run the playoff gauntlet with a team worthy of the challenge.
Tyler Parker: Memphis Grizzlies. They finally have Ja Morant back after his extended time out. When he was last hungry and healthy, the Grizzlies were a major contender in the West. With him back in the fold, can they get back to that stratum, or has the league passed them by? Morant is one of the best shows in sports and the greatest in-game dunker in the league when his body’s right. If he gets back to All-NBA level again, the Grizz are probably back, too. Can the one-time future face of the league get his groove back? Hopefully someone in his camp has taken his phone and figured out a way to disable Instagram Live.
Justin Verrier: Philadelphia 76ers. Never before has a Big Three immediately fit together more seamlessly than Embiid, George, and Maxey … but it might also be the Big Three most susceptible to crumbling under the weight of injury updates. Maxey looks electric in the preseason, but George is already nursing a bone bruise and Embiid is swearing off back-to-backs in perpetuity. They might win the title or flame out spectacularly. Either way, we’ll be watching.
Howard Beck: Golden State Warriors. I’m fascinated by this post–Klay Thompson iteration of the Warriors and whether they can become—in Steph Curry’s words—a “relevant team” again. They reloaded well with De’Anthony Melton, Kyle Anderson, and Buddy Hield after Thompson’s departure. They lack a true costar for Curry, but their roster is super deep. And if even one of their prospects—Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, or Trayce Jackson-Davis—blossoms, they’ll be a legitimately dangerous team. Not a contender, necessarily, but dangerous.
The Ringer’s Top 100 Players in the NBA rankings are back! Check in throughout the 2024-25 season for updated analysis on the players who are making a splash.
Zach Kram: New Orleans Pelicans. I can’t stop thinking about the Pelicans, who inspire so many questions entering the season. Will the small-ball approach work? Can Zion Williamson stay healthy? Where does Brandon Ingram fit in? Will Dejounte Murray’s two-way production bounce back now that he’s no longer partnered with Trae Young? How much will Trey Murphy III improve? I eagerly await the answers from a team that could finish anywhere in the West, from within the top four to out of the play-in tournament entirely.
Michael Pina: Houston Rockets. The Rockets are possibly the deepest team in the league. Everyone on their roster can give Ime Udoka 15 solid minutes, with the top-end young talent possibly set to garner real All-Star buzz. I’ve never been worried about the “but there’s only one ball!” line of concern, but the Rockets have so many players who are in a stage of their career where they either crave it or don’t know how to impact winning when it’s in someone else’s hands. How do Udoka and GM Rafael Stone deal with a potential logjam? Will there be a consolidation trade in the middle of the season? What does the rotation look like? Can someone like Jabari Smith Jr. or Amen Thompson spread their wings and develop at a rate that’s good for them and the team? There are so many on- and off-court questions in Houston, where the skill and upside are bursting at the seams.
Danny Chau: Orlando Magic. I’m smitten with the Magic’s potential this season. Paolo Banchero’s first postseason performance was a glimpse into the kind of dominant play he’s capable of—what if he takes a major leap? What if Franz Wagner’s 3-point shot returns to league average? What if Jonathan Isaac finally plays a full season? What if the Magic unearth breakout seasons from any number of their first-round rookies and sophomores? Their continuity heading into this season will give them a high floor—claiming home-court advantage is no longer an aspiration but an expectation. But given how young the team still is, there are so many avenues for growth. If everything breaks right, why couldn’t they challenge the Celtics for the best team out East?
Which player are you most excited to watch?
Beck: Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton plays with creativity, joy, and just enough braggadocio to make him a potentially polarizing (and thus fascinating) young star. At 24, he’s just scratching the surface of his talent as a scorer and playmaker. If he makes another leap this season (and stays healthy), the Pacers have a chance to crack the East’s top tier.
Chau: I am here for Amen Thompson’s year two breakthrough. The best overall athlete in a league full of incredible athletes has an opportunity to rewrite the modern defensive code. Consider him a new-age Draymond Green (though I’ve personally likened Amen to a Ricky Rubio–Shawn Marion chimera on psychedelics). He already has reps infuriating some of the best offensive players the league has ever seen—from Luka Doncic to Kevin Durant. He melts positional designations away, flowing seamlessly from 1 to 4 on any given possession, all with the mind of a floor general on both ends. Houston arguably has the widest range of outcomes this season, and tapping Thompson’s blinding upside will be essential to finding the Rockets’ true ceiling.
Mahoney: Chris Paul. Which is really to say Victor Wembanyama as supported by Chris Paul. I respect the contributions of Tre Jones as much as the next NBA sicko, but let’s all be honest: The Spurs of last season had an unprecedented, world-shaking player on the floor and spent a lot of their time scrambling for the basics of NBA offense. Enter the Point God, a brilliant playmaker so meticulous it can sometimes work against him. Not so in San Antonio; this is a team in desperate need of someone to mind the details, and CP will make sure everything is just so for Wembanyama to have an explosive season.
Kram: Wembanyama. It’s obviously Wemby, right? More specifically, I want to see whether he’ll record the NBA’s first quadruple-double since 1994.
Verrier: Wemby, forever and always. If you thought the first season was fun, just wait until you see teammates successfully pass him the ball. Watching NBA players tuck and run when encountering Wemby’s comically long limbs was already exhilarating; now, with Paul around to throw accurate lobs, we get to see how he can warp the dimensions of the court on offense. Look at how far away he is when he catches this alley-oop over Moe Wagner—who, by the way, is 6-foot-11! This is prime Steph-level must-see TV.
Parker: Jaime Jaquez Jr. He likes to be where the action is and is hardly ever in the wrong spot on either end. He plays with spirit and next-level competitiveness. Or like a beagle the size of a German shepherd. Or like a Toyota Land Cruiser. Obviously, he has major flow and a daring goatee. Sort of Robert Downey Jr. adjacent, from a facial hair perspective. Sort of Iron Man adjacent, just in terms of explosiveness. He has surprises in store when he’s on the ball; he’s a crafty and wily handler with a lot of confidence and a lot of funk. I am surprised when he makes a mistake.
Pina: Zion Williamson. Wemby is the pick, but let’s not forget about Zion, a physical phenom who was last seen giving the Los Angeles Lakers everything they could handle (40 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists) in a competitive play-in game that yielded a season-ending hamstring injury. This year Williamson finally has a real point guard on his team. He has better spacing and what should be the widest driving lanes of his career. He’s still (somehow) only 24 years old. There’s nobody like Zion. And there’s nothing like watching other NBA players show genuine fear of his assertiveness.
Name one star you want to see traded and where.
Verrier: Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Thunder. There’s a 2 percent chance that this will happen, but it’s a bit curious that Giannis is already soft launching a breakup, musing to The Athletic that he might get traded if the Bucks don’t win a title this season. He’ll have plenty of suitors if that happens, but OKC, with its Scrooge McDuck vault of assets and rigorous culture, would be an ideal fit for all parties.
Pina: Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors would rule, even if it would be extremely difficult (though not impossible) for Miami and Golden State to construct a permissible deal under this CBA. In this hypothetical, however, a trade would likely include Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, and an additional $15 million worth of contracts. It’d hurt Golden State’s depth and cost them a budding 22-year-old and any shot at near-term cap flexibility. Still … sign me up! The Warriors wouldn’t be the favorite to come out of the Western Conference, but they would be the one contender nobody wants to see.
Mahoney: Butler to the Warriors. I’m with Pina. If the relationship between Jimmy and the Heat runs its course—or if Miami simply blanches at the idea of giving an injury-prone star a harrowing extension—one of the league’s most reliable playoff performers could very well find himself getting traded. And if he did, the suitors for Butler wouldn’t be the young, up-and-coming clubs that he could topple by pure force of personality; it would be more desperate veteran teams like the Warriors, who frankly could use some of Jimmy’s bucket-getting moxie. Butler won’t solve Golden State’s spacing concerns, but he could well sew up a host of others—giving Steph his most balanced costar since Durant left the Bay.
Kram: Zach LaVine to the Lakers. Both LaVine and the Bulls would be better off if he departed for a contender and young guards Josh Giddey, Coby White, and Ayo Dosunmu could dominate the ball; meanwhile, the Lakers didn’t improve at all over the summer and still need more help for LeBron and Anthony Davis if they want to make another deep playoff run. LaVine’s expensive, but he’s also a hyperefficient, high-ceiling scorer who could thrive as a third option on a better team.
Chau: LaVine to … anywhere? Lost in the dramatic nothingburger of LaVine’s 2023-24 season is the fact that he’s actually pretty good! There are plenty of players in the league vying to assume the volume scorer archetype, but how many of them can score efficiently at volume? How many have been able to reliably get into the paint and hit 200 3s in a season on borderline-elite percentages? LaVine is not without flaws, and he’s not a true offensive engine, but he’s very good at what he is very good at. I’d love to get him off the Bulls’ purgatorial treadmill. It’s time to see his talent in a different context.
Beck: LeBron to the Warriors … or, frankly, to any true contender. Because as we saw last season (and in the Olympics), LeBron is still elite and still capable of powering a title team if he has the right supporting cast. But he doesn’t in L.A., and the Lakers did absolutely nothing to improve their 47-win roster. If James, who turns 40 in December, is ever going to have a chance for a fifth ring, it has to be somewhere else.
Parker: Ingram to the Heat. I generally don’t like to see stars move teams, and I’m admittedly going to get real loose with “star” here, but Ingram’s time with the Pels has run its course. He hasn’t been able to reclaim the shotmaking magic he once had, and it feels like he could use some new scenery. I would love to see him go to Miami. They could get him locked in again, and Erik Spoelstra would find fun ways to use him.
Which team will regret its offseason the most?
Chau: Los Angeles Lakers. As an embarrassingly simple person with simple needs and wants, I seldom regret doing nothing. Doing nothing can be a great joy. But I am not an organization with a valuation surpassing $6 billion, holding on to an aging titan in his field without the structural support to maximize his twilight.
Verrier: Los Angeles Clippers. Extending Kawhi Leonard during the season just to balk at George’s price tag in the offseason is one of the most perplexing decisions in recent history. I get extending both or neither, but splitting the difference may have been the worst possible outcome. Hopefully, watching James Harden dribble for 20 seconds every offensive possession really gets The Wall going.
Pina: Lakers. Chicago humiliated itself, and Denver lost a key starter for nothing. But the Lakers should’ve probably done something, anything, to modernize a roster that was clearly incapable of complementing LeBron and Davis at a championship level last season. It wasn’t for lack of trying, but L.A. couldn’t stop striking out. Klay said thanks but no thanks to an offer that dwarfed what the Dallas Mavericks ultimately gave him. Jonas Valanciunas signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Washington Wizards. Gary Trent Jr. and Tyus Jones settled for veteran minimum contracts that were offered by better teams. Maybe they’ll reshape the supporting cast before the trade deadline by moving on from D’Angelo Russell or even dangling an attractive asset like Dalton Knecht in a larger deal. But strictly judging by what happened over the summer and knowing that LeBron is still very awesome, L.A.’s inert offseason should be condemned.
Parker: New Orleans Pelicans. It hurts me to do this because I love watching them, but it’s the Pelicans. I don’t think Murray was the answer they were looking for, and it cost them Dyson Daniels (a young player with huge defensive promise), Larry Nance Jr. (whom they closed playoff games with), E.J. Liddell (I don’t know, y’all, he looked good in summer league), and two first-round picks. Feels like too much for a guy who is not a seamless fit next to Zion.
Beck: Denver Nuggets. It has to be the Nuggets, whose roster just keeps deteriorating around three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. They let Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk rather than pay him, and they have now lost three of their top seven rotation players since winning the 2023 championship, without adequately replacing them. Bargain-basement signings Russell Westbrook and Dario Saric can’t replicate KCP’s shooting or his perimeter defense. If Denver’s young prospects don’t break out soon, the Nuggets just might squander the rest of Jokic’s prime.
Mahoney: Nuggets. Regret comes with having the most to lose. The Nuggets should be contending for the title every year they have Jokic, but there’s a possibility that their current supporting cast won’t allow for it. Are any of the prospects in Denver’s pipeline ready to step up? Will Michael Malone trust any of them enough for them to make a difference in the first place? Is Jamal Murray up for what will now be asked of him? Or will this Nuggets season ride on Westbrook holding down minutes in the biggest possible games? Denver can’t bleed high-end rotation talent every offseason and hold steady forever.
Kram: In a vacuum, the Nuggets might have been right not to want to pay so much to keep Caldwell-Pope as he enters his age-31 season. But they’re not in a vacuum; they’re in Jokic’s prime, and after losing KCP, Bruce Brown, and Jeff Green in the past 15 months, they’re frightfully thin on proven championship-level performers.
Give us one NBA zag you strongly believe in.
Parker: I doubt this is the type of answer my editors were looking for, but dunks should be worth four points. Anyone can shoot and make a 3. Not everyone can dunk. If fewer people can dunk than make 3s, then dunking is by definition harder, rarer, and more special. The hardest, rarest shots in the game should be worth the most points. Plus, the dunk is inherently cooler than jacking up some faraway nonsense. Plus, the league is riddled with 3s now. Give some of the power back to the bigs and the highfliers. Does this make any sense at all? If not, I just wanted to give a heads-up that I am somewhat drunk.
Verrier: Are we sure that the Timberwolves will be worse this season? Karl-Anthony Towns will help New York keep pace in a shoot-out with the Celtics, but Minnesota has enough defensive heft and perimeter shooting left over to recreate him in the aggregate, and it’s added some much-needed ballhandling. The Wolves might not have the NBA’s best defense this season, but their ceiling was limited by a 17th-ranked offense. They might not be better than last season, but I also don’t think they’ll be worse.
Kram: The NBA keeps expanding what calls can be changed by instant replay, but I believe replay’s use should be severely curtailed. There’s nothing worse than an entertaining game ground to a halt by a lengthy deliberation over slow-motion freeze-frames. Keep the games moving!
Beck: The NBA should bring back the best-of-five first round (which it had until 2003). Upsets are exceedingly rare in the NBA, as they should be. But upsets are also cool and amazing! (In honor of the late Dikembe Mutombo, go back and watch this iconic and truly moving moment.) A shorter series makes an upset just slightly more attainable. It also supercharges the drama if the lower seed steals one of the first two games. And let’s face it: Most years, the gap between the highest and lowest seeds is so massive that the best-of-seven format feels plodding and dull.
Chau: Ben Simmons will be a fringe All-Star candidate this season. Expectations for the Nets are subterranean and out of view—the only real reason to watch Brooklyn games will be to catch the delightful Nets broadcasting crew. This is the perfect environment for Simmons to once again soft launch his return to form. His pinball drives will make a comeback, as will his live-dribble darts. And the long-fabled introduction of a 3-point shot? Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.
Mahoney: Phoenix could win the West. OK, I know the Suns fell miles short of anything resembling real contention last season. But what if one of the best-shooting teams in the league actually takes more 3s? What if having a real point guard on the floor shores up the turnover problems? What if they stay healthy?? What if Ryan Dunn is for real??? The West is stacked, but there’s also enough parity to leave a little daylight.
Pina: Evan Mobley can be extremely successful without a 3-point shot. Of course it would be advantageous if he suddenly looked like Towns, popping out and drilling 3s on command. But while we can acknowledge definite spacing issues in Cleveland’s starting lineup, not every center (yes, Mobley is a center) should be expected to shoot over 40 percent on a respectable volume behind the arc. And in this case, the onus to create should not be on a 23-year-old who has so much else to offer (and develop) on both ends of the floor. Tell yourself that Mobley’s comps are Bam Adebayo, Anthony Davis, and Kevin Garnett, then analyze accordingly.
Start, bench, cut these exhausted story lines: Bronny James, Jayson Tatum, and the second apron.
Pina: Start the second apron, bench Tatum, and cut Bronny. The second apron sucks. Tatum is a 26-year-old world champion coming off three straight first-team All-NBA seasons. Bronny is a G League player who should be a sophomore at USC. But really, nothing else needs to be said about any of these topics!
Mahoney: Start Tatum, bench the second apron, cut Bronny. Honest question: Why would I be tired of talking about one of the best players in the sport? The conversations around Tatum can get a bit circular, but in a way that’s honestly pretty fascinating—more so than Tatum himself, to be honest.
Kram: Start the second apron story line because at least it’s relatively novel, with implications reaching wider than just one player or team; bench Tatum; and send Bronny to the G League, which is a perfectly fine place for young players to develop.
Verrier: Start Tatum, bench the second apron, cut Bronny. I’m pretty intrigued by Tatum’s revenge tour; the Celtics are at their best when he is having a more subtle impact—playmaking, defending bigs—but he might have one MVP run in him at some point, especially if he can suppress the urge to do the worm mid–jump shot and get his 3-point shooting back on track. The second apron is omnipresent but unfortunately turns transactions into long division problems. Bronny, meanwhile, is more of a celebrity than an NBA player and is thus pretty irrelevant to day-to-day discourse.
Parker: Start the second apron, bench Bronny, and cut Tatum. The second apron actually has some meat to it. It functions essentially as a hard cap and will make it harder for really good teams to stay together for extended stretches. People should keep talking about it. I’m not ready to get rid of Bronny altogether. He makes for some good jokes at times, and laughter is nice. But people fussing over Tatum’s proper place in the NBA hierarchy need to find better things to talk about. Couldn’t possibly care less now that the Celtics have won a title.
Beck: Start Tatum, bench the second apron, and cut Bronny. Truly, it’s nothing against the James gang or the Lakers; it doesn’t bother me that they drafted Bronny just to make his dad happy. It was genuinely heartwarming to see them become the NBA’s first father-son duo in a preseason game. But as a story, this whole saga has been wildly overcovered and over-debated. Bronny is, at this stage, a fringe NBA player at best who should be spending this season getting reps in the G League. Let the kid develop on his own timeline, without the overwrought 24/7 coverage.
Chau: Start the second apron, bench Tatum, and cut Bronny. I’m not sure getting tired of hearing complaining about the second apron actually combats fatigue in that arena. The only way through is through—it’s good to be informed and exposed to all the ways teams are dealing with such a monumental team-building obstacle in both the short and long term. As for Tatum and Bronny … [shrug].
What is your NBA Finals prediction?
Beck: Thunder over Celtics. It’s really hard to repeat in this league, and the Celtics will have a much more grueling path back to the Finals, given the surge of good to great teams in the Eastern Conference. They could be worn out by the time they get there. And the Thunder might be the deepest, most well-balanced team in the league.
Mahoney: Thunder over Celtics. I’m inclined to give the defending champs the benefit of the doubt in the East, if only for them to fall short against a younger, fresher OKC team that’s really just getting started.
Verrier: Thunder over Knicks. The Celtics have the best roster on paper, but Kristaps Porzingis’s health concerns plus a more treacherous path in the East make a second title much more difficult than the first. New York, if it can limit the injuries to its rock-solid starting five, has the offensive punch to knock out the champs, but OKC ultimately has the lineup versatility and enough star power to counter any team in its path.
Parker: Knicks over Thunder. Started crying as I typed that. As a proud Oklahoman, I want to get swept up in my own biases, especially in years when a championship is genuinely plausible, but for reasons I can’t quite articulate, the Knicks seem destined to reach the promised land this season. Bunch of bruisers, save KAT. Offensively, they’ll be hell on wheels, and defensively, Tom Thibodeau will have them on point. I think he gets the Knickerbockers their first ring since 1973.
Kram: Celtics over Thunder. It’s funny—in an era with so much parity, both conferences have a clear best team as the season begins. I’ll take the boring route and pick both no. 1 seeds to reach the Finals for the first time since Cavs vs. Warriors in 2016.
Pina: Celtics over Grizzlies. The NBA is a math game, and the 3-point-loving Celtics just have too much offensive firepower for any team (including one that features a pair of Defensive Players of the Year) to slow down. And even if Memphis can find a way to mute Boston’s explosive offense, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla’s emphasis on transition defense (with some of the most versatile units ever seen) will keep the Grizzlies bogged down in a half-court game they’d prefer not to see.
Chau: Celtics over Thunder. Boston knows its current roster isn’t long for this world—if not because of age, then certainly because of the threat of CBA limitations looming on the horizon. The Celtics have now tasted both victory and defeat in the Finals, and those vivid sensory memories will be what guides them past the league’s new golden-boy darlings.
