BASKETBALL
My 2024-25 NBA Season Predictions
Andrae Hawes | October 19, 2024
This is the last article I will write before the 2024-25 NBA season commences. And I thought I might as well write a few of my predictions. So that’s what I am going to do.
I’m going to start by saying that I think the Suns will surprise some people this year. They looked very good in the preseason under their new coach, Mike Budenholzer. Now obviously, they have been pretty disappointing in recent years even after forming the Big 3 of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Kevin Durant. I think that they might be the real deal, though.
Now let me address the annual off-season Ben Simmons propaganda on social media, claiming that he’s “back” and “in great form”. Please don’t fall for this. The season is going to start and he’s going to get an arm soreness or something that’ll somehow keep him out the whole year. I even heard the other day that LeBron has played more games as a Laker than Simmons has his entire career. Ben was drafted in 2016; while LeBron joined LA in 2018.
Now that all of that is out of the way, I might as well give my standings predictions for each conference.
East:
1. Celtics
2. Knicks
3. Bucks
4. 76ers
5. Pacers
6. Magic
7. Cavaliers
8. Heat
9. Hawks
10. Bulls
11. Nets
12. Hornets
13. Raptors
14. Wizards
15. Pistons
West:
1. Timberwolves
2. Thunder
3. Grizzlies
4. Nuggets
5. Mavericks
6. Suns
7. Pelicans
8. Lakers
9. Spurs
10. Kings
11. Clippers
12. Rockets
13. Warriors
14. Jazz
15. Trail Blazers
As far as the playoffs, I’m just going to go ahead and skip to the Conference Finals. I’ve got the Celtics and Knicks coming out of the East, and the Wolves and Nuggets out of the West. Give me the Celtics and Wolves both in 6, with Boston going back-to-back in 6 games as well.
Thank you for reading my predictions, now let’s see if they come true. The season kicks off Tuesday, October 22 on TNT with the Celtics hosting the Knicks at 7:30 PM EST.