Predict the 2024-2025 standings

[TomRicardo]

East	West
Celtics - Best team in the NBA	Thunder - most well rounded team in the West with depth
Knicks - Built to smash in the regular season, health could be concern in the playoffs	Timberwolves - Ant should get better and this team should cruise
Pacers - Offensive Machine built to punish teams on the grind	Grizzlies - So many Chips, so many shoulders
Orlando - Banchero should get better, team should look better	Nuggets - Cruise control again with the best player on Earth
Bucks - Giannis can still drag a team to the playoffs	Mavs - Lively should get better but Kyrie is a ticking time bomb
Cavs - Might be a tough adjustment to the new coach	Kings - Fun times, should be able to slide in here again

Play In
76ers - Betting on a healthy Embiid and Paul George especially in the regular season is tough	Pelicans - This team could get a home playoff series or be out of the play in
Heat - Betting on Jimmy not being a distraction in a walk year is tough	Suns - They are one Durant injury from falling apart
Hawks - I would have had the every team in the West besides Portland over the Hawks	Lakers - Possibly LeBron's last hurrah, could give him the energy to drag this team into the playoffs
Raptors - Canadian Pride? Honestly 9/10 are just teams that tank bad.	Rockets - I feel like Udoka will be able to get this team to take advantage of some team falling out

Flagg tankers
Hornets - Fairly inept team, might squeeze into the play in by accident	Warriors - For the Warriors to have any chance Steph needs to play 70+ again as a 37 YO
Pistons - So many things to figure out	Spurs - They just aren't there yet in a crowded West unless a couple of players go down
Bulls - Waited way too long to bottom out	Clippers - Kawhi will appear at some point and make this team look good then disappear into the night
Wizards -Going to be so so ugly to watch	Utah - Another feel good first half with a second half drop off.
Nets - The worst team the NBA	Trailblazers - They are going to have a worse record than the Nets

West is super hard because If Steph, Durant, LeBron, Zion, or Anthony Davis get injured for more than 10 games, their team will fall out of the play in. I think the Rockets and the Spurs are right there to eat a spot due to injury. Also Ja needs to stay away from guns and kids.

 

[RedOctober3829]

East
1. Celtics
2. 76ers
3. Knicks
4. Bucks
5. Pacers
6. Cavs
7. Magic
8. Heat
9. Hornets
10. Hawks

West
1. Thunder
2. Timberwolves
3. Mavericks
4. Nuggets
5. Grizzlies
6. Clippers
7. Suns
8. Kings
9. Rockets
10. Lakers

 

[benhogan]

2024-25 Regular season
1. Celtics: KP being out doesn't seem to faze this group. Perfect time to develop one of KornXQ. IST Championship awaits
2. Pacers: Hali, Siakam, Nesmith, Turner, Nembhardt with Obi, TJ, Mathurin rotation is a low 50s win team
3. Knicks: a ton of excitement early but MRob is TimeLord-like & Randle will want his pointZ. OG health will dictate if this group is #2
4. Cavs: Similar to the Pacers, people are sleeping on the talent here. Atkinson's coaching will be a +
5. 76ers: Embiid should be handled with kid gloves going forward. If they limit him to 2 games a week, they make noise in the playoffs
6. Bucks: way too old across the board. By midseason Doc will declare that they are playing for health in the playoffs & they will aggressively load manage. Fines be damned.
7. Magic: Lots to like here, replacing Fultz with KCP is a huge uptick. They desperately need 3pt shooting.
8. Heat: Jimmy got his contract & will coast during the regular season

1. Thunder: great offseason. Hartenstein/Caruso are +/- On-Off darlings. They will fit in seamlessly. JDub is an All-Star
2. Nuggets: Joker just too good not to be a low 50s win team
3. Wolves: Just not a KAT or Gobert fan. They both live on my most overrated team
4. Mavs: Luka showing up in shape will dictate everything here
5. Kings: a ton of scoring, will be tough to keep up with during the regular season. Flame out in the playoffs
6. Lakers: Darvin Ham was terrible last year. JJ will add value just by playing the right rotations
7. Warriors: They have a trade or two up their sleeves unless they are just content on pissing away Curry's last few seasons.
8. Rockets: IME will have these guys dig in & play D from G1 this year. Reed Shepperd ROTY

Plenty of injuries to the stars. Simply saying "with 100% health" is completely worthless. You have to put it into the equation. 76ers (Embiid), Bucks (GA, Dame, Brook, or KM), Grizz (Morant), Heat (Jimmy).