10 Predictions for the Rest of the 2024-25 NBA Regular Season
Less than one month remains in the 2024-25 NBA regular season.
So much will still happen between now and when the final buzzer sounds, though.
We're here to take a glimpse into the future and identify those happenings before they take place.
Predicting is an inexact science, but you can make—and we have made—some educated guesses based on everything from statistical analysis and forward projections to those old, reliable gut feelings. The aim here is not on boldness, but rather accuracy, so rather than throwing out a bunch of ideas that could happen and hoping one hits, we're guesstimating what will go down in the coming weeks.
So, if you're cool with hearing some hoops-related spoilers, hop into this digital time machine and find out what's on deck in the Association.
Zion Williamson Pops for 50-Plus Points
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A better-conditioned and—knocking on all wood within arm's reach—finally healthy Zion Williamson appears on a mission to destroy any defense put in his path.
His numbers are routinely erupting. Since settling into a near-nightly role in late January, he's had a game with 40 points on 21 field-goal attempts, another with 37 points on 23 shots and a couple of 20-plus-point triple-doubles. Teams can't keep him away from the basket, and when they overload on the interior to stop him, he's just peppering the ball around to open teammates.
And he's doing all of the above while seldom seeing even 30 minutes a night. If his playing time ever gets a bump, there is room for more, even wilder growth on his stat sheet. With limited competition for shots—Brandon Ingram was ditched at the trade deadline, and Dejounte Murray is out for the year—the stars will align one of these nights to give Williamson the first 50-spot of his career.
LeBron James Keeps All-NBA Streak Intact
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There's a numbers game working against LeBron James' hopes of extending his record-setting 20-year streak of consecutive All-NBA selections. And, no, it's not the fact he is now a couple months removed from his 40th birthday.
The current CBA requires a 65-game minimum for post-season award eligibility, and there is a big obstacle between him and that mark. It's the groin strain that knocked him out of a recent marquee matchup with the Boston Celtics and could "sideline him for one to two weeks," per ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
James, who's at 58 appearances so far, seems like he can make this work, though. His incredible commitment to his conditioning and physical health make it easy to bet on his ability to return sooner than later and pick up right where he left off. If he does that, his efforts (manifested most clearly by his per-game contributions of 25 points, 8.5 assists and 8.2 rebounds) should be enough to reward him with yet another All-NBA nod.
Phoenix Claims the Final Play-in Spot
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This season will go down as an abject failure for the Phoenix Suns, as their historically pricey payroll has failed to produce anything remotely resembling contending-level competitiveness.
Snagging the West's final play-in spot won't alleviate much (if any) of the embarrassment, but our crystal ball sees it happening regardless. And that has much less to do with the Suns themselves than it does with the injury-riddled current residents of the No. 10 seed, the Dallas Mavericks.
The Suns, admittedly, face an uphill climb, due both to their current deficit and their toughest-in-the-league remaining schedule. But the Mavs may not have enough bodies to make it to the finish line, and it would behoove the franchise's future to sneak into the draft lottery. Phoenix has earned no benefit of the doubt and inspires little-to-no confidence, but consider this a by-default prognostication.
Utah 'Wins' the Tank Race
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Considering the quality of the 2025 draft class, this season's tank race hasn't been quite as wild as it could have been. Having said that, there are a handful of teams at the bottom of the standings playing truly atrocious basketball, and that's not going to change during the final stretch.
The Washington Wizards hold pole position in this inverted marathon, but they're showing a touch more life than the Utah Jazz (or, for that matter, the Charlotte Hornets). And with Bilal Coulibaly perhaps missing the rest of the season with a hamstring injury, the Wizards might wind up leaning more heavily on the veterans they could have but didn't flip at the trade deadline.
Throw in that Utah faces a much more difficult schedule down the stretch, and this feels like the Jazz will barrel their way to the bottom. Of course, with flattened odds for the worst three finishers, this level of losing has never felt like less of a "win."
Golden State Snags a Top-5 Seed
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The deadline marriage between Jimmy Butler and the Golden State Warriors felt like one of convenience. While both were clearly ready to shake things up, the Dubs weren't Butler's first choice, and he wasn't theirs either.
Nevertheless, this partnership has seemingly spawned a "We Believe" sequel. Only now the Dubs are following the lead of Butler and Stephen Curry instead of Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson. Their ceiling could seemingly reach the skies, so long as Jonathan Kuminga finds his fit and the club can squeeze out enough shooting to keep their offensive end from getting cramped.
The Warriors have been nearly unbeatable with Butler, and they've sustained this success long enough to aim higher than the play-in tournament. In fact, our crystal ball sees them ascending to a top-five seed, surpassing one (or even both) of the shooting-starved Houston Rockets and the LeBron-less Lakers.
Milwaukee Winds Up No Better Than 3rd in Division
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The Milwaukee Bucks have known for a while now that the Central Division title would belong to the Cleveland Cavaliers. What they probably didn't envision, though, was the ferocious fight to the finish line they now face against both the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons.
The Bucks, to be clear, have brighter stars and better track records than their competition. That won't, however, be enough to fend off at least one of them.
Milwaukee is juicing the Giannis Antetokounmpo-Damian Lillard orange as much as possible, but those two need more help to successfully navigate the stretch run. The Bucks won't be able to find it. Not with Bobby Portis suspended, Kyle Kuzma being ill-equipped to fill Khris Middleton's old role and the bulk of this supporting cast battling inconsistency.
Atlanta Wins Southeast—With Less Than 40 Wins
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Ever done a quick scan of the NBA's division standings? Spend too much time looking at the Southeast, and your eyes might bleed.
Things are all the way brutal down there. Perhaps the worst this league has ever seen. At this point, it's not only possible that the division winner won't have a winning record, it's entirely conceivable that it will take less than 40 triumphs to take the title.
The Atlanta Hawks have found some fight after dealing away De'Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanović but also bringing in Caris LeVert, Terance Mann and Georges Niang at the deadline. This still isn't a good team, but it doesn't have to be to finish ahead of an Orlando Magic team with perpetual offensive problems and a Miami Heat bunch that has appeared rudderless since the Jimmy Butler drama boiled over.
Philadelphia Finishes Bottom-5
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Among the myriad ways in which the Philadelphia 76ers' season could have played out, this feels close to a worst-case scenario. Joel Embiid can't put his knee pain behind him, Paul George's $212 million contract ranks among the NBA's worst and Tyrese Maxey's shooting rates are down while his turnovers are up. Even the Sixers' lone silver lining went sideways when rookie Jared McCain suffered a season-ending knee injury in December.
And yet, this isn't quite as bad as things could be. Not yet, anyway. That's because Philly is, for now, potentially positioned to retain the top-six-protected pick it owes the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Sixers need to salvage something from this miserable season, and an early lottery pick in a strong draft could be that something. Whether that happens will depend on how the ping-pong balls bounce, but this tank job will do its part with the team skidding into a bottom-five record.
Rookie of the Year Goes to a 2nd-Round Pick
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The common knock on the 2024 draft class was that it lacked star power, and that appears accurate. None of the 60 players selected last summer seem like they'll be changing the fate of a franchise any time soon, or ever if we're being brutally honest.
Because of this, the Rookie of the Year race feels different than normal, which might lead to an unusual result. There is a very real chance the Association sees a second-rounder snag this award for only the second time in the modern era.
Much like the other winner, Malcolm Brogdon, did for the 2016-17 Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies swingman Jaylen Wells, last summer's 39th pick, has held his own in a larger-than-expected role on a playoff-quality team. He is a rock-solid role player with stingy defense and quiet-yet-generally-efficient stats, and in this rookie class, that just might be an award-winning combination.
The Coronation of a 4-Time MVP
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You can count the number of four-time NBA MVP winners on one hand. That will no longer be true after this season's hardware gets handed out.
All the credit in the world goes to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder for making the MVP race too close to currently call. In the end, though, he'll wind up suffering the same fate as all of the other MVP hopefuls in the three of the past four seasons: losing out to Nikola Jokić.
Adding a fourth MVP to his resume would match him with LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain while leaving him just behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Michael Jordan (five) and Bill Russell (five).
Given the historical significance of such an accomplishment, it was going to take a Herculean effort from the Joker to get this done. And that's exactly what he's delivered. Despite being a 30-year-old, three-time MVP, Jokić has littered his stat sheet with career-highs—averaging an efficient triple-double in the process—and posted the second-highest player efficiency rating ever recorded (trailing only his own 2021-22 effort). He might be better than ever, and we should know by now that his best is deserving of MVP honors.
