The NBA season kicks off next week, and there’s plenty of buzz surrounding the basketball world as we head into the new year. The Boston Celtics are poised for a serious repeat campaign; big names like Paul George, Russell Westbrook, DeMar DeRozan, and Klay Thompson have moved teams in the offseason; and the 2024 Olympics gave us summer hoops, with our favorite stars representing their countries. With all of this to consider, sports editors Sam Weitzman-Kurker ’26 and Max Forstein ’27, along with staff writer Teddy Benchley ’26, give their predictions on many different topics surrounding the upcoming NBA season:

Who will be the NBA Champion?

Sam Weitzman-Kurker: As Drake once said, “Back to back, like I’m Tatum ’24, ’25.” The Boston Celtics return all of their rotational players from last year’s team that cruised to a championship, only losing three playoff games. With defending champions, complacency and injury-luck regression are the two main worries. Motivation will not be a problem. Jayson Tatum’s lackluster postseason shooting and Jaylen Brown’s snub from the Olympic team leave both superstars with much to prove. While losing one of their top guys would not be ideal, the Celtics went through most of their championship run without Kristaps Porzingis. Every other contender has serious weaknesses, and the Celtics can seemingly only improve.

Teddy Benchley: I fear I have to take personal bias out of this, and it pains me to refrain from picking the New York Knicks to win the championship, but I have to agree with Sam here and take the Celtics to repeat. Their road to the Larry O’Brien Trophy will certainly be tougher, but I think Boston’s championship experience and talent will help them through difficult times—continuity is extremely underrated in the NBA. I also think Tatum has nowhere to go but up, as he had a horrific jump-shooting playoffs last year and is due for some regression to the mean. There are always concerns with the durability of their big men—Porzingis is injury-prone and Al Horford is pushing 40—but there’s just too much talent on this roster to pick against them; I have Boston beating the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals. 

Max Forstein: While my peers may agree about Boston’s dominance, my loyalty to Philadelphia makes me believe in the league’s parity more than a Celtics repeat. Instead, I believe the Minnesota Timberwolves are equipped with enough revenge-filled passion to dominate the league and capture the title. Anthony Edwards blossomed into a superstar last year, becoming a household name and picking up a gold medal this summer at the Olympics. While I am slightly concerned about the T-Wolves dishing franchise cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle, the tussle between DiVincenzo and several Knicks players and staff in Sunday night’s preseason game tells me all I need to know about the year he’s going to have. With Randle and Rudy Gobert in the frontcourt, and Jaden McDaniels locking down every team’s best player, this team is built to outlast opponents, top to bottom. Ant-Man will lead this team on a killing spree through the Western Conference and to their first league title in franchise history. 

Who will be the NBA MVP?

SW: The Oklahoma City Thunder are poised to have a 2015 Golden State Warriors breakout season. They are a fun, likable team that has developed into a well-oiled machine with everyone knowing and executing their role. Leading the team is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has eclipsed 30 points per game and made 1st team All-NBA the past two seasons. Shai has reached Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant levels of scoring consistency; while he only scored over 40 points twice last season, he was held below 20 a mere six times. He will need a few signature moments, but he has proven to be in the upper echelon of clutch players. Give me SGA to continue the streak of foreign-born players winning MVP.

TB: This seems like the most wide-open MVP field in recent memory, as voter fatigue (which is real) has taken Nikola Jokić and Joel Embiid out of the race. I like the Shai pick, but this seems like a perfect year for Luka Dončić. He had impressive numbers last season (as he always does), but voters weren’t impressed with the Dallas Mavericks’ 5th-seed finish in the West; Dončić’s impressive playoff run, however, showed that his time has arrived. At the same time, Luka and the Mavs fell short in the NBA Finals, giving him motivation and a great story heading into the 2024–25 season. With improved offensive firepower (Klay Thompson) and a potent squad around him, I expect Luka to have the narrative, the numbers, and the team success to finally win his first MVP award. 

MF: Big men have dominated the MVP award over the last six seasons, with Giannis Antetokounmpo (2), Nikola Jokić (3), and Joel Embiid (1) securing the league’s most coveted individual achievement in that time span. This trend won’t change, as a big man will take this title for the seventh straight season, but none of these guys will be the recipient. I’m all in on the Victor Wembanyama hype train now. With his rookie year out of the way, he’s going to shine in a San Antonio Spurs roster built more clearly around his strong suits. With the acquisition of the Point God himself, Chris Paul, Wemby now has a premier point guard to dish him the ball when needed. With consistent perimeter defenders surrounding him, he can scare attackers away from the paint just by looking at them, and if they dare to try (and trust me they will), he will casually block them on his way to a second-straight blocks title and then hit a step-back three on the offensive end with a smile on his face. He’s the league’s next cheat code, and his year-one experience will allow him to blossom into the MVP we expect him to be.

Which team will surprise?

TB: I absolutely love the Memphis Grizzlies this year. Plagued by injuries and suspensions last season, Memphis fell off the radar and was near the bottom of the West. The bright side? The team is rested and replenished coming into this year, and their poor 2023–24 season gave them a lottery pick in the draft: Purdue big man Zach Edey. Memphis is young, athletic, and hungry to prove they belong back at the top of the West. Ja Morant will lead the way, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. are great secondary stars, and role players like Marcus Smart, Edey, Brandon Clarke, and GG Jackson II (when he comes back from injury) will provide necessary support. While I’m still a little skeptical of Memphis’ ability to make a super deep playoff run (their top-end talent remains unproven) I expect them to be a top-three regular season team in the West. 

SW: I agree with Teddy, Memphis is entering the season wildly underrated. Teddy hit on most of the reasons. The one thing I will emphasize is the impact Edey will have. The Purdue big man is 7’4”, but not in the skinny, athletic way that Wembanyama and Porzingis are, but as more of a traditional, physical big-man. There are a lot of offenses where Edey would struggle, but playing alongside the most dangerous downhill point guard will highlight Edey’s strengths which includes setting hard picks, crashing the glass, and catching lobs. Edey is my pick to win Rookie of the Year and Memphis will eclipse 55 wins. 

MF: Play the song! The Orlando Magic turned heads last year, jumping to fifth in the Eastern Conference, and all signs turn to a stronger and more fortified team this season. All-Star Paolo Banchero will be entering year three, Jalen Suggs will make his case for one of the best defensive point guards in the league, and Franz Wagner will continue to produce at a high clip as their second option on offense. Supported by free-agent acquisition Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the starting rotation, plus quality bench pieces like Cole Anthony and Anthony Black, I expect Orlando to enter the conference heavyweight conversation and jump to a top-three seed by the time the playoffs roll around.

Which team will disappoint?

SW: To say the Golden State Warriors don’t have a reliable second scorer would be an understatement. They have solid role players, but the star talent and chemistry surrounding Steph Curry is practically depleted. If the Warriors struggle out of the gate, I foresee Curry and the front office reaching a mutual agreement to move on. The Lakers with Kobe Bryant and the Mavericks with Dirk Nowitzki are two comparable situations, but the difference is that Curry still has a few years left at an All-NBA level. The Warriors superstar clearly would rather compete for a championship than ride off into the sunset. While the front office wouldn’t trade him without his permission, it is in the best interest of the team to enter a rebuild. Don’t be shocked if the Warriors finish the year in the bottom of the Western Conference and 30 is throwing lobs to 6 in Los Angeles. 

TB: I’m a big Giannis Antetokounmpo guy—I think his recent regular-season dominance has been taken for granted—but I’m not super high on his Milwaukee Bucks team this year. Their top-end talent with Giannis, Damian Lillard, and Khris Middleton is impressive, but all three are pretty old and injury-prone. The Gary Trent Jr. signing will help a little on the defensive end, but they still lack lockdown perimeter defenders and quality two-way starters. Boston, New York, and Philadelphia look primed for the first three seeds in the East, while young, athletic squads like the Magic, Cavs, and Pacers are hungry to continue their growth. I also don’t love Doc Rivers, who’s notorious for his lack of trust in young players: the exact thing Milwaukee needs. The Bucks are always dangerous in the playoffs with the Giannis/Dame combo, but don’t be surprised if they struggle a bit in the regular season and end up in the sixth/seventh/eighth seed conversation. 

MF: At some point, a team can only develop so far, and I fear that the Cleveland Cavaliers have reached a point of no further progress. Donovan Mitchell is a bonafide star—there’s no denying that—but the supporting cast around him has failed to capitalize on further development. Jarrett Allen’s impact on the court has diminished since his 2022 All-Star campaign, Darius Garland has regressed since his All-Star nod the same year, and Evan Mobley couldn’t take the next step we were all hoping for him to take last year. While their supporting cast has a couple of solid contributors, they lack the same level of depth that Eastern Conference competitors possess. They will plummet into the play-in this year, and they will have some serious conversations about the future of the team by the time of the 2025 off-season. 

Those are our predictions for the upcoming NBA season. With all of this in mind, we will leave you with one hot take each of us believes heading into the year:

SW: Jimmy Butler gets traded.

TB: The Los Angeles Clippers will be a top four seed in the Western Conference. 

MF: The New Orleans Pelicans blow up their core at the trade deadline and enter another rebuild. 

The NBA season kicks off on Tuesday, Oct. 22, as the New York Knicks face the Boston Celtics at 7:30 p.m., followed by the Minnesota Timberwolves versus the Los Angeles Lakers at 10:00 p.m.

Sam Weitzman-Kurker can be reached at sweitzmankur@wesleyan.edu.

Teddy Benchley can be reached at tbenchley@wesleyan.edu.

Max Forstein can be reached at mforstein@wesleyan.edu.