Teams to watch for in the 2024-2025 NBA season

With the new one N.B.A In the upcoming season, there will be teams that exceed expectations and some that fall short of expectations.

Last season we saw many surprising teams that performed above average, for example the Oklahoma City Thunder He was projected by fans and teams before the 2023-2024 NBA season to be the eighth to sixth seed, and he ended up being the number one seed.

Here are my teams to watch out for that might surprise you in the upcoming NBA season.

After an outstanding season, he reached the NBA Finals last year Dallas Mavericks made the off-season moves to show they want to return.

In free agency they picked up one of the Splash brothers Klay Thompson He’s a great addition and could fit the team’s style perfectly.

They also have role players such as: Naji Marshall, Quentin Grimes And Spencer Dinwiddie but in return they lost some of their role players Derik Jones Jr, Josh Green And Tim Haraway Jr.

But the greatest asset the Mavs have is their star Luka Doncic He seems to be getting better every year and now it’s time to win and he’ll try to go all the way after an MVP season and a Finals run.

They also kept players like Kyrie Irving, PJ Washington And Daniel Gafford who were great on their way to the NBA Finals

But one of the most exciting things about this team is the progress and development Derek Lively IIwho was one of the best rookies in the regular season last year and was incredible in the playoffs.

In the finale, we saw him hit a three-pointer, which was his first attempt of the season, and if he can continue to develop that part of his game, he could be one of the best big men in the league.

After a surprising last season, I wouldn’t put it past them to surprise again since they had an offseason Kentavious Caldwell Pope a two-time championship winner and a big part of why Denver Nuggets have a championship under their belt.

“This is the first team I’ve been on where everyone loves to defend,” Pope said [h/t Sportskeeda]. “That’s exciting for me. This makes me want to compete more in this regard. I’m just looking forward to being part of the team where it will be hard to score. That says (says a lot) in this league. A team that gets stops wins games.” said Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

They reached the playoffs last season for the second time in 13 years, where they were defeated by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round, but there are positives to take from this too, with the young squad they have and the experience Caldwell-Pope brings, you could see them taking a step forward this season and becoming the four best seedlings in the east advance.

The problem they seemed to have last season and may have again this season is that it is heavily relied upon Paolo BancheroHe’s an excellent young player to count on, but if he has a bad night, more people need to step up to lead the team, which is why they’ve been looking for experience.

Another problem they had last season was shooting there, which Caldwell-Pope also helps with, but he doesn’t solve the problem alone and they should look for another shooter for their team.

After a move that not many people expected in the offseason, Paul George He moved to the 76ers as a free agent, which shows the 76ers’ ambition for the championship.

The team had a lot of work to do in the offseason by trading away players Tobias Harris, Buddy Hield And Nicolas Batum.

Joel Embiid and Paul George (Photo by TIMOTHY A.CLARY / Getty Images)” height=”391″ src=” width=”611″ />

The people they got through the door are Andrew Drummond, Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson And Caleb Martinas well as design Jared McCain out of Duke with the 16th pick.

With the moves they’ve made and the players they already have, they have a really good chance of winning the championship this year, but their future could depend heavily on the health and performance of these players Joel Embiid in the playoffs.

Since he just suffered a serious injury that caused him to miss most of the regular season and was not fully fit when he played in the playoffs, and when he played fit in the playoffs, he is below his standards the regular season. They’re going to need him to get to the playoffs.

A player who had an outstanding season last year was Tyrese Maxey who earned Most Improved Player honors in the 2023-2024 NBA season and was its best performing player in the playoffs this season.

If Maxey can either repeat his success or improve once again, they will be really good in the backcourt and the rest of their roster looks really good with good role players and good starters.

So if they manage to keep the most important stars in the team fit Paul George, Joel Embiid And Tyrese Maxey They have a very good chance of winning the championship, but they have to prevail Boston Celtics who want to defend their championship and are likely favorites.