By Jonah Drew

Golden State Warriors: 42-40

2024-25 will be the first season since 2011-12 that Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors will be without Klay Thompson. Unfortunately, I believe that signifies the beginning of the end for one of the greatest dynasties in the history of the NBA. Steph Curry, while not peak Curry, is still among the best point guards in the game currently. Even Draymond, for as much criticism as he receives, is still an insanely impactful and effective basketball player. Those 2 are not the problem, it is the core that Mike Dunleavy has surrounded them with. I actually do like some of the Warriors’ young pieces, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Brandon Podziemski, Moses Moody, and Jonathan Kuminga are all good up and coming players. With that said, the timeline just doesn’t make sense, the young players are too young, and the older players are too old. In this Western Conference, I have a hard time believing this Warriors team is a serious threat.

Los Angeles Clippers: 36-46

I really do not like how Lawrence Frank and the Paul George situation. The Clippers were reportedly unwilling to give PG the 4th year on his contract and that is what led to him looking elsewhere and ultimately, Philadelphia. The Clippers are already in too deep financially, they do not have the ability to just scratch and reset. They have no choice but to ride out this Kawhi era. Were they going to win anything with PG, probably not. However, without him they certainly won’t win anything and they are just counting down the days until they can just tear down and rebuild. As for this current rendition, the team is severely limited. I personally am not relying on Kawhi Leonard to stay healthy and contribute for any significant period of time. James Harden can still score the heck out of the ball but he provides almost nothing else on the court. There is still a solid collection of role players on this team that can make this team at least competitive, Terrance Mann, Derrick Jones Jr., Ivica Zubac, Norman Powell, and Kris Dunn are all objectively solid NBA Players. With that said, I do not think this team is up to par with the other mid tier teams in the west, I do not expect to see this team playing Postseason basketball.

Los Angeles Lakers: 49-33

Rob Pelinka and the Lakers were very quiet this past off-season, with their main moving coming on the sideline, replacing Darvin Ham with the youthful JJ Redick. They also made headlines when they selected Bronny James with the 55th pick in this past years draft. Outside of that, the Lakers were pretty much dormant for the majority of the off-season. This roster however, is still very talented. Lebron James is elite as ever, the Goat is still a freight train in transition, an elite playmaker, and just had his best 3 point shooting season of his career, mind you at 40 years old, wow. Anthony Davis is arguably the best defender in basketball and was one of the most efficient players in the league last year, posting a 25.8 PER. The Backcourt, is poor defensively, but very skilled offensively. Both DLo and AR15 are knockdown shooters that can create their own shot with ease. They also have defensive specialists like Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbuilt that can help supplement the defensive defeciences around them. Overall, any team with Lebron and AD is dangerous, especially with the talent they have around them.

Phoenix Suns: 45-37

The Big 3 experiment was a massive failure last season as the Suns were quickly swept out of the playoffs by the Timberwolves. I think that series made it clear that this team has a big 2, not a big 3. Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are 2 of the top 10 offensive players in today’s game. However, Bradley Beal’s best days are behind him. He lacks the juice to create space and create his own shot. And as we know, without shot creation, Bradley Beal is nothing. The Suns don’t have regular role players, rather they have specialists. Tyus Jones: Playmaking Specialist, Ryan Dunn: Defensive Specialist, and Grayson Allen: 3 Point Specialist. This feels like a deliberate effort from James Jones and we will see how this approach works out.

Sacramento Kings: 45-37

2022-23 was a franchise defining season for Sacramento. They were finally competitive and earned the 3rd season in a tough western conference. 2023-24 was a bit of a plateau year for the Kings, they were a play-in team and they were bounced by New Orleans in the play-in game. This roster is still very intriguing though, DeAaron Fox is an electrifying point guard, Domantas Sabonis can stuff the stat sheet(although I have defensive questions), and newly added Demar Derozan adds an offensive punch that this team could use. Keegan Murray can shoot the leather off the ball and he provides spacing that this team needs more than ever with the addition of Derozan. Overall, this is a talented group and I do expect them to at least play a playoff series

Sources

Basketball Reference

Basketball Index

ESPN