DALLAS — Once the 2023-2024 playoffs run ended for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals on June 17, the work began for another shot at the Larry O’Brien trophy that the Boston Celtics earned in five games in Luka Doncic’s first trip to the last dance.
The Western Conference was again the toughest side in the league, and while the Celtics dominated the league from start to finish, it was out West where most of the top teams were duking it out.
The league closed the regular season with the Oklahoma City Thunder and 2023 champion Denver Nuggets in a virtual tie for first place, and the Minnesota Timberwolves one game out. The next tier saw the Los Angeles Clippers edge out the Mavs by a game for the fourth seed, with the Phoenix Suns securing the final non-play-in seed.
The play-in teams featured the L.A. Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings, and Golden State Warriors. But it was Dallas that rose to the top in the playoffs after they beat the No. 4, 1, and 2 seeds on their way to the Finals
Since then, as free agency and trades have ramped up, and the draft concluded, teams have begun their corresponding offseason moves in an attempt to take down Dallas during the 2024-2025 season.
The Contenders
Dallas
The Mavericks addressed their top need, after their supporting cast disappeared in the Finals, by bringing in one of the best shooters in league history with Klay Thompson spurning the Lakers to join Luka and gang.
Dallas was cold on playing Tim Hardaway Jr. in meaningful minutes as the playoffs progressed and now gets to slide in Thompson as the third option, where they hope that he can feast on looks as Kyrie Irving and Doncic drive to the lane and kick out. Dallas also adds Thompson’s championship pedigree as they look to get over the hump.
Losing starter Derrick Jones Jr. stings, but incoming Naji Marshall arrives in Dallas with a reputation for tough defense and a 38% three-point shot for the Pelicans last season. Dallas will have their best rotation of the Doncic era to date as they continue to look to maximize Luka’s prime.
Oklahoma City
The Thunder wasted no time directly addressing the Mavs all-out assault on the rim by bringing in Isaiah Hartenstein to pair with Chet Holmgren in the lane while adding Alex Caruso to their perimeter wall.
It was clear that Josh Giddey wasn’t a part of their future when Dallas knocked them out in the semi-finals, so turning him into Caruso was a noticeable upgrade that will have them vying for the top spot in the West again. OKC with MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will clearly be a top threat to Dallas running it back in the West.
Minnesota
The Timberwolves, coming off their most successful season in decades, mostly stood pat outside of losing Kyle Anderson to Golden State and replacing him with offense-only contributor Joe Ingles to add to their bevy of former Jazz players.
The Mavs torched their defense on their way to the Finals and starting point guard Mike Conley will be 37 entering the new season. The Timberwolves are hitching their wagon on the continued elevation of Anthony Edwards as the league’s face of the future. The Timberwolves feature a top-heavy roster that is talented but largely affixed.
Denver
The Nuggets will remain a contender thanks to employing Nikola Jokic, but their time of being the big league bully seems to be winding down. The championship roster took another hit when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope dashed to Orlando. Denver’s first-round pick DaRon Holmes will be out for the season with a torn Achilles and they are in the “contemplating Russell Westbrook” phase of roster management.
Despite these issues, having the 1-2 of three-time MVP Jokic and Jamal Murray will keep the Nuggets at or near the top of the conference.
Middle of the pack
Phoenix
New head coach Mike Budenholzer brings a championship pedigree, something that the franchise has never accomplished to date, but last season’s problem remains unaddressed.
Phoenix will roll out two Team USA players in Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, but their defense remains unimproved. Another disappointing season may see Phoenix blow up the roster as they haven’t yet found the right formula for depth to go along with their star players.
L.A. Clippers
Paul George has moved back to the Eastern Conference, and the veteran Clippers are down to two future Hall of Famers in James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. Replacing George in the lineup is former Mav Jones Jr could end up being a plus, as he pairs nicely defensively with Leonard.
The Clippers season will depend on the availability of Kawhi, who exited the series with Dallas after two games with injuries that have lingered for the last few years.
Memphis
The Grizzlies won only 27 games last season, but they appear primed to turn over a new leaf thanks to the return of superstar Ja Morant. The Morant/Desmond Bane/Jaren Jackson Jr. combo will be plenty potent offensively and, if they all stay on the court, could have the team competitive across the conference with a return to the playoffs as a goal.
Golden State
Does Steph Curry have one more playoff run in him? The Splash Brothers are no more with Thompson now in Dallas, but the Warriors’ offense did add Buddy Hield to replace Thompson as a three-point threat.
Curry, even at 36, remains elite. Hield will be left open for plenty of looks as teams double Curry. With Chris Paul jettisoned off to San Antonio, the loser aura may have been removed to give Curry another shot at winning.
New Orleans
After leading the Southwest division for much of 2023-24 before Dallas usurped them at the end of the regular season, the Pelicans added guard Dejounte Murray to their core and should have an interesting tiered offense with Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, and Brandon Ingram.
They lost Naji Marshall to Dallas and Center Jonas Valanciunas to Washington, however, to greatly impact their depth and defense. This team feels like a real option at center away from really causing anyone problems.
Sacramento
Pairing six-time All-Star Demar Derozan with De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis is spicy in and of itself, but the Kings also boasted two other 15-per-night scorers in Keegan Murray and sixth-man extraordinaire Malik Monk.
After starting the season strong, the Kings faded and fell off in the play-in tournament, but Sacramento seems poised to have a good shot at shooting up the conference with their young talent and the addition of DeRozan. The tradeoff for DeRozan’s stellar mid-game and veteran experience does come at the cost of adding a career 29% three-point shooter to the offense.
L.A. Lakers
The Lakers are Lakers so you can never really rule them out, especially with LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the roster as two of the best players in the league. LeBron will be entering his age 40 season but has shown no signs of slowing down, and will be debuting his former podcast partner and former Mav J.J. Redick as new head coach.
The team will be relying on Redick’s vision for team improvement as no big move ever materialized for the Lakers with Thompson shunning going home for the prospect of winning in Dallas. It will be cool to see LeBron play minutes with his son – second-round pick Bronny James – as he nears the end of his career, but their road to the playoffs looks murky.
Outside looking in
Houston
The Rockets have talent, but it’s difficult to see how they have enough to make the jump in an ultra-competitive conference. The team tried to go star hunting this offseason but came up empty. The city of Houston will continue to wait for meaningful basketball.
San Antonio
The age of Wemby moves into its second season after Victor Wembanyama’s historic and successful rookie campaign. With the addition of fifth overall pick Stephon Castle continuing the youth movement, the Spurs could take a big step forward if the pieces come together.
One of those pieces is veteran Chris Paul, though it’s a move that potentially comes ten years too late for both sides. Nevertheless, Paul is a future Hall of Famer who can show Wemby the ropes before likely getting traded to a contender before the trade deadline.
Bringing in former Maverick Harrison Barnes, an actual champion in 2015, could be bigger for the locker room as they aim to shape the next winning generation of Spurs basketball.
Utah
The Jazz have one of the final remaining big chips to bandy about with Lauri Markkanen on the chopping block and once he is dealt, the expectation is for Utah to go into full rebuild mode. Until then, however, Markkanen’s presence will continue to be used as a trade facilitator around the league for the upcoming season.
Portland
The Trailblazers have a bad roster fit with many expensive veterans as they head to a youth movement. This team likely gets blown up and it will be a long road back to prominence in a brutal conference.
Do you think the Mavericks are still in a good position to repeat as West champs? Share your thoughts with Irvin on X (formerly Twitter) @Twittirv.
