NBA Preview: Joey and June’s Predictions for the 2024-2025 Season

This discussion has been edited and condensed for clarity and accuracy.

June: This week marks the first week of the NBA regular season. So we are going to make our predictions for the top in-season awards, as well as the best and worst records.

We are starting with MVP. My pick for MVP is Tyrese Haliburton. There are a lot of MVP potentials who have said that they are going to take a step back or not fight for those awards because they want to be injury-free for the playoffs, Joel Embiid being one of them [after our discussion, the NBA announced it was investigating Embiid’s absence from pre-season and the Philadelphia 76ers’ season opener], and Jimmy Butler as well. And so that means a lot of people are off the table. I think it’s going to be a younger team who is exciting and has a star coming out of it, and Tyrese Haliburton is that. He has the offense to back up this prediction. His stats are off the charts, and I think he’s just going to continue to blossom. As long as his team continues to win, he will be set.

Joey: I like that a lot. June, for my pick for MVP, I’m going with Luka Doncic. I think the Dallas Mavericks is a really well balanced team now. Not so much that there’s too much talent that will take away from Luka, but I think will elevate the team to where they need to be in order for Luka to finally get recognition for MVP-caliber seasons. You know, I think he’s put up that statistical greatness for so long, and with the additions of Klay Thompson and Dereck Lively II — who I’ll mention later — he’s bound for success. And he’s really upgraded his play during the postseason.

June: Great pick. I think he has real potential for MVP. Joey, do you want to discuss our pick for Rookie of the Year?

Joey: Yeah, Rookie of the Year. My pick would be Matas Buzelis of the Chicago Bulls. I feel that the Bulls will soon realize that they’re not gonna be able to compete for anything serious, and they’re gonna try to get rid of many of their “playoff-pushing pieces.” You know, Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, guys like that. Buzelis will then have the opportunity to really swoop in and show the league who he really is.

June: Next off is Defensive Player of the Year. I will start with my pick, Derrick White. I am a Boston Celtics fan, so this is not without bias, but White is an incredible defender. That a player of his size is making the blocks he makes is incredible. He’s always making really important plays, and other teams are scared of White defending them. He gets big assignments, and he can defend people much bigger than him. I think he is a great player, specifically for the Celtics, because he can shine if he needs to, but he can take a step back, which is maybe why he might not get Defensive Player of the Year, because he could take a step back for other players to shine. But I think that his abilities to block, to just be on people and aggressive without fouling all the time, that will make him Defensive Player of the Year.

Joey: I think that’s a really good pick. You know, he was one of the best defensive risers in the playoffs last year. And I could definitely see it happening coming into the season. However, my pick would be Victor Wembanyama. I just think he’s such a unique player, and he was second in Defensive Player of the Year voting last year, only losing to Rudy Gobert. And I think Gobert, while an excellent defensive player, one of the best of all time, will end up submitting to the will of Wembanyama. He’s a statistical anomaly. He’s a human anomaly. So long, so lanky, he can do everything. I think he will get his first Defensive Player of the Year this year.

June: Okay, who is our Sixth Man of the Year?

Joey: Our Sixth Man of the Year is going to be Donte DiVincenzo of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Now, he was recently traded from the New York Knicks in a deal for Karl-Anthony Towns. And I think the Timberwolves got a lot of depth from that trade that they severely needed. And the biggest piece that I saw was DiVincenzo. I think he’s going to come into this year with a vengeance, wanting to prove himself as one of the premier players in the league. He has a great opportunity, and he will make use of the opportunity to be the best bench player, considering he is competing for spots with another great player, Anthony Edwards.

June: Speaking of the Timberwolves, I’m going to move us to Coach of the Year because you talked about the Knicks-Wolves trade, which is relevant to why I’m picking my Coach of the Year: Chris Finch of the Timberwolves. And I say that because I think he has actually a very hard task this season, which is he has a team full of potential. It has the markings of a good playoff team this year, but this trade had some risks. Like, yes, it added that depth that you are talking about. It also added Julius Randle who is an amazing player, but is very prone to injury. Finch needs to figure out how he can work Randle into the dynamics of the team that already exists, and see how everyone can work together and get that chemistry going. I think he can do it. If he can do it, he will be Coach of the Year. My prediction is very contingent on him succeeding in incorporating Randle, but I think he can. The Timberwolves are the team I’m most interested in seeing how they develop this season because of this trade, and because I think they could potentially win it all.

Joey: That’s a very bold claim.

June: I know, and I just said it on the record.

Joey: As much as I love the Timberwolves, my Coach of the Year is Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma Thunder. It’s a very stacked team with a lot of great players — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Jaylin Williams and, you know, Lu Dort — and when you add pieces like Alex Caruso, former Bull, and Isaiah Hartenstein, it really makes me believe that this team has it all to consistently win the most out of any team.

June: Yeah, I think that’s an excellent pick. Moving on, Most Improved Player. Joey, take it away.

Joey: So I’m of the opinion that Dereck Lively II is an excellent, excellent player. I think with premier shooter Klay Thompson, and Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, Lively has so many passing options and play-creators that can really open the floor for him to score a lot more than he did in his rookie year. He stepped up in the playoffs. His defensive play is excellent. He’s not a premier playmaker, but he defends, he rebounds, and he can score when necessary. And I think that’s all you really need on a team like the Dallas Mavericks. And I think he will take that next step up with all the support he’s getting to become the Most Improved Player.

June: Onto Clutch Player of the Year. My pick is Pascal Siakam of the Indiana Pacers. I have stats to back this up. Last season he had the most clutch points in the NBA. He didn’t win Clutch Player, Steph Curry did, but I think he has the potential to win it this year. A lot of my prediction is dependent on the Pacers surviving the lack of bench depth they developed during this off-season because you can’t really have clutch points with no close or intense games. But I think that Siakam is an amazing player beyond just clutch points. The team’s really good. And I think he will be the Clutch Player of the Year.

Joey: I think it’s a very solid pick. For my pick, I’m going to go with DeMar DeRozan. He was recently signed and traded to Sacramento Kings, and throughout his tenure as a Bull, he showed an ability to just win games consistently. I believe there was a two-game stretch, or maybe three-game stretch where he had back-to-back-to-back game-winning shots. He’s a very clutch player, and I think with the opportunities he has in Sacramento: With Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox, it’ll be very, very easy to get clutch buckets with those two players.

June: Now we’re onto our predictions for best and worst records. We both agree the Celtics will have the best record in the East. For worst record, Joey, what is your pick?

Joey: I’m going to say the Brooklyn Nets. While other teams have worse rosters, I do believe that the Nets are going to do their best to try and not win. You know, they just made a big trade with Mikal Bridges. They’re clearly not trying to be anything near contenders.

June: I’m going to say the Washington Wizards because of last season — they were terrible. The Detroit Pistons with their historic losing streak hid the fact that a lot of teams were really bad last season, really below average. The Wizards had a really bad record, and I don’t have much more to say beyond that.

Joey: Now on to the West. The best record will be OKC Thunder, very similar to the head coach pick. I think that they’ll just be able to win and put guys out on the floor that can contribute to winning basketball.

June: Now on to worst record in the West.

Joey: I’m going to go with the Los Angeles Clippers. It’s unclear when Kawhi Leonard will be back, but his injury is solidified. They have no great young talent, in my books, that can really take that next step up and after losing Paul George, Kawhi’s injury, you have no real stars. I just don’t see them being able to compete with even the likes of the Portland Trail Blazers.

June: Yeah, I’m gonna agree with you on this one. I think the injury was devastating for the Clippers. They were already in a tough position, and they are going to have to go back to team building.

Well, these were our predictions. I’m sure we will be wrong on most of this, but it was fun nonetheless.

Joey: We’re happy to be wrong.