The most surprising NBA teams of all time.
Which team has shocked the league so far? The For The Hoops staff makes their picks for the most surprising team here!
The first half of the 2024-25 NBA season saw the rise of an unlikely contender – the Cleveland Cavaliers have the league’s best record – just as it stumbled late to a perennial power, the Golden State Warriors.
However, there is still so much basketball left that anything can happen in the second half. And the Feb. 6 trade deadline presents an opportunity for teams to radically change the course of their season.
That means players like Jimmy Butler, Zion Williamson and Zach LaVine could find themselves in new spots playing for contenders — all set up for a strong second half.
Seven bold predictions for the second half of the 2024-25 NBA season.
Jimmy Butler would land in Phoenix … and the Suns would still miss the playoffs.
As Jimmy Butler’s trade to Phoenix gathers momentum — the Suns acquired a tradeable first-round pick in a sideline trade with the Jazz on Tuesday — the situation with Butler in Miami is apparently becoming more unsustainable. And while Butler offers a bit of an upgrade over Bradley Beal, it will almost certainly take some time to fit in with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. A potential problem aside from Butler’s low production and age (35) is that he — like Durant and Booker — thrives when the ball is in his hands. At the very least, Butler should be engaged, at least more so than he was in his final days with the Heat. But the Suns (21-21) are 10th in the West, and Butler won’t address the team’s massive lack of depth.
The New York Knicks will advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Knicks have not played in the Eastern Conference Finals since 2000. They’ve been close the past two seasons but haven’t broken through. The Knicks have lost five of their last 10, and, yes, their defense has hit a midseason wall — they’re 24th in defensive rating over their last 10 games (116.5 points per 100 possessions). is allowed). But the Knicks also have plenty of things to make them a serious threat in the East, even with the Cavaliers (36-6) and Celtics (30-13). For one, they have a cohesive starting unit that has logged a ridiculous number of minutes on the floor together — 1,632 total minutes, 183 more than the next closest group.
For the Golden State Warriors, it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Their 12-3 start seems a long way off. Golden State, now dealing with injury issues, is reeling with losses in 18 of its past 27 games. Stephen Curry is still an elite player, but his ability to finish at the rim has diminished, and he can no longer mask the team’s weaknesses. Finishing on the edge is a big problem. The only teams with a lower two-point shooting percentage are the New Orleans Pelicans and Charlotte Hornets. Although Jonathan Kaminga has shown some promise, the team may want to buy him out. And, if this is any indication of where the team is at, Golden State could potentially be a seller before the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
It’s Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.
Excluding Cleveland’s 134-114 loss to Oklahoma City on Jan. 16, these are two of the best teams in the NBA. Both are deep, have outstanding coaches and a well-rounded mix of stars and role players, including an NBA MVP in Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Such a matchup would be a referendum on what is possible for small and mid-market teams, roster construction and the league’s collective bargaining agreement that seeks to promote equity/competitive balance.
Either the Memphis Grizzlies or the Houston Rockets will advance to the Western Conference Finals.
Houston is second and Memphis is third in the West, and one will reach the conference finals. Heck, they’ll play each other for a spot in the conference finals. The Rockets have one of the best young cores in the league, and the Grizzlies were headed in that direction before Jae Morant’s gun-related suspension and recent injury in June 2023. Memphis hasn’t played in a conference final since 2013, during a grit-and-grind era that featured Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Tony Allen. Houston last reached the conference finals in 2018 and hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2020, but it’s a rebuilt team under general manager Raphael Stone and second-year coach Ime Udoka. Top players Jalen Green, Alprin Sengan, Ayman Thompson, Cam Whittemore and Jabari Smith Jr. are all 22 years old or younger. Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks and Jeff Green provide experienced leadership.
Forget the playoffs, the Sacramento Kings will end up with the top 3 seed in the West.
Sacramento, finally, has found its identity. The Kings (22-20) have won nine of their last 10 games and have begun their turnaround on defense. In that span, Sacramento is fourth in the NBA in defensive rating (108.7) and just 4.6 points per 100 behind the No. 1 team, the Thunder. Guard Kevin Ellis has been unleashed as a backcourt clamp-down defender, the rotation help defense has become crisper and everyone is being asked to crowd and deflect balls. Combined with the offensive firepower of De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan, the Kings have room to go on the run.
The Boston Celtics will not make it to the NBA Finals to defend their title.
The Celtics have been among the best teams in the league for the past 10 years – the most wins, six conference finals, two NBA Finals and the 2024 championship since 2015. They have talent – ​​perhaps the best starting five in the league led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown – and depth – Payton Prichard is a Sixth Man of the Year candidate – and they know how to close out series. Although the Celtics are the betting favorites and the defending champions, back-to-back titles are difficult to win. That hasn’t happened since Golden State in 2017 and 2018, and no team has reached the Finals in consecutive seasons since the Warriors in 2018 and 2019.
The Los Angeles Lakers once again failed to get out of the first round.
The Lakers have made the playoffs four times since LeBron James arrived in 2018, losing in the first round in 2024 and 2021, winning the title in 2020 and reaching the conference finals in 2023. A play-in game situation is possible this season. , and likely a lower seed in the first round. Unless the Lakers make a significant trade deadline, it’s hard to see them making a deep run in the West. In terms of record (22-18) and stats (No. 13 offensively, No. 24 defensively), they’re a barely above-average team. In sixth place in the West, the Lakers are closer to 11th than fourth.
