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- Jacob Rhee

After much more drama than anticipated, the Oklahoma City Thunder are our 2025 NBA champions. It is unbelievably early, but let’s run through the five teams with the best shot at stealing their place on the throne next year.

1. Houston Rockets

Had the Rockets simply decided to run it back and bank on the development of their young guys, they would’ve been excluded from this list entirely. A splash acquisition was necessary; in no world should the No. 2 seed in a loaded West be hyper-dependent on Fred VanVleet’s shotmaking in the most critical moments of the season. Rafael Stone deserves credit for completing the task, while also retaining every genuinely promising young piece on the roster. The contention window is now wide open.

Hear me out, though. What if this front office isn’t done dealing? As soon as the Desmond Bane trade was announced, Houston became an incredibly logical landing spot for either one of Memphis’s remaining stars. Jaren Jackson Jr. is a fantastic fit next to Alperen Sengun, and makes a stingy Ime Udoka defense absolutely terrifying. Meanwhile, Ja Morant and Amen Thompson would be the most athletic duo in the history of professional sports. Reed Sheppard is languishing on the bench right now, with no feasible path to real playing time. Instead of watching his value diminish each day, why not use him as the centerpiece of an exchange that will vault you up another tier?

Maybe there’s a Big Four in the works here. It certainly wouldn’t be Durant’s first time.

2. Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets almost bounced Oklahoma City this year, six weeks after totally remodeling their leadership group. That series served as a great reminder to all of us who turned the page too quickly; Denver went on a 16-4 title run just two seasons ago, and essentially employs the exact same core. Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, and Christian Braun have all gotten significantly better since. A second championship is more than possible.

Michael Porter Jr. and that 2031 first-round pick should be tied together, and offered to every single team in the league. Get three dudes who can shoot and defend in return, before telling your first-ballot Hall of Famer to take you back to the mountaintop.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers

A trio of Olympic gold medalists have suffered absolutely horrifying Achilles injuries in these playoffs. The one yesterday was particularly gut-wrenching.

What’s even left of the Eastern Conference at this point? Well, it’s Cleveland, New York, and Orlando. That’s literally it. Barring some wildly aggressive acquisition from Detroit or Miami, somebody from that three-team group is going to participate in the 2026 Finals.

If my precious Cavs were looking to splinter their core, those ideas are now out. You have to keep this crew together and try again. Ty Jerome will get his well-deserved bag elsewhere, but it’s basically an identical Cleveland squad returning in the fall. That’s comforting and frustrating at the same time.

4. New York Knicks

The Knicks are in a similar spot. Dreams of landing Giannis Antetokounmpo have faded considerably, and I think Leon Rose is currently talking himself into giving his handcrafted group another chance.

It’s pretty weird that New York will be without a head coach during the draft. Of the reported candidates, I like Taylor Jenkins the most; his personnel decisions are bizarre on occasion, yet the man always managed to overachieve in Memphis. If nothing else, the Knicks’ main dudes are completely drama-free off the court. I have a feeling Taylor is ecstatic about that.

The defensive shortcomings of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were a fatal flaw for New York. So was that bizarrely one-dimensional attack, where only No. 11 was allowed to create anything for long stretches. This new hire better arrive with a clear plan.

5. Los Angeles Lakers

Look, a lot of this is blind faith in Luka Doncic and LeBron James. The Lakers went 15-8 in the regular season when both guys were active, despite not employing a serviceable center. The Minnesota series was brutal, but I would expect two all-time brilliant basketball minds to exit their first summer together with some solutions.

There’s another factor at play, though. LA received a major boost from the shift in ownership last week.

If you’re unfamiliar with Mark Walter, he graduated near the top of his class at the spend-money-to-make-money school of thought. Almost every decision is centered around winning games right now, and there are zero limits to his aggressive mentality. If you need proof, just look at what his Dodgers have done since the start of the decade. In 2020, they snatch Mookie Betts and claim the World Series. The Max Scherzer and Trea Turner deadline mega-deal materializes the following year. Los Angeles poaches Freddie Freeman from its biggest NL competitor eight months later. Then Mark flings open the checkbook to rip the best baseball player ever from his crosstown rival, and promptly grabs another ring. I’m sure you can guess what happened this past winter. Instead of succumbing to complacency, the Dodgers put together the top offseason in baseball yet again. This man does not mess around.

The Lakers need a couple of athletic bigs, and more depth. I’m very confident that they’ll have each of those boxes checked by opening night.

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