The NBA’s 6 most desperate teams entering 2024-25 season, ranked

October 8, 2024

While not every team can realistically dream of winning the NBA Championship heading into the new season, some organizations are feeling more pressure than others. 1 year ago boston celtics After a series of failures in the playoffs, they went “all in” by acquiring Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. They responded with a lengthy 80-21 record, winning the franchise's first championship since 2008 and proving that Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Joe Mazzula were talented all along.

The Celtics have everyone back and enter the year as the favorite to win the league. Of course, no team has won back-to-back championships since the Kevin Durant era. golden state warriors Since then in 2017 and 2018, the NBA has had a different championship with the Raptors each of the past six years. lakersBucks, Warriors, Nuggets, and Celtics all have championship rings.

In the NBA, desperation is measured by time frames and timelines. For example, the Oklahoma City Thunder have too many outs to make a list like this. Here, we're ranking the six most desperate teams entering this season by how badly they need to win this season.

6. New York Knicks

of knicks The team was the most aggressive team of the 2024 offseason, starting the summer with a ridiculously audacious trade for Mikal Bridges (5 first-round picks!) and making a shocking trade for Karl-Anthony Towns. It ended with a trade. The Knicks have made it clear they want to win a championship right now, but the truth is this is just the beginning of New York's window. knicks I can't get past the second apron this year.we should be able to avoid it next year as well. There are still some moving parts to address (extending Mikal Bridges), but New York has its eye on a multi-year championship contender, and key players are currently in the primes of their careers.

At the same time, you never know when your slot will close in the NBA. Jalen Brunson is a small guard who is 28 years old and has played a lot of minutes under head coach Tom Thibodeau, so the Knicks will have to be careful not to wear him out. I feel like New York's starters may need a year to develop and improve their depth, but this is the lineup that was put together to bring the franchise its first title since 1973. , anything less is ultimately considered a failure.

5. Miami Heat

The Heat are one of only two teams to appear in the NBA Finals multiple times in the 2020s, but have yet to win a championship since LeBron James left town. It feels like the team is at a crossroads heading into the season with this repetition. Jimmy Butler is 35 years old and in the final year of his contract, but he hasn't shown any durability over the regular season recently. Tyler Herro also hasn't been able to stay healthy, which has stalled his development a bit. Miami has also lost a lot of depth over the years, and replacing it hasn't been as easy as many believe, even with the best development organization in the league. By the way, Pat Riley turns 80 in March.

Miami still has a solid foundation moving forward with Bam Adebayo and head coach Erik Spoelstra entrenched, but it could soon be time for a soft reset. Like the Celtics and Knicks 76erswhile the Bucks were solid in the East, the Heat missed out on a top talent addition to keep up with the arms race in the conference. This feels like the last chance for this group to show they can make it to the top of the playoffs.

4. Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets won the 2023 championship, but having that ring on their finger clearly takes the pressure off going forward. At the same time, Nikola Jokic's resume deserves multiple championships. Jokic turns 30 in February and is still the best player in the world, but the roster around him has continued to deteriorate. The Nuggets have lost several key players since winning the title, with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Bruce Brown and Jeff Green all leaving in free agency. Denver's plan is to replace them with younger, cheaper players, but so far that group (Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Julian Stroller, etc.) isn't ready to play in prime time. . One of the young guns will need to explode this year, but that's not the biggest problem facing the organization yet.

Jamal Murray didn't look like himself in the playoffs or the Olympics, but Denver still gave him a $208 million contract extension. Murray has proven in his best years that he can be the second-best player on a title team, but it's fair to wonder if a player who has never been an All-Star can still be that player. . The Nuggets know there's a chance every season for Jokic to be in his prime, but it's unfortunate that the arrow seems to be trending downward for this team since he first raised the flag.

3. Milwaukee Bucks

Like the Nuggets, the Bucks are led by a generation of superstars in the primes of their careers who have already won NBA championships. Milwaukee made a bold move to replace Jrue Holiday with Damian Lillard ahead of last season to expand their title berth, but the early results (a first-round playoff loss) were incredibly disappointing. Currently, Milwaukee's core around Giannis Antetokounmpo is a year older, with Lillard (34 years old), Khris Middleton (33 years old), and Brook Lopez (36 years old) all showing the potential of this team. To do that, he needs to stay healthy and play consistently at a high level. The biggest issue for the Bucks lately has been Giannis' own inability to stay healthy for the playoffs, with an injury that sidelined him in 2023 and cost him last season.

The Bucks still have a bit of a championship going into the new season, but it's hard to find players who believe they can accomplish that much. Middleton undergoing multiple offseason surgeries is an obvious hurdle, but Milwaukee's true ceiling will depend on how Antetokounmpo and Lillard mesh in their second season. The downside here is really scary. With a limited cap and no future draft picks, the Bucks don't appear to have much left to rebuild their core around Giannis. This may be their biggest chance left.

2. Philadelphia 76ers

The 76ers cleared the most difficult part of building a championship roster 10 years ago when they drafted Joel Embiid out of Kansas State. Embiid has developed into an MVP winner and one of the game's truly elite players, but the Sixers have never been able to perfect the supporting cast around him. After years of dealing with drama from his co-stars, Filly has finally built a team he actually wants to be with. The Sixers were one of the big winners of the offseason after signing Paul George in free agency. Tyrese Maxey's rise to being one of the league's best young guards gives Philadelphia a custom-built “Big 3” to compete in the East. Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond, Gershon Yabusele, and Reggie Jackson have quality contracts, and the Sixers could get even more money at the trade deadline with K.J. Martin's balloon contract and available draft compensation. have assets that allow them to earn a salary of

There's a path for the Sixers to reach the NBA Finals and win it all, but it will require Embiid's signature playoff run unlike anything we've seen before. The star big man always seems to pick up the odd injury or two during the playoffs, but the long-term health of his knee is a major concern after tearing his left meniscus last season. Embiid and George both have demons to overcome in the playoffs, but there's no denying this team is primed to compete at the top of the league.

1. Phoenix Suns

The Suns have the highest annual salary in the NBA this year at $219 million, with three star players Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal making more than $150 million combined. Last season, their first year together, they looked far from a championship team. Although Phoenix won 49 games, they only earned the sixth seed in the West and were quickly eliminated in the first round by the Timberwolves. The Suns' biggest move of the offseason was replacing head coach Frank Vogel with Mike Budenholzer. Vogel is a solid coach, but Budenholzer deserves to be recognized as one of the best coaches in the league after consistently leading the Bucks to an elite regular season and championship. Phoenix also added Tre Jones and Monte Morris to ease the playmaking burden from Durant and Booker, and signed Mason Prumble as a backup center.

The Suns are doing well, but it feels like they're still behind in the West. Durant is 36 years old and in top shape, but he will eventually feel the effects of fatherhood. Booker showed how versatile his game is at the Olympics and could be tasked with doing more of the dirty work than usual under coach Bud. And not only has Beal constantly battled injuries, but he's always offered overlapping, rather than complementary, skill sets with his great co-stars. Phoenix doesn't have much power inside either, and count me as a 2024 Jusuf Nurkic skeptic, but even if Bud fixes his shot profile, he lacks certain athleticism. Without a deeper playoff run this time around, it's going to be hard to justify keeping such a super expensive roster together. With all their future draft assets gone, the Suns know it's now or never to make this iteration of the team work.