Predicting 2025 NBA Playoff Bracket Before the Season Starts | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report

The start of the 2024-25 NBA season has yet to begin, although it's never too early to make some early predictions for next year's playoff bracket.

Can the Boston Celtics stay at No. 1 in the East with teams like the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers bringing in some major offseason additions? Will the Memphis Grizzlies bounce back from a 27-win season into the playoffs? Which West teams will inevitably fall short of the postseason because of the tremendous amount of talent the conference possesses?

Based on last year's standings, offseason improvements, potential injury concerns and how seriously the following teams will actually take the regular season, here's a (way too) early look at how the 2025 first round could look.

The Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic finished just two wins apart last season (49 to 47), and these franchises are headed in opposite directions now.

Orlando should jump a spot in the standings after finishing No. 5 last year, thanks to a step forward by a young core led by All-Star Paolo Banchero and the addition of free-agent shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. After ranking dead last in made threes per game (11.0) and 24th in accuracy (35.2 percent), the Magic should be far better in both categories with Caldwell-Pope (40.6 percent from three, 1.6 makes per game last season) in the starting lineup.

Orlando is an elite defensive team (110.8 rating, 3rd overall last year) with a young core that should still be taking the regular season and seeding very seriously after losing a Game 7 to the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road this past spring. They'll crack the top four spots in the East now.

Milwaukee is still loaded with talent, but there are a lot of concerns here as well.

Khris Middleton is coming off surgery on both ankles (his third straight summer rehabbing from an injury) and still has yet to play in the preseason. Damian Lillard is 34. Brook Lopez is 36. This isn't a very deep team and didn't get better defensively after ranking 19th overall last season.

Giannis Antentokounmpo is still an MVP candidate, and the addition of Gary Trent Jr. will keep the Bucks hovering around the middle of the playoff picture, although Milwaukee ultimately won't be able to secure home-court advantage in the first round.

The Cleveland Cavaliers look remarkably similar to last season, although that's certainly not a bad thing. The core of Donovan Mitchell (28), Jarrett Allen (26), Darius Garland (24) and Evan Mobley (23) are all in their primes or inching closer, so there's room for internal growth.

Rookie Jaylon Tyson looks like a rotation player already following a strong summer league and preseason, and the Cavs are getting Ty Jerome back from ankle surgery that cost him all but two games last season.

New head coach Kenny Atkinson already gets to build on a strong defense (No. 7 overall last year, 112.1 rating) and should pump some juice into an offense that ranked in the middle of the pack. After securing the No. 4 seed in the East the past two years, Cleveland moves up a spot.

The Philadelphia 76ers are built to win playoff series, not necessarily 82-game regular seasons.

Philly was the No. 7 seed last year after Joel Embiid missed over half the season with injuries, and there should be even more emphasis on making sure he's healthy for April and beyond. This could mean more missed games during the regular season if he's dealing with a smaller injury, as this franchise is in championship-or-bust mode.

Paul George (52.6 games played on average the past five years) will probably miss time as well, and this is the 3rd-oldest roster in the NBA.

Don't expect the 76ers to grab a top seed in the East as they navigate the regular season, although this team will be a nightmare to face if healthy in the playoffs.

These two teams met in the Eastern Conference semifinals last year, with the Indiana Pacers taking advantage of the New York Knicks' lengthy injury list to ultimately advance.

New York is going to look a lot different now, as Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges have been added to a roster that still features Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson, Miles McBride and others.

The Knicks should close the gap between the No. 1 and 2 seeds in the East after finishing a whopping 14 games behind the Boston Celtics last season. The addition of Towns as a floor-spacing center brings an entirely new dimension to an offense that was already really good (No. 7 overall, 117.3 rating), and the defense should still be solid on the wings with Anunoby, Bridges and Hart.

New York is going to be awesome once again, with Brunson carrying this franchise to a second straight No. 2 seed in the East.

Even after making it to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, the Pacers are going to find it difficult to climb up the standings with so many talented teams at the top of the conference.

Indiana was just pretty good with Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam on the floor last season (20-16 record), although the young core around them should only get better. Andrew Nembhard is a potential star and Bennedict Mathurin returns from shoulder surgery.

A 24th-ranked defense last season will have to be much better for the Pacers to rise higher than a 7th seed in an improved East.

The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat have met four times in the past five postseasons and could collide in the first round for the second successive year.

There's no reason to believe Boston won't claim the No. 1 seed again, considering they finished 14 games ahead of the No. 2-seeded New York Knicks last season. Even some missed time by Kristaps Porziņģis to begin the year won't hurt too much, as the Celtics went 21-4 without him in 2023-24.

Boston is elite on both ends, has everyone coming back and added Lonnie Walker IV to its bench.

The Celtics will be the No. 1 seed in the East, win 60 plus-games and be the favorites to win the title once again.

Miami is still extremely talented and should have a motivated Jimmy Butler playing for a new contract, although the six-time All-Star is now 35 and missed the 2024 playoffs because of injury.

It's fair to question how all the pieces fit here as well, given the four-man unit of Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier had a dreadful net rating of minus-2.1 together last season, via Cleaning the Glass.

Young role players like Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jović and Kel'el Ware will all need to be regular contributors for this Heat team to make it out of the play-in tournament.

It feels wrong to only have the Dallas Mavericks as the No. 4 seed after they reached the NBA Finals last year, although the Western Conference is still really, really good and the Mavs could face some defensive issues this season.

As much as Klay Thompson will help to space the floor, Dallas was already third in made threes per game (14.6) yet ranked 18th in defense. The Golden State Warriors gave up 4.8 more points per 100 possessions when Thompson was on the floor last season, a number that put the now 34-year-old in the 14th percentile.

Dante Exum, one of the Mavs' best perimeter defenders, is now projected to miss three months following wrist surgery. Dallas is going to have to win a lot of shootouts on a nightly basis and has the firepower to do so. Another deep playoff run is certainly possible, but don't expect anything higher than a No. 4 seed in the West.

Don't sleep on the Memphis Grizzlies this season, as the core of Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. had a net rating of plus-11.7 (97th percentile, via Cleaning the Glass) in nearly 1,000 possessions together during the 2022-23 season.

Add in Marcus Smart, Zach Edey and some promising youngsters, and the Grizz should tack on 20-plus wins to last year's total—enough to get them back into the West playoffs.

The Denver Nuggets aren't going to repeat their 57-win mark of a year ago, although this is still a championship-caliber team that should finish in the top-3 spots in the West.

Simply trotting out Nikola Jokić and a solid high school team would probably still be enough to secure 50 victories, and the addition of Dario Šarić will help Denver survive the non-Jokić minutes.

Shooting is a real concern, however, as the Nuggets replaced Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Jackson with Russell Westbrook. Denver already ranked 25th in made threes last season (11.7 per game) and will need players like Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray to hoist up even more.

At the end of the day, our trust in Jokić keeps the Nuggets ranked this high.

The Sacramento Kings missed the playoffs last year, although the return of Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter from injuries plus the addition of DeMar DeRozan should allow them to get back to the postseason.

The Kings' defense jumped from 24th in 2022-23 to 14th last season, and there's no reason why this offense shouldn't be among the league's elite with so many weapons at its disposal.

Assuming Keon Ellis is named the starting shooting guard, this bench will feature Monk, Huerter, Devin Carter (when he returns from surgery), Trey Lyles, Alex Len and Jordan McLaughlin, making Sacramento plenty deep as well.

The Minnesota Timberwolves will look different this season without Karl-Anthony Towns, but that doesn't mean they'll look worse.

The Wolves still went 14-6 without Towns last season and had a net rating of plus-9.0 (90th percentile, via Cleaning the Glass) when Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert were on the floor and Towns was off. Add in another All-Star big man in Julius Randle, some added depth with Donte DiVincenzo, Rob Dillingham, Joe Ingles and others, and Minnesota should be just fine even without KAT.

Minnesota was actually better defensively without Towns in the game last year (2.8 points per 100 possessions) and could repeat as the No. 1 ranked defense in the NBA (108.4 rating).

The Wolves jump up to the No. 2 seed while Edwards gets real MVP consideration.

There's a lot to like about the Phoenix Suns, especially offensively with a true point guard in Tyus Jones running the show. We'd feel better about the overall balance of the team if Bradley Beal was used as a sixth man, although new head coach Mike Budenholzer has already stated he'll be in a starting lineup that also features Jones, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkić.

This leaves a lot of defensive questions to be answered, especially now that Booker will be asked to guard small forwards. This is also the oldest roster in the NBA, with Durant turning 36 last month.

Expect the Suns to fall into the play-in tournament, although if healthy, the star power on this team should be enough for them to win a one-or-two game series to reach the playoffs.

Buy all the Oklahoma City Thunder stock you can now. If the Boston Celtics don't repeat as NBA champions, this team will be the reason why.

The Thunder already won 57 games and were the No. 1 seed last season and now have a roster that's taken a collective step towards their primes while adding two elite defenders to the rotation in Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein.

There should be no off-nights taken, as this group will be hungry to avenge a second-round playoff loss. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might be the MVP, and both Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren could make their first All-Star Game.

OKC is already elite on both ends of the ball and is only getting better. Look for 60-plus wins and a No. 1 seed once again.

The Los Angeles Lakers will face some stiff competition in the West play-in tournament, with the Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs all likely being in the mix.

Even at age 40, it's hard to bet against LeBron James in an elimination game, especially if Anthony Davis is alongside him. Given the Pelicans' hole at center, the youth of Houston and San Antonio and Golden State's two-timeline questions, the Lakers will ultimately play their way into the 8th seed in the West.