14 NBA Takes: Hopes and Fears for 2025
NBA Substack on what we're anticipating, for better and worse
We asked 14 leading NBA voices on Substack:
Your hopes and fears for 2025?
Check out their answers and subscribe!
Marc Stein | The Stein Line
Since I am so often prone to laser in on fears/concerns/worrisome leaguewide trends … let's take a more upbeat approach at the start of a new year.
I would simply hope, from my somewhat unnatural seat as both an NBA historian and NBA neutral, that we are treated to much better overall player health in 2025 compared to 2024 ... and some decent trade action over the next five weeks to defy those pesky luxury tax aprons after a promising haul of three trades from Dec. 15-31 ... and most of all a postseason that is far more competitive and compelling than last season's playoffs proved.
Tom Haberstroh | The Finder With Tom Haberstroh
My hope is that the San Antonio Spurs mirror Wemby's accelerated timeline and outfit him with a worthy supporting cast. A player like this doesn't come around often, but when it does, you throw out the book and go for it.
Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes are a start, but Wemby's talent demands much more. Don't make the same mistake as the complacent Cleveland Cavaliers did with LeBron in his early years. Be like Pat Riley and bring in a Shaq to pair with a young D-Wade.
Tom Ziller | Good Morning It's Basketball
Looking ahead to late in 2025, I really hope that the presentation and access to games on new NBA broadcast partners NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime Video aren't terrible.
Growing pains are to be expected for the first season or two, but for all of the laments about the current paradigm, at least I know how to get to the games I want, and I know the broadcast teams will be cromulent. We're moving into the unknown for the first time in a long time.
Keith Smith | The Basketball Bulletin
At the expense of being clichéd, my real answers mostly revolve around injuries. I hope we don’t continue to have major injuries on a regular basis. However, I fear that we will.
If I’m going non-injuries, I hope that we can move past the constant grousing about the way the game is played. It’d be nice to appreciate the game for what it is, since it’s actually pretty great!
For an off-court fear, I worry what will happen if taxes, hard caps and aprons cause the trade deadline to be a dud. How will transaction-driven fans handle a quiet deadline?
Jared Dubin | Last Night, In Basketball
I hope that the Knicks maintain an above-average defense. I hope that the Cavs get their due. I hope that the Jimmy Butler drama comes to an end. I hope that the Thunder and Celtics will continue their dominance. I hope that the Grizzlies get healthy. I hope that Gregg Popovich comes back soon.
I fear that the Suns will never get all their guys on the court. I fear that the Nuggets and Bucks might be just outside their windows. I fear that the MVP debate will get more toxic than ever. I fear that people won't appreciate the incredible things happening every night, because they won't hear enough about them.
Quinn Everts | The Broken Press
I hope we witness the best NBA Playoffs of all time – and there’s a real chance we will. The most Game 7s in one postseason is five, and clearing that mark is well within reason for 2024-25. Considering that only four teams (Cleveland, OKC, Boston, New York) are dominating, and only one of them has cleared the second round with its current group, we could be barrelling toward anarchy in April and May.
I’m not rushing this – the regular season has been marvelous – but leaguewide parity has caused a logjam in the NBA’s second tier which could result in numerous bangers of playoff series. Memphis vs. LAC as a 2 vs. 7 matchup? Count me in!
Jonathan Macri | Knicks Film School
My hope for 2025 is that we get an all-time classic postseason, but my fear is that it’ll be another repeat of last year, which was defined by many unmemorable series, key injuries and a romp to the championship.
There is nothing better than great playoff basketball, and an edge-of-our-seat postseason would (at least temporarily) stem the tide of doomcasting about the league and its ratings. All press may be good press, but my goodness is this conversation getting boring. Would be great for the talk to shift to how wonderful the basketball is for the first time in a while.
Elio Martínez | 82 partidos
I fear that seeds 4 to 10 in each conference will not provide enough fight in the play-in and playoffs, and we’ll find ourselves with series liquidated by the fast track. I'm not saying it's going to be like this, but I'm afraid it might.
My hope is for something that may seem unattractive to some, but that I prefer: that there are hardly any transfers at the finish of the trade season. I want an NBA with more stable rosters, I hope the transaction-market fever that has already lasted something like 15 years will remit. I guess Jimmy Butler wants to boycott my wishes.
Michael Hendricks | All Fields
I'm hoping the Knicks' recent surge is real and Jalen Brunson is the rare small guard who can get it done as the top dog. He plays like he's a foot taller, so hey, if anybody can do it. Overcoming my ruthless mockery of his jumper, Mikal Bridges has found his way, and Bodega KAT's been better than ever.
On the other hand, I fear the end may be less pretty than we'd imagined for the NBA's elder statesmen. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Steph Curry are all scuffling around .500, and I'm not sure there's much better on the way. The Lakers are probably overperforming if anything, the Warriors have already found that out, and the Suns' Bradley Beal bet keeps going from bad to worse.
Mike Shearer | Basketball Poetry
I would love for the top NBA storylines to be about on-court basketball. Whether it’s the surging Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder or smaller storylines like the rise of Cade Cunningham, the basketball played nightly is fantastic.
But my deepest fear is that the league’s off-court drama poisons the product. I’m sick of talking about ratings. Listening to Charles Barkley and others beat the 3-point horse is exhausting. The forthcoming Jimmy Butler/De’Aaron Fox dramas may titillate many, but I’m far more interested in the destinations than the journeys when it comes to trade rumors. Gambling propaganda is everywhere.
Dallin Murphy | Murphy's Law
As a pained Suns fan, I'm not sure if I hope for or fear a full tear-down in 2025.
In general, I hope that defenses (with and without the rules' help) continue to figure out slowing down the current offensive style du jour, similar to NFL offenses getting stifled a few years ago after a leaguewide defensive overhaul.
If they do, the top superstars can end up shining as they show that they are unschemable, unstoppable forces, and thus we can usher in the new era of superstars while the old guard rides into the sunset.
Kike García | NBA con Contexto
Honestly, I hope we stop talking so much about the NBA TV ratings. Is there any other league where fans talk so much about the viewership?
I understand that there are many things to improve in the game, but often only the negative aspects are highlighted because they generate more interaction on social media, and debates about viewership have become a main topic when they shouldn’t be.
My fear is that next season it will continue to be discussed, although I hope that with the shift to Amazon and especially to NBC, the debate will end.
Aaron Bollwinkel | Live. Breathe. Ball.
Biggest hope: Injury sliders get turned all the way down. We’ve already seen far too many big names sidelined by injury. With the pending returns of Kawhi and Paolo, and the Sixers no longer being a dumpster fire, I would love to watch the best versions of each NBA team heading into the playoffs.
Biggest fear: An overcorrection. In general, Adam Silver’s proactive approach in adjusting the rules and adding new competitive elements has been great, but with the exhaustive conversations about 3-point shooting, I fear the commissioner will feel the need to respond to what is generally just another in a perpetual series of gripes that has been unnecessarily overblown.
Jacob Sutton | JSuttHoops
My hope for 2025 is that we actually get some news about the rumored expansion teams on the horizon. The number of players who are playing in the G League (T.J. Warren, Josh Christopher, and more) and look NBA-ready is steadily increasing, only furthering the theory that the league is getting too good to have just 30 teams.
My fear is that the league’s new media deal causes ratings to careen even further come the 2025-26 season. Having to pay for Amazon Prime, NBC, Peacock, ESPN+, ABC, and (presumably) NBA TV feels like a step too far in many respects, especially when people are already complaining about not being able to watch games right now.
Does any other sport have their flagship program crap on the sport the way inside the nba does?
I really appreciate the honesty readers can get on here.
I don't gamble, and find gambling's coverage and discussions range from low-key cringe to obnoxious.
The TNT crew is past it. They just don't do funny things anymore. They went from Homer Simpson to Grandpa Simpson. And that's okay.