Nuggets best team in NBA, Thunder title defense, Timberwolves leap | Northwest Division Predictions
Jason predicts what will happen in the 2025 NBA season within the Northwest division including Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder, Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves, Scoot Henderson and the Portland Trail Blazers, as well as Lauri Markkanen and the Utah Jazz.
All lines provided by @hardrockbet
Timeline
0:00 – Start
0:55 – Denver Nuggets
15:18 – OKC Thunder
23:40 – Minnesota Timberwolves
30:50 – Portland Trail Blazers
36:39 – Utah Jazz
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26 Comments
Jason underestimating the Mvp again, he will eat his words. Shai will be better than the Joker this year. Don't put too much pressure on Jokic to win it all with the new additions to the team. Because he might just flop bigger than he did last season
“Denver took OKC to 7 and IF Gordon didn’t get hurt…”
Buddy, IF Aaron Gordon doesn’t hit two last second 3’s that series is a sweep….
Best division in the league
Curious as to why you think Shaedon Sharpe’s production was unsustainable. I could understand why you think he wont just come out and avg 26 ppg for the whole season this year but hes increased his scoring and made real improvements year after year. I think this is the year he establishes himself as one of the best young talents in the NBA and be the Blazers leading scorer at around 22-24 ppg with 6 rpg and 4 apg. Blazers will be a good team too this year with their defensive identity. And while i agree Deni could be a really good 2nd player on a great team I wouldn’t just limit his ceiling to that. Also Sam vecenie is cool but he’s wrong about a lot of stuff and Yang will be another
People ignore the most important differences between last year and this year for the Nuggets. Last 2 years GM Booth and coach Malone fought a war to the death over team direction, which got them both fired. That's WHY there were no options for Malone to play veterans off his bench! Booth refused to provide them because he insisted on playing the 22 year olds he drafted: Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther, Hunter Tyson, Jalen Pickett, Zeke Naji – and none of them were reliable at all! Now if there's an issue at backup PG and the solution isn't on the roster, the coach and GM can get together and agree on a plan. The current roster is still a work in progress and they are going to see how it works out, but there's still a roster spot and they could make a move at the trade deadline if they feel they need more help, particularly at PG. Especially if one of the young players proves himself and becomes tradeable!
Correction: DEN has never had trouble with the Lakers
Love the content!
For all you tired drivers out there though… there is absolutely nothing wrong with catching a few hours of sleep in a rest stop or Walmart parking lot. I’ve been there 2-3 times going back and fourth across the country when I was 21-27
Great now Jason is going to HOMER for the Lakers AND Denver
My win predictions and reasoning:
1: Thunder 66
2: Nuggets 58
3: Wolves 57
4: Rockets 55
5: Lakers 52
6: Clippers 52
7: Warriors 51
8: Spurs 45
Thunder: A few less wins but a better team. One of the youngest teams in the league and still won a championship. So very likely their young players will get better. They now have experience and championship confidence. The reason I put them a little lower in wins is cause the west is better this year and they probably won't put as much energy into the regular season because they don't need to.
Nuggets: I really love the moves they made. Just because they didn't add a superstar doesn't mean they didn't significantly improve their roster. Cam is a better all-around player than MPJ and will fit perfect with Jokic imo. Their bench goes from one of the worst in the league to probably average or better.
Wolves: Probably the team that is going most under the radar even tho they've made the WCF 2 years in row led by a 22/23 year old. On the surface it seems they got worse by losing NAW. But they're a very deep team so this may actually be beneficial to them by opening up minutes for young players like TSJ, Clark, Naz and Rob. TSJ in particular may end up being better than NAW. He's already more of an offensive force and in the summer league displayed improved playmaking and three point shooting. But the main reason I see this team winning more than last year is continuity and the growth of Anthony Edwards. They made the Randle, Donte trade right before the season started so it took time to build chemistry. But in the second half of the season they were one of the best teams in the league.
Rockets: Adding KD makes them way more of a threat. KD is old but still a top player in the league and one of the most efficient there is. He can fit onto any team. Don't let the Suns crappy roster construction fool you, KD is still a great player even tho he's no longer in his prime. It sucks Vanfleet got hurt, not having a point guard definitely hurts them. I expect Amen and Sengun to pick up some of the slack. Also they are both young and likely to improve. Sengun looked really good in international play this year.
Lakers: Having an actual center certainly will help them. Luka being healthy and losing weights helps as well. I'm still worried about their defense tho. Reaves, Rui, and Luka are all poor defenders in the starting lineup. Lebron's regular season defense atp in his career is just okay usually. Ayton will help but he was let go and isn't making that much for a reason. He's not that good of player. Lebron is also going to be 41. He likely will take more of the regular season off to save his energy for playoffs. Marcus Smart will help but idk how impactful he is anymore.
Clippers: Really good team but difficult for me to rank. Their best players, Harden and Kawhi are both old and injury prone. Still great players when healthy.
Warriors: Similar to the Wolves, they were one of the best teams in the second half of the season. Butler fits like a glove on this team. Al Horford will be good for them. The reason I don't have them higher is they're very very old and lack depth.
Spurs: Wemby is truly one of a kind. Could easily be a top 5 player this year. He already was according to some advanced stats. Unfortunately he had a blood clot last year so we didn't get to fully see him. But he was the runaway favorite to win DPOY and was averaging 24 ppg. He's extremely skilled for his size and age. Only 21 years old. He's shown some passing ability and three point shooting. He very likely will be even better this year. With him and Fox, along with some decent young players, I think they will reach the playoffs this year.
Mailbag: What do you attribute to jokic leading the nba in steals over the last 6 years? He is labelled as this terrible defender but to do that is actually insane as a center especially
This is the season SGA convinces Jason that SGA now has the best player in the world belt. Thunder going to lose in the WCF to Minnesota who will take it all home. Thunder or Minnesota will beat Denver in 2nd round.
Welcome to the Mile High City. I don't wanna hear you talkin all that Lebron/Lakers mess anymore 😂😂😂😂
Can't bet against OKC to win again, they will be the best team in the NBA for years to come, the way they've been set up. Only injuries or a change in refereeing would stop that.
This channel has turned into a nuggets propaganda echo chamber. Your team will not live up to the hype.
LETS FNG GO NUGGETS #DOMINATE
Jason is twerking for Jokic yet again 😂 OKC is quite easily the best team in the league until proven otherwise. They had a historic defense last year and retained everyone. They are likely to have the same success with more internal growth, especially JDub/Chet
Timpf predictions from past
1. DeRozan is perfect fit with Kings and they will contend for title
2. Lillard is perfect fit with Bucks and they will contend for title
3. Lakers got perfect matchup with Wolves and will gentlemen sweep them
4. KD's Suns will sweep Wolves and go to Finals
I mean do 22-26 year old high level NBA players get better year over year on average? I think the answer is duh. Yet you somehow doubt that the big three in OKC will progress? You hated the Thunder last year and you hate them this year. Just quit this job and go work for Locked on Nuggets
Cam Johnson better than MPJ? Lol. Supposed analyst falling for the trap of comparing players on bad teams in weak conferences to players on good teams in strong conferences. MPJ is AT LEAST one tier higher of a player than Cam Johnson
I'm just here to watch people lose their minds over the title 😁
So many hypotheticals in DEN’s case. Is Cam better than MPJ? Is JV able to stay on the court? If Bruce Brown still serviceable? I think I will stick with the continuity with the defending champs.
Why is OKC going 29-1 against the East a knock on their dominance? If it’s that easy let’s see other teams do it? And it’s not like they were extra try-harding in games against the East. This is just hater mentality lmao
I have rockets winning it all (with a trade at mid season), but if that doesnt happen, then OKC! will win it again, warriors in 2015 made an insane leap to 2016, i expect that from okc as well
Bro that wheels come off tying the 2 stories together was incredible 😂 You, and the zack lowe's of the world have become the only voices I can listen to about the nba. Keep up the incredible work!
OKC got the best freethrowers. Mid ranger flopper . Foul baiters. I mean the list goes on. If you love watching a freethrow contest then the Thunder is the team for you ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️
OKC fan, Nuggets terrify me. Chet’s offensive game is my biggest swing point. I’m honestly not too worried about Dub this coming year. He was huge for us in the playoffs with a bad shooting wrist. His 3 ball will be better if anything average. But Chet’s offensive game has huge potential. Look at his first 9 games of last year. He looked waaaay better, then broke his damn hip 😅 OKC is so young and giving them the confidence of champions while still being young enough to not get complacent seems like a nice mix! Exciting times in the West fs