Predicting the next NBA champion and major award winners

With the 2024-25 NBA season tipping off Oct. 22, theScore's Joseph Casciaro, Michael Chandler, Donald Higney, Chicco Nacion, Jonathan Soveta, Thomas Tittley, and Joe Wolfond boldly predict which teams will be left standing and who'll be in line for individual hardware after the campaign.

The reigning champs are our favorite - and that of bookmakers - to escape the Eastern Conference ahead of a pair of reloaded sides. Is it possible we're sleeping on last year's East finalists, the Indiana Pacers, or maybe even the Cleveland Cavaliers? Perhaps.

Sure, Kristaps Porzingis enters the 2024-25 campaign bothered by a pesky foot injury that required surgery, but the Celtics went 21-4 without the Latvian big a season ago. Pair that with the fact that Payton Pritchard has been a man possessed in the preseason, and Boston looks like a good bet in the East.

In anticipation of another MVP-caliber campaign from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, leaps from Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, and the benefit of improved depth by way of Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein, the Oklahoma City Thunder are a popular pick to reach the franchise's first NBA Finals since 2011-12.

Mark Daigneault and Co. also boast a slew of lock-up defenders, led by Luguentz Dort, and a surplus of length on the wing in reserve roles from the likes of organizational development standouts Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe, and Cason Wallace. It's as complete and balanced a team as there is this season.

The Celtics and Thunder expectantly lead the way, with the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Denver Nuggets bringing up the rear. Not sure the world - or the city of New York, for that matter - could survive the Knicks winning it all. If there are basketball gods, please make this happen.

The Knicks haven't reached the East finals since 1999-2000 and haven't played in the Finals since 1998-99, and while it's unclear if the additions of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges will be enough to get them over the hump, we need this. Basketball needs this. The world needs this.

Duke's Cooper Flagg leads a talented group of collegiate stars eyeing an NBA move. Unlike last season's draft, which was short on franchise-changing stars, the 2025 version should encourage the league's basement dwellers to fold like cheap lawn chairs on a summer's day in pursuit of the tank.

The Brooklyn Nets and Portland Trail Blazers figure to be in the mix for Flagg and Co. ahead of what should be a tumultuous campaign for these two teams. It's little wonder why this desperate duo featured prominently in the bottom half of our Watchability Rankings.

Reigning back-to-back NCAA Player of the Year Zach Edey and Houston Rockets newcomer Reed Sheppard are obvious favorites to win Rookie of the Year since a) they're both really good and b) they're both expected to play major roles on their respective teams from Day 1.

And then there's Matas Buzelis, who after slipping to his hometown Chicago Bulls with the 11th pick, said "Thank you to everyone that doubted me, because I wouldn't be here without y'all." It's clear the young fella has got that dawg in him, and the Bulls have absolutely nothing to lose in playing him a lot.

A year after finishing fourth in Coach of the Year voting despite leading the Celtics to the top record in the Association, Joe Mazzulla is a popular pick to win the award for the NBA's best bench boss. Mazzulla and Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka lead our poll with two votes apiece.

Udoka, who also guided the Celtics to the NBA Finals in his lone season in Beantown, enters his second campaign with a Rockets squad expected to build on a 13-2 March last season and the emergence of Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith, Cam Whitmore, and rookie stud Sheppard.

After years of stockpiling draft capital like a doomsday prepper with a bounty of non-perishable food items, Thunder vice president and general manager Sam Presti is the consensus pick to unseat Celtics coach-turned-suit Brad Stevens for the league's top executive award.

Presti is the NBA's longest-tenured general manager, having joined the franchise in 2007 before its move from Seattle to OKC. His latest coup came in the 2022 draft, landing future All-Stars Holmgren and Williams with the No. 2 and No. 12 picks, respectively.

It's a bit scary to think that Victor Wembanyama is still improving, hence why he got one vote for Most Improved Player among theScore's hoops scribes. Also, if your name is Jalen, there's a decent chance of nabbing the award for the player who's made the biggest leap in 2024-25.

Ben Simmons' name jumps off the page, doesn't it? The former No. 1 pick has become a punchline, but after many seasons besieged by back issues, he enters the campaign in the final year of a $40.3-million deal, meaning he's playing for his next contract. Stranger things have happened.

It's little surprise that Wembanyama, the reigning Rookie of the Year and runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year honors to countryman Rudy Gobert, dominated this vote. Wembanyama was also the first rookie and the youngest player in history to earn an NBA All-Defensive first-team nod.

Not only does Wembanyama boast absurd height (7-foot-4) and wingspan (8-foot), but his elite timing made him a disruptor on the defensive end with 3.6 blocks and 1.2 steals per game, much of which he accomplished as a teenager. The sky's the limit for the NBA's next superstar on both ends of the court.

Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk is a solid selection to win Sixth Man of the Year after narrowly finishing second to Minnesota Timberwolves cult hero Naz Reid by a small margin a year ago. Monk surprised many when he re-signed in Sacramento on a four-year, $78-million deal, including teammate Domantas Sabonis.

Reid could become one of six players to capture the distinction on multiple occasions, though it's not immediately clear what Minnesota head coach Chris Finch's starting five will be. Could Reid start over Julius Randle? That could open the door for teammate Donte DiVincenzo to win some hardware.

It looks like players born abroad will continue a six-year spell of dominance over the NBA's most desired individual prize, with Canadian guard Gilgeous-Alexander and Slovenia's Luka Doncic leading the charge to unseat reigning holder and three-time winner Nikola Jokic.

Jokic dominated last year's vote, earning 79 of 99 first-place votes, with Gilgeous-Alexander (15) and Doncic (four) completing the podium. The only other player to receive a first-place vote, Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo (one), won MVP in 2018-19 and 2019-20.