Oklahoma City Thunder
Oklahoma City is super talented, super deep. They got a lot of athletes. I thought they were going to be a good team last year, but they were a lot better than I thought. They have shooters, athletes, and they all play off Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren with his shooting and his ability to block shots with his length.
They have a lot of versatile players that can play in different areas. It’ll be interesting to see how they use Holmgren and Isaiah Joe. They will probably play a lot of minutes together. Joe is going to come in and supply a ton of energy and effort. If they only use Holmgren at a five and Joe at a five, is Joe really going to be maximized? I’d imagine he is going to expand his game beyond the three-point line this season.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the NBA’s most consistent scorer. Everything that he can do off the bounce, he’s such a tough cover. He’s fast. He’s quick. His athleticism is great. He shoots the ball effortlessly. The dude can flat-out score. He’s got another ballhandler out there in Jalen Williams, now you give him another in Alex Caruso, that’s going to make him more dangerous. He doesn’t have to just handle it to score. He can play off the ball and catch in spots where he could score. He doesn’t have to come up and initiate everything. Whereas, when they were bad in the games that he played, it was just him initiating everything.
Caruso plays both sides of the ball. He’s a really good defender. He’s a good scorer with the ball. You can see his court vision, how he pushes the tempo. He just does a lot of things for a team. He’s a better fit than Josh Giddey.
Holmgren shoots the s--- out of it. And if that’s his role, then he’s really good at it. I don’t see him ever beating anybody off the bounce. Spots where [he] got to the hole, it’s not that he beat somebody, it’s that they were already beaten. He’s a great weakside shot blocker. Great hand-eye coordination. But a guy that goes at him in the paint and gets in his body, he had problems.
I love the totality of Jalen Williams’s game: his size, his scoring ability, his vision. He plays both sides of the ball. I think he’s a complete player in all areas of his game. As a full, complete player, I think he might be the best player on OKC outside of Gilgeous-Alexander. Gilgeous-Alexander is the best scorer, but the Thunder’s best all-around player? I think this kid is that.
Lu Dort is right up there with the top defenders. His physicality, his athleticism—he can guard anybody. He moves laterally really well. And let’s be honest, you add in all the other pieces around him and it makes him look even better. It’s a good all-around defensive team with Dort being a really good physical on-ball defender. And he made close to 40% of his threes last season. That’s a big boost.
Denver Nuggets
I can see the Nuggets collapsing. They just keep losing guys. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is going to be a huge loss for them. He was a great glue guy. He didn’t need the ball. He guarded really well in schemes. I like Christian Braun, but KCP was a perfect fit alongside Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Now, they are going to count on younger kids to fill that role.
Julian Strawther, he can score. He moves well without the ball, so he’s going to find areas of the floor where he can get it. The issue is he doesn’t have much of a focus on the defensive side of the ball.
Peyton Watson is good, but I just always feel like I want more out of him. I felt like he needed to improve his motor, his shooting consistency and I didn’t feel like he finished well in the paint. He’s a great transition finisher but not as good in traffic.
I like three of the starting five. Jokic is the best player in the game. He is unbelievable. And when he’s playing at his level, they’re a pretty tough team to beat. Regular season, he does so much for them. He facilitates everything. He has no ego so he’s fine letting Murray go off. When you got Jokic, you got a shot in every game. Aaron Gordon complements him perfectly on both ends of the floor, and Murray goes and gets buckets.
Gordon has figured out who he is in Denver. It was like, I’m not a scorer. I’m crushing the glass. I’m getting transition buckets. He’ll catch the ball 18 feet and try to iso, and it’s like, just stop. Stay in your lane and stay in your role. That’s when they are so good.
Michael Porter Jr. to me, how he played, he just doesn’t fit as a starter. I think he’s just got to be an off-the-bench guy, go get your buckets because he’s never passed and he’s just literally looking for himself, which is fine, I guess, with Jokic.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The fallout from the Karl-Anthony Towns trade depends on a few things. I’ve heard a lot of, Julius Randle has a chip on his shoulder. He’s motivated, blah, blah. But from what I’ve seen, even in his good years, he takes a lot of bad shots. And with Anthony Edwards there, one of the benefits to trading Towns was now he’s a clear guy that’s going to be the man and not have to “fight for shots” or even subconsciously have to worry about who the real guy is. And if Randle’s good being the second or third fiddle, great. But if he does too much, then it could backfire. You lose the benefit you got from trading Towns from an offensive point of view.
Defensively, I think they’re going to be better because of Donte DiVincenzo and Randle’s a big body. He’s not as big as Towns, but he’s a little more mobile. If Randle places in the system and takes somewhat decent shots, I think it’ll work out in their favor.
This is probably stupid to say, but I thought Naz Reid was better than Towns. Towns was a great pick-and-pop guy. Reid is the same. He probably didn’t have as many reps just because of minutes, but if he’s playing regularly and popping, you have to account for him. Reid is not as much of a post up, like punish switch guys, but what he is good at is when you late switch his pop, like when you veer we call it, he reads that quick, like one of the best I’ve seen, where he’ll catch the pop, he will see the small switch on to him late and he’s swinging the ball and getting right to the post. Reid, defensively, he’s not as physical, but he’s more mobile and he can cover more ground. So all those reasons combined is why I kind of thought he was better. I was more worried about him than Towns.
Edwards is one of my favorite players. He plays both sides of the floor. He’s physical. He’s goofy and stuff, but man, he has that competitive edge. I love the fact that he guards. He’s not scared of the moment. He wants that moment on both ends of the floor. If the other team’s got the ball and he’s up one, he’s going to guard the guy and he wants it. And you know what? If a guy scores, he accepts it. But he’s not hanging his head. He’s just ready for the next possession.
I thought Jaden McDaniels took a step backwards last year. I thought he’d develop into a better shooter. I thought he’d develop more offense. I think his defense is pretty good, but he’s a big foul guy who reaches a lot. He doesn’t rebound for his position at all.
Mike Conley, his leadership is so underrated that he just pulls everything together. He’s such a good teammate and such a good player to have as your starting point guard, even if he’s aging. He can just keep going just because he impacts winning so much more than what he does on the floor.
Rudy Gobert is fine. The criticism of him is dumb. Just rebound, block shots and guard. I think he talks too much. He can just shut up and play defense. He’s definitely earning his contract with that.
Utah Jazz
I really liked what Utah had going a couple of years ago. Then they brought in John Collins and slid Lauri Markkanen over. I thought Markkanen was at his best when he’s playing the four for Utah two years ago. Everybody kept trying to make him a three before in Cleveland and Chicago. They finally came in, made him a four, and he was so successful there.
He didn’t show any signs of weakness. He seemed like he was playing tough, and physical, and playing hard. And then they bring in Collins and slid him over to the three last year. I just didn’t understand because he finally found how he could be most successful at the four.
I’m not a fan of Collins. I think he’s more of a selfish player than a team player. I think he wants to fill the box score with rebounds over a win.
Walker Kessler is a good young talent. As a rookie, he took off early with his ability to block shots, his ability to run the floor, catch it, finish. Just great feel and touch around the basket. I don’t know what's going on with his minutes going down. They seem to be high and low with him.
Keyonte George, he’s going to be good, and he’s got room to grow. He’s in a position where they’re letting him grow, which is great. His ability to score the ball is solid, he’s got good size for the position, and I think there’s flashes of seeing more coming from him in terms of being a point guard. He’s a good shooter, but can he lead a team or run the offense? He needs to improve on the defensive end of the floor.
Not sure why they haven’t traded Jordan Clarkson. Just trade him to a playoff team where he can play and you guys can get a first-round pick for him. So, they’re just so interesting in that they’re not trying to rebuild really, but they are trying to rebuild. Where are they at? What’s Danny Ainge doing?
Portland Trail Blazers
Portland … has a lot of centers. They have to break them up, and I’d guess they will. I like Anfernee Simons, but I don’t like how they use him as a point guard, playing him off the ball. It makes me wonder if he is a good player or just a guy putting up numbers on a bad team. His efficiency numbers weren’t great. He’s a scorer. But he needs to be more than that.
I love Shaedon Sharpe. I think Sharpe has the most upside to grow for them and be a player. I think that he’s going to continue to develop and grow. I really feel that growth is in his future. If he has the right work ethic, I think there’s a huge upside. He didn’t play many games last year, but the games early on that he played were very impressive.
The major question for them is Scoot Henderson. I thought at the beginning of the year he was pretty good. He can’t shoot, which is going to kill him. He struggles at times to make that pass when he gets too deep in traffic because of his size. But coming down the court, having vision, hitting the right pass early on in the offense, I thought he was O.K. Not playing in Summer League was notable. It made me think they were just hiding him because you know that the second he gets on that floor and isn’t producing the way that he should, that the asset just nosedives.
Deni Avdija is O.K. If Jerami Grant is hurt a lot and he plays, he’ll produce. He works hard. He does what he does with shooting, and with effort, and he’ll play hard for you, but as a difference maker, I don’t really see that in him. But he’s a young kid.
Deandre Ayton is a good player. I just look at where they’re at and I just don’t see why do you want a guy like that? Why wouldn’t you just go with the younger kid you just drafted? But I mean, he’s a scoring center, he can face up, shoot the ball from the top of the key and look to score around the basket. He’s not a good defensive player at all. He’s just more of an offensive center.
Same thing with Grant. He’s fine, serviceable. He looked like he was declining a little bit last season, but he’s still a versatile four that could do a lot of things on both sides of the floor. But he makes no sense for where they are as a team.
The situation with Chauncey Billups is a mess. Billups is coaching to win. He’s in the last year of his contract. The front office doesn’t want to win. They want to develop the young guys and be in a position for the No. 1 pick next year. They fired two of his assistants, including his brother, and didn’t give him an extension. It could get ugly there.
How They’ll Fare
SI predicts how each division will play out in the 2024–25 season.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Already a 57-win team loaded with young talent, OKC added a three-and-D wing defender (Alex Caruso) as well as a relentless center (Isaiah Hartenstein) to shore up its rebounding woes.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Anthony Edwards is a superstar. And the T-Wolves made a move this offseason to address a lingering issue.
Denver Nuggets
The exodus from the 2022–23 championship team continues, with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope following Bruce Brown and Jeff Green out the door. Denver’s young players need to respond to increased responsibility.
Utah Jazz
Utah took a step towards credibility by signing Lauri Markkanen to a longterm deal. Can second-year players Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks and Brice Sensabaugh help the team compete for a play-in berth?
Portland Trail Blazers
The Blazers have an awkward mix of veterans (Deandre Ayton, Jerami Grant) and developing players (Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe). That makes them the early leaders in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes.
—Chris Mannix
This article was originally published on www.si.com as 2024–25 NBA Scouting Report: Northwest Division.
