A NUMBER of NBA coaches and team officials predict that San Antonio Spurs young star Victor Wembanyama will shine in the 2024-2025 season.
ESPN’s survey of 18 NBA coaches, scouts and executives revealed a number of predictions for several players next season.
For the best NBA player category, 15 votes chose Nikola Jokic, 2 votes for Luka Doncic, and 1 vote for Anthony Edwards.
Jokic was voted the best current NBA player by the coaches for two consecutive seasons.
This is not surprising, considering the Denver Nuggets center just won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
all three in the last four seasons.
So is Doncic. He was the NBA’s leading scorer in the 2023-24 season with an average of 33.9 points per game and led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals.
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In the predictions for the best NBA player in five years, 12 coaches and officials chose NBA rising star Victor Wembanyama.
The French player was absolutely superior to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic who won 2 votes, and Anthony Edwards and Nikola Jokic each with 1 vote.
Wembanyama, a 2.24-meter player who recently won the Rookie of the Year award, led the French national team to a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He has exceeded the high expectations of many since the 2023-2024 season.
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For the 2024-2025 NBA MVP predictions, coaches are leaning towards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 7 votes, followed by Luka Doncic with 5 votes, and Anthony Edwards along with Nikola Jokic and Jayson Tatum receiving 2 votes.
For the team category, the Boston Celtics from the Eastern Conference and the Oklahoma City Thunder from the Western Conference are favored to top the 2024-2025 NBA standings.
The Celtics received 13 votes for the Eastern Conference standings, while the Thunder received 14 votes as the leaders of the Western Conference standings.
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Meanwhile, for the predictions of the 2024-2025 NBA champion, the Celtics and Thunder are the favorites of the coaches and officials.
The Celtics won 8 votes, while the Thunder got 7 votes to be favored as NBA champions next season.
Coaches and officials give the Celtics a slight edge in winning their 19th title, compared to the Thunder who are trying to win their first.
Thunder is indeed in a significant development period with a squad filled with young players, including Chet Holmgren, a rookie who is a tough competitor for Wembanyama. (Ant/Z-1)
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