Defying the Odds

Can anyone beat the Celtics?

This NBA season is going to be competitive. During the offseason, teams worked tirelessly to rebuild and find a way to beat the reigning NBA champions, the Boston Celtics. Most notably, the New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Dallas Mavericks made recognizable adjustments to their rosters. Let’s start off with the Knicks. This offseason, Tom Thibideau and his colleagues made a few key decisions that set the Knicks up for a good start to this NBA season. 

Firstly, New York sent Bojan Bogdanovic, a small forward that averaged 15.2 points per game (ppg) in the 23-24 season and five first-round draft picks to the Nets for Mikal Bridges. Bridges has a “great understanding of the game,” says Thibideau, and his overall aggressiveness will add to this year’s roster. The Knicks made one more crucial addition to the team this offseason, Karl-Anthony Towns, filling the void of a center on their roster. However, the Knicks also let go of Julius Randle, a three-time NBA All- star, and Donte DiVincenzo, the starting shooting-guard for New York, in this trade. Overall, the Knicks are prepared for a strong NBA season, with a hefty goal of overcoming the Celtics. Just like the Knicks, the Oklahoma City Thunder had a pivotal offseason, acquiring two stand-out players while keeping most of their core starters. The Thunder traded Josh Giddey, an underperforming guard with “untapped potential,” for Alex Caruso, one of the best on-ball defenders in the NBA. On top of that, Oklahoma signed free-agent Isaiah Hartenstein, an outstanding role-player and mobile center, although Hartenstein just suffered a hand injury in the pre-season. This season looks very promising for the Thunder, as they are ranked second in championship chances, falling behind only the Boston Celtics. The last team that significantly changed their roster this offseason, making them title contenders, was the Dallas Mavericks. Although the Mavericks kept their star duo, Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, the center of the team, they also added three key components to up their game. The first was Klay Thompson, an aging but nevertheless legendary shooting guard coming from the Golden State Warriors, who was traded for Josh Green and a couple second-round picks. Klay adds a new sense of depth to the Mavs, increasing their three-point firepower as well. The second addition was Quentin Grimes, a “quality floor-stretcher” and “hard-nosed defender,” traded for Tim Hardaway Jr. and three second round picks. Lastly, free-agent Naji Marshall joined the Mavericks as part of the replacement for the loss of Derrick Jones Jr. and Josh Green, for Marshall can handle any role that the Mavs throw at him. These three incorporations to Dallas don’t just act as replacements for the lost starters, but they play a decisive role in whether or not the Mavs can bring home their first championship since 2011. 

A few teams this offseason maintained their already favorable rosters with contract extensions and minimal trades. The main example of this model is the Denver Nuggets, who kept all of their starters except for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and acquired only one significant player, Russell Westbrook, to replace the lost guard. The Nuggets are currently ranked at number four in odds to win the championship. The Timberwolves offseason was slightly more active than the Nuggets, but still quite stable, as Minnesota lost one noteworthy player, Karl Anthony Towns, and received two, Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle, making the Wolves number five in championship odds. Moving on to the defending champions, the team that everybody wants to beat is the Boston Celtics. The Celtics did not make any big changes to their championship roster, but did generate many intelligent contract extensions. Derrick White signed a contract for four years and $118 million; Jayson Tatum signed for five years and $315 million; Payton Pritchard signed for four years and $30 million; Al Horford signed for two years and $19.5 million; and Sam Hauser signed for four years and $45 million. All of these extensions solidify Boston’s number one spot in odds to win the 2025 NBA Championship, as the Celtics look to repeat their stellar performance from last year. Every team is looking to defy the odds this year by defeating the Boston Celtics, but it is going to take a lot more than an incredible offseason to do so.

Kaya Surmeli