ESPN's Summer Forecast has answered some of the NBA's biggest questions heading into the 2024-25 season. Experts gave their predictions for the league's biggest awards, East and West standings and now will round out the forecast with conference champions and Finals winners.
This season, the Boston Celtics will look to become the first back-to-back champs since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018, but there will be challengers.
The Philadelphia 76ers will seek to return to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2001 behind Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and newly acquired All-Star forward Paul George. The New York Knicks could also challenge in the East behind their "Nova-Knicks" which now includes two-way star Mikal Bridges.
After a fumbled run in the 2024 Finals, the Dallas Mavericks have upgraded their dominating offense (led by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving) by adding Klay Thompson. But they will face other top contenders, notably Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Anthony Edwards-led Minnesota Timberwolves.
We asked our experts to rank their top choices for the East and West -- and the eventual NBA champion -- with a first-place vote receiving five points, a second-place vote receiving three and a third-place vote receiving one.
Here are the results:
Note: This week, our 2024-25 NBA Summer Forecast has covered the biggest questions, projections for top awards, including MVP and DPOY, and Eastern and Western win-loss projections.