Empire of the Suns podcast: 2024-25 NBA MVP picks, title favorites

The NBA season is upon us, and the league appears as wide open as ever. The Boston Celtics will tip off 2024-25 with a ring ceremony on Tuesday against the reshaped New York Knicks before the Phoenix Suns get going on Wednesday at the Los Angeles Clippers.

The league’s changing landscape is shaped by both evolving talent as well as the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which appears to be working in the sense that it is creating parity, with the rich teams being careful about paying heavy tax penalties to retain talent.

Our season preview episode of the Empire of the Suns podcast was recorded over several segments on the Friday edition of Arizona Sports at Night. We touched on Suns preseason takeaways, projected that into the regular season and also used the last bit of time to make NBA-wide predictions for MVP and the rest of the season’s awards.

Finally, we made picks for the conference finals and NBA Finals.

Below are our official predictions for the official record of the internet.

Kellan Olson’s 2024-25 NBA season predictions

Most Valuable Player: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Rookie of the Year: Zach Edey, Memphis Grizzlies

Sixth Man of the Year: Donte DiVincenzo, Minnesota Timberwolves

Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

Most Improved Player: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

Coach of the Year: Mike Budenholzer, Phoenix Suns

Western Conference Finals: Thunder over Suns

Eastern Conference Finals: Knicks over Celtics

Finals: Knicks over Thunder

Kevin Zimmerman’s 2024-25 NBA season predictions

Most Valuable Player: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Rookie of the Year: Reed Sheppard, Houston Rockets

Sixth Man of the Year: Ben Mathurin, Indiana Pacers

Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

Most Improved Player: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

Coach of the Year: Taylor Jenkins, Memphis Grizzlies

Western Conference Finals: Thunder over Suns

Eastern Conference Finals: Knicks over Celtics

Finals: Thunder over Knicks

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