NBA year-end roundtable: Can Luka and Embiid rebound in 2025?

Dave McMenamin: Kawhi Leonard. The two-time Finals MVP practiced with the LA Clippers this week — joining the group for the first time since last season because of a persistent knee injury. While it was only a noncontact practice and coach Ty Lue preached patience with the final stage of Leonard’s comeback, there’s a chance the 33-year-old star is back in the lineup before the calendar turns and can fortify an already pesky Clippers defense.

Chris Herring: Haliburton is having a pretty disappointing season by his All-NBA standards, with career-low field-goal (42.6%) and 3-point percentages (34.5%) along with his lowest scoring (18.0) and assists averages (8.5). But it’s not all on him — the Pacers have dealt with key injuries on the wing, and his remaining teammates have shot poorly when he’s kicked the ball out, allowing opponents to focus on him. But Haliburton’s puzzling home-road splits are concerning. A midseason turnaround from the star guard might be necessary to get the slumping Pacers into the playoffs.

Which team currently in the top eight in the East or West is most likely to miss the playoffs?

Youngmisuk: The Brooklyn Nets have surprisingly been more competitive than initially expected after the Mikal Bridges trade. The Nets should be applauded for their effort, and coach Jordi Fernandez has them playing hard. But the ultimate goal for the Nets is to gain as many assets as possible and put themselves in position to draft franchise-changing young talent. That means dropping out of the top eight. The Nets could find new homes for several of their veterans before the trade deadline, which they’ve done already with Dennis Schroder, increasing the odds of them sinking in the standings.

MacMahon: The Nets’ plan isn’t to make the playoffs this season. And they won’t. On top of the Schroder trade, Brooklyn is widely expected to move some of its solid veterans before the trade deadline. These Nets remind me of the Utah Jazz during Will Hardy’s rookie season as a head coach during the 2022-23 season. The good news is Fernandez, like Hardy, has proved that he’s a quality head coach. But the Jazz were too good for their own good, landing in the bottom half of the lottery after selling veterans at the trade deadline. That’s where the Nets are headed.

McMenamin: The Nets have lost five of their past six games — two of them coming by 20-plus points — and figure to be big sellers at the trade deadline. Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith are both veterans who could help a contender and, at some point, the Nets will shift their eyes toward the draft where they could have as many as four first-round picks.

MacMahon: It’s going to be tough to get a spot in the West, but Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams is definitely deserving. He’s the second-best player on the West’s best team and one of the league’s most well-rounded stars. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Domantas Sabonis are the only other players averaging at least 21 points, six rebounds and five assists while shooting better than 50% from the floor. He’s also among the league’s top players in steals (2.0 per game) for the top-ranked defense.

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McMenamin: Franz Wagner. Even with Wagner out for an indefinite period of time with a torn right oblique, the work the fourth-year forward did in 25 games prior to the injury should stamp him a ticket to San Francisco. He led Orlando to a 16-9 mark, keeping the Magic ascending after Paolo Banchero suffered a similar injury, and averaged 24.4 points, 5.7 assists and 5.6 rebounds. He punctuated his case with 37 points, 11 rebounds and the game-winning 3 against the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 21.

Collier: The Boston Celtics’ Derrick White. He has received a lot of shine lately from last season’s NBA Finals to being selected for Team USA’s 2024 Olympic team, and he keeps proving how good he is. Already one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, White has upped his scoring average to 17.5 points while shooting 40.1% from 3 on 9.3 attempts per game, all career highs. He’s unquestionably one of Boston’s most impactful players each night, and if the Celtics get multiple All-Stars, his name should be right near the top of that list.

Herring: Victor Wembanyama easily could have been an All-Star last season, and it seems extremely likely he’ll be selected this time around. Beyond him, I think Jalen Williams from Oklahoma City would be a worthy pick; especially in light of his career-high scoring and assist numbers, along with the number of hats he has worn for the Thunder’s short-handed defense.

One bold prediction for 2025 is ___?

Youngmisuk: The Clippers will make the playoffs even if Kawhi Leonard doesn’t finish the season healthy. Leonard has been slowly working his way back toward contact practice. With a healthy Leonard, the Clippers are certainly a playoff team. But there is always a risk of inflammation returning to Leonard’s right knee — the superstar and team have been so careful for this reason. One thing Ty Lue has learned during Leonard’s absence is that he has enough scrappy and hard-playing players around James Harden, Norm Powell and Ivica Zubac to fight their way into the postseason. And apologies to Harden, who is having a terrific season so far, but the Clippers’ defense, orchestrated by Jeff Van Gundy, might be the team’s MVP this season.

MacMahon: LeBron James and the Lakers will be playoff spectators. The competition for the last couple of spots in the West will be fierce. As of right now, the Lakers’ roster has too many flaws and James has shown signs of mortality as he approaches his 40th birthday.

McMenamin: The All-Star Game will enjoy a bounce-back performance. The vibes around the All-Star Game can only go up following last year’s debacle featuring 397 combined points as both teams made a mockery out of the event. While I am not a fan of the new format with three All-Star groups and a Rising Stars roster playing in a four-team bracket, I am confident that there will be more competition in San Francisco than we saw in Indianapolis.

Collier: We’ll get a first-time MVP in 2025. It’s going to be an uphill climb with multi-time MVPs Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic among the early front-runners to win the award, but there are enough first-timers in the mix that can edge them out. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has somehow become more efficient and more unguardable while positioning the Thunder as one of the top seeds in the West. Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum is having his best season, helping the Celtics once again emerge as the favorite in the East.

Herring: The Pistons will reach the postseason. A few years ago, that would have meant needing to make the East’s top eight, whereas now, they merely need to finish in the top 10. (They’re currently in 11th place.) Detroit’s remaining schedule strength lands in the middle of the pack, but no team has played fewer home games so far, meaning the Pistons will have a built-in advantage the rest of the season. They have struggled of late, dropping a handful of games by double digits, but they’ve been decent in hotly contested ones, with a 5-7 mark in clutch showings. Their ability to win close games at that clip, or better, could be enough to get them to the play-in.

Which lottery-bound team is most in need of Cooper Flagg?

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MacMahon: All of them. The Wizards are in desperate need of a centerpiece player to build around and are still in the midst of the teardown portion of the rebuilding process. A player like Flagg would provide a solid foundation for D.C. to start.

Collier: The Chicago Bulls. Sure, there are other teams with fewer wins than the Bulls at the bottom of the standings, but is there another team who so badly needs a direction like this franchise? Cooper Flag to Chicago is the kind of move that could invigorate the Bulls, similar to how hitting the lottery in 2008 and drafting No. 1 pick Derrick Rose sparked the franchise. The odds are long, but it seems like the only chance for the Bulls to get off their treadmill of mediocrity.

McMenamin: The Wizards are listless, and while No. 2 pick Alexandre Sarr has shown some signs of long-term promise, the franchise has a lot more to do to get back to a level of respectability. Flagg would give the long-suffering fan base — which enjoyed brief spells of euphoria before injuries derailed teams built around Gilbert Arenas and, later, John Wall — a deserved jolt.

Herring: The Wizards, at an unthinkable minus-337, owned the worst point differential through 20 games in NBA history. That is no doubt the largest take-the-best-player-available levels of bad if I’ve ever seen it. Washington clearly needs another shot in the arm, even after taking Sarr with the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft.