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Written by Ollie Weisstub 02/25/2025
All Star Break Final Western Conference Predictions
Comparison to my Preseason Article on the Western Conference
An article for NBA-fans re-predicting the NBA’s Western Conference and how they pan out by the end of the season, as well as acknowledging the changes in my prior prediction in a past stand article
STANDING PREDICTIONS- My finalized 4 teams in the Western Conference:
#1: Oklahoma City Thunder - 65 wins 17 losses (Preseason Prediction: #1 Seed - 61 wins 21 losses)
In my pre-season stand article I was expecting great things from the Oklahoma City Thunder, and expected them to be a dominant one seed. Since then, they have not just been that but exceeded my win expectations. I knew from the start that Oklahoma had enough talent offensively, an MVP candidate, a DPOY candidate and a supporting cast of players who can play great defense and hit threes, which is the perfect recipe for success. There is no surprise that OKC would be the top seed in the west, and I predict them to stay this way and win 65 games this season, 4 more than I originally said pre-season.
#2: Denver Nuggets - 55 Wins and 27 losses (Preseason Prediction: #2: Dallas Mavericks - 53 wins 29 losses)
Before the season, I predicted that the Nuggets wouldn’t even be a top 4 seed in the Western Conference, and for a while it looked like I was right. My thought process was that the only two reliable players on the team were Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon, and that while Jamal Murray can go off some nights he isn’t a reliable player over time. This isn’t just a known fact about Jamal but he also had came off an insanely terrible olympics. Along with this, I believed that Michael Porter Jr wouldn’t be enough or be able to step out of his catch and shoot role, and that the Nuggets had no real young players who could take a leap or role players to support their superstar Nikola Jokic and in my opinion his reliable second option Aaron Gordon. And to be honest, almost all of these predictions were true for the start of the year, but all of the Nuggets have stepped up significantly as of late. Everyone with a role has been playing it, and not to mention Nikola Jokic is having one of the best peaks of all time, this team has been rolling and I predict it will continue to. My preseason prediction were the Dallas Mavericks, and I am just not going to go into why my views have changed.
#3: Los Angeles Lakers 52 wins 30 losses (Preseason Prediction: #3: Phoenix Suns - 52 wins 30 losses)
Any team with Lebron James is at least close to being a contending team, and any team with Luka Doncic is at least close to being a contending team. Any team with Luka Doncic and Lebron James, is definitely a contending team. The Lakers started off this season not so well, but Austin Reaves has stepped up as a definitive #3 option and has been an amazing offensive player as of late, Lebron has somehow managed to be a top 10-15 player in the NBA and while Luka hasn’t started off putting up his typical numbers do to a return from injury and minutes restriction he is Luka, and when he fits in it will be scary. This team would be over the Nuggets if they had a real center, but Alex Len and Jaxson Hayes won’t be able to support this team so Luka and Lebron are really going to have to put up numbers. My old prediction was the Phoenix Suns, which was definitely a hot take and for a good reason, as they aren’t even above 500 currently and are the 11th seed. I really believed in the Suns because I thought a healthy Devin Booker and Kevin Durant with the addition of a true pass-first point guard (Tyus Jones) would be incredible, and so far this season they have been a disaster trying to trade Bradley Beal but it not working, then even trying to trade Kevin Durant, and Devin Booker being inefficient, every threat to this teams success has occurred and they simply are not a contender like I believed they were preseason.
#4: Golden State Warriors - 48 wins 34 losses - (Previous: Golden State Warriors - 52 Wins 30 losses)
Yes, I am aware that the Warriors are the 10th seed and would have to go 20-7 in their final 27 games for this to happen, and it is very unlikely, but I still strongly believe the Warriors, when playing well, are just as good as any team in the NBA. Stephen Curry finally has a reliable second option on this team in Jimmy Butler, and while at first I wasn’t sure if the fit would work as a locker room of Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler won’t end well, but the Warriors have been on a roll recently and Jimmy has perfectly complemented Steph’s game. It really comes down to the Warriors role players here, and I believe they will perform and give Steph a chance at one final title run. As well as this, the teams they need to surpass to be the 4th seed are the Kings, Timberwolves, Rockets, Clippers and Grizzlies, and the only real threats are the Clippers, Grizzlies and Wolves in my opinion, and I believe the Warriors playing their best can outplay any of these teams. My old prediction was also the Warriors, but the win count has gone down because this team hasn’t been as great as I expected, so I deduced the amount of Wins predicted by 4.
Honorable Mentions:
Grizzlies (Have been great, but I don’t believe they are as good as their record)
Clippers (Would have been 4, but health is still questionable for Kawhi and Harden out of his peak won’t be able to carry a team as a #1 without a second option who is reliable, and Kawhi hasn’t been healthy enough to be called reliable this season
Mavericks (When healthy this team is easily on this list, and maybe even finals contenders, I love the Mavericks core and think they are slept on, AD and Kyrie and role players who have been great is deadly but injuries will ruin this team)
Timberwolves (KAT trade ruined them, Ant has been awesome but not enough for this team)
Top 3 Western Conference Players, with justification.
-Significant segment:
How Lamelo Ball could be a top 3 player in the eastern conference
#1: Nikola Jokic
31 PPG , 12 RPG , 10 APG
(points per game) (rebounds per game) (assists per game)
While the Jokic and Shai debate is insanely close, I think while Shai is a leader of a better team and is arguably more consistent, Jokic is more valuable and overall more impactful as a player. Both players have had historic seasons but if Shai’s biggest impact is his scoring and Jokic averages nearly the same amount of points with his biggest impact arguably being passing, it’s hard to put Shai above Jokic. I had Jokic as #1 in my preseason predictions, with basically the same stats.
#2: Shai Gilgeous Alexander
33 PPG , 6 RPG, 4 APG
(points per game) (rebounds per game) (assists per game)
Shai could easily be #1, and may be by the end of the season but is definitely if not 1 number two. He is one of the best scorers in the NBA and does it on a star-studded team that is by far #1 in the conference, he has been consistent and does a little bit of everything. While people may get mad because of foul baiting, all great scorers shoot free throws and it's a smart tactic and part of basketball, whether it's fun to watch or not. I had Shai at #2 at the start of the season, but had his PPG at 31, and I upped that to 33 because of the tear he has been on recently.
#3: Anthony Edwards
28 PPG , 5 RPG 5 APG
(points per game) (rebounds per game) (assists per game)
Anthony Edwards recently has been going off, and has transformed his game into one of the better shooters in the entire NBA, as he has made the most threes yet this season and is shooting 40% from the line. He has been an incredible scorer with his shooting opening up his slashing for him even more, and he is becoming unguardable. Ant to me has been a top 3 player in the West so far, and will maintain this. My old prediction was Anthony Davis, and when he is on the court he has been incredible but he hasn’t been on the court.
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