2025 NBA Playoff Round Prediction Before the Season Starts | News, results, highlights, statistics and rumors

The Minnesota Timberwolves will be watching different this season without Karl-Anthony Towns, but that doesn’t mean they’ll make it worse.

The Wolves still went 14-6 without Towns last season and had a net rating of plus-9.0 (90th percentile, via Cleaning the Glass) when Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert were on the floor and Towns was out. Add another All-Star in Julius Randle and add even more depth in Donte DiVincenzo, Rob Dillingham, Joe Ingles and others, and Minnesota should be fine without KAT.

The Wolves move up to No. 2 as Edwards gets real MVP value.

There’s a lot to like about the Phoenix Suns, especially on offense, where a true point guard in Tyus Jones leads the way. We would feel better about the overall balance of the team if Bradley Beal was deployed as the sixth man, although new head coach Mike Budenholzer has already stated that he will be in a starting lineup that also includes Jones, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic.

This leaves a lot of defensive questions unanswered, especially now that Booker will be asked to guard small forwards. This is also the oldest roster in the NBA, as Durant turned 36 last month.

Expect the Suns to advance to the play-in tournament, although if healthy, this team’s star strength should be enough to win a game or two and make the playoffs.