NBA Series: The Northwest Division
2024-2025 Season Recap
The Northwest Division was a strong division last season.
The Oklahoma City Thunder sat atop the division with 68 wins and eventually won the NBA championship. They were finally able to stay healthy and consistent enough to get that chip. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the NBA’s best player and the Thunder is the NBA’s best team.
The Nikola Jokic-led Denver Nuggets won a decent 50 games. They beat the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs, but got knocked out by their division rivals and eventual champs OKC Thunder in the second round. Joker is still a top 5 player, but he needs some help if they want things to change.
The Minnesota Timberwolves won 49 regular season games, and they were able to reach the conference finals, where they played the OKC Thunder. Anthony Edwards tried his best, but all they got was a gentleman’s sweep.
The young Portland Trailblazers won 36 games. They were led by Anfernee Simons who scored 20 points per game. The Blazers had a lot of promising talent–Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara, Scoot Henderson, Deni Avdija, and Donovan Clingan. They also had Deandre Ayton. Had they been in a different division, things would have been better, but the competitive Northwest division is unforgiving.
The Utah Jazz won a measly 17 games. Lauri Markkanen is their best player, and they also had John Collins, Collin Sexton, and Jordan Clarkson. Collins, Markkanen, and Sexton only played 40+ games though–-their efforts didn’t amount to anything much in the season.
2025-2026 Season
The Oklahoma City Thunder are going to repeat. If they stay fresh, manage their time, and stay healthy and consistent, it’s going to be a deep playoff run, at the very least. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams are both on a great trajectory, and if they self-actualize, the team is going to look scary.
The Nuggets did some nice offseason moves–releasing Russell Westbrook, who is not a three-point shooter, and Michael Porter Jr, an inconsistent starter. They seem to have solved their three-point shooting issues by getting back Bruce Brown and adding Cam Johnson–both threats beyond the arc. They also got Jonas Valanciunas to help manage the Joker’s minutes. On paper, these offseason moves look good.
The Wolves re-signed Joe Ingles, Julius Randle, and Naz Reid. They still have Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert. However, they lost Nickeil Alexander-Walker, their main backcourt guy. Donte DiVincenzo can be inconsistent at times, but they may have an ace in the hole in Rob Dillingham–if he steps up. Mike Conley is 38, and they need more juice off the dribble. Rob Dillingham needs to step up and he will definitely get minutes.
The Blazers lost their starting center Ayton, but added Jrue Holiday and got Damian Lillard back. Lillard is still injured and won’t be coming back soon. Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson need to figure out how to contribute better if they want more wins this season.
The Jazz drafted the controversial Ace Bailey, who appeared as if he didn’t want to be a Jazz player during draft day, but eventually expressed his love for the city. They added Jusuf Nurkic and Kyle Anderson during the summer. Their top players–Lauri Markkanen, Kyle Filipowski, Kyle Anderson, Kevin Love, and Walker Kessler–are all bigs. The Jazz have a guard problem–they may not have a reliable backcourt.
