My 2024-25 All-NBA Teams

Did your favorite make the cut? Probably not!

We continue our end-of-season awards march with All-NBA teams!

Currently, most franchises have fewer than 10 games left in the season. My position on some of the top players may change by season’s end, but it’s unlikely, particularly given the weirdness that late-season NBA tends to produce.

I also like publishing my All-NBA teams on the early side because it keeps me from being overly influenced by others — I’m usually one of the first people to publish their officially unofficial list, so I don’t have the crutch of being able to cheat off someone else’s homework. This keeps my All-NBA ballot purer to my objectively correct views.

There are a few players who will be right on the edge of the 65-game rule for qualifying — I did my best to account for that, which is why I’m including guys like Giannis and Curry. Still, I can’t control if someone turns an ankle or whatever in the last days of the season. In general, I am adhering to the league’s policy around player participation. That means no Luka Doncic, Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Davis, etc.

I absorb as much info as possible. I’ve got a whole spreadsheet filled with LEBRONs and DARKOs and EPMs (actual and predictive, for you metric wonks out there) and xRAPMs and eRAPTORs and stats per 75 and shooting percentages from all over the floor and net ratings and on/offs and much, much more (all numbers as of the morning of 3/27/25). I don’t care as much about minutes or games played as many, but I do value defense and being able to drive offense as a first option (the latter more than the former, as you’ll see). I try my best to minimize narrative, although I’m sure I can’t eliminate all my biases.

(I’m certainly hearing all these guys loud and clear; shout out to Sonos, who sent me a no-strings-attached giant soundbar because they are fans of Basketball Poetry, I guess? It’s by far the coolest and only perk I’ve gotten since I started this blog.

Frankly, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do in response. I’m happy to sell out, but I need a little more guidance! I will note that the Sonos Arc Ultra blows my TV speakers out of the water straight into the sun, and it’s got a fun “speech enhancer” setting that makes it easier for me to hear coaches calling out plays from the sidelines. So thanks, Sonos!)

With that preamble out of the way, let’s start with the First Team, which is a little boring. All the good stuff starts at Second Team, which looked far different than I expected going into this exercise. Finalizing my Third Team left me in shambles.

First Team All-NBA

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers

The first four guys need no introduction. SGA and Jokic will be MVP vote-getters one and two in some order, and Giannis and Tatum will be a distant but clear-cut three and four.

The fifth spot faces fierce competition.

Donovan Mitchell gets the nod despite a bit of a March efficiency swoon. His per-possession box-score numbers don’t stack up to some of his competitors, and he hasn’t been quite as accurate shooting the ball as you’d like (just 57.5% true shooting, one of the lower figures amongst all All-NBA candidates).

But he’s the vroom-vroom in Cleveland’s historically great offense while more than holding his own on the other end. Outside his fellow first-teamers, no other player ranks as consistently high in the alphabet soup metrics (where he’s no worse than sixth). I’m not explicitly a “best player on the best team” kinda guy, but apparently, the all-in-ones are!

There’s a little Miami Heat-era Jimmy Butler in the way that Mitchell sacrifices touches and shots to his teammates during normal games before turning it up when it matters most: he’s averaging nearly 36 points on tremendous efficiency in four games against the Celtics and has been almost as good against teams like the Knicks and Nuggets (don’t ask about the Thunder). Among qualifying candidates, he’s also the second-leading scorer in the fourth quarter on a per-possession basis, trailing only SGA.

Also, if you need a tiebreaker, I’m not sure there’s a more enjoyable viewing experience this side of Jokic:

Reasonable people may differ, but Mitchell is my guy.

Second Team All-NBA