Tracy McGrady has been showing the Dallas Mavericks a lot of love in the preseason. After picking Luka Doncic to win MVP on his Instagram, he’s now doubled down on his prediction for the 2024-25 NBA championship.
“I can’t see the (Boston) Celtics doing it again,” McGrady said. “F— it, man, Luka (Doncic) gon’ sweep the board… My preseason pick for NBA champ is gonna be the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas made it there last year, I got Luka being the regular season MVP… Adding Klay Thompson I think is gonna make them a favorite, definitely a contender. I mean why not? They definitely was a contender without Klay. So, my NBA Finals pick is gonna be Luka Doncic. He’s gonna sweep the MVP this year. He’s gonna win it in the regular season and he’s gonna win NBA Finals. Luka Doncic is taking home two MVP trophies along with the Larry O’Brien trophy.”
The Hall of Famer believes last year’s trip to The Finals was just the beginning for Dallas. They made a surprise run before losing to the Celtics in five games but proved the duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving is good enough to get them there. With some extra help this offseason, adding Klay Thompson and Naji Marshall, there’s good reason to believe the Mavs can get back there again.
Dallas will likely have to face the Oklahoma City Thunder once again if they want to return to the Finals, though. The Thunder are the heavy favorites to win the Western Conference this season, adding Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso to the West’s top seed last year. The Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves are seen in that same upper echelon with the Thunder and Mavericks, who seem to be the consensus four best teams in the West.
The Mavericks are currently tied for the sixth-highest odds to win the NBA Finals at +1100 on FanDuel with the Nuggets, and behind the Celtics (+310), Thunder (+650), New York Knicks (+750), Philadelphia 76ers (+1000), and Timberwolves (+1000).
