I am back once again with my analysis and opinion to give the fans a highly scientific prediction for the next 10 years in the NBA. Ok, I exaggerated the highly scientific part, but you catch my drift. Today, instead of predicting some individual feats as we have done in the past, we will be discussing the NBA through 2032-33 from a team perspective.
Based on the way things are built now, and with many more moves to come, the next 10 years in the NBA are almost laid out in terms of both the immediate and distant future. There are teams built to win now, and there are teams who continue to build for the future in an attempt to become NBA champions somewhere down the line.
Given what we know at this very moment, we have tapped into our psychic abilities, no matter how disproven they are, to bring to you the teams we think will win the NBA championships each season from 2023-24 through 2032-33. These 10 teams have the personnel, experience, and talent throughout their organization to represent the NBA as champions for the next decade. The game of basketball continues to change with it, a new era of superstars and teams will be the ones who take their place atop the league for a long time to come.
These are the next 10 NBA champions from 2023-24 through 2032-33.
2023-24 NBA Season – Milwaukee Bucks
Credit: Fadeaway World
In 2023-24, the NBA has more parity and widespread competition than in years past. Several teams from each conference could contend or win an NBA championship, leaving the league completely up in the air.
For our 2023-24 champions, we selected the Milwaukee Bucks, who are out for revenge after a disappointing end to their 2023 playoff run. After being defeated by the Miami Heat in the first round, Milwaukee is out for blood to return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2021. They will be led, of course, by former MVP and Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who remains one of the best two-way players in the entire NBA.
Aside from Giannis, though, Milwaukee gets a fully healthy Khris Middleton back for the first time since the beginning of the 2021-22 season, giving their offense a boost they have needed come playoff time over the last two years. Jrue Holiday remains one of the better playmaking/defending perimeter players in the NBA as well. Brook Lopez returns to build on his near Defensive Player of the Year campaign in 2022-23 to help Giannis anchor the defense and lead the Bucks to their second NBA championship in four years.
2024-25 NBA Season – Los Angeles Lakers
Credit: Fadeaway World
After falling just short of their championship goals in both 2023 and 2024, the Los Angeles Lakers seriously inserted themselves into the championship conversation in 2024-25. With their core of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Austin Reaves remaining together for one more season before James either retires or joins his son, the Lakers make an incredible run to the NBA Finals.
It isn’t just about LeBron James and Anthony Davis remaining healthy. The young role players have now grown and matured, with Austin Reaves developing into a near All-Star and Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt excelling in their roles. Hachimura is averaging around 10.0 PPG, while Vanderbilt is now an All-Defensive forward.
The Lakers’ additions, such as Jaxson Hayes and Gabe Vincent, have begun to settle in as well in their second season with Los Angeles, with the lineup clicking on all cylinders from top to bottom. The Lakers will send off James the right way and make a decision about the future as it pertains to their young group taking over or sticking with their veterans.
2025-26 NBA Season – Denver Nuggets
Credit: Fadeaway World
Three years after their first NBA championship, led by Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, the Denver Nuggets find themselves right back in the driver’s seat for another NBA title. Luckily for Denver, they have their core locked in for the foreseeable future, and it pays off with their second NBA championship in four seasons.
Denver will be led by their MVP Nikola Jokic, who is just entering his age-30 season and in the prime of his career. Jamal Murray will also be just 28 years old by the time the 2025-26 season rolls around, allowing this tandem to remain among the best duos in the game. Rounding out their core is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Aaron Gordon, who also remain under contract and are big reasons why the Nuggets remain in championship contention.
Of course, it took the Nuggets three years to get back to the NBA Finals as they tried to maneuver their way through the Western Conference after losing Bruce Brown and Jeff Green during the 2023 offseason. Christian Braun has developed into one of the better bench players in the NBA, building on his tremendous 2023 postseason. The Nuggets capture their second NBA championship, and Jokic captures his second Finals MVP, putting him in rare air as far as the greatest players ever conversation goes.
2026-27 NBA Season – Phoenix Suns
Credit: Fadeaway World
The next few seasons are when we begin to see several borderline title contenders cash in on the last of their biggest investments’ prime while the younger teams quietly begin to make some noise. In 2026-27, it will be all about the Phoenix Suns and the NBA championship they had been chasing under the new ownership regime under Mat Ishbia.
The Big 3 of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal are finally able to deliver an NBA championship to Phoenix for the first time in their franchise history. Durant has slowed a bit with time but is still craft and efficient enough to be a 23.0 to 24.0 PPG scorer. Devin Booker has taken over as the premier offensive weapon for the Suns with a consistent 28.0 to 29.0 PPG output. Bradley Beal is still somewhat effective, hovering around 18.0 to 19.0 PPG.
The difference this season for Phoenix has been the improvement of Deandre Ayton on the interior as a defender and a more aggressive rebounder. The team has been patiently waiting for Ayton to tap into the more physical aspects of his game, and that is precisely what put them over the top at this point in time. With these four leading the charge, the Suns are able to outlast everybody and become NBA champions.
2027-28 NBA Season – Boston Celtics
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After locking in Jaylen Brown to the richest deal in NBA history in 2023, the Celtics have remained committed to their duo of him and Jayson Tatum over the years. With time winding down on their championship window, the pair finally got Boston over the hump for their first NBA championship in exactly 20 years.
During these five seasons, Tatum and Brown have remained one of the best and highest-scoring duos in the entire NBA while continuing to fall just short of their championship aspirations. In 2027-28, Boston would finally get to the point where they can rely on each of them in the NBA playoffs rather than one or the other, which has been an issue in the past as the Celtics’ runs fell just short.
This time, the Celtics would face off with the Nuggets in the NBA Finals with a dream big-man matchup taking place between Nikola Jokic and Kristaps Porzingis. The two would battle in the NBA Finals as Porzingis tried his best to limit the former MVP and Finals MVP Jokic. In the end, Boston would prevail, with their Big 3 doing just enough to defeat Denver and get the proverbial monkey off the backs of the Celtics that had followed them around for two decades. The large investment in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown finally paid off and put the critics’ doubts to bed.
2028-29 NBA Season – San Antonio Spurs
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One of the young teams I had alluded to beginning to make some noise was the San Antonio Spurs. Now six years into his career, Victor Wembanyama is ready to lead the Spurs back to the promised land as NBA champions and take his rightful spot atop the NBA as its best player and the next face of the league.
Wembanyama took control of a young Spurs team in 2023-24 that has now developed into an NBA powerhouse. Wembanyama is now a perennial MVP candidate and All-NBA Second or First Team standout. Others such as Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Jeremy Sochan have thrived with the addition of Wembanyama into the lineup, turning the Spurs into a dynastic team once again.
The Spurs are not done, either. Wembanyama is now beginning to enter GOAT conversations after winning his first NBA championship and Finals MVP at just 24 years old. Gregg Popovich also decides to sign one last extension as he sees the championship window remaining open for the immediate future.
2029-30 NBA Season – Oklahoma City Thunder
Credit: Fadeaway World
Speaking of young teams just hitting their stride, the Oklahoma City Thunder are looking to become NBA champions by the year 2030. The Thunder made a lot of progress as a young and inexperienced team in 2023 and continued to build and improve over the next several seasons. The Thunder are led by their All-NBA and All-Star guard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who will remain one of the NBA’s top scorers over the next seven years.
Taking the leap alongside Gilgeous-Alexander will be both Josh Giddey and Chet Homlgren. After adding weight and remaining healthy, Holmgren has become one of the best big men in the game with a s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁set and impact similar to that of Wembanyama in San Antonio. With Holmgren and Gilgeous-Alexander dominating, it allows Giddey to excel as a playmaker as well as Jaylin Williams and Lu Dort to complete their defensive alignment.
The Thunder also continue to acquire veteran talent to aid their young team in learning how to win so that they do not get complacent after just one championship. The Thunder are set up to win for years and years to come, but their first taste of an NBA championship will not come until 2029-30.
2030-31 NBA Season – San Antonio Spurs
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The Spurs remain one of the best teams in the NBA, and much like Tim Duncan pulled off years ago, Victor Wembanyama is now a multiple-time MVP, NBA champion, and Finals MVP in the first decade of his career. Just eight seasons in, Wembanyama has now delivered his second NBA title behind his stellar all-around play that saw him average 32.5 PPG and 14.0 RPG in the regular season.
Now a bonafide superstar, Wembanyama now joins Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo as the only repeat NBA champions and Finals MVPs with the same team over the last decade. What has really put the Spurs over the edge has been their ability to develop Keldon Johnson alongside Wembanyama but also their ability to cash in on their assets and salary cap freedom.
With the additions of some key role-playing veterans alongside their young core, the Spurs have sent Gregg Popovich off into retirement the right way. Popovich announces his retirement after his seventh NBA title with the Spurs in his career and goes down as the greatest coach IN NBA history, leaving the franchise in a much better place than when he found it in 1997.
2031-32 NBA Season – Orlando Magic
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The final one of the organically-grown teams who are young in 2023 but will be a powerhouse down the road is the Orlando Magic. Over the next nine seasons, the Magic will watch their young stars with potential bloom into All-NBA players and one cohesive championship unit.
Paolo Banchero has become one of the premier forwards in the NBA at 26.5 PPG, 8.0 RPG, and 6.5 APG. Franz Wagner has complemented Banchero’s game perfectly, with the frontcourt being rounded out by Wendell Carter Jr. By this time, Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony have both gained the experience needed to adapt to their roles as playmakers and secondary scorers, allowing Orlando to flourish as a unit.
The Magic come as a shock on this list, especially nine years down the road, but the talent is there if they tap into it and allow their stars to be stars. Banchero and Wagner are clearly the future, and if Orlando plays their cards right, they could be NBA champions for the first time by 2031-32.
2032-33 NBA Season – New York Knicks
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The final NBA champion that we foresee happening in the next 10 years is the New York Knicks. Right now, the Knicks have found something with their young and talented core led by Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett, and Julius Randle. One move I can see happening over the next decade is the switch of Randle for Zion Williamson, who has been a target of theirs since his college days at Dike. I could also see the Knicks going out and getting Joel Embiid or Karl-Anthony Towns to add a big man depth to their roster.
With this new core built around Jalen Brunson, who is now a perennial All-Star with the Knicks, and Barrett, who has made it a couple of times himself, the Knicks have proven to be a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks have added a defensive element that is hard to stop and, with a new coaching staff, have taken the next step Knicks fans have been waiting for since 1973.
The Knicks’ success over the next 10 years depends on how they strike over the next few seasons on the trade market and in free agency. With the addition of Williamson, a healthy version, I believe they are instant title contenders, just a piece or two away from winning the whole thing. By 2033, they have enough to figure it out and finally become NBA champions after 60 years of waiting.
