5 NBA superstar duos or trios we’d love to see formed for the 2024-25 season
All signs point toward a hectic offseason... here's what we'd like to see happen.
The NBA offseason is expected to get hectic. With the new CBA coming into full effect, teams will be scrambling to figure out their finances. Meanwhile, several key free agents and a ton of potentially tradable stars could shift the balance of power in the league.
We already know Trae Young and Donovan Mitchell are on every radar. We've heard the Pelicans might decide between Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. The Warriors tried to trade for LeBron James. There is a lot of smoke floating around these days.
As we edge closer to the offseason, we edge closer to the next blockbuster move. It's always fun to change things up, to experience something new. If the NBA summer is going to deliver on its promise, here are a few of the star duos and trios we'd like to see formed.
5. Mikal Bridges, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams with Thunder
The Brooklyn Nets are not trading Mikal Bridges. The front office's stubbornness has carried Bridges through a full offseason and a trade deadline. A few truly ludicrous offers, rumored to involve in excess of four first-round picks, have been flat-out denied by Brooklyn. The Nets want to pair Bridges with another star in Brooklyn. That's an admirable goal, but if no such potentialities arise next summer... maybe Sean Marks reconsiders.
As great as Bridges is, he is not the No. 1 option on a competitive team. The Nets would be wise to hit the reset button and figure out a different path forward before it's too late. No team can furnish Brooklyn with a better picks haul than the Oklahoma City Thunder. Other teams will get in on the bidding here — especially the Houston Rockets, who can offer Brooklyn its own picks back — but the Thunder have enough ammo to win the battle.
Bridges would look so much better in OKC. The best version of Bridges is in the supercharged 3-and-D role. He's an elite spot-up shooter who has proven himself more than capable of beating closeouts and creating off drives to the rim. Rather than being shoehorned into a primary creation role, Bridges would populate the perimeter while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams slash defenses to smithereens. Bridges can hit open 3s, attack rotating defenses, and thrive in more of a connector or play-finisher role.
Plus, there's the defense. Bridges and Gilgeous-Alexander might be the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. Especially among top-50, "star"-level players. Williams isn't far behind either. OKC would absolutely suffocate opponents on defense while maintaining a balanced, dynamic offense with few evident solutions. Lest we forget Chet Holmgren is there, too — a premier shot-blocker and hyper-versatile stretch five who ties the whole lineup together beautifully.
If we ever get a Bridges trade, this is easily the most impressive potential fit. He turns OKC into legitimate title favorites in the West.