Dallas Mavericks
New Year's Resolution: Help find the find the championship-winning formula
After taking a big step in their progression as a team last year in which they represented the Western Conference in the NBA Finals, look for the Dallas Mavericks to continue down that path toward improvement. And after making the addition of Klay Thompson during the offseason, this is a team that finds itself in a perfect position to finally solve the championship puzzle. As they look to win it all this season, the one big New Year's resolution for the Mavs should be to win a championship.
While the argument could be made that it should be every team's goal to win a championship every season, the Mavs are in a place where that's their natural next step forward. Whether they have all the pieces to do so remains to be seen but that's the ceiling for this team heading into the 2025 calendar year. Dallas is one of the few teams in the league that anything short of a championship will be remembered as a disappointment for the team.
Denver Nuggets
New Year's Resolution: Retool the roster around Nikola Jokic
If there's one thing that has become clear, it's the fact that the front office in Denver believes that there's a good chance that their championship window with this core has closed. If the recent reporting is accurate, the Denver Nuggets could be eyeing a big move ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline. Michal Porter Jr. has been at the center of many of the trade whispers involving the team and there's at least a non-zero chance that Denver ends up pulling the trigger on a big deal that MPJ will be a part of.
The only explanation for the Nuggets at this point is the fact that they don't believe their roster is good enough to compete for a championship. That's why heading into the 2025 calendar year, one big resolution for the team should revolve around retooling the roster around Nikola Jokic. If the Nuggets don't begin to look like their former selves pretty quickly, it's pretty clear that this is probably going to be considered the next natural step for the team as a new year begins. This is the type of big move that could happen ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline or one that could wait until the offseason to come to fruition.