NBA Playoff Pressure Rankings: Who Has the Most to Prove in 2025?

Peter Klein

Which teams are under the most pressure heading into the 2025 NBA Playoffs? From the Timberwolves and Knicks to the Warriors and Thunder, I break down who needs a deep run — and why the stakes are so high.  🏀 Subscribe for NBA news & analysis!    #NBAPlayoffs #NBAPreview #PressureRankings #BasketballAnalysis #CouchPotatoDiary  Apple Pod: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3QgazeH... Twitter: twitter.com/primetimeklein IG: instagram.com/primetimeklein Facebook: www.facebook.com/Couchpotatodiary Twitch: twitch.tv/primetimepk Email: couchpotatodiary@yahoo.com We Had No Idea: every Wednesday morning,  instagram.com/wehadnoideapodcast Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands  Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Transcript

00:00the 2025 NBA playoffs are right around the corner and with that comes quite a bit of pressure for

00:16some of these teams so today uh going to run through the teams that are facing the most

00:21pressure in the postseason we will begin with the Minnesota Timberwolves um it is a year in

00:28Anthony Edwards Prime coming off of a trip to the Western Conference Finals a year ago they made the

00:33big move for Randall they freed up some cap space and all of that well not cap space every team is

00:38basically over it feels like but um they got rid of some money and really altered this team and now

00:44while it doesn't really seem like it is like oh if they don't win what's going on there but you have

00:49this guy who feels like he is going to be a dude and there's a lot of pressure on this team I think

00:54to take advantage of that in ways that they have failed to do in the past and so because of that

00:59I really do think that there is a lot of pressure on the Minnesota Timberwolves to try to keep going

01:05with that trajectory that they started from a season ago the Golden State Warriors um obviously

01:10there's a lot of championships behind them right the pressure on Golden State is different than

01:15that of Minnesota um because they've won a lot and recently as well but still it is Steph Curry and he

01:24is still playing at an unbelievable level you watched that game the other night against Memphis

01:28and it is just remarkable how good at basketball that guy is and so I don't think that you want

01:34to be wasting those sorts of opportunities so I do think that because of that there is quite a bit of

01:40pressure on the Golden State Warriors to get the job done while they still have Steph Curry in their

01:45employ and while he is still at a very high level also they made the big trade to go out and get

01:50Jimmy Butler so I do think that there is a um again just a bit of pressure on them to make things

01:57happen with that uh the Milwaukee Bucks again championship recently ish uh but the playoffs have

02:04been really disappointing the last little bit and again you have one of the best players in the world

02:09in their prime on your team so you you should do well and they haven't in the last couple of

02:15post seasons and now again for what feels like the third I think probably the third year in a row

02:20um injuries have become a bit of a factor for this team as you head toward the postseason so

02:25we will see what they have we will see what they can do but um there is quite a bit of pressure

02:30I think on this Milwaukee Bucks team to to go out and try to take care of business here in this

02:36playoff uh the New York Knicks expectations were I don't want to say well I mean it's weird

02:43because they have this unbelievable run last year and like they weren't a Cinderella because they

02:49won a bunch of basketball games but they still weren't that like okay this is this is a contender

02:55going into last year now now they are that um and they make a couple of big moves with Bridges and

03:00with Cat and like expectations aren't super high because they went 0-10 against Cleveland Boston and

03:06Oklahoma City this year not good but still I think pressure is high because again you may

03:13need your moves you have your stars now now it's time to to get this thing moving and they haven't

03:19been able to to do that here again injuries kind of got in their way a season ago but at some point

03:25the honeymoon is going to run out with the hey at least it's not what it was five years ago

03:29eventually there's going to be expectations and I think that's going to come up pretty quick

03:33on this knickerbocker team and lastly the Oklahoma City Thunder they have a guy who's probably

03:38going to win the MVP they have a very very talented basketball team and I I know what the counter is

03:45going to be oh well they're young they'll be fine as if that hasn't gone wrong in Oklahoma City before

03:51remember when they had Kevin Durant and Westbrook and Harden and Abaka and oh well yeah they're

03:57young they'll be fine yeah they lost in the finals but they'll be fine um haven't been back since

04:01and all those guys aren't there anymore so hmm um I I do think that when you have players at this

04:09high of a level and you have this good of a team I don't think you just oh well it's you know it's

04:13still early in the development process well we'll be fine take the opportunities while you get them

04:18and this is a great opportunity for the Oklahoma City Thunder so those are the teams that I I think

04:23are facing the most pressure as we head into this post season

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