In the brave new world of the NBA and its luxury tax second apron, the era of bringing together a “Big 3” to win a title is, if not dead, on life support. The cost of assembling those three stars makes it very difficult to put enough quality talent around them to win, and once over the aprons many of the levers of team building previously used are cut off.
Duos are in — two stars surrounded by high-quality rotation players. Look at the last two champions: Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in Boston (with Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and others around them), and Nikola Jokic with Jamal Murray (Aaron Gordon, Bruce Brown, Michael Porter Jr.).
Who are the best duos in the NBA heading into the 2024-25 season? Let’s break it down.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown (Celtics)
After years of fans and pundits — inside and outside Boston — calling for breaking this duo up, they proved last season that it worked at the highest of levels as the Celtics lapped the field in the regular season and were clearly the best team in the playoffs, on their way to banner No. 18.
For a couple of decades, elite wings have been the key to an NBA title and Boston paired two — the Celtics had a +8 net rating last season when Brown and Tatum were on the court together. Tatum averaged 26.9 points and 8.1 rebounds a game last season shooting 37.6% from three (good enough to earn him First Team All-NBA), while Brown averaged 23 points and 5.5 rebounds a game, then stepped up in the playoffs and was the Finals MVP.
Jaylen Brown was SENSATIONAL on both ends in the 2024 Playoffs en route to his first championship! 🏆
— NBA (@NBA) June 21, 2024
☘️ 23.9 PPG
☘️ 5.9 RPG
☘️ 3.3 APG
☘️ 1.2 SPG
☘️ 56.9 eFG%
☘️ ECF MVP
☘️ Finals MVP pic.twitter.com/erz4UPOyG6
The rest of the league should be giving the side-eye to USA Basketball for lighting a fire under Tatum and Brown this summer — Tatum got benched by Steve Kerr in key games against Serbia, while Jaylen Brown was snubbed and left off the team entirely. This duo is not coming in with a championship hangover, they are fired up and have a chip on their shoulder again. That’s bad news for the rest of the NBA.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis (Lakers)
Los Angeles won a championship with this duo in 2020, and any skeptics suggesting they had lost a step were silenced by the Paris Olympics — LeBron James and Anthony Davis were two of the four best players on that gold medal team. LeBron controlled the offense and was named the Olympics MVP, while Anthony Davis was a force on both ends, but particularly he was a defensive anchor for the USA.
The question facing the Lakers is not whether this duo can still lift the team — they did it a year ago during the In-Season Tournament — but whether they can sustain it. The Lakers had just a +3.4 net rating when LeBron and AD were on the court together last season, although that speaks more to the talent around them and how it was utilized than LeBron and Davis.
Coming off the high of the Olympics, plus playing next to his son Bronny, LeBron has been energized in this preseason. That’s good news for Lakers fans because while LeBron turns 40 in December, he is still the tone-setter for this team on a nightly basis. The only questions are whether he can sustain it, and is there enough around him to win at a high level again?
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray (Nuggets)
Jokic and Murray are the most devastating pick-and-roll combination in the league — they are why Denver hung its first championship banner in 2023.
The duo hasn’t lost it — the Nuggets had a +15.3 net rating last season when they were on the court together — but were slowed by health concerns. Can Murray stay healthy enough for them to live up to that potential? Murray was not 100% in the playoffs or the Olympics (playing for Team Canada) and it showed. It will show more on a team that lost Kentavious Caldwell-Pope this summer and will lean harder into its stars.
Jokic is the best player walking the face of the earth right now — 24.6 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9 assists a game last season, earning him his third MVP trophy — and as long as Murray can get and stay healthy, their pick-and-roll dominance makes Denver a threat to win the West.
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker (Suns)
Another Olympic duo who stood out in Paris. Kevin Durant, arguably the greatest Team USA player ever, was his usual lethal self, while Devin Booker earned the trust of Steve Kerr as the USA’s fifth starter and a quality defender and shooter.
Booker and Durant are part of an old-school Big 3 with Bradley Beal in Phoenix, one that didn’t connect as they hoped last season due to Beal’s injuries and a lack of depth around the. Still, Phoenix had a +5.7 net rating last season when Durant and Booker were on the court together, and with better talent around them this season — Tyus Jones at the point is a massive pick-up — Phoenix could be a threat because of its best duo.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard (Bucks)
Year one of the Antetokounmpo/Lillard era in Milwaukee didn’t click as imagined, but the team still had a +10.2 net rating when they were on the court together. Things were better between them than it seemed and their connection improved as the season wore on.
What didn’t work was numerous things around the duo: Injuries to them and their teammates (Antetokounmpo missed the playoffs), personal issues for Lillard, and an unstable coaching situation that led to a mid-season change. This season, expect a lot more Antetokounmpo/Lillard pick-and-rolls with the expectation that continuity will win the day. If so and the players around them are good enough, the Bucks become a legitimate threat in the East.
Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey (76ers)
The story of the offseason was once again Daryl Morey chasing stars, and with that the 76ers leaning into a “Big 3” model by adding Paul George to the Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey duo. (Credit Morey, the 76ers decision maker, for doing an impressive job filling in the roster around them with solid players despite limited resources.) How those three come together — and if they can stay healthy — is the big question in Philly this season.
What we know is that Embiid and Maxey work together — the 76ers had a +12.4 net rating last season when they were on the court together. If everyone can stay healthy and George can be integrated, this team is a legitimate threat to make it to the Finals — with Embiid and Maxey as the core of what works.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren (Thunder)
Fans may not instantly think of them as a duo yet — both are young, with Holmgren just entering his second season on an NBA court — but last season OKC had a +11.6 net rating when they were on the court together.
Holmgren as a pick-and-pop five spacing the floor for a downhill master like SGA is an ideal situation, especially with the fast-emerging Jalen Williams on the wing. All of it together makes the Thunder one of the toughest teams to stop in the Association, and the West favorites this season. If they make a run to the Finals, fans will start to think of Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren as a duo. As they should.
Honorable mention: Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving (Mavericks, it was very hard to leave them off this list), Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks; Brunson with Isaiah Hartenstein was impressive last season, both with the eye test and statistically, but we need to see Brunson and KAT together before adding them to the list).
