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In a cramped Uber ride on a frigid Saturday night this past March in Boston, a parlor game took shape. Sitting alongside an NBA wise man with a depth of front office experience, FiveThirtyEight editor Nate Silver asked, "If you had one chip to place on the NBA championship in 2025, who would you bet on?"
The former executive paused, then began enumerating how to prognosticate eight years into the future. He considered market appeal, naming Los Angeles and Miami for their palm trees.