What lies ahead for all 30 NBA teams? Here are the stars, stats and bets you need to know ahead of opening night.
Note: Team rankings are based on where members of our panel think teams belong heading into this season. Title odds and win totals for 2023-24 by Caesars Sportsbook., the champs are back, healthy and ready to defend their title. Michael Malone's starting five is still probably the best and most cohesive in the league.
Despite Giannis' obvious gifts as a screener, Milwaukee's pick-and-roll game wasn't particularly effective with him in that spot last season. Per Second Spectrum tracking, the 0.95 points per chance the Bucks averaged when the pick-and-roll led directly to the shot ranked 84th out of 103 players who set at least 500 screens last season. That figures to improve dramatically with Lillard on the other end of those screens as the ball handler.
The Celtics nearly pulled off the first 3-0 comeback in NBA history in the Eastern Conference finals last season. Instead, they fell flat on their face in Game 7 against theHow Porzingis fits in Boston alongside Al Horford will be one of the most important storylines to start the season. Whether it works or not could wind up defining this era of Celtics basketball.
The Suns won as many games against the Nuggets as the rest of Denver's playoff opponents combined, but after losing Games 5 and 6 of their second-round series by a combined 41 points, it was clear Phoenix had some work to do to catch up to the eventual champs. Darvin Ham's second season as head coach will coincide with LeBron James' 21st and Ham's biggest challenge will be getting the most out of the four-time MVP during the regular season while trying to keep James fresh for a postseason run. The hope is that the talented young trio of--who all got new contracts during the summer -- can shoulder the load with Davis so James doesn't have to do too much.
The Lakers are allowed to trade a 2029 or 2030 first-round pick and four seconds and are a luxury tax team for the fourth straight season -- this time $1.2 million over the threshold. --The Lakers made major roster moves at the trade deadline last season to turn around what had been a losing campaign. They went 18-8 down the stretch of the regular season to make the play-in game, then went on a run in the postseason to the Western Conference Finals.
Thompson is eligible to sign a four-year, $223 million extension, but a contract that size is reckless considering that Thompson would be set to earn $61 million in 2027-28, when he turns 37. A max extension would also put Golden State closer to the $190 million second apron next season if Chris Paul is retained.
After dealing for Hart at the trade deadline, the Knicks crushed opponents with their second unit, led by Hart and Sixth Man runner-upin free agency to join his former Villanova teammate Hart. However, the Knicks must also decide on Quickley, who will be a restricted free agent next summer if he doesn't agree to an extension by Monday.
Just six players defended more screens than Embiid in what Second Spectrum tracks as"soft" defense -- NBA teams typically call this drop coverage. That's an interesting contrast to how new coach Nick Nurse deployed his smaller big men in Toronto. The Raptors were in the NBA's bottom 10 in using soft coverage, althoughNo team this year has as many questions than the 76ers. Former MVP Harden requested a trade in late June and is a free agent next offseason.
The first is the status of Ricky Rubio. The veteran guard announced in early August that he was stepping away from basketball to focus on his mental health. Rubio has $6.1 million and $6.4 on his contract the next two seasons. Memphis needs Morant on the floor at his best to have hopes of contending, but the continued development of the Grizzlies' other young stars could also be a major factor in elevating their ceiling.Continued defensive success for the Grizzlies, a top-five team at that end each of the past two seasons, will be key to staying afloat during's 25-game suspension.
In the scenario that both decline their option and sign with a different team, the Clippers enter their new building with cap space but a roster led byCould the Clippers go all-in closer to the trade deadline for a player like Harden? The team has expiring contracts , young players and draft capital to get a deal done. --Leonard has averaged at least 6.5 RPG in each of his past four seasons while playing for both the Raptors and the Clippers.
Sacramento, which returns 10 players including their starting five, will be in a holding pattern if they get out to a slow start; including All-Star De'Aaron Fox, the Kings have seven players ineligible to be traded until Dec. 15. --The Kings were the surprise team in the Pacific Division last season, going from worst in the division in 2021-22 to winning the division by three games in 2022-23.
General manager Sam Presti took a patient approach this offseason, opting not to pursue any high-profile free agents or make any splashy trades despite the Thunder being positioned to do so., the No. 2 overall pick whose rookie season was delayed a year due to a foot injury, should make an immediate impact. The Thunder also traded up to get guardFor the first time since Russell Westbrook's departure, the Thunder enter a season with a lot of buzz.
If so, that narrative would help strengthen his Rookie of the Year credentials and place him among the favorites to win the award. --It's no secret that for the Timberwolves to live up to my lofty stats-based wins projection for them, they'll need to figure out how to pair their two All-NBA centers. Because of Towns' calf injury, he played just 529 minutes with Gobert, during which the Minnesota offense was middling.
With the Grizzlies facing Ja Morant's suspension and the Mavericks only 5-11 in the 16 games Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have played together, the Pelicans have a window to win the Southwest division this season. --. The Mavs blatantly tanked their last two games to position themselves to keep the top-10 protected pick they owe the Knicks from the failed
After making a coaching switch from Nate McMillan to Quin Snyder, the Hawks mostly continued along the same path. In fact, from Jan. 14 to April 4, Atlanta was either one game below or above .500. They finished the season 41-41 and beat the eventual Eastern Conference champion Heat in the play-in tournament before losing in six to theto consistently play up at the power forward spot. One of Snyder's top tasks of the 2023-24 season will be trying to improve the defense.
These trends seem likely to continue as Okongwu moves toward his NBA prime, likely pushing Capela under 11.0 RPG this season. -- If Hield gets traded, he could sign an extension with his new team, but rules would limit him for the next six months to adding only two more years at a maximum 5% increase. The Pacers have $7.5 million in cap space and could create more if less salary is taken back in a Hield trade.Haliburton has averaged 10.2 assists per game in his season and a half with the Pacers and is still improving rapidly as a player at only 23 years old. He would have finished second in the NBA with 10.
Bridges averaged 26.1 points per game in 27 games for the Nets, and if he maintains or increases that production it would represent at least a full 6.0 PPG increase over his previous career high and give him the kind of case that voters usually like for Most Improved Player. -- With a year under his belt, the 20-year-old is likely to return with a better feel for how to score at this level. The Magic still don't have a lot of offensive talent around him, so Banchero will retain the ultimate green light in his sophomore season. --
The surprisingly competitive first season of the Jazz's full-blown rebuild ended with Utah losing nine of its last 11 games to secure a lottery pick. Utah came out of coach Will Hardy's first year with confidence that All-Star forward). George, who starred in the NBA summer leagues, is considered the most ready to contribute among the Jazz's rookies. There is hope that he could emerge as Utah's future lead guard.
After losing in the play-in tournament last season, Toronto dismissed Nick Nurse after five impressive seasons and replaced him with longtime NBA assistant Darko Rajakovic. Then, the team's on-court leader,in free agency, becoming the latest player to depart from the Raptors with nothing coming back in the last few years.
After a rocky debut in summer league, Wembanyama has been as advertised -- if not better -- for San Antonio. How he and the rest of the Spurs' young players develop will determine how quickly San Antonio can return to the top of the Western Conference standings, a place they were familiar with for so long.
The infusion of veteran experience raises the Rockets' floor beyond basement level, and the hope is that the free agent additions will help guide Houston's crop of talented youth. The development of those high-upside young players -- particularlyAfter finishing dead last defensively in 2021-22, the Rockets showed limited improvement a year ago, a sign of their general lack of seriousness during a rebuild.
As a result, the team moved coach Dwane Casey to a front office role and inked Monty Williams to the richest coaching contract in league history. However, Detroit has vowed to be patient with their young core and hope Cunningham's return will propel them to more success. --
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