As an NBA fan, it can be hard to follow your team’s news as they prepare for the season, let alone the entire league. It doesn’t help matters that the NBA keeps adding new wrinkles to its structure and features to its schedule. Before the regular season games tip-off, it’s worthwhile to get a feeling for what new things are being added and what storylines should be followed.
Here is a breakdown of what you can expect to see this NBA season and the ten things you should be looking forward to.
Ten Things to Look Forward to This 2023-24 NBA Season
The NBA In-Season Tournament
The inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament kicks off this year with a bang. During the first three months of the season, each team will have four games in their schedule designated as tournament games. Those games will decide the eight teams who advance into the single-elimination knockout round that will be held in Las Vegas. Teams have been randomly drawn into five groups within their conference based on win-loss records from the 2022-23 regular season.
How teams approach the new feature of the season will be one of the more compelling aspects. How deep is the strategy in terms of health and fatigue? Will teams rely more on younger and bench players in the group games? Or will it be treated like normal regular-season games? Ultimately, what’s important is how the tournament could be tinkered with in the future. With the extra revenue, the tournament is here to stay. Therefore, the first season will help shape what it will become.
Victor Wembanyama
The French phenom Victor Wembanyama’s debut will be a must-see for many reasons. The first is that Wembanyama has filled the city of San Antonio and the Spurs organization with the hope that it will return to the highs seen when Tim Duncan was still playing. Those lofty expectations are manageable to Wembanyama, who has embraced the culture and history of the Spurs to motivate him to be a dominant player.
Luckily for Wembanyama, he will be under the stewardship of Gregg Popovich, who won’t cut corners with the seven-foot-plus big man. The plan will be to nurture Wembanyama along and get his barrings in a bigger and faster NBA. The urge to judge his performance prematurely misses that he is only 19. There will be some growing pains, but he will also do things no one has seen before.
Celtics vs. Lakers on Christmas Day
The NBA on Christmas Day will feature five games, with ABC or ESPN televising each matchup.
Both networks will air @warriors at @nuggets and @celtics at @Lakers. pic.twitter.com/kUDurG47aR
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) August 17, 2023
The NBA’s most storied rivalry returns on Christmas this year. With both teams squarely in the race for the championship this season, the matchup on Dec. 25 could be a measuring stick for teams and a finals preview. The game also features two teams who are staples on Christmas day. The Boston Celtics have appeared in 37 Christmas games, while the Los Angeles Lakers have participated in 48.
If last season’s contests are any indication, then the game will be another good one. The two played down to the wire in both games last season, with the Celtics winning both. The last thing to mention is how fun the atmosphere will be that day. Not just because of the renewed rivalry but because players love putting on a show during Christmas.
The New Big Three in Phoenix
It feels like long ago that the Phoenix Suns orchestrated a deal for Bradley Beal to come to the Valley of Sun, even longer than that when they snagged Kevin Durant. However, those moves have lost some luster after the offseason and the bevy of landscape-changing changes that have occurred since then.
The rest of the league should take caution before they overlook the Suns and discount their roster moves because there has been too much turnover. That is missing the fact that three elite scorers assembled before new head coach Frank Vogel. The Suns’ front office was able to round out their roster with some serviceable role players in addition to their late involvement with the Damian Lillard trade that sent Deandre Ayton to the Portland Trail Blazers.
In what could be Durant’s last good chance at competing for a championship, it will be interesting to see who takes the lead role on the Suns. With many believing it could be Booker who steps up, can he earn a spot at the top of the league?
The Denver Nuggets Championship Reign
Sitting back and watching things play out this offseason were the defending champions, the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets were more passive than teams in their conference regarding free-agent signings. They did lose several key pieces from last year’s squad, including Bruce Brown and Jeff Green. The hope is to fill their production with rookies Julian Stawther and Jalen Pickett.
The Nuggets core is as connected as any team. The talent of their starting five can also match up with the rest of the league. Oh, and they have Nikola Jokic. The two-time (runner-up last season) MVP is sometimes a one-person wrecking crew. Denver has reached the stage with Jokic that they can figure things out on the fly, but when they are thriving, he is playing off his teammates Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., and Aaron Gordon seamlessly. The chemistry built up between that group is one of the reasons the Nuggets and their fans are okay heading into the season.
The Next Superstar Trade
BREAKING: The Portland Trail Blazers are trading guard Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/FRgQyDVjQG
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 27, 2023
A sign of the times in the NBA is the accelerating player movement. The basketball offseason continues to be one of the crazier transaction periods in all sports. In recent years, in-season trades have also come to reshape the NBA. Last year, it was Durant and Kyrie Irving. The year before, it was James Harden and Ben Simmons. The year before that, it was Harden again. There are numerous candidates to satisfy this trend in 2023-24. With Lillard being dealt right before the season, the man in pole position is Harden again. That being said, the amount of players growing uneasy with their teams continues to grow.
Reporting has suggested that Joel Embiid and Donovan Mitchell could be the next superstars on the move. The NBA hierarchy could be drastically shaken if either is granted their demand. Similarly, some other players worth monitoring, including Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, are on their last stand in Los Angeles. Knowing how things happen in the league, the trade will ultimately be one no one sees coming.
The MVP Race
While it got contentious last season, the MVP award race is always a compelling storyline to follow. The reigning winner, Embiid, put forth one of the greatest offensive performances a center has ever produced. Many also felt the same way about his counterpart in the West, Nikola Jokic. Those two have jockeyed for the award the last two seasons. The main question now is whether they will enter the conversation or whether they are going to continue to be the frontrunners.
A few players who could assert themselves as the league’s best player come to mind. Certainly, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry have arguments. Luka Doncic, Devin Booker, and Jayson Tatum have also sniffed around the accomplishment. But with how wide open the landscape is, it’s not crazy to think a player from a team who turns heads this season makes a good case for themselves.
Young Teams Entering the Fray
So many young teams have the opportunity to make a giant leap this season. With the addition of the play-in tournament a few seasons ago, the chances of making the playoffs have expanded, creating teams that would typically tank, reverse course. Similarly, the teams now bearing the fruit of their tanking seasons can finally focus on being competitive.
The squad that comes to find first is the Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, and Indiana Pacers. All three teams are loaded with high-end lottery picks who have had time to develop into the NBA. Now, multiple seasons are in for players like Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner (Magic), Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr. (Rockets), and Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin (Pacers), who have the talent but also the added pressure of needing to turn in results.
Golden State Warriors and Chris Paul
Chris Paul from the baseline for his first bucket as a Warrior 💯
Watch Lakers/Warriors preseason action on NBA TV! pic.twitter.com/xUfKFD7jXu
— NBA (@NBA) October 8, 2023
One of the greatest point guards to ever play the sport has found himself on a team he once hated on a competitive level. The Golden State Warriors have been a roadblock to Chris Paul’s success pretty much every stop along the way since 2011. Now, the 18-year veteran joins forces with Stephen Curry and company to hopefully win the championship that has eluded him.
Paul played in just 59 games last year and had a career-low in points per game. It is unclear what role he will play on the Warriors. Although, head coach Steve Kerr floated out the possibility of Paul starting alongside Curry, Thompson, and Green. However many minutes he plays, Paul will likely be in the same boat as Durant and LeBron James when it comes to their championship window.
Players Returning From Injury
Some very entertaining players are returning to action this season. The Brooklyn Nets are welcoming back Ben Simmons from his season-ending back injury that has plagued him since his time with the Philadelphia 76ers. Other players returning to the court are rookie Chet Holmgren for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The second-overall pick from a year ago will bring much-needed rim protection to a Thunder franchise looking to propel itself into contention. Another former high lottery pick, Zion Williamson, is looking to prove many of his critics wrong by returning to his All-Star form in the 2020-21 season.
Lastly, the Clippers are excited to see their two superstars back healthy for the start of the year. The direction of the Clippers franchise depends a lot on the outcome of the 2023-24 campaign, and George and Leonard are a substantial part of it.
