Celtics
Plus, can the Knicks and 76ers compete in the East, and is the Thunder ready to take the next step in the West?
The professional basketball world’s undivided attention will be on the court when the NBA’s 2024-25 season begins exactly one week from now on Oct. 22: The league’s all-star starters all stayed put during a relatively quiet offseason, the thrilling Paris Olympics are in the rearview mirror, and there are no trade demands cluttering the airwaves. Meanwhile, the NBA reached a long-term labor agreement with the players’ union last year and a comprehensive media rights deals with its broadcast partners this summer.
Here are 10 defining questions to consider as another championship chase begins in earnest.
1. Are the Celtics invincible?
History has good news for any optimistic Celtics fans who are still nursing green beer hangovers after the franchise won its record 18th championship in June. There are only two teams in the NBA’s three-point era who were more dominant than the 2023-24 Celtics (plus-11.3 margin of victory): The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (plus-12.2) and the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors (plus-11.6). Both of those juggernauts rolled to repeat championships the following year.
While Boston’s roster lacks a GOAT like Chicago’s Michael Jordan or a superstar pairing to match Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, the Celtics boast superb continuity. Coach Joe Mazzulla brings back every key member of his playoff rotation, and the Celtics have picked up where they left off with impressive preseason performances.
Jayson Tatum can draw motivation from being benched at times in Paris, and Finals MVP Jaylen Brown has expressed his frustration with being left off the Olympic team entirely. The biggest concerns are on the front line: Kristaps Porzingis remains sidelined after ankle surgery, while Al Horford is 38 years old and winding down a Hall of Fame career.
With ownership putting the team up for sale and a $200-plus million payroll set to incur huge luxury tax fines, there’s a good chance this turns into a “last dance” season for the entire group. That urgent timeline, coupled with Mazzulla’s over-the-top intensity, should help combat the temptation for a title hangover. While the NBA hasn’t seen a repeat champion since the 2017-18 Warriors, the Celtics rightfully enter the season as clear favorites.
2. Will the Knicks live up to the hype?
Even if the Celtics go back-to-back, they figure to encounter tougher resistance in the Eastern Conference. Boston won the East by a comical 14 games last season, then ripped off a 12-2 run against conference opponents to reach the Finals. Somehow, they avoided Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks, Joel Embiid’s Philadelphia 76ers and faced the Miami Heat without a healthy Jimmy Butler.
No East challenger did more than the Knicks this offseason to try to dethrone the Celtics. After a second-round exit, New York executed big trades for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns, equipping franchise guard Jalen Brunson with all the shooting and spacing he can handle. With enough firepower to field an elite offense and a cast of versatile defenders in Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart, the Knicks have positioned themselves to contend for the first time in decades. What’s more, all of their key players are under 30 years old, so this shouldn’t be a one-and-done proposition.
Swelling expectations beget increased pressure: Look no further than Sunday’s exhibition game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, which took a heated turn when Donte DiVincenzo, who was included in the trade for Towns, exchanged harsh words with Knicks assistant Rick Brunson, Jalen’s father. Given their big-market status, massive fan base and huge investments in winning now, the Knicks enter the season as the league’s biggest story and with plenty of key pieces who must adjust to changing circumstances.
3. Is the Thunder’s core still too young?
Back in 2011, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden led the Thunder, which was the NBA’s youngest team, to its first playoff series victory in Oklahoma City. The next year, the baby-faced group made it all the way to the Finals. History repeated last season when the rising trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams led the Thunder, which was the NBA’s second-youngest team, to its first playoff series win since 2016. No wonder Oklahoma City fans are dreaming big these days.
The Thunder’s youth is matched only by its depth, as General Manager Sam Presti added Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein to a rotation that was already stacked with quality players. Gilgeous-Alexander is a leading MVP candidate, Holmgren and Williams could vie for all-star spots, and Mark Daigneault is one of the league’s sharpest coaching minds. Oklahoma City plays a modern, spacing-friendly and disciplined style on both sides of the ball, and its core showed backbone in its first playoff run. All the elements for a championship team are in place, and Presti still possesses the flexibility and assets to make targeted additions before the trade deadline.
4. Can Paul George help the 76ers get over the hump?
The biggest name to change teams in free agency was Paul George, who ended his Los Angeles Clippers partnership with Kawhi Leonard after five seasons to ink a four-year, $212 million deal with the 76ers. After taking drastic steps to create cap flexibility, Philadelphia landed the 34-year-old forward in hopes that he could help franchise center Joel Embiid reach the East finals for the first time. In truth, this might be only the third-biggest move of George’s career: The nine-time all-star left the Indiana Pacers to play with Russell Westbrook on the Thunder in 2017, then left Oklahoma City for Los Angeles in 2019.
While George was in his prime for both of those moves, they didn’t pay immediate dividends in the postseason. The Thunder was knocked out by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 2018 playoffs; George had five points on 2-for-16 shooting in the clinching Game 6 loss. Two years later, the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the 2020 playoffs; George scored 10 points on 4-for-16 shooting in a Game 7 loss. As it happens, George arrives in Philadelphia fresh off another playoff dud: He managed 18 points on 6-for-18 shooting in Game 6 to finish off a first-round loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
Given that history, Philadelphia’s best-case scenario starts with carefully managing Embiid, who said he won’t play in back-to-backs to prepare for the postseason. From there, guard Tyrese Maxey must continue to ascend, allowing George to shift into a new role as one of the NBA’s best third options. But even this modest approach will require George, who hyperextended his knee during a preseason win Monday, to play more than the 53 games he has averaged over the past five seasons. Otherwise, the refashioned 76ers won’t have enough chemistry to keep up with the East’s best.
5. Are the Bucks approaching a crossroads?
The Bucks pushed button after button after losing in the first round of the 2023 playoffs: Mike Budenholzer was fired and Adrian Griffin was hired as coach; Jrue Holiday was traded for Damian Lillard; Griffin was fired and Doc Rivers was hired; Malik Beasley and Patrick Beverley came and went. All that activity produced nine fewer wins in 2023-24 and, once Antetokounmpo was lost to a late-season calf injury, another swift first-round exit.
Milwaukee’s hopes to get back in the title hunt will rely on better familiarity with Rivers, a spark from newcomer Gary Trent Jr., better health for forward Khris Middleton and, most importantly, improved chemistry between Antetokounmpo and Lillard. The two stars didn’t really mesh in their first run together, and there won’t be any easy pivots if they can’t combine to make Milwaukee’s whole bigger than the sum of its parts. If the Bucks flame out again, their options to retool around Antetokounmpo would include moving on from veterans such as Middleton and Brook Lopez, pursuing yet another costly coaching change and shopping Lillard for younger assets and greater flexibility. As always, they would weigh those pathways knowing that Antetokounmpo, who has remained loyal for more than a decade, could decide he no longer has faith in the franchise’s direction.
6. Will the NBA Cup inspire interest this time?
The NBA launched its in-season tournament last year with a promotional blitz, painted courts and a final four in Las Vegas, where LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers drew 4.5 million viewers for their championship game victory. This season, the event has been rebranded as the NBA Cup, though its format remains unchanged. The tournament’s first round, which consists of all 30 teams playing regular season games that are designated for the Cup standings, begins Nov. 12. The final will be held Dec. 17 in Sin City.
The tournament’s second edition will help reveal whether the event has credibility with players, teams and fans. James set the tone by playing hard last season, but he appeared unmoved when the Lakers raised a banner celebrating the achievement to the Crypto.com Arena rafters. Will the NBA Cup’s ratings hold up if prestige teams don’t advance to Las Vegas? How will the in-arena crowds respond if there are no A-list headliners? And, perhaps most importantly, will players look at the Lakers’ victory and decide to follow James’s lead, or will they shrug off the entire endeavor as a publicity stunt?
7. How many teams will try to the “Capture the Flagg”?
Cooper Flagg, the 17-year-old Duke freshman forward, turned heads with his sensational performance during a Las Vegas scrimmage against the U.S. men’s national team back in July. The presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft has the size, skill, athleticism, motor, team-first mentality and leadership traits to be a franchise player, and he probably would have been the first player selected if he had been draft eligible in June.
Though he’s not on San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama’s level as a prospect, Flagg has enough potential to be viewed as a franchise savior. The Washington Wizards, Portland Trail Blazers, Brooklyn Nets and Detroit Pistons have every reason to position themselves for his services from day one, while the Utah Jazz, Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors could race to the bottom without much difficulty. Pity the rest of the league if the Spurs, who won just 22 games in Wembanyama’s rookie season, somehow land the right to draft Flagg in May’s lottery drawing.
8. Can Grizzlies star Ja Morant get back on track?
Since Morant torpedoed his own career with a pair of gun-related suspensions in 2023, Luka Doncic, Tatum, Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards and even Tyrese Haliburton have eclipsed him as possible leaders of the NBA’s next generation of stars. Nevertheless, the Grizzlies guard just turned 25 years old and has spent months off the radar while recovering from season-ending shoulder surgery. Nike still believes, launching an ad titled “I Get Up” to promote his signature shoe and set the stage for a comeback season.
Morant returns to a Grizzlies team that won just 27 games last season and drafted 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey in the lottery. If Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart can all shake off their injury issues, Memphis has the potential to boomerang back up the standings. If Morant falters again in the spotlight, the Grizzlies will be plunged deeper into existential crisis.
9. Will Bronny James have staying power?
The Lakers appear poised to dominate the early-season headlines by pairing James with his 20-year-old son Bronny in the first father-and-son duo in NBA history. The younger James, who was selected with the No. 55 pick in June’s draft, has struggled throughout the preseason, but he logged time alongside his four-time MVP father in a preview of what could be coming when the Lakers host the Minnesota Timberwolves on opening night.
The sooner James and his son take the court together for their historic moment, the better for the Lakers and their rookie coach JJ Redick. Bronny James would benefit from greater seasoning and less scrutiny in the G League, and Redick will face real pressure to improve on the Lakers’ eighth-place finish last season under Darvin Ham. James sounded elated to have his son around at media day, but all parties should be motivated to get back to the business of making the playoffs as quickly as possible.
10. How will “Inside The NBA” handle its lame-duck season?
The NBA announced in July a new media rights deals that will see its games broadcast by ABC, ESPN, NBC and Amazon starting with the 2025-26 season. After longtime partner TNT was left out of the equation, parent company Warner Bros. Discovery launched a lawsuit to contest the setup. While the legal wrangling played out, TNT commentator Charles Barkley first announced his plans to retire after the upcoming NBA season, then reversed course.
This much is clear: The transition has already been messy, and it could easily get messier as Barkley and the rest of the “Inside The NBA” team enter a lame-duck season. Will their hearts still be in it? Will they be even more critical of the NBA product on air? Will Barkley and his fellow commentators be bombarded with offers from rival networks? Will this be a grand goodbye or a distracting soap opera?
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