The NBA is almost here for another season, with the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons kicking things off on Wednesday in a clash of Eastern Conference heavyweights.
Watch an average of 9 LIVE Regular Season games per week of the NBA regular season plus the best of the NBA Playoffs, including every game of the NBA Conference Finals & NBA Finals LIVE on ESPN, available on Kayo.
But all eyes will be on the second game of the day as LeBron James makes his Philadelphia 76ers debut.
He isn’t the only fresh face in Philadelphia either after the 76ers traded for Jaylen Brown, pushing the chips in.
It means high expectations for a roster that on paper is among the most talented in the NBA, and will be one of the most talked about teams this season.
There are plenty of other storylines to monitor too, including some more superstars in new places and anti-tanking measures that could change the face of the playoffs race.
Here, foxsports.com.au looks at the biggest talking points for the upcoming season!
THE HUGE ‘SEA CHANGE’ TO SHAKE UP NBA
You may have missed it, but the NBA could look very different this year.
That is because unlike last season, when it seemed like a race to the bottom among the league’s worst teams, this year the league’s new anti-tanking measures will take effect.
It will see the lottery expanded from 14 to 16 teams and the odds flattened, with the introduction of a 3-2-1 format where each team in the lottery receives three, two or one lottery ball for the drawing.
Teams that don’t make the postseason will get three lottery balls. That is, except for the bottom three teams. They will be ‘draft relegated’ and receive just two balls in a move that works to disincentivise tanking.
The No. 9 and 10 play-in teams receive two lottery balls, while the losers of the No. 7 versus No. 8 seed play-in game get just one lottery ball.
In addition, teams now can’t win the first overall pick in back-to-back years, and cannot receive a top-five pick in three consecutive seasons.
All of this is to say that in theory there should be fewer blowouts because teams will be less likely to rest their stars, which should result in more competitive basketball and a larger middle class.
“There is an incredible variable this year that we have no idea how to calculate and it is the new tanking rules… we will not have tanking in the same way that we did,” Bill Simmons said on his podcast.
“We had tanking for 30 per cent of last season. We had tanking from nine teams that did not care by mid-February. This year I’m not sure how this plays out.”
Now, it isn’t necessarily that straight-forward because not all of the bad teams own their first-round pick this year.
The Nets, for example, would have to send their pick to Houston even if they landed the No.1 pick and that would then stop them from being in with a shot at getting the top pick again in 2028.
Instead, they would be better served tanking and landing in the relegation zone.
“I think people are even underestimating what a sea change this is going to be in the NBA,” Zach Lowe said on Simmons’ podcast.
“No one is going to be trying to lose on purpose. No one is going to be sitting guys for random guys in February and March. In fact, it’s the opposite. The bad teams have an incentive to try beat up on each other and get out of the bottom three.
“Then you have all these complications like what if a team doesn’t control its first-round pick? Does that reverse the incentives a little bit because they don’t care where it falls or they don’t want it to be the number one pick because you can’t get the number one pick two years in a row and you don’t want to get it when it’s your turn to actually use your picks.”
On a whole though, we won’t see such widespread tanking as was the case last season when there was “one of the all-time races to the bottom”.
Instead, the impact of the new anti-tanking measures will make for one of the more intriguing storylines to follow in the 2026-27 season.
‘PARANOIA’ AS 29 TEAMS WATCHING ONE SUPERSTAR
No, at this stage there has been nothing to suggest that Nikola Jokic is actually considering leaving the Denver Nuggets in free agency or demanding a trade.
But as long as the Serbian superstar has not signed on the dotted line, every move Denver has and will make will be judged in what it could mean for Jokic’s future.
Jokic was eligible to sign a $278 million contract extension this summer but is holding off. The fact he is eligible for a $359 million extension next year means it was likely purely a financial decision from the three-time MVP.
But it is not as if Denver’s moves, or lack thereof, in the summer would have filled him with much confidence either.
Peyton Watson was the latest member of Denver’s 2023 championship-winning squad to leave, with Michael Porter Jr., Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope headlining the list of players to have come and gone.
Losing Brown and Caldwell-Pope was defensible. Both players caught lightning in a bottle at Denver and capitalised with big free agency pay packets.
But they have struggled to replicate that form since, with Brown even returning to the Nuggets for a brief cameo before signing with the defending champion Knicks on an Exhibit 9 contract, which is essentially a training camp invite.
Porter Jr., meanwhile, was traded for Cam Johnson who theoretically should have been a perfect fit for the Nuggets and overcame a slow start to dial in from 3-point range.
Watson, however, was a young wing on an upwards trajectory with athleticism and length that made him a genuine difference-maker for a Nuggets team that struggled on the defensive end.
Watson also developed his game as a shot-creator in his final season at Denver and was on the verge of taking a serious leap towards becoming a reliable third option behind Jokic and Jamal Murray.
The Nuggets, however, just didn’t want to pay up and keep him so they traded him to the Cavaliers and got Cleveland’s 2031 first-round pick and Sacramento’s 2032 second-round pick.
That’s right. The team that was once a clearly established title contender in the Western Conference got worse.
They brought in DeMar DeRozan, who should be a solid secondary ball handler to help run the bench unit, but he is a near-zero on the defence and at this point of his career is what he is.
He doesn’t have the upside of a Watson, who led the way in generating turnovers for a Nuggets team that ranked dead-last in that category last season.
Essentially, the Nuggets seem to be betting on a bounce-back season from Christian Braun in the hope that the ankle issue he battled last year was behind his underwhelming form.
It would make the Watson trade a lot easier to stomach considering they paid Braun $125 million.
Obviously that contract literally hamstrung the Nuggets’ front office in the decision not to pay Watson, but it also may have been a matter of not wanting to repeat past mistakes.
The only problem is that now the Nuggets are void of answers to solving the defensive woes that have plagued their bid to get back to the championship.
“In theory Aaron Gordon is one of those guys. You can put him on a lot of different opponents to tap into a lot of different match-ups, but you want to do that less and less now because he just keeps breaking down at the end of these seasons,” The Ringer’s Rob Mahoney said on ‘The Zach Lowe Show’.
“Christian Braun is a decent enough on-ball option, but no a one size fits all solution for everything they need.
“Those are really the load bearing pillars of your defence, to say nothing about Murray and Jokic and Cam Johnson and now you’re incorporating DeMar DeRozan, who has never, ever been a good defender (and) Marvin Bagley as your backup five I would presume.
“I like the pick-up just fine but asking him to paper over those sorts of problems is a huge ask. I just don’t know (what they will do) other than max out Spencer Jones minutes.”
And if the Nuggets aren’t able to find the answer, what comes next?
Jokic declared last year that he still “wants to be a Nugget forever”. That was despite Denver being bundled out of the playoffs in the first round by an undermanned Minnesota Timberwolves.
It was a new low, and yet Jokic remained committed. Another poor playoff series, if the Nuggets even make it that far, may force him to reconsider — and the entire NBA is watching.
“While the best Nugget ever has insisted that he wants to stay in Denver and sign a massive five-year deal worth a projected $360 million, there is justifiable paranoia in the Mile High City that the shortcomings of the rest of the roster may cause his eye to wander,” The Athletic’s senior NBA writer, John Hollinger, recently wrote.
“Certainly, 29 other teams are scheming for how they might lure him away come July.”
It is hard to imagine Jokic anywhere else. But was there a point where you could have said the same about Giannis Antetokounmpo?
BIG ADJUSTMENT IN MIAMI’S BLOCKBUSTER $275M SPLASH
Speaking of which, one of the more intriguing teams to watch in the NBA this season will be Miami.
The once wide-open Eastern Conference feels more competitive than ever and while the expectation was whoever landed Antetokounmpo would become immediate favourites, there are genuine question marks over his fit at Miami.
Well, it has less to do with Antetokounmpo himself and more with the players around him.
There is always a sense that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra will be able to get the most out of whatever roster he is given, and he has certainly made it work with less during his time in Miami.
But there is added pressure, both on Spoelstra and Antetokounmpo, considering what Miami gave up to trade for the Greek Freak.
Just as a reminder, the Heat sent Tyler Herro, Kasparas Jakucionis, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware, three first-round picks, a first-round pick swap and a second-round pick for Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis.
Of course, then there is the contract which could be worth as much as $275 million over four seasons.
The first adjustment for Antetokounmpo will be the pace Miami pushes the ball at in Spoelstra’s system, with the two-time MVP admitting as much earlier this month.
“It’s probably going to take some time for me to get used to it,” he said.
“We were playing pickup the other day, and I was the last guy in transition, which is new to me. They were moving.”
The other major concern, however, is spacing with Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo as the two focal points of the Miami offence.
Neither are noted 3-point shooters, although Adebayo made a career-high 1.7 triples per game last year. But either way, both Antetokounmpo and Adebayo are at their best running downhill and getting into the paint.
Both are obviously more than capable of finishing through contact at the rim, but their presence should also create open shots for teammates.
That is even true of Antetokounmpo for Adebayo, who doesn’t need to be a knockdown 3-point shooter but just a credible enough threat to sit in the corner at times and open space for his new teammate to dominate.
As for the rest of the Heat players, they just need to make their shots when their number is called. Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. should help there.
The Athletic’s Law Murray said it will be a “very interesting fit” and while he didn’t have any concerns for Antetokounmpo, he said the spotlight will well and truly be on Adebayo.
“That guy’s going to get a lot of shots that teams are going to pack the paint because Giannis has that level of gravity and I think the guys who are actual shooters, they’re going to be OK. But (with) Bam it’s going to be an adjustment,” Murray said.
“We know Bam is more willing to take those shots. I think people look at Bam offensively as the guy who dropped 83 and I look at Bam as a guy who if he didn’t have that 83-point game, he might not have averaged 20 for the entire season. That’s how heavy that game weighed.
“Spo is not afraid to figure things out, but that team is relying on a force in Giannis. That means they have to adjust.”
Of course, the other question is if Antetokounmpo goes down do the Heat have the talent and shot creation elsewhere on the roster to manage without him?
Spoelstra has earned enough respect as a coach to this point that you have to give Miami the benefit of the doubt, and that was also the risk they took with this trade.
One thing you can guarantee about this new-look Heat team, however, is that they will be one of the more elite defensive teams in the league with Adebayo, Antetokounmpo, Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell.
GLARING QUESTIONS IN ‘DESPERATE’ SIXERS SHAKE-UP
While the stakes are high for the Heat this season, all the attention in the Eastern Conference is really on the Philadelphia 76ers.
That is what happens when you trade for Jaylen Brown and sign LeBron James in one offseason.
That leaves the Sixers with a tantalising starting line-up with Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe in the backcourt, Brown and James teaming up in the frontcout and Joel Embiid at centre.
That, of course, is if Embiid can stay healthy.
That is one of several question marks hanging over what shapes as the biggest threat to New York’s supremacy in the East.
Beyond Embiid’s health, which is always going to be a concern, there is also the question of how this star-studded line-up meshes together.
You’ve got James at 42 years old and in the back-end of his career, although he will benefit from being the fourth scoring option on this Sixers team.
By all reports, James is expected to essentially operate as the defacto point guard for the 76ers initiating the offence.
But how much will he have his hands on the ball? And what about Brown, after an entire offseason of rumours that he didn’t want to be the 1B at Boston before being traded?
Then there is Maxey, who can absolutely play off the ball and is one of the more selfless emerging superstars in the game so there doesn’t seem to be as much concern about him buying into a new role.
Embiid, meanwhile, won’t just be stationed in the paint either. Sixers coach Nick Nurse has been experimenting with moving him around in different spots in the pre-season.
How it comes together will be fascinating to see, and while all the players are singing the same tune about team-first now there is no guarantee that will translate into the season proper.
Plus, with so many big names on one team naturally there is only going to be more attention on every play and every word in post-game press conferences.
According to ESPN insider Brian Windhorst, it could take a while for the Sixers to really hit their stride. They may be preaching patience internally, but the external noise will only grow louder in such a scenario.
“They really should just listen to what LeBron says,” he said on NBA Today.
“I know that this is this sounds simple, but he is saying it’s going to be difficult. He is saying there’s going to be growing pains. He is saying that we are going to have issues and we’re going to have to overcome them.
“It’s those interpersonal things and challenges. I don’t think it’s an X’s and O’s thing. There’s not an X to know that you’re going to show LeBron and show Joel Embiid that’s something they’re going to have difficulty with.
“What they need to do is have some adversity and LeBron is saying this as loud as anybody can hear it. He wants everybody to know they’re not going to be great right away. If they are, he’ll happily admit he was wrong.”
But history suggests James will be right.
The four-time NBA champion was 9-8 early in his first year with the Heat and 19-20 in his first year with the Cavs, while the Lakers started 11-9 in LeBron’s first season.
Of course, it’s all well and good to set the table for lower expectations. But in an ultra-competitive Eastern Conference, can the Sixers afford such a slow start?
“The thing about this is in the Eastern Conference, you have to get off to a fast start,” Vince Goodwill said on NBA Today.
“There’s about eight teams that could compete for a top six spot, maybe 10 teams that you can say can compete for a non play-in position in the Eastern Conference.
“Getting off to an early start will be critical. You don’t want to find yourself beyond the eight ball for Philly.
“My thing is this. Who’s going to defend? We can talk all the stuff about offence and who’s going to sacrifice? Who’s going to set up shots and everything else? Who’s going to do the things that don’t register in the box score?”
Goodwill isn’t the only one asking those questions either.
An Eastern Conference executive, who could see the logic in the trade for Brown and James signing, had one concern — and it centred around James.
“I can totally see why they did it,” they told ESPN.
“They’re desperate. They needed to do something else before they get through to the next thing. So getting Jaylen for what they got him for is a good risk. Getting LeBron on a minimum is outstanding.
“What I’m not sure is why (James) did it. You’ve got a lot of guys who want the ball in their hands. Who’s setting screens? Who’s doing the dirty work? Who’s defending? A lot of that is going to fall to LeBron, I think.”
But realistically, if it all comes undone instead it will fall on Nurse, whether that is because of an injury to Embiid exposing their lack of depth at center or defensive shortcomings.
‘THIS IS IT’: $130M GAMBLE AS LAKERS GO ALL IN ON LUKA
Speaking of defensive shortcomings, the Lakers had a lot of them last season.
But to their credit, they went about addressing that in the offseason. It just cost them a lot.
Two unprotected first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps were the starting price in the sign-and-trade they reached with the Utah Jazz.
Then came the four-year, $130 million deal they signed Walker Kessler to.
It is quite the gamble given it means the Lakers won’t have a tradeable first-round draft pick for the next seven years.
But after stumbling into one of the biggest trade heists in NBA history, the Lakers couldn’t afford to just sit there and waste Luka Doncic’s prime.
They had to go about building a championship-calibre roster around him and while they have committed a lot of capital and money to one player, Kessler is in theory exactly what they need.
“Walker’s a perfect fit for Luka and Austin Reaves,” coach JJ Redick said during his joint preseason media availability.
“If you canvassed the league and looked at age groups, even the ability to acquire someone, he’s just the perfect fit for those guys and building out the next phase of the Lakers.”
This next phase of the Lakers will still undeniably be built around Doncic, but for a team that has not had a top-10 defence since 2021 a circuit-breaker was desperately needed.
Kessler is that guy, and specifically he will provide the Lakers with the rim protection they have so desperately needed.
As for how Redick plans to use him, the Lakers coach didn’t want to give too much away but hinted there may be some similarities to the way San Antonio deployed Victor Wembanyama.
“Not to get into details, but you guys obviously watched the playoffs, you probably have a basic idea of how San Antonio used Wemby and kept him low, kept him by the basket,” Redick said.
Of course, that idea is nice in theory. The Lakers will need their two other starters to be pluses on the defensive end given Doncic and Reaves don’t offer much there.
But Redick had that covered too.
“The addition of guys like Ziaire (Williams) and Matisse (Thybulle). Adou (Thiero) has had an unbelievable last two months of development — it’s the first stretch he’s had since we drafted him where he’s had uninterrupted time in the gym. His body’s been in great shape, and he’s just gotten better,” Redick said.
“Our development of Cam Carr is crucial to that. Quentin Grimes … we have the guys that can pick up full court and guard and be disruptive, and then we have Walker back there.
“The combination of Walker’s ability to protect the rim and the wing defenders we have, we’re really excited about that.”
As much as Kessler is the headline piece, it the supporting cast around him that has analyst and 10-year NBA veteran Tim Legler really excited about this version of the Lakers.
“Quinten Grimes plays incredibly hard. That’s going to have an impact on their team. But he can also flat out score and he can catch and shoot and he can do some stuff off the dribble. I think Quinten Grimes is going to have a big year for them and have a big impact,” Legler said on the All NBA Podcast.
“They have transformed what their team looked like and this is what we thought when they acquired Luka was when is the Luka era going to begin? Well, it’s here now. This is it.
“You need one other elite ball handler, score type guy. That’s what he had in Dallas with Kyrie. They went to the Finals. Everybody else on that team had a role.
“That’s what this is going to look like because you have Austin Reaves as that guy. Now you fill in Quinten Grimes. You’ve got Walker Kessler there. You add a Colin Sexton. You draft Cameron Carr who I think as the year goes on will have more and more of an impact as a lob threat for Luka and also a guy that can defend. You add a guy like Kevon Looney, you add a Matisse Thybulle.
“They’ve completely remade their supporting cast and their role players on this team.”
Doncic’s presence means there is always going to be a floor to what the Lakers do. While not ideal, he will be able to carry them on his back if needed.
But the commitment this franchise has made to Kessler means he needs to be the guy right away for all those picks and all that money to be worth it.
The lights weren’t as bright in Utah. There is a question of whether Kessler will be able to step into a bigger role with bigger expectations and shine in the same way he did at Utah.
Then there are the questions on the offensive end. Will he be able to consistently crash the glass and be a reliable screen setter and above-the-rim finisher to offer more than Deandre Ayton last season?
The defence should at least be a major upgrade, but it is a big bet the Lakers are making and one that will define their season.
‘TOTALLY DIFFERENT BEAST’ TO UNLEASH NEW-LOOK CONTENDER
When it comes to the Minnesota Timberwolves, it is hard to know exactly what to expect this season.
But one thing is guaranteed: Anthony Edwards plus LaMelo Ball equals a lot of fun, and potentially some chaos.
Minnesota’s blockbuster trade for Ball in the summer signalled a shift in the team’s identity.
For so long, the Timberwolves have been known as a defensive-minded team with an intensity and scrappiness that starts in the frontcourt.
But all of a sudden, that frontcourt feels thin. Julius Randle and Naz Reid aren’t here anymore.
Reid was shipped away as part of the Ball deal, while Randle was traded in what essentially looked to be a salary-dump move.
The late offseason signing of Jonathan Kuminga helped quell some concerns, but this still largely is a Timberwolves team that is relying on Rudy Gobert staying healthy and the raw Joan Beringer taking a step.
They are also embracing a much faster pace of play behind new backcourt duo Edwards and Ball. But who knows what that will look like?
Some of that hesitancy is based on what we have come to expect from Ball. The wild, halfcourt shots. The one-legged threes. The audacious and at times reckless passes.
But there was little denying the Timberwolves needed a secondary option behind Edwards, especially for the playoffs.
Ball isn’t necessarily the traditional point guard, but he provides exactly what Minnesota is lacking in playmaking and shot creation while also being a perfect complement to Edwards given both can comfortably play on and off the ball.
Of course, the other element in this all is that all the attention Edwards and Ball command from the defence could only unlock the next level in Jaden McDaniels’ game.
It is a point The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie made on Game Theory Podcast, while also arguing that Ball is a “totally different beast” to the backcourt partners Edwards has previously had in D’Angelo Russell and Mike Conley.
“Conley was super smart. He just didn’t have a ton of explosiveness to really draw double teams at the end of the day. D’Angelo Russell (was a) great ball screen guard, he just didn’t have the explosiveness. Teams were really comfortable letting him pull up and shoot if he wanted to,” Vecenie said.
“LaMelo is a totally different beast and when you talk to star players around the NBA, the number one thing that you hear from them is that they want to try to reduce the amount of time that they are double-teamed.
“That they get blitzed in ball screens, that they get collapsed on in the paint. They are trying to find ways to get more space and to essentially reduce the amount of times that they have multiple bodies thrown at them by the opposing team.
“This is to me the big key in the Anthony Edwards conversation is he has not had somebody like LaMelo who can force a blitz on a ball screen, who can then hit a short roll pass, Rudy can kick it out to a bent defence where Anthony Edwards can go get something done.
“This is the difference for me and why I think that this team could be genuinely awesome.”
Of course, the big risk as Vecenie went on to acknowledge is whether Ball will stay healthy. He did last season and the Hornets cashed in via trade. But that has been a rare occurrence for Ball throughout his career. The decision-making is also a concern, although Ball showed growth there last season.
As Vecenie also noted, there is also something to be said about the Timberwolves simply needing to try something else after years of coming up short in the Western Conference.
Injuries to Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo last season obviously played a major role, but even if healthy it still felt like there were limitations to the roster as currently constructed and especially when it came to consistent scoring behind their superstar guard.
“It felt real stale with Julius Randall. It felt really stagnant,” Vecenie said.
“You talked to people around the situation last year and I think everybody was ready for that to end and that’s why they basically gave away Randall for nothing is that I think everyone was kind of ready for a change there.
“I think there’s still a lot of enthusiasm and I think energy can be infectious in that way, especially when you have somebody like LaMelo who’s driving, kicking, trying to figure out different options.”
Ultimately, Ball is one of the most polarising players in the NBA and so it isn’t hard to find people who aren’t buying into this new-look Timberwolves vision. That includes former NBA head coach turned commentator Stan Van Gundy.
“Everything I read, most people are saying Minnesota is better. I just don’t see that at all,” he said on The Zach Lowe Show.
“I think they’re going to be fun to watch with that backcourt. I think they’ll put some points on the board.
“But they had significant losses. They got Ball, but Julius Randle, who people want to criticise, and Naz Reid, that’s two big losses up front.”
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