What to know about each NBA title contender heading into 2023-24 season

The carousel that is the NBA off-season can leave even its most hardcore fans dizzy and wondering, “What just happened??”

People affectionately say ‘This league!’ and fans get thoroughly entertained by Charles Barkley playing ‘Who he play for?’ on Inside the NBA because it’s the league that does player movement like no other.

This past off-season was especially wild for some of the best teams in the league, with the likes of Milwaukee, Boston, and Phoenix all making major changes in the hopes of winning the 2024 NBA title. Don’t worry about scrambling to figure out what the contenders have been up to, though, because Sportsnet.ca’s got you covered.

Here’s everything you need to know about the eight NBA teams that should be firmly in the contention conversation when April rolls around:

DENVER NUGGETS

Key additions: Justin Holiday, Julian Strawther
Key losses: Bruce Brown, Jeff Green

The Denver Nuggets became NBA champions with a dominant 16-4 playoff run including winning 10 of its final 11 games. Their core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope remains intact and Michael Malone will be returning as head coach.

Bruce Brown was a key role player providing a little bit of everything during the championship run and his departure to Indiana is a major loss. The Nuggets loved him but were unable to keep him due to salary cap restrictions. Jeff Green was a steadying veteran presence who could throw in some important playoff minutes as well but he’ll be helping out Fred VanVleet and the Houston Rockets this season.

As a result, the Nuggets are left hoping Christian Braun makes a leap after a notable rookie season, late season signing Reggie Jackson can make himself at home, and sharpshooter Justin Holiday can crack the rotation. If there’s a wildcard to look out for, keep Julian Strawther in mind. The former Gonzaga guard had an impressive pre-season and can shoot the lights out.

While Denver has earned pole position out of the gate, the degree of separation that seemed to exist over post-season opponents en route to the title has certainly closed.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS

Key additions: Damian Lillard, Robin Lopez, Malik Beasley, Cameron Payne
Key losses: Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen, Jevon Carter, Joe Ingles, Wesley Matthews

Bucks fans are foaming at the mouth at the prospect of watching Giannis Antetokounmpo paired with Damian Lillard. Neither player has ever had an MVP-calibre teammate, and the early signs in pre-season have already been encouraging.

After losing in a seventh game to the Boston Celtics on the road in 2021-22, Milwaukee made it a point to land the No. 1 seed and cement home-court advantage through the East. It was all for nought as Miami humbled the Bucks in five games, taking advantage of an injury that saw Antetokounmpo miss two games and return as a limited version of himself as well as some terrible crunch-time execution.

Lillard will help address Antetokounmpo’s physical burden as well as the crunch time offence, but the X-Factor to this season’s success will be rookie NBA head coach Adrian Griffin. Steve Kerr, Tyronn Lue, and Nick Nurse are among the rookie head coaches to have tasted ultimate success in recent times, and he’ll be hoping to continue that trend. The main challenge will be defensively, where the Bucks have been historically great but now have to cope with the losses of Jrue Holiday and Grayson Allen.

BOSTON CELTICS

Key additions: Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Wenyen Gabriel
Key losses: Marcus Smart, Robert Williams, Grant Williams, Malcolm Brogdon

Brad Stevens has taken his biggest swing yet in trying to create the perfect championship blend around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. In trading Marcus Smart, the Celtics moved on from the heart and soul of its team, something both Tatum and Brown have acknowledged as a difficult loss.

If that wasn’t enough, Robert Williams was a lynchpin of the defence as a last line when healthy while Grant Williams had his share of significant contributions during the Celtics’ run to the Finals a couple years ago. Boston soured on Brogdon’s availability and playmaking skills as the year went on.

Do Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis represent enough of an upgrade? Holiday is undoubtedly a better offensive player and playmaker than Marcus Smart, and may even be a defensive upgrade hard as it may be to believe. In Porzingis, the Celtics are taking on virtually the same degree of injury risk as they did with R. Williams, but are improving the offensive spacing with Porzingis’ ability to shoot the ball from the outside (career 36% three-point shooter) while sacrificing the defence.

Derrick White and Al Horford complete a formidable top seven of the rotation, but depth could be an issue especially with Porzingis’ recurrent health concerns and Horford now 37 years old.

PHOENIX SUNS

Key additions: Bradley Beal, Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Eric Gordon, Yuta Watanabe
Key losses: Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton, Torrey Craig, Landry Shamet, Jock Landale

New Suns owner Matt Ishbia has been quick to shake things up beginning with the acquisition of Kevin Durant just before last season’s trade deadline. It appears he has given the front office to leave no stone unturned in bringing a championship to Phoenix.

The acquisition of Bradley Beal is another big swing especially with him taking on more of a point guard role while Jusuf Nurkic will be tasked with making Suns fans ask, “Ayton who.?” Beal will come in very motivated after playing for a struggling Wizards franchise the last several years while Nurkic will also cherish every breath of fresh Arizona air after Portland lost its playoff steam the last couple years.

Defensive guru Frank Vogel has replaced Monty Williams as head coach and he will be looking to get back to the winner’s circle after winning with the Lakers in 2020. Many have expressed concern over Phoenix’s defensive potential, and it’ll be interesting to see how Vogel takes on the challenge.

A minor note worth keeping in mind, the Suns went a perfect 8-0 in the regular season with Durant in the lineup last season. Throw in a training camp as well as pre-season and this team should be ready to roll.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS

Key additions: Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Christian Wood, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes, Jalen Hood-Schifino
Key losses: Dennis Schroeder, Lonnie Walker, Wenyen Gabriel, Mo Bamba, Malik Beasley

One of the most important things to consider when evaluating the Lakers’ prospects for this season is that the team went 16-7 after the all-star break last season, primarily because the front office significantly altered the pieces around LeBron James and Anthony Davis beginning with moving on from Russell Westbrook.

This off-season, they leaned further into putting pieces around James and Davis that make sense. No acquisition exemplifies that more than guard Gabe Vincent who starred for the Miami Heat in a run to last year’s Finals.

While there’s no traditional third star, what will have a huge say in the success of the Lakers is the level of Austin Reaves’ play. The shifty guard who went undrafted in 2021 turned plenty of heads last season to earn a four-year, $56-million extension and will be tasked with much more responsibility this season.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS

Key additions: Chris Paul, Cory Joseph, Dario Saric, Brandin Podziemski
Key losses: Jordan Poole, Donte DiVincenzo

The Warriors have taken on the ultimate challenge this season: Win a ring with Chris Paul.

Golden State was forced into this gamble after the chemistry issues with Jordan Poole became untenable. Once a sworn enemy, it will be interesting to see if and for how long this experiment can work. Paul has been vocal in expecting to start for the Warriors this season and an injury to Draymond Green means there’ll be no controversy at least to start.

A lineup of Steph Curry-Klay Thompson-Andrew Wiggins-Green-Kevon Looney was the best starting lineup in basketball last season (plus-21.9 net rating), though, and the biggest weakness Golden State needs to address is what happens when Curry goes to the bench.

Dario Saric and Cory Joseph are understated acquisitions who help address some of the depth issues and should be notable contributors over the course of the season. Theoretically, no one is helping address non-Curry lineups more than Paul, whose ability to shepherd bench units and organize the offence could bring a whole new dynamic.

If the Warriors can get to that point, this has home run potential and could be the defining moment of Paul’s career as well as a legacy-enhancing one for this Warriors era.

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS

Key additions: Kenyon Martin Jr., Josh Primo, Kobe Brown
Key losses: Eric Gordon

Russell Westbrook was surprisingly good with the Clippers at the end of last season, putting in some strong playoff performances against the Suns. After his career had taken a turn for the worse due to the lack of evolution in his game to keep up with the times, he genuinely seems to be comfortable in his “other” L.A. environment after struggling with the Lakers.

That’s all well and good, but as has been the case since the summer of 2019, the Clippers will go as far as Kawhi Leonard and Paul George’s health will take them. The franchise has been very patient in terms of dealing with injuries, but head coach Ty Lue set a marker by publicly stating the importance of building on-court chemistry during the regular season.

How underwhelming has this era of Clippers basketball been? The franchise has won three playoff series in the four years Leonard and George have been together, one less than the Raptors won in its lone year with the two-time Finals MVP. This definitely feels like a now-or-never year.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

Key additions: Patrick Beverley, Kelly Oubre Jr., Danny Green, Mo Bamba
Key losses: Jalen McDaniels, Shake Milton, Georges Niang

As much as the uncertainty over what happens with James Harden is troubling, this is still a team with the league’s reigning MVP in Joel Embiid, one of the NBA’s most dynamic young players in Tyrese Maxey, and a championship head coach in Nick Nurse.

One has to assume that the Harden mess is sorted at some point, which is when the Sixers season should take off. Patrick Beverley seems like the type of leader this franchise needed, while Danny Green’s return will be a welcome veteran presence in the locker room and someone well accustomed to Nurse’s methods.

What Daryl Morey has to be most careful about in dragging out a Harden trade is frustrating Embiid. The Cameroonian superstar has already had a season where Ben Simmons sat until the trade deadline and he had to carry an oversized load, and Morey asking Embiid to do it a second time may be asking for trouble. Sure, the East isn’t as stacked as the West this year and so that can buy some time in searching for the right deal, but take too long and a relationship with one of the best players in the league may be past the point of redemption.

Embiid publicly stated his main desire is to win a title and that whether it comes in Philadelphia or somewhere else makes little difference to him. The clock on the process in Philly could strike midnight if Morey doesn’t play this right.

Honourable mention:

Miami Heat: While they are fresh off an NBA Finals appearance, they also only just squeaked into the playoffs via the Play-In tournament, missed out on Damian Lillard, and lost playoff rotation members Gabe Vincent and Max Strus.

Memphis Grizzlies: While the paper version of this team is a force to reckon with, there is still plenty of uncertainty surrounding Ja Morant who has a 25-game suspension to start the season, Steven Adams has already been ruled out all season, and Brandon Clarke has no timetable to return after rupturing his Achilles in March.