Last year was a stern warning that the old days are the old days.
Kevin Durant was swept out of the post-season, LeBron James managed one win, while Steph Curry couldn’t even make it to the big dance. Kawhi Leonard’s best days look firmly behind him while Jimmy Butler sat injured and watched his team bow out in the first round.
Instead, Anthony Edwards, Luka Dončić, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton, and Canada’s own Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showed there are some very capable new faces ready to assume the mantle.
Boston emerged champions by a clear margin and many experts are feeling confident about the lean, mean green machine going back-to-back. Big names like Paul George and Karl-Anthony Towns changed homes in the off-season and will certainly look to have their say in that.
With the NBA season set to tip off Tuesday, here’s a closer look at all the teams that should be in the mix to life the Larry O’Brien trophy or at least make the Celtics break more of a sweat this time around:
EAST CONTENDERS with a capital C
Celtics
Key additions: N/A
Key losses: N/A
Boston is returning a perfectly intact rotation from the playoff run and that’s a positive no other champion from the previous six seasons could carry over. It’s easy to get carried away with the narrative that no one has repeated since the 2018 Golden State Warriors but consider this about the champions since:
After winning the title in 2019, the Toronto Raptors lost Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. Champs in 2020, the Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t keep Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, Danny Green and JaVale McGee for their title defence. The 2021 champs, Milwaukee, traded away Donte DiVincenzo for salary-cap purposes and lost P.J. Tucker.
Steph Curry led the Warriors back to the promised land in 2022, but Draymond Green punching Jordan Poole fractured the chemistry of the team in a catastrophic way. The departures of veterans like Otto Porter Jr. and Andre Iguodala didn’t help, either. Denver broke through in 2023 but Bruce Brown and Jeff Green’s exits left too much, too soon for the young players to take over.
The Celtics’ only threat to continuity is injury, where Kristaps Porzingis is currently on the shelf until the start of 2025.
WEST CONTENDERS with a capital C
Thunder
Key additions: Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein
Key losses: N/A
This is how you play catch up. After a tremendous rise to the top seed in the West and conference semis appearance in the playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder added key role players Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso to the mix. Hartenstein gives the team some much needed size and toughness while Caruso adds to the defensive depth at both guard spots as well as suitable small forwards.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be one of the favourites for MVP and appears to have added a quicker release to his three-point stroke. Chet Holmgren will have learned plenty from a stellar rookie campaign, while Jalen Williams should also take another step forward in his development.
This team boasted the league’s third-best offence and fourth-best defence a year, is young, hungry, and added what could be a perfect dose of nasty, too.
WEST CONTENDERS with a lowercase c
Nuggets
Key additions: Russell Westbrook, Dario Saric
Key losses: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Denver still employs the best player in the world, as evidenced by Nikola Jokić almost leading Serbia to a shock victory over the U.S. Dream Team in the Olympic semifinals. Beyond that, though, there are quite a few question marks.
What will Jamal Murray look like this season after an abysmal performance for Canada at the Olympics? How will Christian Braun perform in the shadow of key veteran Kentavious Caldwell-Pope? Are Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther ready to make a leap?
Then there are the new additions in Dario Šarić and Russell Westbrook. Šarić, it must be said, may actually be the best backup big Jokić has had in quite some time. Westbrook has never been one to excel playing off-ball, so how he’s able to function playing off either big is going to play a big role in determining his success with the team.
One thing that must be considered in favour of the Nuggets is this: the Wolves were absolutely the worst matchup for the Nuggets a year ago and Denver just happened to have a seismic collapse of coughing up a 20-point halftime lead on its home floor in Game 7. Minnesota doesn’t match up as well now after trading Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, making life just that bit easier for Jokić and co.
Mavericks
Key additions: Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, Quentin Grimes, Spencer Dinwiddie
Key losses: Derrick Jones Jr., Tim Hardaway Jr.
Dallas was a transformed team after the trade deadline acquisitions of P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford. Defence was a struggle until then and those two did plenty to shore up some glaring weaknesses.
Some of the great defence definitely takes a hit with the departure of Derrick Jones Jr., but that’s where it comes down to how much more firepower Klay Thompson adds offensively. Thompson has also talked about wanting to regain his status as an elite defender and so the Mavs will be hoping he can meet his own expectations.
The uncertainty around Thompson and how much the team will miss Jones Jr.’s perimeter defence is why the West champs aren’t quite a stone-cold contender.
Wolves
Key additions: Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Rob Dillingham
Key losses: Karl-Anthony Towns, Kyle Anderson, Monte Morris
Make no mistake, the salary cap’s new era under the second apron forced Minnesota’s hand in trading Karl-Anthony Towns. Julius Randle will earn $16M less this season and will almost certainly opt out of his contract at the end of the season.
Randle is a very good player, but the fit of Towns as one of the best shooting bigs in the league next to Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert — not to mention Jaden McDaniels — appeared seamless. Minnesota should be a really good team in the West again, but Randle’s fit makes this team seem like it’s taken a step back at least offensively.
Edwards taking another leap is entirely plausible, and that alone could be enough to make them a capital C contender. They will genuinely be one of the most fascinating teams to follow having made such a big summer splash after shaking the balance of power in the West last season.
EAST CONTENDERS with a lowercase c
Knicks
Key additions: Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges
Key losses: Julius Randle, Isaiah Hartenstein, Donte DiVincenzo
Towns must be considered a better fit than Randle alongside the likes of Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and OG Anunoby. A five-out offence with Towns at centre could be devastating, but there will certainly be questions asked of him having to defend opposing centres. The loss of Isaiah Hartenstein could loom large here as Mitchell Robinson just can’t stay healthy.
Health questions will linger all season since head coach Tom Thibodeau has long established his propensity to play a short rotation and demand a lot of his starters. Raptors fans will know that OG Anunoby has been injury prone in the past and that pattern continued in New York last season. Mikal Bridges is the most injury-proof player in the league with his 474 consecutive appearances that began with his first game after being drafted and there is no bigger test than playing for Thibodeau. Perhaps Nick Nurse would like a word on that.
While no one was louder than the Knicks this summer, it still feels as if they are closer to the two teams that follow than the mighty Celtics.
Sixers
Key additions: Paul George, Caleb Martin, Eric Gordon, Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson, Guerschon Yabusele
Key losses: Tobias Harris, Nicolas Batum, De’Anthony Melton, Cameron Payne, Buddy Hield
After yet another season where Joel Embiid’s health was significantly impacted when it mattered most, Daryl Morey had to make a major addition to help alleviate the load. The Sixers plummeted down the standings after Embiid’s injury forced him out for an extended period and paid the price with a matchup against the red hot New York Knicks in the first round.
By adding Paul George, the Sixers have a pathway to managing Embiid’s regular season better. Another factor is also knowing that Embiid has scratched that itch of winning MVP a couple years ago and it really is all about winning the ring now. Embiid has already stated he won’t ever play in both ends of a back-to-back again making it unlikely he’ll ever meet the 65-game threshold to qualify for major individual awards.
In Tyrese Maxey, George, and Embiid, the Sixers arguably have the best big three in the league on paper. On paper, Embiid would probably have a title by now. Beyond the big three, depth is a serious question mark. Depending on the likes of Kyle Lowry, Reggie Jackson, and Eric Gordon for long stretches at this stage of their respective careers is asking a lot.
Bucks
Key additions: Gary Trent Jr., Delon Wright, Taurean Prince
Key losses: Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Jae Crowder, Robin Lopez
Gary Trent Jr., Delon Wright and Taurean Prince could all represent upgrades over the outgoing pieces but the biggest factor in favour of the Bucks this season is a Damian Lillard with a clear head.
Lillard had a tough time dealing with changing homes from Portland to Milwaukee right after a divorce last season and changing head coaches halfway through the season probably didn’t help either. More settled now, one of the premier guards in the league should combine with Giannis Antetokounmpo in the way many anticipated going into their first season together.
Doc Rivers couldn’t get much right last season but a full training camp to instil his ideas, a healthy Antetokounmpo, and possibly a healthier Khris Middleton should keep Milwaukee within striking distance of the best in the East.
KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR
The Suns and Grizzlies.
Phoenix needed help at the point guard position desperately and they got it in the form of both Tyus Jones and Monte Morris. The Suns were beyond bad at running their offence and keeping things organized in the fourth quarter last season and those two acquisitions will go a long way in allowing Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Durant to play their natural roles. Perhaps most significantly, the Suns now have Mike Budenholzer as their head coach, who will undoubtedly revamp the offence and have them catch up to the modern game by trading some of those mid-range shots for threes.
Ja Morant is healthy and putting suspensions behind him so Memphis should be back in the mix. Desmond Bane’s career has made terrific progress as a multifaceted two-way player, Marcus Smart is a winner, Zach Edey may be the Rookie of the Year, and Jaren Jackson will love playing next to him.This team was able to develop its depth while in tank mode last year, too.