Bruno Altieri Oct 11, 2023, 1:52 p.m. Reading: 8 min.
With LeBron and Davis, Lakers win against Nets
The Los Angeles team used all its figures in a preparation duel in Las Vegas. James finished with 10 points, AD with 13 and 7 rebounds and Austin Reaves contributed 18 points.
After free agency and facing the NBA training camps, the mileage counter returns to zero and it is time to detect, a priori, the top 10 teams heading into the 2023-24 League.
Welcome to a new NBA season! After free agency and ahead of training camps, the kilometer counter returns to zero and it is time to detect, a priori, the top 10 teams heading to the 2023-24 League.
Without further ado, here we go.
10. Oklahoma City Thunder
This group was for years the team of the future, but we have reached the present. After the breakout season of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – today one of the figures of the NBA -, the Thunder are ready to take the next step. They are all talented young players (the team average is 23 years old) and what we saw last year will be joined by Chet Holmgren, who missed the entire 2022-23 League due to a right foot injury. Far from that catastrophe for a draft pick 2, he now showed that he has something to shine with: he averaged 16.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game in the Summer League.
“The second thing is, again, I’m not trying to tone down everyone’s excitement, but we’re not a 0.500 team today,” OKC president of basketball operations Sam Presti said at the start of training camp.
What Presti did is take the pressure off, but we all know that if there is a talented team on the rise, it is the Thunder. In addition to Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren, the third sword to follow is Josh Giddey, with Lu Dort as a tireless fighter on the perimeter. They are young, they are good and they are disruptive. The revolution, this year, begins in Oklahoma City.
9. Los Angeles Lakers
Next December 30, LeBron James will turn 39 years old. Anthony Davis will be 31 in March, but he will also carry a history of injuries that could be a worrying problem in the immediate future. It is as incorrect to say that the Lakers are candidates as it is that they are not, because in the offseason they moved very well. Let’s see: Gabe Vincent, Cam Reddish, Taurean Prince, Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood joined the team to form a solid roster that combines veteran with youth. They renewed Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell.
And Darvin Ham already has another year of experience. I believe that Los Angeles can be a leading team next season, but everything will depend on the health of its star duo. In full conditions they can reach June, but of course, the years do not come alone.
8. Philadelphia 76ers
What a nice show James Harden put on with his transfer request that was not successful, his spicy statements against Daryl Morey on his promotional tour in China and his non-appearance at training camp. A great start for Philadelphia after losing to the Boston Celtics in the last playoffs.
We don’t know if there will be a solution, but Philly could lose the 21 points and 10.2 assists that “The Beard” gave him last season. And he can lose them for nothing. The other question mark is Tyrese Maxey, who has to sign his rookie extension before October 23, but the Sixers, as Ramona Shelburne reports, have stopped negotiations to preserve salary flexibility for the next offseason. Quite a mystery.
In short, a team that was destined to fight for everything can, for non-sporting reasons, navigate mediocrity this year. True, they have the reigning MVP in Joel Embiid, but so far he’s proven to be a great center as a regular.
The playoffs are something else. And leadership, of course, too.
7. Sacramento Kings
Light the Beam! Perhaps the most fun team to watch in the last playoffs, which they reached after not being in a postseason since 2006. The combo of De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk on the perimeter, added to Domantas Sabonis in the paint and Harrison Barnes as balance man, they form the backbone of Mike Brown’s team.
The Kings, in short, were revolution, ecstasy and fun last season. And for the next one, they kept ten players, including the entire starting quintet. The challenge will be, then, not only to repeat but to improve. To do so, the key will be in the game without the ball: they must improve their defense. Everything else will be a consequence of this central objective.
6. Memphis Grizzlies
Ja Morant’s collection of social media scandals ended with a 25-game suspension from the NBA that, to tell the truth, had little flavor. He saved himself and the franchise, because it could have been much worse. And yes, no one would have discussed it.
The arrival of Marcus Smart will serve to organize a team that has everything to fight for important things, but that must stop being a gang to transform into a professional basketball team. There is plenty of talent, but there is still a lack of discipline. Smart arrives, then, as the veteran of a thousand battles ready to enforce the implicit rules of the game. To turn a wardrobe that needs it to the nines.
Memphis will continue with the promotion of Desmond Bane, it has stature in Jared Jackson Jr. and Steven Adams, but will have to make up for the absence of the controversial Dillon Brooks, today in the Houston Rockets. What to do at the forward position? Two options, either bet on the recent picks Ziaire Williams or David Roddy, or move Luke Kennard to the shooting guard position and add Bane as a small forward.
Will it be the year of the Grizzlies? There are just a few days left until we start to have answers.
5. Golden State Warriors
This is going to be fun to see: Chris Paul alongside Stephen Curry. Here is a perfect case that health is everything, because the Warriors have a squad that, on paper, can fight for the championship, but that in concrete reality will depend on how the physique of their Big Three (Curry, Klay Thompson) thrives and Draymond Green to a lesser extent).
Steve Kerr will have a double X factor this season: the first, Andrew Wiggins, key in the 2022 ring, who missed a large part of the last League due to personal problems. The second, Jonatan Kuminga, the player who is seen as a potential take-off man, fundamental in the renewal of a franchise that needs, in addition to its stars, to add consistent young blood to his discipline.
Without Jordan Poole, new disruptive darts will have to emerge from the bench. It will be a very nice season to see in the San Francisco Bay.
4. Phoenix Suns
Where many see a burning sun with the arrival of Bradley Beal, I see an issue to be resolved. Let’s remember Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving: sometimes, adding can turn enough into too much. I ask: Aren’t there too many hands on the perimeter with scoring ability? Won’t they have the recurring problem that basketball is played with only one ball? We will see how Frank Vogel resolves this potential problem.
On the other hand, the departure of DeAndre Ayton is replaced by the arrival of Jusuf Nurkic, an intern who always flew under the radar but who is tough, consistent and who will surely bring solutions to the Suns’ rotation. Another issue to follow is health: Can Kevin Durant go through a full season without going to the infirmary? In short, this experiment can be wonderful if an alchemist is found in the locker room in time. Let’s remember that today they don’t have a natural point guard, because Chris Paul went to the Golden State Warriors and Cameron Payne to the Milwaukee Bucks after being released by the San Antonio Spurs.
Otherwise, it will be another fiasco in the history of teams that caused sighs by signing a host of elite stars.
3. Milwaukee Bucks
There will be those who say that they are a better team with Damian Lillard, but I don’t think so. They are going to need two balls to combine Dame Time with Giannis Antetokounmpo. It’s true, the poker of Lillard, Khris Middleton, Giannis and Brook Lopez causes fear in opposing defenses, but the problem is that they are also going to have to defend. And without Holiday, the team is much worse in that department.
Pay attention to Middleton, who is aiming for his rebound season: he signed for three years and $102 million this summer, so he will have to perform up to those expectations.
That said, with the Bucks it will be all about chemistry. And also, with Lillard’s health, a physique that has not been reliable in recent times.
2. Denver Nuggets
I have no reason to put the reigning NBA champions below this position. The basketball they showed in the last playoffs was of the highest level, with a completely recovered Jamal Murray, a superhero-like Nikola Jokic and a combo of notables around (a notable mention for Aaron Gordon, of course), which puts them in a position to return to fight for everything.
The problem may be with the second unit, because Denver lost Bruce Brown and Jeff Green in free agency, and kept Reggie Jackson, Christian Braun and DeAndre Jordan.
The questions here are two: Will Michael Porter Jr. make the expected leap in quality? Has the bell rung for Jokic’s endless party in the offseason in Serbia?
It’s impressive about Nikola: he didn’t avoid a pub, restaurant or nightclub on his days off.
1. Boston Celtics
Here is my top candidate to win the ring. Brad Stevens’ offseason, after falling dramatically against the Heat in the last Conference Finals, was amazing. Not only did they reinforce their interior zone with Kristap Porzingis, but they kept the best defensive combo-guard in the entire NBA: Jrue Holiday. What did they lose? To Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams III. Rob’s loss is more worrying, but his constant injuries have been a recurring problem for the Celtics that is impossible to avoid.
Stevens’ next challenge will be October 23, the date on which he has to see how to renew Derrick White and Payton Pritchard.
Two unknowns: a) the validity of Al Horford at 37 years old b) the conceptual clarity of Joe Mazzulla to manage a powerful roster with many variants.
2023-10-11 17:01:43
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