The NBA is back! Depending on what generation you’re from you might or might not be excited about that. If you unconditionally love sports then your opening day is filled with anticipation. Although I don’t have a rooting interest because the NBA has not brought my Supersonics back yet, there are several things I’m looking forward to and for this NBA season. Here are some.
The continued improvement of the product. Clearly the NBA made some changes to the relaxed competitive standard that helped ruin the game for several years. We started to see physicality, importance of rebounding and the involvement of supporting cast players display its emphasis in the game. Basketball is more beautiful the more it involves, especially in the postseason. Personally I love watching all the details, not just when it shows up in the stat sheet but what tactics and techniques were used to achieve the purpose. For so long we have been watching a redundancy of most players standing around watching and a player going one on one or some kind of pick and roll action. There’s still too much of it still. You can see more involvement and the better teams attack the ball on a miss and don’t sit and wait to react. It was a beautiful postseason, best in years and I hope the NBA continues to build upon that. One thing I ask, please please please call traveling violations this year, I beg you PLEASE!
There are two bad teams that have put together a nice collection of talent that I can’t wait to watch this year. Both the Washington Wizards and the Portland Trailblazers have a very young core but some incredible talent that should be very entertaining to watch this year. Portland will have an opportunity to get into the playoffs by participating in the Play-In games, (which I still hate by the way), but we’ll see how much growth they show through the season. Trailblazers are hoping for a large leap for Scoot Henderson to finally lead this team, he along with Shaedon Sharp and newcomer Yang Hansen could be the makings of a very bright future. Great young supporting pieces as well and some young veteran pieces such as Jrue Holiday and Jerami Grant make up a balanced roster. Those vets could be trade pieces though. Washington boasts future backcourt mates Bub Carrington and Tre Johnson. Fabulous talents that can create from anywhere on the floor. They need both Alex Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly to take big steps this year and solidify their frontline. They traded for Cam Whitmore as well who’s a great talent and hard nosed player, if they can get some great coaching and leadership there this team can be good sooner rather than later.
The entire Western Conference is going to be a tough gauntlet this year with more than likely the 2025-2026 NBA Champion being crowned from the west again. I love what Golden State is. They have everything except for size and youth. How much help they can get from their depth and their health will determine how far they can get. Minnesota another year together will be very interesting. Hope they learned from where they short changed themselves last year, they’ll need Jaden McDaniels to solidify himself as that 3rd option they can depend on throughout the season and more consistent play from Naz Reid. The Joker, Nikola Jokic seems to have an upgrade in the depth of the team. If so and they can stay healthy they should be the favorites to dethrone the defending champions Oklahoma City Thunder. They bring back their championship roster from a year ago with an added heir of confidence from getting it done last year. The NBA’s best player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be a tough out. All that being said, the Texas trio of teams are going to be the most exciting. Dallas has the most loaded roster and a rookie phenom that will have an instant impact. Can Anthony Davis, who looks out of shape, stay healthy and the same question applies to Kyrie Irving when he gets back. If that answer is yes, this team can easily be playing in the finals. San Antonio has the best young core that won’t play to their age in the league. They have a formidable trio of Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle and future MVP Victor Wembanyama to chase rings for years to come. This is a team other teams will want to avoid in the playoffs. The Houston Rockets boasts my favorite coach in the NBA in Ime Udoka. They are a hard nosed team which is going to make you work for 48 minutes every night. They’re physical, play defense and have great size. With the addition of the legendary Kevin Durant they’ll have an opportunity to get to the finals. The west is going to be a bloodbath.
The feeling is we’re moving past the non-competitive era of the NBA. Hopefully gone are the days of stacking teams and avoiding the journey. I hope we’re being reintroduced to the days of guys wanting to measure themselves against the NBA’s other great players. That’s what this is, the conscious choice of your life’s work to compete against your counterpart to define who’s greater. You’re supposed to want to take down the other guy or team that is being put on or put themselves on a pedestal. Even if you never reach that pinnacle, if you’re a true competitor you spend all your efforts, resources, and your will to attempt to achieve that. You need that truth of yourself and again I’m hoping this new generation of stars see it and do it that way!
The emergence or reemergence of stars is always a fun watch. Last year Detroit’s Cade Cunningham showed the world that he’s knocking the door down of greatness. I believe we will see more of it this year. The east is wide open and he could be the best player in the conference. Also I hope this is the year Paolo Banchero from the Orlando Magic can finally stay healthy all year and put together an accolade filled season for his team. But I’m really looking forward to the redemption seasons and hopefully the new path for the rest of their careers of Zion Williamson and Ja Morant. Zion looks like he finally dedicated himself to his profession and has come in in tremendous shape. Health is a major question mark with him but if he can stay healthy look out. I’m a huge fan of Ja Morant, one of the top 5 most fun players to watch I would say. Distractions off the court and his priorities have negatively impacted his career after a superstar beginning to his career. Both guys are premier franchise players and make the Western Conference even more deadly and could shock some opponents. If they can each avoid their past pitfalls and focus on their craft, it will be to all of our benefit.
MIKE IS BACK! This is a huge coup for the NBA’s flailing viewership. The greatest the NBA has ever known, Michael Jordan will be involved in NBC’s coverage of the NBA. I can’t wait, he’s not the most accessible superstar. His insight and his participation will go a long way for the league.
A lot of great stories this year, a lot to look forward to. These are some, it was too much to get to the rest and I’m sure different ones will take shape this year. I’ll try to cover as much as I can. But my predictions of this year are MVP SGA goes back to back, DPOY Victor Wembanyama, Scoring Champ Luka Dončić, MIP Jonathan Kuminga, 6th Man Buddy Hield and ROY Cooper Flagg. Finals matchup New York Knicks vs Denver Nuggets! Enjoy the season everybody!
