After an eventful offseason, NBA basketball is finally back.
After opening night, one fact is evident: Victor Wembanyama will be a dominant force in the league. Other teams may have done their part in acquiring talent or drafting well, but a 7’5’ frame with a point guard skill set is unguardable.
Otherwise, the top draft picks such as Cooper Flagg and VJ Edgecombe look great from opening night and preseason.
The NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder have re-signed their best players and look to repeat as champions. The Pacers, on the other hand, will lose Tyrese Haliburton for the entirety of the season. As with last year, the top seeds of conferences should remain the same – the Cavs, Knicks and Celtics should dominate the East, with the Nuggets, Thunder and Rockets topping the West.
For the West, the acquisition of Kevin Durant by Houston should help their case offensively, and Luka Doncic will get his first full season as a Laker.
On the East, the Hawks’ “big man” issue was finally helped by signing Kristaps Porzingis. The Knicks re-signed Mikal Bridges, among other transactions as well.
The pace of NBA basketball keeps shifting, and with those changes come new faces with new styles. 18-year-old Cooper Flagg is expected to dominate this season, and other young players like the aforementioned Wemby will make Adam Silver and the rest of the league competitive and entertaining.
There are still some trade talks going on, with names like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Trae Young, but one thing is true:
8 months of basketball is underway – and the NBA is back.
