By Tim Bontemps, 2024-10-11 20:00:00
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
NBA 季前赛正如火如荼地进行着，而联盟的揭幕战也将在不到两周的时间内拉开帷幕。那么，哪些球员、教练、老板和管理层将定义未来八个月的篮球格局呢？
波士顿凯尔特人队夺得了 2024 年 NBA 总冠军，但球队的股权情况将如何影响他们卫冕的征程？对于前 MVP 乔尔·恩比德(Joel Embiid)来说，这个赛季将会是什么样子？在缺席了费城76人队 2023-24 赛季一半以上的比赛后，他将带着围绕他打造的全新阵容，再次向总冠军发起冲击。在获得年度最佳新秀后，圣安东尼奥马刺队的天才球员维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama) 的超级巨星之路将走向何方？
让我们来分析一下将在本赛季扮演重要角色的 10 个人，其中包括两位面临十字路口的争冠球队总经理、一位从前球员和电视分析师转型为新秀教练的人，以及将决定 2025 年交易截止日期、选秀和自由球员市场的超级巨星。
乔尔·恩比德(Joel Embiid)，76人队中锋
对于恩比德来说，本赛季的成败至关重要。
恩比德自己也承认，他已经实现了个人的几乎所有目标。他五次入选全明星阵容，并在 2023 年获得了梦寐以求的 MVP 奖项。在上赛季膝盖受伤之前，他正朝着成为 NBA 历史上继威尔特·张伯伦之后唯一一位得分超过出场分钟数的球员的目标迈进。
但恩比德的履历中缺少季后赛的成功，而这正是区分伟大球员、甚至历史级伟大球员与传奇球员的分水岭。
“你打球是为了成为最棒的，而要成为最棒的，你就必须拿出点成绩来，”恩比德在 12 月份告诉 ESPN。“你必须拥有多座总冠军奖杯和多个个人奖项。我的目标是成为最棒的。”
这就是为什么恩比德在本赛季伊始就谈到要专注于一件事：保持健康地打完整个赛季，并给自己一个机会去最终取得他和费城一直以来都在追逐的季后赛成功。这就是为什么他已经减掉了 25 到 30 磅，并且表示他还想减掉更多。
在代表美国队征战奥运会期间，恩比德经历了起起伏伏，并在对阵塞尔维亚队的四分之一决赛中奉献了他职业生涯的标志性时刻之一，当时他 repeatedly attacked 在内线 repeatedly attacked 尼古拉·约基奇(Nikola Jokic)，帮助美国队在奥运会半决赛中实现逆转。在 NBA，恩比德通常是这种时刻的失败者——最著名的是在 2019 年东部半决赛的第七场比赛中，科怀·伦纳德(Kawhi Leonard) 的系列赛制胜球在篮筐上弹了几下后才最终落网。
现在，随着休赛期重要引援保罗·乔治(Paul George) 的加盟、年轻后卫泰瑞斯·马克西(Tyrese Maxey) 的突破性成长、阵容深度的提升以及在赛季中获得更多帮助的筹码，这 是恩比德和 76 人队最终冲击总决赛的最佳机会。
卡尔-安东尼·唐斯(Karl-Anthony Towns)，尼克斯队中锋
一年前，达米安·利拉德(Damian Lillard) 在训练营开始前夕来到了密尔沃基，朱·霍勒迪(Jrue Holiday) 则加盟了波士顿。每个人都被视为冠军拼图中缺失的那一块。结果，雄鹿队在首轮比赛中就因利拉德和扬尼斯·阿德托昆博(Giannis Antetokounmpo) 受伤而出局；而凯尔特人队，在很大程度上要归功于霍勒迪，最终赢得了总冠军。
上个月，唐斯在训练营开始前夕被纽约尼克斯队收购，目标是结束长达半个世纪的冠军荒。事情会如何发展？像利拉德的雄鹿队、霍勒迪的凯尔特人队，还是介于两者之间？
当尼克斯队在 5 月份结束赛季时，他们还拥有大量的交易资产，但他们在今年休赛期达成了两笔重磅交易，6 月份从布鲁克林篮网队交易来了米卡尔·布里奇斯(Mikal Bridges)，然后又引进了在新泽西州距离麦迪逊广场花园仅一小时车程的地方长大的唐斯，来坐镇球队的首发阵容。
尼克斯队的首发五虎——贾伦·布伦森(Jalen Brunson)、约什·哈特(Josh Hart)、OG·阿努诺比(OG Anunoby)、布里奇斯和唐斯——有理由成为 NBA 最强的首发阵容。但尼克斯队在本赛季的板凳深度不足，除了年度最佳第六人候选人迈尔斯·麦克布莱德(Miles McBride) 之外，阿努诺比和唐斯近年来都经常缺阵，这也给球队带来了巨大的伤病隐患。
明尼苏达森林狼队签下鲁迪·戈贝尔(Rudy Gobert) 是为了弥补唐斯在中锋位置上的防守缺陷。现在，尼克斯队需要他不只是在中锋位置上打球，而且要打得好，因为他们要与恩比德和克里斯塔普斯·波尔津吉斯(Kristaps Porzingis) 等人展开较量，并努力自 1999 年以来首次打进总决赛。
维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)，马刺队中锋
在 NBA 历史上，很少有球员能像身高 7 英尺 4 英寸的文班亚马这样，他在帮助祖国法国队在巴黎奥运会上赢得银牌之前，就成为了 NBA 历史上第七位全票当选年度最佳新秀的球员。
所有这一切都巩固了文班亚马作为勒布朗·詹姆斯(LeBron James) 和斯蒂芬·库里(Stephen Curry) 之后最有可能成为 NBA 门面的球员的地位——而这也是他公开追求的目标。
本赛季，圣安东尼奥马刺队处于一个 fascinating 的位置。对球队来说，最佳的长期发展道路是在 2025 年的选秀大会上再获得一个高顺位选秀权，以便在圣安东尼奥打造一个球星组合。但目前还不清楚文班亚马在本赛季与未来名人堂成员克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul) 并肩作战的情况下，能否让马刺队糟糕到足以在众多底层球队都盯着乐透区前列的情况下，在明年获得一个高顺位选秀权。
达拉斯独行侠队的球星卢卡·东契奇(Luka Doncic) 赢得了年度最佳新秀奖，并在那之后每年都入选了最佳阵容一阵。文班亚马今年能做到这一点吗？他会在旧金山举行的全明星赛上与詹姆斯和库里同场竞技吗？文班亚马将成为联盟的驱动力之一；这种转变的速度将是本赛季的一大看点。
杰·杰·雷迪克(JJ Redick)，湖人队教练
在 NBA，没有比担任勒布朗·詹姆斯和洛杉矶湖人队的主教练压力更大的工作了。达尔文·哈姆(Darvin Ham) 在他的第一个赛季就打进了 2022 年的西部决赛，但一年后就被解雇了。弗兰克·沃格尔(Frank Vogel) 带领湖人队获得了 2020 年的 NBA 总冠军，结果两年后就被解雇了。
这就是雷迪克今年执教湖人队时所面临的压力——此前他从未在任何级别的职业或大学篮球队执教过——而湖人队带回来的几乎是同一套在 2024 年季后赛首轮被掘金队 4-1 淘汰的阵容。
人们对雷迪克的期望是，他能从这支球队中挖掘出比一年前的哈姆更多的潜力。但那支球队拥有勒布朗·詹姆斯和安东尼·戴维斯(Anthony Davis) 的 147 场比赛的总出场时间——这是自 2019 年夏天成为队友以来，他们在一起出场时间最多的一次。
雷迪克还将在詹姆斯 40 岁的年纪执教他，而这位 NBA 的历史得分王将与他的儿子布朗尼(Bronny) 并肩作战，书写更多的历史。考虑到雷迪克过去是一名征战了 15 年 NBA 的老将，以及他最近在媒体上的工作经历（包括在今年 6 月解说 NBA 总决赛），这一切都将成为人们关注的焦点。
库珀·弗拉格(Cooper Flagg)，杜克大学大一前锋
2025 年的 NBA 选秀大会上充满了明星球员：法国控球后卫诺兰·特雷奥(Nolan Traore)；贝勒大学前锋维杰·埃奇库姆(V.J. Edgecombe)，他在今年夏天代表巴哈马群岛参加国际比赛时给人留下了深刻的印象；以及罗格斯大学的后卫阿斯·贝利(Ace Bailey) 和迪伦·哈珀(Dylan Harper)，他们已经把这所位于新泽西州中部的学校变成了大学篮球的中心。
可以说，每个潜在球员都可能在今年 6 月的选秀大会上成为状元秀。但到目前为止，他们都落后于杜克大学前锋库珀·弗拉格，他是本赛季 NBA 各队预计将展开的“摆烂大战”中的焦点人物。
ESPN 的乔纳森·吉沃尼(Jonathan Givony) 将这届新秀称为他报道选秀的 20 年来最具深度的一届，因此，至少有 7 支球队——布鲁克林篮网队、夏洛特黄蜂队、芝加哥公牛队、底特律活塞队、华盛顿奇才队和波特兰开拓者队——预计将为乐透区排名展开争夺，而其他球队也可能因为伤病和意外排名下滑而加入到这场混战中。
这位 17 岁的弗拉格今年夏天在与美国队的对抗赛中表现出色，他几乎肯定会在 19 岁之前就完成他的 NBA 首秀，他将是每个篮球迷在本赛季都应该关注的名字。
查尔斯·巴克利(Charles Barkley)，TNT 解说员
对于一代人来说，巴克利和“Inside The NBA”节目一直是联盟主题曲的一部分。这段旅程可能会在本赛季结束后画上句号。
虽然 NBA 与华纳兄弟探索公司（特纳体育的母公司，是联盟与迪士尼并列的两位长期转播合作伙伴之一）之间的诉讼仍在进行中，但有迹象表明，2024-25 赛季将是这段长达数十年的电视转播合作关系的最后一个赛季。亚马逊和 NBC 环球将在明年秋季加入新的转播合同，与迪士尼一起转播 NBA。
因此，本赛季的大部分时间都将围绕着巴克利、厄尼·约翰逊(Ernie Johnson)、肯尼·史密斯(Kenny Smith)、沙奎尔·奥尼尔(Shaquille O’Neal) 以及 TNT 旗舰演播室节目的其他成员的未来展开讨论。巴克利自己的未来将成为人们热议的话题，因为在过去的几个月里，他先是宣布将在赛季结束后退休，然后又透露他已经与其他电视网进行过接触，并承诺无论特纳体育的 NBA 转播权发生什么变化，他都会继续留在特纳体育。
维克·格劳斯贝克(Wyc Grousbeck)，凯尔特人队老板
格劳斯贝克自 2002 年起担任凯尔特人队的老板，20 多年来一直是这支球队的掌舵人。但在今年 6 月赢得球队历史上的第 18 座总冠军奖杯，并超越洛杉矶湖人队成为 NBA 历史上夺冠次数最多的球队后，格劳斯贝克家族却在几天后宣布出售他们对球队的控股权，这让整个联盟感到震惊。
波士顿正在走向巨额奢侈税的深渊。凯尔特人队有望在下赛季成为 NBA 历史上第一支总薪资和奢侈税合计达到 5 亿美元的球队。无论是谁收购了凯尔特人队——预计将在 2025 年初完成——都将面临一项重大的财务决策。
Joseph Prezioso/Anadolu via Getty Images然后是联盟扩张的问题。随着新的劳资协议和电视转播协议的达成，联盟的注意力将转移到未来几年扩张一两支球队的可能性上。
联盟在计算中考虑的一个因素是，联盟现有的 30 位老板将从扩张球队支付的加盟费中获得巨额利润。密切关注这一进程的联盟消息人士指出，凯尔特人队的出售过程及其最终价格将是这些加盟费可能会有多高、NBA 的扩张进程可能在何时启动的关键指标。
贾·莫兰特(Ja Morant)，灰熊队后卫
两年前，莫兰特和灰熊队似乎已经准备好接管 NBA。他们拥有一支年轻且充满潜力的球队，由联盟中最耀眼、最激动人心的球星之一莫兰特领衔，未来看起来一片光明——以至于他告诉 ESPN 的马利卡·安德鲁斯(Malika Andrews)，“我在西部过得很好。”
然后，莫兰特卷入了两起涉及枪支的事件，灰熊队在 2023 年季后赛首轮输给了洛杉矶湖人队，莫兰特、德斯蒙德·贝恩(Desmond Bane) 和其他轮换球员在上赛季遭遇了伤病，导致球队战绩为 27 胜 55 负，错失了 2023-24 赛季的季后赛。
莫兰特回来了，他很健康，并且说了一些与以前不同的话，他在上周谈到灰熊队时说，“我们都觉得我们还没有取得任何成就。”虽然这并不完全正确——孟菲斯在 2021-22 赛季和 2022-23 赛季都至少赢了 51 场比赛——但这支球队仍在等待着他们的突破。
但在用第九顺位选中了身高 7 英尺 4 英寸的中锋扎克·埃迪(Zach Edey) 后，灰熊队希望他能直接进入首发阵容，他们将在本赛季迎来莫兰特、贝恩和 2023 年最佳防守球员杰伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson Jr.) 的回归。因此，灰熊队相信他们能够重返西部强队的行列。
卡尔文·布斯(Calvin Booth)，掘金队总经理
2023 年，在布斯担任总经理的第一个赛季，掘金队就赢得了队史上的首座 NBA 总冠军。但在接下来的 18 个月里，掘金队在自由球员市场上失去了几位重要的老将——杰夫·格林(Jeff Green) 和布鲁斯·布朗(Bruce Brown) 在 2023 年离队，肯塔维奥斯·考德威尔-波普(Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) 则在今年休赛期离队——因为掘金队一直在削减成本，并围绕着高薪球星尼古拉·约基奇、贾马尔·穆雷(Jamal Murray)、迈克尔·波特(Michael Porter Jr.) 和阿隆·戈登(Aaron Gordon) 建立了一支以年轻人为主的球队。
现在，掘金队将希望 23 岁的克里斯蒂安·布劳恩(Christian Braun) 能够顶替考德威尔-波普成为球队的首发得分后卫，而 22 岁的后卫朱利安·斯特劳瑟(Julian Strawther) 和 22 岁的侧翼球员佩顿·沃特森(Peyton Watson) 等人将被委以重任，成为球队的关键替补球员。
在上赛季开始前接受《The Ringer》杂志采访时，布斯的一番话引起了广泛讨论，他宣称：“我只想要那些我们努力培养的球员，这是可持续的。如果这让我们失去了赢得今年总冠军的机会，那就这样吧。这是值得投资的。与其试图卫冕，不如争取在六个赛季中赢得三个总冠军，在七个赛季中赢得三个总冠军，在八个赛季中赢得四个总冠军。”
在上个月的媒体日上，他的语气略有不同：“在最理想的情况下，我认为尼古拉还有 10 年的巅峰期，”布斯说。“我认为我们现在已经走过了一半。所以，我们可能还有大约五次类似的机会，而每一次机会都很重要。我们抓住了一次，这很棒。我们越早抓住机会，我们就越有可能谈论其他的事情，但想要再赢得一个总冠军将非常困难。”
约基奇已经是一位历史级别的伟大球员了。但他的职业生涯以及他最终能赢得多少个总冠军，很可能取决于布斯对这支长期以年轻人为主的球队的押注。这就足以让布斯在这份名单上占据一席之地了。
迈克·邓利维(Mike Dunleavy)，勇士队总经理
在今年早些时候的不同时间点，勇士队短暂地追求过勒布朗·詹姆斯、保罗·乔治和劳里·马尔卡宁(Lauri Markkanen)——但最终都没能得到他们——之后，勇士队总经理迈克·邓利维完美地总结了在库里职业生涯末期试图最大化球队竞争力的挑战。
“我们对此进行了很多讨论，”邓利维在上个月的媒体日新闻发布会上说。“我们毫无疑问是在努力最大限度地发挥他的伟大，德雷蒙德的伟大，以及我们拥有的所有资源。”
“这些对话真的很有意义，很有成效。他们知道该怎么做。我们会继续努力的。但正如我之前所说，你必须有一定的原则……为了略高于平均水平而孤注一掷是没有意义的。”
和布斯一样，邓利维的球队中也有一位历史级别的伟大球员。但与掘金队 29 岁的约基奇不同，库里和德雷蒙德·格林(Draymond Green) 的名人堂生涯都已经进入了暮年。
尽管在休赛期失去了克莱·汤普森(Klay Thompson)（他被交易到了达拉斯独行侠队），但由于老将巴迪·希尔德(Buddy Hield)、凯尔·安德森(Kyle Anderson) 和德安东尼·梅尔顿(De’Anthony Melton) 的加盟，勇士队的阵容实力可以说还是有所提升的。但很难想象勇士队以目前的阵容构成成为一支真正的争冠球队。
“我认为我们现在处于一个可以从一开始就成为一支有竞争力的球队，并给自己一个竞争的机会的位置，”库里在媒体日上说，“然后我们会评估我们所处的位置。”
有很多因素需要在评估时加以考虑。乔纳森·库明加(Jonathan Kuminga) 和摩西·穆迪(Moses Moody) 都可能在本月与球队续约，这将使任何涉及他们的交易在本赛季变得非常复杂。像尼克斯队这样的争冠球队已经 all-in 了他们的阵容，而勇士队——他们拥有年轻球员和几个选秀权——已经回到了可能去追逐下一个可用球星的球队名单的前列。但是，勇士队应该在什么时候 all-in，或者说他们是否应该 all-in？
这个决定权掌握在邓利维手中，这将是 2 月份交易截止日期前和选秀期间的一个主要关注点。
点击查看原文：NBA season-defining names - Why Wemby, Embiid, Redick make list
NBA season-defining names - Why Wemby, Embiid, Redick make list
The NBA preseason is in full swing and the league’s opening night doubleheader tips off in less than two weeks. So which players, coaches, owners and execs will define the next eight months of basketball?
The Boston Celtics captured the 2024 NBA title, but how will the franchise’s ownership situation impact its pursuit of back-to-back banners? What will the season look like for former MVP Joel Embiid, who, after missing more than half the Philadelphia 76ers’ games in 2023-24, is back for another championship run with a reloaded roster built around him? What’s next in the superstar trajectory of San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama after capturing Rookie of the Year?
Let’s break down the 10 people who will play major roles in the season, including two GMs of contenders facing a crossroads, a former player and TV analyst-turned rookie coach and superstars who will decide the 2025 trade deadline, draft and free agency seasons.
Joel Embiid, 76ers center
There is no player in the league with more riding on this season.
Embiid, by his own admission, has accomplished just about every individual goal. He’s made five All-NBA teams. He claimed his long-coveted Most Valuable Player award in 2023. Before his knee injury last season, he was on pace to join Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to record more points than minutes played.
But Embiid’s résumé lacks the kind of playoff success that separates the great – and even all-time greats – from legends.
“You play the game to be the best, and to be the best you have to have something to show for it,” Embiid told ESPN in December. “You have to have a bunch of championships and a bunch of individual awards. My goal is to be the best.”
That’s why Embiid has come into this season talking about focusing on one thing: making it through the season healthy, and giving himself a chance to finally capture the postseason success he and Philadelphia have been chasing. That’s why he’s dropped 25 to 30 pounds already, and says he wants to lose more.
An up-and-down stint with Team USA saw Embiid deliver one of the signature moments of his career in the fourth quarter against Serbia, when he repeatedly attacked Nikola Jokic in the paint to power a Team USA comeback in the Olympic semifinals. It was the sort of moment Embiid has typically been on the other side of in the NBA – most notably in Game 7 of the 2019 Eastern Conference semifinals, when Kawhi Leonard’s series-winning shot bounced around the rim before finally dropping.
Now, with key offseason addition Paul George, breakthrough young guard Tyrese Maxey, a deep supporting cast and assets to acquire more help during the season, this is Embiid and the 76ers’ best chance to finally make a Finals run.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Knicks center
A year ago, Damian Lillard arrived in Milwaukee on the eve of training camp, and Jrue Holiday landed in Boston. Each was seen as the missing piece to a championship formula. The Bucks flamed out in the first round with Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo injured; the Celtics, thanks in large part to Holiday, went on to win the title.
Last month, Towns was acquired by the New York Knicks on the eve of training camp with the goal of ending a half-century long championship drought. How will things play out; like Lillard’s Bucks, Holiday’s Celtics or something in between?
New York went from being flush with trade assets when its season ended in May to making a pair of massive deals this offseason, acquiring Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets in June before bringing in Towns, who grew up an hour from Madison Square Garden in New Jersey, to anchor the starting five.
The Knicks quintet – Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Bridges and Towns – have a credible argument to be the NBA’s best. But New York also comes into the season with little depth behind Sixth Man of the Year candidate Miles McBride and significant injury questions for Anunoby and Towns, both of whom have regularly missed time in recent years.
Minnesota acquired Rudy Gobert to make up for Towns’ defensive deficiencies at center. Now, New York is going to need him to not just play there, but play well, as it goes up against the likes of Embiid and Kristaps Porzingis while trying to advance to the Finals for the first time since 1999.
Victor Wembanyama, Spurs center
There are few players in NBA history quite like the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama, who became just the seventh unanimous Rookie of the Year before helping his native France win silver at the Paris Olympics.
All of that has only cemented Wembanyama as the most likely successor to LeBron James and Stephen Curry as the face of the NBA – a title he is openly pursuing.
This season, San Antonio is in a fascinating position. The best long-term path for the franchise is to land another high pick in the 2025 draft to create a star partnership in San Antonio. But it’s not clear Wembanyama, alongside future Hall of Famer Chris Paul this season, is capable of allowing the Spurs to be bad enough to get into that area of the draft in a year with so many bottom-level teams eying the top half of the lottery.
Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic won Rookie of the Year, and went on to make first team All-NBA every year since. Could Wembanyama do the same this year? Will he share the court with James and Curry at the All-Star Game in San Francisco? Wembanyama will be one of the league’s driving forces; how soon that transformation occurs will be a major storyline to watch.
JJ Redick, Lakers coach
There isn’t a higher pressure job in the NBA than head coach of LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Darvin Ham made the 2022 conference finals in his first season and was fired a year later. Frank Vogel guided the Lakers to the 2020 NBA title, only to be fired two years later.
This is the pressure cooker that Redick – having never coached at the professional or college level in any capacity – walks into this year with the Lakers, a team bringing back virtually the same roster that suffered a five-game loss to the Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 playoffs.
The expectation is Redick can coax more out of this group than Ham could a year ago. But that team had 147 combined games played from LeBron James and Anthony Davis – their most together since becoming teammates in the summer of 2019.
Redick is also coaching James in his age-40 season while the NBA’s all-time leading scorer makes more history by playing alongside his son, Bronny. And all of it will be coming with an extra bright spotlight, given Redick’s past as both a 15-year NBA veteran and his more recent stint in the media, including calling the NBA Finals last June.
Cooper Flagg, Duke freshman forward
The 2025 NBA draft class is full of star prospects: French point guard Nolan Traore; Baylor forward V.J. Edgecombe, who impressed with The Bahamas this summer in international play; and guards Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper at Rutgers, who have turned the central New Jersey school into an epicenter of college basketball.
Each prospect could have arguably been the top pick in June’s draft. But, as of now, all of them are lagging behind Duke forward Cooper Flagg, the face of what is expected to be a crowded race to the bottom across the NBA this season.
And with ESPN’s Jonathan Givony calling this class the deepest of any during the 20 years he’s covered the draft, it’s no surprise that at least seven teams – the Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards and Portland Trail Blazers – are expected to jockey for lottery positioning, with other teams likely to join the fray due to injuries and unexpected slides down the standings.
The 17-year-old Flagg, who this summer starred in a scrimmage against Team USA and will all but certainly make his NBA debut before turning 19, will be a name every basketball fan should monitor all season.
Charles Barkley, TNT analyst
For more than a generation, Barkley and “Inside The NBA” have been a staple of the league’s soundtrack. That run could end after this season.
While litigation between the NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery – the parent company of Turner Sports, one of the league’s two long-time broadcast partners alongside Disney – is ongoing, signs point to 2024-25 being the final season of the decades-long television partnership. Amazon and NBCUniversal are set to join Disney in the new deal that begins next fall.
As a result, much of this season will be about the future of Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and the rest of TNT’s flagship studio show. Barkley’s own future will be a topic of much discussion, as over the past few months he went from announcing he would retire after the season, to revealing he had talked to other networks to committing to the future with Turner Sports regardless of what happens with their NBA broadcast rights.
Wyc Grousbeck, Celtics governor
For a generation, Grousbeck has been the steward of the Boston Celtics franchise, with him serving as the team’s governor since 2002. But in the wake of winning the franchise’s 18th championship to surpass the Los Angeles Lakers for the most titles in NBA history in June, the family stunned the league by putting their controlling stake up for sale days later.
Boston is barreling toward a massive tax bill. The Celtics are on pace to become the first team in NBA history with a $500 million roster in combined payroll and luxury taxes next season. Whoever purchases the Celtics – a process that’s expected to be done sometime in early 2025 – will have a massive financial decision on their hands.
Joseph Prezioso/Anadolu via Getty ImagesThen there’s the matter of league expansion. With the new collective bargaining agreement and television deals complete, the league’s focus will shift to the possibility of expanding by one (or more likely two) teams in the years to come.
Factoring into the league’s calculus is the windfall of profits that will come to the league’s 30 current owners in the form of the expansion fees paid to join the league. League sources who are following this process closely have pointed to the Celtics sale process – and its eventual price tag – as a key indicator of how large those fees could get, and how soon the expansion process in the NBA could get underway.
Ja Morant, Grizzlies guard
Two years ago, Morant and the Grizzlies were seemingly poised to take over the NBA. They had a young, rising team, led by one of the league’s brightest and most exciting stars in Morant, and the future looked great – to the point where he told ESPN’s Malika Andrews “I’m fine in the West.”
Then came a pair of gun incidents involving Morant, a first-round loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2023 playoffs and injuries to Morant, Desmond Bane and other rotation players last year that led to a 27-55 record and lost 2023-24.
Morant is back, healthy and speaking a different tune, saying last week of the Grizzlies that, “We all feel like we ain’t done s— yet.” And while that isn’t exactly true – Memphis won at least 51 games in 2021-22 and 2022-23 – this team remains waiting for its breakthrough.
But after drafting 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey ninth overall, with the expectation that he’ll fit right into the starting lineup, Memphis comes into this season with Morant, Bane and 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. on the court once again. As a result, the Grizzlies believe they can return to the West’s upper echelon.
Calvin Booth, Nuggets GM
In 2023, the Nuggets won their first NBA title in Booth’s first season as general manager. But over the next 18 months, the franchise saw the departures of several prominent veterans in free agency – Jeff Green and Bruce Brown in 2023 and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope this past offseason – as Denver has cut costs and leaned into a youth movement around high-priced stars Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon.
Now, Denver will be hoping that 23-year-old Christian Braun can replace Caldwell-Pope as the starting shooting guard, and 22-year-old guard Julian Strawther and 22-year-old forward Peyton Watson, among others, will be relied upon as key reserves.
In what became a much-discussed interview with The Ringer prior to last season, Booth declared, “I just want dudes that we try to develop, and it’s sustainable. If it costs us the chance to win a championship this year, so be it. It’s worth the investment. It’s more about winning three out of six, three out of seven, four out of eight than it is about trying to go back-to-back.”
His tone was slightly different at media day last month: “In a best-case scenario, I think Nikola has a prime 10-year contention window,” Booth said. “I think we’re about halfway through it. So, we probably have about five more similar shots and all the shots count. We hit one of them, that’s great. The earlier we hit it, the more we can have conversations about other things, but it’s going to be incredibly hard to win another one.”
Jokic is already an all-time great player. But the story of his career, and how many titles he winds up winning, very well may come down to Booth’s bet on this long-term youth movement. That’s enough to get Booth a spot on this list.
Mike Dunleavy, Warriors GM
After Golden State, at different points earlier this year, briefly pursued LeBron James, Paul George and Lauri Markkanen – and wound up with none of them – Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy perfectly summed up the challenge of trying to maximize Curry’s final NBA years.
“We have a lot of dialogue about it,” Dunleavy said at his media day news conference last month. "We unequivocally are trying to maximize his greatness, Draymond’s greatness and all the resources that we have.
“Those conversations are really positive, productive. They know the drill. We’ll keep pursuing that. But as I said before, there’s a level of discipline that you have to have … there’s no point in going all in to be slightly above average.”
Dunleavy, like Booth, has an all-time great player on his roster. But unlike the 29-year-old Jokic in Denver, Curry and Draymond Green are well into the twilight of their Hall of Fame careers.
Golden State’s talent base has arguably improved even after losing Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks in the offseason, due to the additions of veterans Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson and De’Anthony Melton. But it’s hard to envision the Warriors being a true contender as currently constructed.
“I think we’re in that position where we can be a relevant team early and give ourselves a chance to compete,” Curry said on media day, “and then assess where we are.”
There are a lot of factors that go into that assessment. Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody could both sign contract extensions this month, heavily complicating any trades involving them this season. As contenders such as the Knicks have gone all-in with their rosters, the Warriors – with young players and several draft picks – have moved back up the list of teams that could make a run at the next available star. But when, if ever, should the Warriors go all-in?
That decision is in Dunleavy’s hands and will be a major focus up to the February trade deadline and during draft season.
By Tim Bontemps, via ESPN
