Predicting Every NBA Team's Biggest Controversy In 2024-25

Dan Favale Featured Columnist IV

Predicting Every NBA Team's Biggest Controversy In 2024-25

Stacy Revere/ "I'm an addict for dramatics, I confuse the two for love."
Were Taking Back Sunday singing about relationships and serial fibbers or following the NBA? Sure sounds like a post-hardcore emo-pop description of NBA fandom to me. But who's to say, really?
Maybe you don't track the more controversial happenings around the Association. That's cool. The rest of us are judging you, obviously. But it's cool anyway. To each their own.
Controversy is part and parcel of the professional basketball experience. The games—both their outcomes and contents—matter more than anything. They also fuel the spinoff topics that give us fodder on which to munch in between.
Roster failings, prospective trades, iffy roles, awkward discussions, overarching directions and the like will be the lifeblood of this exercise. To be sure, yours truly is not guaranteeing these issues will ascend to the forefront and unmake every team.
For starters, not every controversy is serious. Selections are to scale. They can be minor or massive or land somewhere in the middle. Each choice will be made relative to the current state of each team.
In many cases, these problems and questions will be disproved—or never rear their heads at all. That's great.
While this is meant to be a predictive shindig, the words are not gospel. This is more like an overview of the biggest source of debate, dissent and concern for each squad rather than an immovable declaration.

Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young's Future with the Team

Kevin C. Cox/ Trae Young's future with the Atlanta Hawks shouldn't be up for much debate in theory. The team does not control its next three first-round picks, and the front office already, ostensibly, chose to move forward with him over Dejounte Murray.
Reality is not that simple, though.
Young has two more seasons, including this upcoming one, before he's scheduled for free agency (2026-27 player option). Now is about the time teams and players start evaluating their longer-term outlook together.
This case is even more fragile than most. The Hawks are far from the NBA's worst, but aside from No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher going kaboom out of the gate, they have no discernible path out of the middle.
That would typically accelerate the rumor mill. And make no mistake, Young speculation will endure. But will it rise above the conjecture of years past? Or do Atlanta's draft-pick obligations ensure relative quiet? And if it's the latter, will they then be verbally flogged by career critics for their habitual complacency inside the bottom of the middle?

Boston Celtics: Jayson Tatum's Place in the MVP Hierarchy

Brian Babineau/NBAE via Controversy will be tough to come by for a reigning champion well-positioned to win it all again—and be the first repeater since the Kevin Durant-era Golden State Warriors. Between the walls of TD Garden, in fact, there should only be minor debates and qualms.
Depth and availability at the center spot will be among them. Kristaps Porziņģis probably isn't taking the court until 2025. That leaves the Celtics to lean on 38-year-old Al Horford, Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman and Neemias Queta. Ideal? Definitely not. Controversial? [Checks Boston's record last year in the playoffs and regular season without Kristaps.] Also definitely not.
Some may settle on the sustainability of the core. The Celtics are expensive. And they're not getting any cheaper. Second-apron realities will eventually render them untenable. But that's an offseason hurdle—and one the organization may not worry about circumventing until 2026.
And so, we have Jayson Tatum's place in the MVP hierarchy.
His case last year was discredited using some variation of "The talent around him is too good," "He's not Luka Dončić," and the much less effective and far more disingenuous "Jaylen Brown is actually Boston's best player" schtick, bellowed predominantly by folks who don't even believe it themselves.
Players will claim they don't care about this stuff—that the online, TV and podcast debates and written MVP ladders, including the toneless drivel crapped out by ChatGPT, are for the fans and media. They're not wrong. They're also lying if they say they don't care and they're not paying attention.
Boston is a juggernaut. It just won a title. More may be on the way. Your best player in these situations, on teams with this arc, are usually mentioned at or near the top of the MVP convo.
Tatum has so far peaked at fourth on the ballot—and it wasn't even last year. Is this the season he gets the top-three finish almost universally associated with face-of-the-league stardom?

Brooklyn Nets: Looking to the Future

Kenny Giarla/NBAE via The stakes are high for the Brooklyn Nets over the next two years.
Reacquiring control of their 2024 and 2025 first-rounders has opened a small window in which it's essential that they be ridiculously, unfathomably bad. That shouldn't be a problem.
Perhaps they exceed expectations out of the gate—or at some point. That's fine. General manager Sean Marks understands the mission. He has orchestrated it. The roster will be turned over and the rotation sufficiently shuffled, until Brooklyn is bad enough...if it's not already.
Except everything about these Nets is geared toward landing players not already on the team. That makes evaluating those already in place more difficult.
How do you identify keepers on a roster bereft of entrenched or prospective star power? Are Nicolas Claxton and Cam Thomas, specifically, here for the long haul? Or are they merely utility borne from convenience—from a lack of alternatives?
And what will Brooklyn make of others? Noah Clowney, Trendon Watford, Jalen Wilson, Day'Ron Sharpe et al. should all get plenty of opportunities to shine. Determining whether they belong on the next consequential version of the Nets, though, will be an exercise in imagination.

Charlotte Hornets: Determining the Point of This Season

Kent Smith/NBAE via Are the Charlotte Hornets a 2024-25 season sleeper—a developing team stocked with plenty of NBA talent that, at full strength, can compete for a spot inside the play-in tournament? Will they ever be healthy enough, for long enough, to make that matter?
Are they much less than good, regardless of health?
Or are they actually a sleeper that won't allow their best-case scenario to materialize, preferring instead to flip depth for draft equity and prioritize full-on developmental minutes post-trade deadline?
Whichever path the Hornets choose or are forced into, there will be pushback. The most nuclear takes will insist they ship out LaMelo Ball and reorient around Brandon Miller. Long-term purists won't want to see them win too many games. Distraught fans who have watched enough losing will be irate if they pivot out of play-in contention or never reach it. Sickos will wonder whether Tidjane Salaun has too much agency off the dribble—or not enough.
Anyone boiling this down to a binary proposition is mistaken. It isn't simply a matter of whether Charlotte wants to follow a longer timeline or compete for something more than ping-pong balls now.
Aspects of its course are beyond the team's control. But those in charge will at some point be tasked with reacting to what's happened through the first part of the season—or be proactive in ensuring the organization's desired end goal.

Chicago Bulls: Anything and Everything Related to Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević

Michael Reaves/ This space could skew toward more overarching controversy. Are the Chicago Bulls actually rebuilding? Or are they still on their bottom-of-the-middle B.S.?
Figuring that out is paramount. Perhaps the Bulls already have. Their offseason certainly doesn't suggest they're intent on winning now. And even if they are, it doesn't really matter.
They are again not good enough to do it. Only this time, unlike previous times, they don't appear in danger of bagging enough victories to cement lottery odds that whisper "We didn't actually want to be here."
Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević are more controversial sticking points. They are still on the roster, so they are going to play. But how much? And how much is too much?
Fans will likely be understanding early on. Or maybe not. Who the hell knows? The Bulls faithful have been through it. Pretty much every non-toxic response is defensible.
Investing minutes in Vooch and LaVine should be, above all, an attempt to forge better trade markets for each of them and then pressing the "see ya" button as soon as possible. If neither increases his leaguewide appeal, the organization should then about-face into prioritizing younger talent. Chicago has plenty of potential long-term keepers on the perimeter, and I give it four to six games before Bulls fans begin clamoring for Adama Sanogo to be converted from a two-way into a standard NBA contract.
How long will the front office give the LaVine and Vučević trade markets to marinate before making a wholesale call between moving them or marginalizing their roles? Is there a scenario in which they inexplicably do neither? Probably. Hence why we're here.

Cleveland Cavaliers: The Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen Partnership

Jared C. Tilton/ Optimists will point out that the perception of the Cleveland Cavaliers core has veered too far afield. They are...not wrong. Injuries wrecked lineup continuity last season, and this team still won nearly 50 games anyway.
Harping on the future of the Core Four will nevertheless remain a national pastime. The partnership between Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, specifically, will stay under the microscope.
Can this offense function at a high level with both on the floor? And how about its absolute best level? Returns from the 2022-23 regular season suggest it's possible. The 2023 playoffs ? And the 2023-24 regular season ? And the 2024 playoffs ? Not so much.
Improved ball-handling and three-point volume from Mobley can go a long way toward placating alarmists and bellyachers. But Cleveland's staggering patterns last year lend merit to the concern.
Even if better health, internal growth and a head coaching change glitz up the circumstances, crunch-time question marks figure to persist.
Through it all, the question will remain the same: Are the Cavs limiting their potential offensive pinnacle when they play Allen and Mobley together? And if so, will Allen trade rumors come out in full force, after he signed an extension that conveniently, if not deliberately, ensures he can be dealt as of Jan. 31, in advance of February's deadline.

Dallas Mavericks: Crunch-Time Lineups

Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Conventional wisdom suggests the Dallas Mavericks have four crunch-time locks: Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington and Dereck Lively II.
Quibble over those inclusions as you see fit. Luka and Kyrie are non-negotiable. Maybe head coach Jason Kidd fiddles with frontcourt minutes at large. Daniel Gafford could make sense in select situations. But Lively is more versatile at both ends—and more important to the future. Washington looms as essential to Dallas' defensive setup.
That brings us to the prospective drama spot: Will the Mavs tinker with closing lineups based on opponents and their own performance?
Phrased another away: Are they willing to bounce Klay Thompson during winning time if the defense demands it?
"Well, duh" will be the most popular answer. Perhaps it's that simple. But Thompson presumably chose Dallas over other teams (most notably the Los Angeles Lakers) in part because of role prominence. Sitting on the sidelines down the stretch in favor of Naji Marshall or Quentin Grimes may not go over well.
Or maybe this a completely imagineered issue, one that'll have no impact on Dallas' vibes at all. For now, before the games officially matter, it's at least a fair question.

Denver Nuggets: Michael Malone's Commitment to the Front Office's Plan

Matthew Stockman/ Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone has never seemed entirely committed to the front office's window-extension plan.
That lack of conviction has manifested on plenty of occasions, perhaps none more notable than his decision to ride with Justin Holiday over Peyton Watson during the team's second-round playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
This disconnect is unlikely to dissipate. Zach Lowe, then of ESPN , reported in September he had heard "rumblings that the coaching staff and front office, or at least the head coach and the front office, aren't exactly seeing eye to eye in Denver—to a degree even unusual for the NBA."
General manager Calvin Booth has taken some veteran clubs out of Malone's bag. Holiday and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are gone. It is much harder to avoid leaning on Watson, Julian Strawther and, to a lesser extent, Christian Braun than last season.
Then again, Denver has also given Malone Russell Westbrook (and Dario Šarić). Are we entirely certain he won't, like, close games with Russ next to Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokić, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon rather than one of the kids? Or just turn to Westbrook in undersized bench-heavy lineups rather than play Strawther or Watson?
More than Murray's topsy-turvy play, more than even the development of the kids themselves, Malone's relationship with the front office— and, apparently, his players' conditioning —has the potential to evolve into an unwanted spectacle.

Detroit Pistons: Development of Jaden Ivey, Ron Holland and Ausar Thompson

Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Potential controversy near the "top" of the Detroit Pistons roster exists in ample supply. Pretty much of all it can be tied to the immediate—and long-term—viability of Ron Holland, Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson.
Logic dictates that Detroit plumbs the depths of its highest-end draft picks. But the team landed a smattering of impact veterans over the summer, and these three players, in particular, are not an intuitive fit together.
Will any member of this trio cede minutes to newcomers (and Simone Fontecchio)? Are any singular roles jeopardized if the spacing and shooting flops during minutes with two or more of them on the floor? Does it matter, at all, that Ivey and Thompson were not brought in by the current front office? Is Holland going to receive the kid-gloves treatment until the Pistons clarify their place in the standings and path forward at the trade deadline?
One of these three will invariably fall by the wayside—whether it's by the hand of their own performance or simply a matter of minute crunches and status politics.
Detroit's response to this inevitability may not be defining, but it can certainly be course-altering.

Golden State Warriors: Jonathan Kuminga's Best Role

Noah Graham/NBAE via Is Jonathan Kuminga a 3? Is he a 4? Can he log minutes as an undersized 5? Is he something like a 3.5? Or more like a 4.23875?
Not even the Golden State Warriors appear to know .
To the Dubs' credit, insofar as this is even to their credit, they seem to be debating the merits of him at the 3 or 4. That's splitting hairs in many instances.
This isn't one of those instances, though. The answer could define the Warriors' entire rotation.
If they view him as a 3, doesn't this mean they should have added a floor-spacing big? And if he's a 4, does this rule out playing him next to Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and a center? You can't play all three and a big who doesn't shoot...right?
Avoiding that setup entirely requires Green, at minimum, to default toward a de facto 5. Or it augurs some wild staggering by head coach Steve Kerr that invariably impedes one or more stakeholders' overall court time.
Looming over all this is Kuminga's extension eligibility. Putting a dollar sign to his future may simplify decision-making...in ways that make it awkward for others. And yet, letting this ride into restricted free agency will lend itself to another season's worth of speculation and, most probably, thinly veiled passive aggression.

Houston Rockets: Minutes Distribution

Logan Riely/NBAE via No NBA team outside Oklahoma City has a deeper well of core-player possibilities than the Houston Rockets. This is, objectively, an excellent spot in which to sit. It will also culminate in tough decisions and discussions.
Do the Rockets have enough faith in the long-term viability of Alperen Şengün and Jalen Green to extend one or both? Will they each hover on the fringes of the trade-rumor mill if they enter the season without a deal?
What does Amen Thompson's role look like in Year 2, particularly on offense? He impressed away from the ball as a rookie. Can he replicate that value in minutes with Şengün? Does Houston have room to juice the on-ball reps for someone billed as a floor general coming out of the draft?
And if the Rockets increase Thompson's responsibilities, how does it impact Şengün? And the playing time for third-overall pick Reed Sheppard?
Beyond that, are we headed for a Jabari Smith Jr. or Tari Eason conversation, with both approaching extension eligibility next summer? If the solution is more time at the 5 for Smith, what does this mean for Şengün? And Steven Adams?
How does Cam Whitmore fit into the fold? "Pretty significantly" is the best answer. But that will impact one or more of Jalen Green, Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks—at minimum.
Make no bones about it, the Rockets are in an enviable position. But it's also a complicated one that renders them a team to watch once trade season tips off.

Indiana Pacers: Bennedict Mathurin's Role and Future

Dylan Buell/ Jarace Walker's role and future could just as easily be slotted into this space. But he is a conceptual antidote to what most ails the Indiana Pacers' roster construction, and equally important, he's not one season away from extension eligibility.
Bennedict Mathurin's situation must be viewed through a more urgent lens. Penciling him in as the sixth man is fine—and likely the best way to maximize his firecracker on-ball chops.
Less clear, though, is whether the Pacers have genuine room in the rotation for him, T.J. McConnell, Ben Sheppard and Aaron Nesmith when Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard are standing in front of them, and when, most critically, only one of the aforementioned names qualifies as even a true-ish wing (Nesmith).
Offensive firepower can give Mathurin a theoretical edge. At the most basic level, he can dribble, and Nesmith probably shouldn't.
But Indiana is not hard up for offense. It needs a perimeter defensive punch—preferably from someone who pitches in on the glass within varying possession coverages.
Can that player be Mathurin? And if it's not, where exactly does he fit into the bigger picture? It's a question Indiana will delay answering until it has more information. And that's fair. But the February trade deadline cannot come and go without a more concrete conclusion to what's gradually becoming a positional saga.

Los Angeles Clippers: The Reality of Where This is Going

Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Kawhi Leonard will begin the 2024-25 regular season on the shelf. Paul George is gone (and also injured himself). The Los Angeles Clippers suddenly find themselves inextricably tied to the remaining star power of a 35-year-old James Harden and dependent on a string of journeymen and career question marks to tread water in what will be a gory bloodbath of a Western Conference.
So, uh, what now?
Cold and callous approaches will call for the Clippers to burn it all down—opening the Intuit Dome and their outbound draft-pick obligations be damned. Live-in-the-moment, there-is-no-tomorrow YOLO-ists will urge L.A. to dangle remaining assets in exchange for a meaningful splash that raises its immediate approaches.
Those who are more curious than anything, even if morbidly so, will want to see how the start of the season goes before taking the Clippers to task. That is likely the right approach.
But sitting tight implies there is something special for which to wait. There is no guarantee their best-case scenario includes more than a cursory push for the No. 6 seed. Is that fate enough to entice doubling down? Is it unspectacular enough to inspire a full-scale teardown?
And hell, what does either scenario even look like? Does a distant first-rounder plus salary get L.A. into any consequential talks? Can it get enough value for Kawhi or Harden at the other end of the spectrum to justify deconstructing itself despite having no draft-pick incentives to do so?
Even if the Clippers are content to ride this season out for better or bare, they cannot escape the existential crisis into which they've been thrust. At some point, wholesale introspection will be the default, if it isn't already.

Los Angeles Lakers: Rob Pelinka's Fate

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via There is a scenario in which the Los Angeles Lakers changing (basically) only the head coach pays massive and instant dividends. Whether it's the most likely outcome is debatable.
Also: It's not.
That's something from which many will derive pleasure. So be it. Yours truly is optimistic about the functional changes head coach JJ Redick will instill on both ends of the floor. But rookie clipboard-carriers require a learning curve, and he is not in a position to be shielded by the breadth of his talent.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis turned in peak joint availability last year. Anything less threatens to send this squad into a downward spiral. Prospective ruts could prove temporary—a part of the feeling-out process for Redick and team. And if there's anything we know about the Lakers and LeBron-led factions, it's that they have patience beyond measure. (Yes, this is written in sarcasm font.)
What happens when the Lakers, as they inevitably will, hit a rough patch? Or if they're clearly not title contenders? Does the messaging we have heard since the end of last season about the bigger picture hold? Is it undermined by LeBron's 40th birthday in December and the urgency to do something, anything, now? And who receives most of the blame?
We already have an answer to the latter question: Rob Pelinka.
You can't fire ownership, so he is the figurehead most associated with the Lakers' bet on roster continuity. If and when things go sideways, his job stability will be tested. Whether that results in a series of moves, potentially borne out of panic, or costs him his job will be a matter of course.

Memphis Grizzlies: Frontcourt Optionality

Joe Murphy/NBAE via Jaren Jackson Jr. and Zach Edey are tremendous complements to one another on paper. Will that synergy actualize from Day 1? And are the Memphis Grizzlies built to successfully traverse the Western Conference if it doesn't?
Regurgitating the party "Edey is a four-year college player so he's ready now" line does little to assuage concern. Sure, he could be everything the Grizzlies need right out of the gate. He could also be subject to a rookie's learning curve that's not conducive to a team hoping it reenters, at the very least, the fringes of title contention. Or he could be everything Memphis needs only to hit a first-year wall.
Having Brandon Clarke and Santi Aldama on deck gives the Grizzlies adequate contingencies. But most secondary plans invariably involve Jackson soaking up more reps at the 5. Is that the best use of his defensive skill set? And can Memphis rebound enough during those minutes to make them worthwhile?
This says nothing of the wing rotation, which spills into the frontline. GG Jackson II is already out for an extended period of time. The Grizzlies will again be fielding a bunch of non-wings in wing spots.
That's mostly fine when looking at their options—so long as they also enjoy the floor-spacing benefits typically associated with smaller combos. They may not. Marcus Smart is a wild card from the perimeter, and even their defense-stretching bigs aren't exactly lights out. Aldama is at 35.1 percent from distance for the last two seasons, and JJJ has drilled under 33 percent of his triples over the past four years.

Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler's Future

Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Let us review the current state of Jimmy Butler.
He...
1. is 35
2. entering a contract year (2025-26 player option)
3. wants an extension but hasn't gotten one
4. was called out by team president Pat Riley in May for commenting on a playoff series to which the Miami Heat didn't make, and in which he wouldn't have been healthy enough to participate even if they did
5. arrived at training camp without an ironic getup, lauding the merits of " normal hair " and "no shenanigans."
What could possibly go wrong?
Perhaps nothing. Butler embracing prove-it mode could be terrifying for the rest of the league.
It could also be the incendiary device that blasts the dynamic between player and team to smithereens—particularly if Miami again finds itself scrapping and clawing outside the top six of the Eastern Conference.

Milwaukee Bucks: The Core Around Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard

Stacy Revere/ Surface-of-the-sun takesters will gravitate toward the futures of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. I can't get there. Not in-season, anyway.
The Milwaukee Bucks are more likely to approach a midstream crossroads with the primary core around them.
Khris Middleton (2025-26 player option), Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis Jr. are all slated for free agency next summer. Milwaukee has the bandwidth to retain them all if it pleases, but the second apron already has other teams running scared.
Plus, with Middleton coming off dual-ankle surgeries as well as a couple of injury-riddled campaigns and Lopez turning 37 by the end of the season, there's no guarantee the Bucks default to preserving the core.
All of which should make for an interesting, albeit awkwardly high-stakes, trade deadline.
Treading water above the second apron limits what the Bucks can do. But they can still turn singular larger salaries into a series of smaller ones—so long as they don't take back more overall money—and may want to get out in front of summertime turnover.
Milwaukee may wind up winning so much in advance of February this is a non-starter. Just how dominant the Bucks would have to be for this to be the case is a mystery.
Continuity at the top is valuable only if you're good enough—not just for this season, but beyond it.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Development of Rob Dillingham

Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Rob Dillingham initially seemed like he would be a significant part of the Minnesota Timberwolves' 2024-25 plans. They gave up a 2030 first-round swap (top-one protection) and 2031 first-rounder to land him (unprotected), and the rotation needed the playmaking and multi-level scoring he can theoretically provide.
This was always a risky gambit. But the Wolves' plans for him were at least clear. They are much less so following the arrivals of Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo—who, together, fill many of the functional voids that can be plugged by the best version of Dillingham...and then some.
Fleshing out the rotation with more proven quantities is nothing to scoff. Randle's fit, in particular, could prove finicky. But he is no less of a gamble than holding out hope for a rookie to elevate the present-day ceiling of a title contender.
Adding Randle and DiVincenzo can also streamline the short- and long-term outlooks for the Dillingham. His place in the rotation is no longer super-high stakes. Minnesota has, at bottom, lightened his prospective on-ball and scoring workloads. Getting to log minutes beside another creator with featured gravity like Randle (on top of Anthony Edwards) will untether him from opposing defenses in ways not previously possible with the Karl-Anthony Towns iteration of Minnesota.
Still, the Wolves played their last best trade chips to get Dillingham. If he ends up becoming a rotation afterthought not just in the playoffs but also the regular season, it will obfuscate some of the vision they originally mapped out for him.

Oklahoma City Thunder: Isaiah Hartenstein's Crunch-Time Role

Bart Young/NBAE via Is there a team destined to face controversy this season than the Oklahoma City Thunder? Maybe the Boston Celtics. But the Kristaps Porziņģis injury and the Jayson Tatum discourse inject slightly more precariousness into their on-court situation.
Settling on Isaiah Hartenstein's crunch-time role doesn't even pique my spidey senses. The Thunder rotation has been extremely fluid and shape-shifty under head coach Mark Daigneault even when they are good. The standard is set, and it's working. Why would it change? Better yet, why would Hartenstein sign in Oklahoma City under the guise it would change?
This still isn't a complete non-issue. It goes beyond opposing matchups. Hartenstein plays Oklahoma City's second- or third-best player's best position. That will surely cap his importance during the highest-stakes moments.
It would be a stretch to even assume the Thunder close with him and Chet Holmgren against the burlier frontcourts. Five-out infernos are part of their appeal. Hartenstein does not entirely submarine that philosophy, but he's not a clear extension of it, either.
Fast-forward to the midpoint of the 2024-25 season. How will Hartenstein feel if he's not even a semi-regular member of the most used closing units?
.] That's what the money's for! Technically, this is true. But if money were the only force driving satisfaction, players would care about their roles or usage.

Orlando Magic: Juggling the Present and Future

Brian Babineau/NBAE via Plenty of people are disappointed the Orlando Magic did not more aggressively upgrade their roster over the offseason. Kenatvious Caldwell-Pope's addition is a start, but he alone doesn't stand to raise their offensive ceiling high enough.
Opting against splashier pursuits amounts to a vote of confidence in, above all, Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner. That is not malpractice. But the Magic are exiting their honeymoon phase—not merely because they're working off a playoff berth, but also because they already doled out one massive extension to Wagner and have two more big-time deals coming down the pipeline (Banchero and Suggs).
Playing the "up-and-comer" card only works for so long. The pressure to win at a high level will keep mounting for Orlando. It will not reach fever pitch this year, but the crescendo is already underway.
This invariably complicates how the Magic handle the supporting cast. More pointedly, what does their current trajectory mean for Anthony Black, Tristan Da Silva and Jett Howard? Not one of them profiles as a top-six member of the rotation. Even saying top seven or eight can feel like a stretch depending on how you feel about some combination of Gary Harris, Mo Wagner and Cole Anthony.
Circumstances can always change. They are much tougher to shift with unknown quantities. Does Orlando have the iron stomach to withstand growing pains from any of Black, Howard or Da Silva? Especially when only one of them (Howard) projects as someone who might begin to address one of their biggest voids (versatile perimeter shot-making)?
Limited playing time for any or all of them may fly under the national radar. It cannot be brushed under the rug in-market. None of which means the Magic to trade all or any of them. But if a path to meaningful playing time doesn't emerge for Black and/or Howard, specifically, it's a conversation that must be had in earnest while they each retain some of their could-be-anyone mystery-box appeal.

Philadelphia 76ers: Star Availability

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Remember how many of us lauded the Philadelphia 76ers for substantively boosting their championship chances while managing to cobble together a supporting cast with real depth around its stars?
Uh, well, that "depth" is about to be put to the test.
Joel Embiid was shut down for the preseason because of his left knee and no longer expects to play in back-to-backs ever again . (Related: Can we just get rid of back-to-backs already?) Paul George just suffered a left knee injury during a preseason bout with the Atlanta Hawks. The Sixers have since announced he incurred no structural damage and will be reevaluated basically at the start of the regular season. That's a relief, but it doesn't mean he or the Sixers are out of the woods.
George is entering his age-34 season and has averaged over 25 absences per year the past half-decade. Embiid turned 30 last March, has averaged 23 absences since 2019-20 and is coming off a campaign in which a left knee injury limited him to just 39 appearances. We can't just assume they'll be available. History suggests they either won't be, or if they are, they'll be shells of themselves when it matters most.
Expect this to become a debate that spans the entire season. It isn't just about injury-proneness and load management and how it all relates to self-preservation. It will also impact the ebbs and flows of how this team operates, its approach leading into the trade deadline and maybe, just maybe, Tyrese Maxey's year-end award case, which will seem a whole lot shinier if Philly sniffs title contention with him as its most available (and thus dependable) star.

Phoenix Suns: At Least One Disgruntled Star

Christian Petersen/ Low-hanging fruit tastes so good.
A coaching change should buy the Phoenix Suns some time before anything goes haywire. But, you know, Game No. 2 has to be played, right? (Relax, I'm kidding.)
Iotas of genuine concern are baked into the snark. Bradley Beal's name stands out first.
Yes, he chose to be in Phoenix. But that was one awkward-vibes season and, most importantly, the acquisition of two more ball-handlers ago. Does he see his role within the offense reworked to the point of marginalization with, most notably, the arrival of Tyus Jones?
Insert your favorite "We're overdue for a Kevin Durant relocation" joke right here. More seriously, does the absence of an extension suggest, at any level, that he and the team aren't necessarily in a " great spot " together?
Devin Booker's allegiance to Phoenix is unimpeachable. To that end, we should all be shocked–—if he's the first star to grow displeased.
But it's like our ancestors said: One disgruntled core player can beget another one. If something goes awry, will he long for the days when the vibes were authentically amazing and the biggest problem he had was a lack of depth on postgame Bulgarian split squats ?

Portland Trail Blazers: Tentpole Cornerstone Problems

Cameron Browne/NBAE via The Portland Trail Blazers enter the season weirdly stacked —not in a "They are going to make the playoffs" sense, but more like "They have numerous NBA-caliber options at every lineup spot" kind of way.
Of those options, how many profile as operable franchise cornerstones, the type of player around which Portland can blueprint its future? There's Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe and, if you're really pushing boundaries, maybe Donovan Clingan.
That's actually a lot. But this presumes they are all possible answers.
Henderson and Sharpe loom as the most likely candidates. Reasonable minds are willing to throw out Henderson's rookie year as a new-kid-on-block blip given how well he closed the season. And Sharpe, to his credit, has shown flashes in pretty much every area of the game when healthy.
Will Sharpe be healthy this year? Not to start it. He's already recovering from a left shoulder injury. Upon return, he'll have to deliver consistent shot-making, both on and off the ball, and continue progressing as a playmaker if he's going to fit the tentpole criteria.
Henderson, meanwhile, will need to bring a better finishing package around the basket, more efficient jumper and more defensive resistance.
None of this is outside the realm of possibility. But if neither emerges as the inarguable option, next year's lottery will be that much higher stakes for a Portland team that, right now, can't necessarily be Sharpie'd into a top-four spot.

New Orleans Pelicans: Brandon Ingram vs. Trey Murphy III

Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Poll an appropriate number of New Orleans Pelicans fans, and the vast majority will insist this isn't a controversy. Trey Murphy III is clearly more valuable to the team—both now and later. But consensus outside the organization, as well as inside it, doesn't diminish the possibility for drama.
Because, well, Ingram is still on the team.
That may not matter much relative to the future. Ingram is headed for the open market next summer, and Murphy will either put pen to paper on an extension or re-sign with the Pelicans in restricted free agency. But the potential for 2024-25 season melodramatics is through the roof, especially if head coach Willie Green continues to bring a (healthy) Murphy off the bench .
Granted, ironing out this wrinkle isn't as simple as relegating CJ McCollum to the second unit and elevating Murphy into the opening five. That helps some of the optics, but New Orleans' rickety center depth must be top-of-mind in this discussion as well.
Available lineup spots shrink if and when the Pelicans decide to roll with a truer big. The same holds true if they elect to acquire one—a course many will beg them to explore. And even that comes back to Ingram and Murphy, at least tangentially.
Who is New Orleans sending out if it decides to upgrade the big-man rotation? Defaulting to Ingram is fine. If that path was readily accessible, though, would a trade not be done already? Ditto if you think it can be McCollum as the outbound asset. Or even if you believe Jordan Hawkins can be flipped for a cheaper 5.
Is there a scenario in which the Pelicans actually jettison Murphy as part of a larger package for a big? My guess is no—an intractable "hell no," actually. But the longer this awkward dynamic persists, the more anything seems as if it can be on the table, a feeling that increases tenfold in the event New Orleans does not hash out an extension with Murphy.

New York Knicks: What Becomes of Mitchell Robinson?

Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via The New York Knicks have done enough transacting over the past eight or nine months to chill out for the next eight or nine.
Cue the " I've got one more in me " meme with Leon Rose superimposed over Vince Carter's face.
Yes, the Knicks might be done, at least in terms of consequential moves. They have acquired three new starters—OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns—since the end of last December. At some point, they need to let the roster marinate for a bit. And they just might.
At the same time, the Mitchell Robinson of it all complicates matters.
Is he officially one of the two or three best backup centers in the league? Someone they envision spending real time in jumbo-sized lineups alongside Towns? Or is he the vehicle through which they plan to deepen the rotation via trade, focusing instead on some combination of reserve playmaking, shooting, properly sized wings and, yeah, maybe another big?
This would be much less of a dilemma if Robinson was healthy. He's not. ESPN's Shams Charania recently revealed that he will be out until at least 2025 as he continues to recover from left ankle surgery. That seems like an optimistic timeline relative to the center's checkered health bill.
Moving him while injured poses all sorts of problems, the most critical of which is his market. The Knicks would be moving him at or near the nadir of his value. Even if it's in the name of bringing back smaller salaries to take up multiple rotation spots, can they afford to sell low? On the flip side, looking at their current depth outside the startling lineup, can they afford to wait out his return? When Robinson is now, effectively, an over-qualified reserve?

Sacramento Kings: Malik Monk vs. DeMar DeRozan Down the Stretch

Rocky Widner/NBAE via Bagging DeMar DeRozan amounts to a substantial talent upgrade for the Sacramento Kings. They needed to reweaponize the offense in a variety of areas . DeRozan checks virtually every box.
He also creates an interesting conundrum: What does his arrival mean for Malik Monk?
Hammering out the rotation will not be a heavy lift for most of the game. Head coach Mike Brown will stagger DeRozan, Monk, De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis in a variety of ways, and there will be stretches in which they all play together.
Will those minutes include any crunch-time reps? That's question (I'm asking).
"Well, actually" me about how those decisions are matchup-dependent until you're a shade of Kings purple. Playing Monk and DeRozan down the stretch, alongside Fox and Sabonis, poses all sorts of defensive challenges even if we (correctly) assume Keegan Murray takes the fifth spot.
Subbing out Monk for Keon Ellis is the most likely course. How does that sit with him? And how does that square away with Sacramento retaining him on a four-year, $78 million contract while adding DeRozan at an average of $24-plus million per season and with Fox's next mega-payday right around the corner?
This is my roundabout way of asking: Is there a chance DeRozan's acquisition sets the stage for Monk to be the trade chip who helps fill a more pressing need for the Kings?

San Antonio Spurs: Juggling Immediate Dominance from Victor Wembanyama with Patience

Megan Briggs/ The San Antonio Spurs left little room over the offseason to interpret their immediate priorities.
While they improved the supporting cast around Victor Wembanyama with the additions of Harrison Barnes and Chris Paul, they did nothing to suggest they feel an inherent rush to win now. If anything, they are embracing the exact opposite.
Drafting Stephon Castle at No. 4 is not a move you make if you're inclined to measurably boost your offense. And you most certainly don't convert No. 8 into a 2030 first-round swap (top-one protection) and 2031 first-round pick (unprotected) from Minnesota if you're especially interested in the outcome of games this season.
This is probably the smart approach. Time is on San Antonio's side when you get into the nuts and bolts of rookie extensions or restricted free agency. It is guaranteed at least seven to nine years with Wemby before he can meaningfully demand anything.
Yet, this isn't about external or internal pressure. Again, the Spurs are facing little of both. For now. This is more about Wembanyama being so good that mounting external pressures lead to an increase in internal pressure.
You can laugh. I encourage it. A 39-year-old CP3 and Barnes do not suddenly, inarguably vault San Antonio into the playoff discussion. But the Spurs won the minutes Wemby played for more than half of last season. He figures to get better. And they, overall, should be better, even as they deal with other mini-controversies (like Jeremy Sochan's long-term place on the team) and imperfections.
Does extended relevance coax them into action on the trade market? Or will patience and process rule the day no matter what?

Toronto Raptors: A Top 4 That Doesn't Jibe with the Team's Timeline

Mark Blinch/ The Toronto Raptors, as currently constructed, look like an accidentally-on-purpose play-in candidate. This is to say, they skew closer toward a full-tilt rebuild than anything else.
In all actuality, they are positioned to react. If they stink, they can look at moving anyone other than Scottie Barnes. If they are better than expected, as in actually good, they can float the current product—or consider making upgrades.
That is an objectively weird spot in which to be when looking at the tippy top of the Raptors' payroll.
Most rebuilding and rebuilding-ish squads aren't on the hook for so many sizable second and third contracts. Toronto profiles as an exception.
Three of their top-four players—RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Jakob Poeltl—are on their second or third deal. The other member of that core, Scottie Barnes, begins a max extension next year.
This is hardly unforgivable, particularly in an age when free-agency tilts toward uneventful, and in a market not known for making splashes even during the most anarchic of times. But it is a questionable approach unless you have as well as in place.
Toronto can argue that it already has one of these elements in place. Barnes as is a reasonable claim. Do the Raptors have their second-best player of the future in Quickley, Barrett or Poeltl? Debatable. But probably not. And depending on how good they are or aren't, we're bound to think and speak and hear much more about it, and how it inhibits their future prospects or does nothing of the sort.

Utah Jazz: Winning Too Much

Alex Goodlett/ Claim that the Utah Jazz are bad enough entering the season, for real this time, at your own risk.
Identical sentiments peppered the internet in 2022. And then again in 2023. You know what happened? The Jazz held an above.-500 record at some point past the midway point of their schedule each time.
Interpretations of this team's future will get all sorts of bizarrely contentious if the same happens again. And the blame game will be generationally absurd.
Will it be on head coach Will Hardy for being too darn good at his job? Will it be the fault of team CEO Danny Ainge and general manager Justin Zanik for not entirely gutting the roster early enough, even though said roster features zero All-Star-caliber players beyond Lauri Markkanen and little defensive talent?
Will it fall on Markkanen himself for making an improbable entry into the periphery of the MVP conversation for keeping a squad built to be irrelevant incredibly relevant?
Forecasting that far ahead is tough. It may even be needless. Because this time, for real, the Jazz seem constructed to get lost in the Western Conference gauntlet.
If they don't, it'll be thanks to a string of unforeseen overachievements, right down to the development of Keyonte George, Walker Kessler, Cody Williams, Taylor Hendricks, Isaiah Collier, et al. Which, hooray. And stuff. But another season of outperforming early expectations better also be accompanied by the emergence of an organizational polestar around which everything can be built. Otherwise, the same "Where is Utah going, really?" will persist.

Washington Wizards: Juggling Veterans and Prospects

Patrick Smith/ Balancing prospect development with veteran presences is a challenge for many rebuilding teams. Most of us, including myself, tend to oversimplify it.
"Play the kids," we demand, as if it's really that easy. Sometimes, it can be. But there is something to be said for using veterans as insulation. They can streamline development by diminishing pressure and responsibility for the kiddies around them. There is also merit to showcasing trade chips ahead of the deadline in hopes of further expanding your asset (and prospect) base.
But at what point does it go too far? And in the Washington Wizards' case, what does that even mean?
Giving Jordan Poole and, at some point, a healthy Malcolm Brogdon too much agency over the offense instead of letting Bub Carrington and Bilal Coulibaly run free? Having Alex Sarr spend too much time alongside another big, be it Jonas Valančiūnas or Marvin Bagley III, when his best big-picture position is center? Playing Kyle Kuzma and Corey "Is He Part Of The Future, Really?" Kispert over Kyshawn George?
Head coach Brian Keefe has experimented with a bunch of different lineups in the preseason. Chances are much of the minutes controversy will clear itself up by the deadline. But if guys like Kuzma and Valančiūnas remain on the roster all year, it paves the way for a logistical tug-of-war.
Hardwood Knocks Grant Hughes

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