NBA 2023-24 Regular Season Preview
Ryan D’Amico
Staff Writer
With the offseason over and the National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season on its way, there have been some huge changes and big plays that are going to be coming throughout the 2023-24 season. Many new teams with new pieces are all in the rush for the title.
The Milwaukee Bucks made a huge off-season move to acquire former Portland Trail Blazers point Damian Lillard. Unfortunately, in order to acquire Lillard, they had to part with their star point guard Jrue Holiday in the deal. Holiday is one of the best defenders and point guards in the NBA and was the key piece of Milwaukee’s championship team along with Giannis Antetekounmpo. But the star power that Lillard brings to a team that already has one of the best players in the association in Giannis, helps Milwaukee swallow having to give up one of the best defensive players in the game.
The Los Angeles Lakers went to the Western Conference Finals last year when no one expected them to. Now they are looking to go even further to the NBA Finals, where they haven’t been since the 2020 COVID bubble at Disney. They have added some more key pieces, notably Gabe Vincent and Christian Wood among others, while other key pieces are still developing such as shooting guard Austin Reaves.
The Phoenix Suns made a big trade at the Trade Deadline last season for Kevin Durant and this offseason they added All-Star Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards to go alongside KD and Devin Booker. The Suns are certainly in win-now mode especially after going to the NBA Finals two seasons ago when they lost to that Milwaukee squad led by Giannis, Jrue, and Khris Middeton. The only problem is, is their bench and lack of role players and if the three All-NBA players can fit together.
The San Antonio Spurs added one of the potential greatest rookie and draft prospect of all time in Victor Wembanyama as the first overall pick. The Spurs are in a rebuilding stage having had multiple losing seasons leading up to this one and may have one again but with the addition of a defensive monster, a 7-foot-4 shooter, and a lethal scorer from anywhere inside the arc they have what could be their best player leading into a new era following the era led by Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, and Kawhi Leonard.
After Holiday went to the Blazers in the package they received for Lillard, the Boston Celtics added Holiday to their star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Marcus Smart was traded earlier this year to the Memphis Grizzlies and Brown signed the biggest max contract in the league for 5 years, $303.7 million.
The Miami Heat went back to the finals after reaching it back in 2020 during the bubble when everyone thought it was just a lucky year due to the situation. This past season was due to the push from Jimmy Butler and the role players who came out playing like All-Stars, but due to the offseason and having some of their key role players hitting free agency, they are missing several key rotation players including Vincent who went to the Lakers and Max Strus who signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Golden State Warriors traded point guard Jordan Poole to the Wizards and acquired future Hall of Famer Chris Paul (who the Wizards got in the package from Phoenix for Beal). Adding Paul to the mix puts him in a role he’s never been in before and a role the Warriors expect him to excel in alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
Victor Wembanyama was not the only potential star drafted at the top of this year’s draft. Although Portland traded away the face of their franchise for the past decade in Dame, they have added their new star for the next decade to come in Scoot Henderson with the third overall pick and have some new players from trades and some young players left behind. The Charlotte Hornets drafted Brandon Miller as the second overall pick who they expected to mesh well with point guard LaMelo Ball.
Contact Ryan at ryan.damico@student.shu.edu