The 2023-24 NBA season kicks off Monday, when media day marks the start of training camp for 28 of the 30 teams across the league. (The Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves kicked off their camps on Thursday.)
That includes all 15 Eastern Conference teams, some of which are still reeling from the seismic trades of Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks and, after a few days as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers, Jrue Holiday to the Boston Celtics.
What are the deals’ ripple effects throughout the conference? What could they mean for the future of another star guard, the Philadelphia 76ers’ James Harden? Are there more moves on the horizon for the Bucks and Celtics? What’s next for the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers after mostly standing pat this offseason?
As camps get underway, here’s a quick trip around the East, looking at the five biggest questions among the top contenders for home-court advantage in the conference.
1. The Harden saga takes center stage for Philadelphia
For all of the attention surrounding the Bucks and Celtics for their blockbuster trades, those completed deals now push Harden’s uncertain future to the forefront.
This summer, Harden made his feelings clear about Daryl Morey, Philadelphia’s president of basketball operations and Harden’s longtime ally and advocate going back to successful seasons together with the Houston Rockets. These days, though, there seems to be little love for Morey from Harden.
Now that Lillard and Holiday are off the board, it’s difficult to see the kind of star player coming back to Philadelphia that Morey has publicly declared would be required for Harden to be dealt. Until either Morey changes his stance or some team meets his terms, Harden’s lone path to being paid this season is by playing for the 76ers.
So, how will Harden react? Will he be fully committed? Is there a world where he could remain in Philadelphia for the entire season?
All of these questions, and others, will be asked of Harden on Monday at the team’s media day at its practice facility in Camden, New Jersey, and then in the days to come during the team’s training camp in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Meanwhile, the 76ers will be adjusting to life under a new coach, former Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse, and it’s safe to say the league’s reigning MVP, Joel Embiid, registered his feelings about the summer by tweeting Sunday afternoon, “This offseason was fun lmao.”
For a Philadelphia franchise that has been consumed by virtually constant drama for a decade, there will be no shortage of it in the coming weeks
2. What’s next for Miami after a summer of inactivity?
The Heat never think they are out of options when it comes to acquiring talent, a hard-earned belief from nearly three decades of team president Pat Riley’s tenure lording over the franchise.
But it’s hard to argue this summer has been anything but a disappointment for the reigning East champs. Miami attempted to acquire Damian Lillard — the exact kind of ball-dominant guard who would have been a perfect fit alongside Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
Holiday, while not Lillard from an offensive standpoint, is the type of tough-minded two-way player the Heat have always gravitated toward throughout Riley’s tenure and would have fit seamlessly next to Butler on the perimeter.
Instead, the Heat’s chief competition — the Bucks and Celtics — landed the star guards, and two key players from last season’s stunning playoff run — Gabe Vincent and Max Strus — signed with the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively, in free agency.
The Heat, who pride themselves on getting contributions from unheralded role players, did bring back Josh Richardson on a team-friendly deal to replace Vincent, will be moving Duncan Robinson into Strus’ role as a floor spacer and scorer — one he occupied before Strus stepped into it over the past season-plus — and will look for contributions from second-year forward Nikola Jovic and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr., two of the players who could’ve gone out in a deal for a guard who instead wound up staying put.
Miami should remain in the hunt for any stars who become available. But this summer was a short-term setback. And while doubting either Jimmy Butler or coach Erik Spoelstra should be done at one’s peril, Miami’s road to a fourth conference finals in five seasons got a lot tougher over the past week.
3. Just how good will Milwaukee and Boston be after massive trades?
Between the Bucks swinging for the fences with Lillard and the Celtics doing the same with Holiday, it’s been a wild week atop the East.
In Milwaukee, there might not be a better one-two punch in the NBA, in terms of star power, than Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The duo should help the Bucks’ offense skyrocket up league rankings after finishing 15th last season (albeit with three-time All-Star forward Khris Middleton missing most of the season with injuries).
