Tony Dejak/Associated Press
The two best times on the NBA calendar for fans of teams who miss the playoffs year after year are the draft and the weeks leading up to the regular season tipoff.
Hope springs eternal in both of those scenarios as fans envision their team’s new star leading them to a championship.
As training camps begin and the regular season approaches, every NBA team is tied for first place at 0-0. The Golden State Warriors are on the same plane as the New York Knicks, which is a nice sentence to write if you’re a fan of the latter team.
Here’s a look at some upcoming NBA dates alongside some notable storylines for this season.
NBA Dates and Schedules
Saturday: Training camps open for Philadelphia 76ers and Dallas Mavericks, who are participating in the preseason NBA Global Games in China on October 5 (Shanghai) and October 8 (Shenzhen).
Tuesday: Training camps open for the other 28 NBA teams.
Friday, September 28: NBA preseason begins (Melbourne United at Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics at Charlotte Hornets)
Friday, October 12: NBA preseason ends
Tuesday, October 16: NBA regular season begins
Schedule via NBA.com.
Top Storylines
New-Look Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James, Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley and JaVale McGee are on the same team next year. Let that sink in for a minute.
They join a Los Angeles Lakers squad with a young core of Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart, who helped lead L.A. to a nine-win improvement from the 2016-17 season.
This experiment of mixing some of the most colorful personalities in the league (e.g. Rondo, McGee, Beasley and Stephenson) with arguably the greatest player of all time (James) and the young quartet will be fascinating to watch.
Will they band together and give defending champions Golden State Warriors a run for their money? Or will they struggle to form chemistry and fight just to make the playoffs?
Regardless of the result, the Lakers are once again must-see television every night.
DeMarcus Cousins Rounds Out Tremendous Golden State Lineup
The Golden State Warriors are massive favorites to win the 2019 NBA Finals, per OddsShark. Listed as -165 (bet $165 to win $100) on the table, the Dubs are light-years ahead of the Boston Celtics, who are second on the list at +615 (bet $100 to win $615). No other team has better than 10-1 odds.
The Warriors may have the best starting lineup in NBA history with the addition of All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, who signed a one-year deal with the team.
Cousins was enjoying a great 2017-18 season with the New Orleans Pelicans (25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds) before suffering a torn Achilles in January. He won’t be ready for the start of training camp or the regular season, but as TNT analyst David Aldridge wrote, the team is looking to get him ready for the postseason.
If he returns close to his old form in time for April, then the NBA playoffs almost seem like a formality barring some miraculous individual performances from players like James or the New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis.
Kawhi Leonard in Toronto; DeMar DeRozan in San Antonio
After a seemingly endless saga that lasted close to a year, San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard was traded in a monster deal to the Toronto Raptors that sent shooting guard DeMar DeRozan south.
Leonard’s inclusion on the Raptors roster is an interesting one. The Toronto team defense has clearly improved with the two-time Defensive Player of the Year alongside shooting guard Danny Green, who is a strong defender in his own right.
But the Raps may miss DeRozan’s scoring ability from the mid-range. The 29-year-old also expanded his shooting repertoire to the three-point line last year. It will also be interesting to see how veteran point guard Kyle Lowry and his new teammates get along after the ex-Villanova floor general and DeRozan ran together for six seasons.
The Spurs should be competitive once again, with a strong (albeit aging) frontcourt of LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol leading the way alongside DeRozan. Point guard Dejounte Murray has tremendous potential and is already a stout defender thanks in part to his length, but can he be consistent enough offensively on the next level? That will be something to watch moving forward.
Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward Back in the Boston Lineup
The Boston Celtics were one win away from making the NBA Finals despite playing without Gordon Hayward for all but five regular-season minutes and Kyrie Irving for the entire postseason and 22 regular-season contests.
That duo will be back in the starting lineup this year alongside shooting guard Jaylen Brown, forward Jayson Tatum and center Al Horford. It’s clearly the best starting five in the Eastern Conference, ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors.
Brown and Tatum grew last year as they each were forced to assume more responsibilities. The duo combined to score 36.5 points per game in the playoffs to pace the team’s scoring efforts. They won’t be asked to do as much with Irving and Hayward on the court, but the additions of those two All-Stars only makes the team stronger.
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