What I’m most looking forward to …
Seeing all the fruits borne of an incredible summer of player movement.
asserted
I → look → movement
It feels like three years ago that Giannis Antetokounmpo was traded to the Heat, because since then, Jaylen Brown and LeBron James went to the 76ers, and a ton of other deck chairs were reshuffled.
asserted
ton → feel → chairs
Washington and Utah clawing their way out of the doldrums.
asserted
Washington → claw → doldrums
Both now surround young cores of switchy, two-way wings with playoff-tested veterans like Anthony Davis and Jaren Jackson Jr. Lee Escobedo
The NBA’s great chemistry experiment.
asserted
Both → surround → experiment
After a summer in which Antetokounmpo landed in Miami and LeBron and Brown somehow wound up together in Philadelphia, the league feels like someone hit the reset button.
asserted
someone → land → button
Whether any of these hastily assembled superteams can actually function together is another question entirely.
asserted
function → assemble → superteams
I’m particularly interested in how quickly the novelty wears off and the finger-pointing begins.
asserted
pointing → ’m → ?
Can I be a homer and pick da Bulls?
asserted
I → pick → Bulls
It appears they have their own generational Caleb – Caleb Wilson – to match the dynamic Bears quarterback, and the North Carolina prospect has looked like a draft steal since falling to fourth overall.
asserted
prospect → appear → fourth
Mix in the free-agent signing of Norman Powell (a veteran tough guy who expands his offensive range each year) and the addition of Tiago Splitter (a Gregg Popovich disciple who spurred Portland to a surprising playoff campaign last year), and these young Bulls sure look ready to run again.
asserted
Bulls → mix → campaign
I watched a lot of Pacers games last season, convinced they’d still be a playoff team as Tyrese Haliburton recovered from a torn Achilles – their magical run to the NBA finals in 2025 was very much a team effort – only to realize in dismay how Haliburton was not only the team’s beating heart, but the engine of their offense.
asserted
Haliburton → watch → offense
Now Hali is back, Myles Turner is out, Ivica Zubac and Kelly Oubre Jr are in, and I am glued to my couch with a big bucket of popcorn.
asserted
I → glue → popcorn
For all the hand-wringing and consternation about what will or won’t happen for LeBron and the 76ers in his tenure there, it’s ultimately a moot point.
asserted
it → happen → tenure
The (presumably) last stop of his storied career is a coda on what will likely go down as the greatest career in the history of the sport.
asserted
what → go → sport
CDL
Not how he imagined.
asserted
he → imagine → ?
Joel Embiid had the unmitigated gall to announce he’s “against the concept of sacrificing”.
asserted
he → have → sacrificing
This leaves five starters with All-Star appetites fighting over one ball.
asserted
This → leave → ball
Recent champions won with a legible hierarchy, a pecking order that settles crunch time and dictates the counter when defenses load up.
asserted
defenses → win → counter
Tyrese Maxey, coming off a career-high 28.3 points a game, belongs atop the pile.
asserted
Maxey → come → pile
He and VJ Edgecombe will pay most for its absence.
asserted
He → pay → absence
Philadelphia have spent more than four decades searching for the combination that will deliver another NBA championship, and now they’ve turned to a 41-year-old billionaire who would apparently rather be in New York.
asserted
who → spend → York
Whether any of it adds up to a championship is almost beside the point.
asserted
adds → add → point
The Sixers have become the most fascinating reality show in American sports.
asserted
Sixers → become → sports
It already has been with him choppering back and forth from New York and media and fans scrambling to trace leaks about Embiid’s perceived commitment back to his camp, reportedly keen to arrange a reunion with Davis.
uncertain
media → choppere → Davis
If the Sixers’ Monstar team don’t jump out to an early lead in the East – or worse, falter in Eagles-like fashion – the King risks courting the most intense scrutiny of his basketball career from a fanbase that’s already on his case before he’s even played.
asserted
he → jump → case
AL
Counting on the health of a 41-year-old LeBron and Embiid’s knees – to this point proven to have the durability of Cheez-Its – seems unwise.
asserted
Counting → count → Its
This team is bursting at the seams with star power, but it’d be easy for injuries and a clunky fit to yank them off the rails before they ever find their rhythm.
asserted
they → burst → rhythm
OL
Young player to make the superstar leap …
Dylan Harper was arguably San Antonio’s most consistent player in their finals run last season … as a rookie.
asserted
Harper → make → rookie
The sky is the limit for this insanely talented NBA nepo baby, and I think we see him as an All-Star and maybe even a fringe All-NBA player this year.
asserted
we → think → Star
CDL
Alex Sarr’s field-goal percentage jumped from 39.4% as a rookie to 48.2% last season.
asserted
percentage → jump → %
He reads the short roll like a guard and attacks closeouts off the dribble.
asserted
He → read → dribble
Trae Young should make him a premier lob threat for the Wizards.
asserted
him → make → Wizards
Remember Clint Capela shooting 64.6% off Young’s passes in 2020-21?
asserted
Capela → remember → 2020
The next frontier is individual defense beyond his two blocks a night, and he now apprentices himself to Davis, a five-time All-Defensive selection.
asserted
he → apprentice → Davis
What makes the Rockets star so tantalizing is the possibility that his offensive game catches up with the havoc he already wreaks defensively.
asserted
he → make → havoc
Houston have enough talent around him that he won’t have to manufacture everything himself, but there’s a version of Thompson who becomes the Rockets’ most important player on both ends of the floor.
asserted
who → have → floor
That version may arrive sooner than anyone expects.
uncertain
anyone → arrive → ?
BAG
One could argue that Cade Cunningham is already there after leading Detroit to the east’s top seed and otherwise filling out the box score like he did last year.
uncertain
he → argue → score
This year, though, I think is when more fans recognize that the Oklahoma State product belongs in the same conversation with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić et al.
asserted
product → think → Alexander
And if all the work Cunningham put in during the offseason to improve his three-point accuracy bears fruit, the Pistons could have a serious MVP contender on their roster.
uncertain
Pistons → put → roster
…and 55 more, not listed.
The Aporia
