The 2024-2025 NBA season is almost here! Here we have 10 storylines that fans should pay attention to in the coming months.
Opening night of the regular season is on Tuesday, October 22 and kicks off with the defending champion Boston Celtics hosting the New York Knicks.
The Los Angeles Lakers will then welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Crypto.com Arena as Netflix documentary ‘Starting 5’ duo LeBron James and Anthony Edwards do battle.
Those are just two of the 2,460 games that will take place in what promises to be another highly entertaining year of basketball.
NBA Analysis Network provides the 10 best storylines to look out for throughout the 2024-25 season.
The Boston Celtics had come close to winning their first championship since 2008 a handful of times in recent years but they finally got over the line in 2024.
They do not have one of the five best players in the NBA but Jayson Tatum is not far off, and his supporting cast – including Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis – is the best in the league.
No team has gone back-to-back since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018 but the Celtics have a fantastic opportunity to do just that – and they might not stop there.
LeBron James has achieved so much that most of his records are overlooked. But this one is almost too good to be true.
LeBron and his son, Bronny James, are set to become the first-ever father-son duo to play in the same NBA game and it could happen as soon as opening night.
Regardless of Bronny’s play and the Los Angeles Lakers’ success, this season will be one to remember because of this amazing story.
The New York Knicks are finally serious about winning the NBA title. They reached the Eastern Conference semifinals last season and chose not to rest on their laurels.
They made potentially the biggest move of the season by trading All-Star Julius Randle and two-way guard Donte DiVincenzo to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns.
The seven-foot center who shot over 41 per cent from three last season is the perfect second option to Jalen Brunson and undoubtedly raises the Knicks’ ceiling.
A combination of injuries and off-court troubles meant that Ja Morant only played nine regular-season games last season.
As a result, the Grizzlies scored the fewest points in the NBA (105.8 per game) and did not even make the Play-In Tournament.
But if Morant can stay healthy – ideally playing at least 65 times to qualify for the NBA’s season awards – Taylor Jenkins’ team could be a dark horse contender.
LeBron James and JJ Redick’s incredibly popular podcast, ‘Mind the Game’, showed that the two can work well together – but this is a whole new ball game.
Redick had never coached professionally, yet he was handed the keys to the NBA’s biggest franchise, which happens to have James and Anthony Davis on the roster.
The 40-year-old was a well-respected player and clearly knows the game inside out but that does not necessarily mean that he will succeed. Only time will tell.
Nikolas Jokic is a three-time Most Valuable Player, six-time All-Star and NBA champion. On the face of it, he has nothing else to prove, but it all depends on how he wants to be remembered (he probably doesn’t care).
Jokic could retire today and make the Hall of Fame but he has the chance to enter discussions for the top 10 basketball players ever with a few more great seasons – and another ring.
As for the Denver Nuggets, nobody can ever take their 2022 championship away from them but it will start to look like a fluke if they never make it back to at least the Western Conference finals.
The last six Most Valuable Player Awards have been shared between Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid.
Those three will probably be in the running once more, but it feels like the right time for a new recipient.
Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brunson are some of the players who could become first-time MVP winners in May.
The sky is the limit for Victor Wembanyama (almost literally). The seven-foot, three-inch Frenchman scored 21.4 points in less than 30 minutes per game last season.
With some improvements to his game and the help of veteran point guard Chris Paul, Wemby could genuinely average 25 points, 12 rebounds and five assists this year.
He is fully expected to make his first All-Star appearance and is also the favourite to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award. If he exceeds those expectations then the rest of the NBA is in serious trouble.
In the four years between LeBron James leaving and Jimmy Butler joining the Miami Heat, they failed to make it to the Eastern Conference finals.
Whereas, in the five seasons since Butler moved to Florida, he has led the Heat to the NBA Finals twice and the Conference finals another time.
But he is now 35 years of age and it feels like the last roll of the dice for Erik Spoelstra and this current group of players. Has Butler got another epic playoff run in him?
The Oklahoma City Thunder finished with the best record in the Western Conference last season and won their first playoff series since 2016 when Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant were still on the team.
It was a step in the right direction but they must improve plenty if they are to make it to the NBA Finals.
The offseason additions of Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein could be crucial and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has a genuine chance to take the ‘best player in the league’ crown.
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