Just to start with something obvious, the best players in the NBA play for the best teams, right? After all, that’s why they are considered the best players – because they impact winning at the highest level.
Wrong!
At least for this season. If the 2024-25 NBA season feels a little off, there’s a reason why. The best players aren’t playing for the best teams.
Take a look at the best records in the league. Seven teams have won at least 60 percent of their games: the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies.
Among players in that group, only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jayson Tatum earned MVP votes last season.*
There are stars on those teams, to be sure. Donovan Mitchell, Stephen Curry, Alperen Sengun, Paolo Banchero and Ja Morant. But none of those players are seriously considered in the top tier of NBA stars.
Instead, the top-tier players are toiling away on average teams. Despite posting career numbers, Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets are in eighth in the West. Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks are in ninth. Giannis Antetokounmpo's Bucks are .500 after a rocky start. Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves just fell below .500 this week. I don’t even have to mention Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.
This was not the case last season, when Giannis, Durant, Luka, Edwards, Jokic, SGA and Tatum all played for the top 10 teams in the league. The best players used to play for the best teams. Now, not so much.
So, what gives?
First, it’s worth noting that we’re only a month into the season and injuries have greatly impacted the start of this campaign. Luka has missed time, the Nuggets have been hit with injuries to core starters, Durant just returned from a seven-game absence and Embiid has suited up for only four games.
But the salary cap and the new luxury tax aprons are also a factor. Probably the biggest.
Among the 25 highest-paid players in the league, only three – Curry, Jaylen Brown and Fred VanVleet – are playing for a team with a win percentage of 60 percent or better.
This wasn’t the case in the past. Typically if an owner was invested in a star player to this level, they doubled-down and invested in the team overall. The thinking went that if you had one of the top guys in the league, you had a chance to the title and owed it to him and your fans to go for it.
But now owners are asking their stars to do more heavy lifting. If last summer will be remembered for anything, it’ll be how the new tax aprons tightened the purse strings.
We’ve already seen teams like Denver and Minnesota trim payroll to avoid the second apron and both are suffering from a lack of chemistry and depth because of it. In the case of the Nuggets, Jokic is in the middle of his prime. If there was ever a time to spend, it’s right now. But the penalties that come with being a second-apron team aren’t always worth it. So instead of Jokic playing for a juggernaut, he’s posting career-highs in minutes and shot attempts as he fights to keep the Nuggets above .500. Fun!
Yet this seems to be what Adam Silver wanted. Parity. Having the best player in the world no longer guarantees anything. The new salary cap structure made stars – the guys who sell tickets and jerseys – matter a bit less, and depth matter a lot more.
As more people consume the league via YouTube videos, TikTok clips and Reddit posts, maybe team-wide dominance doesn’t matter as much. It’s more about individual highlights, quotes and hot takes.
But for a locked-in fan of the NBA, the result has been a season that has so far felt underwhelming and aimless.
Mission accomplished, I guess.
*Players who received votes for the 2024 NBA MVP: Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jalen Brunson, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Domantas Sabonis, Kevin Durant.