Top3 things you're looking forward to see for next season?

[Ryoga Hibiki]

This is what I am curious the most about:

1) The twin towers experiment in Minny
it's always interesting when teams go against the conventional wisdom, moreover I am a Gobert believer and I want to see what he can do in a new environment. This team can get a top seed in the RS (their ceiling is #1, to me), but I want to see how sustainable their defense will look like.

2) Healthy Denver
injuries took derailed a team that would have been a tier 1 title contender. Hoping Murray and Porter will be fine, I really want to see what having added Brown and Caldwell-Pope will do to their pick and roll defense. Hopefully we'll get enough evidence of it even before the post season. I've been an advocate of the notion that Jokic allows you to put around him perimeter players with marginal creation game and even limited shooting, maxing then on their defense.

3) OKC youth movement
in contrast to the notion that tanking kills the excitement, there's so much to see about OKC. Holgrem is another unorthodox player.
will Giddey make a leap with his scoring and, in particular, shooting? Should we give up on Poku? What about all the other rookies they brought in? They probably don't have a championship core there, yet, but it will be interesting what kind of seeds we're going to see.

[JXL]

1) The mess that's the Lakers
2) The mess that's the Nets
3) The Warriors repeat bid

[Duffman100]

East Version

1. Raptors Development (duh)
With Barnes, Precious, OG, Trent all 24 and under, I'm really pumped to see how they take next steps. Adding Porter Jr, a full season of Thad and resigning Boucher means our bench might not be as terrible as it was. Just a fun season with no pressure to watch Raptors ball and make the playoffs again.

2. The Celtics
I just love this roster construction. Scoring, defense, vets, depth... they have it all. They can weather the storm of the regular season, load balancing critical players and be ready to tear into the playoffs. I think this is the year they take the title.

3. Pistons and Cavs
Two different teams in different places but pumped to watch their jumped. I see the Cavs taking a top 4 seed with the growth of Mobley, Garland and Allen and having a strong playoff showing.

Pistons I think are a darkhorse for the play-in. They probably won't make it but I like their young core and have faith in what they're building.

[louc1970]

Mitchell leading Miami in scoring.
Harden realizing he is old.
Irving playing less than 50% of games and still claiming to be about the team.

[timO]

Chet and OKC, play-in attempt at 10.

Rest of top rookies.

Rosters updates, Clips and Denver coming back, Minny weird trade for Gobert etc.

[Duffman100]

West Version

1. Anthony Edwards

Just an absolute stud. Every time I watch him play, I'm jealous he isn't a Raptor. Has superstar written all over him.

2. GS / Kuminga

Gotta hate them but damn do I respect the fact that they just win. Interesting to see how Klay continues to recover and Kuminga is all sorts of interesting.

Denver / Clippers - health? Please?

Jokic deserves some health luck. He deserves the support. Please make Denver healthy.

And as much as I loathe the Clippers, can George and Kawhi play 60-70 games together? I want to see what this team can do.

[Joshyjess]

Well, besides anything about my own team, I'd say:

1 - Nets fan trying to make excuses for Ben Simmons refusing to shoot the ball
2 - the Lakers getting into an actual fight with each other on the court when the Westbrook situation finally gets to the exploding point. (by fight I mean pushing, shoving and yelling in each other faces - you know like most fights in the NBA today!
3 - Which young guy(s) take the next step. Who will be this year's version of Ja!

[bstein14]

Central Version:

1. Cavs young core if they stay healthy, are they a top 4 team in the East? Are they a top 4 defense in the league? How does a healthy Sexton fit in.

2. A bounce back year for Giannis? After MVP, MVP, Championship the previous 3 seasons last year was a bit of a let down, partly because of injuries. Are the Bucks still the best team in the East or have some of their vets lost a bit?

3. Cade & Ivey backcourt in Detroit. How will these two look playing together this year? Does Cade improve on that 17/6/5 rookie season and take the step to a sophomore year all-star? With Jerami Grant moved to Portland Weaver has cleared the path to let the young guys shine this year in Detroit.

[chilluminati]

1. The rise of the young teams: OKC, Detroit, Houston, and Orlando all have amazing young cores. While I believe the Thunder and Pistons will be the first two of those to make the playoffs in their respective conferences, all the teams have some of the most promising young cores their franchises have ever had. Personally I'm invested in Detroit. I legitimately believe we'll have a big 3 with Jaden, Cade, and Saddiq. Stewart is maturing and is firing 3's now, prepared to play more time at the 4 and become a true poor mans AD. We did so well in the draft this year, we may have picked up 2 future starters in Ivey and Duren.

Another side of this are the young teams who are a bit older than those I spoke of previously, but are finding their success in the post season. Such as Memphis, Dallas, and Cleveland. I'm really interested to see the strides these teams make during the next playoffs.

2. The rise and fall and rise of Atlanta and New York: Just two seasons ago these two teams delivered one of the most exciting playoff series I've seen in a while. That series was full of grit and grind, with both teams putting their overdue growth on display. Both teams went through a hefty drought of playoff success prior to making it that year (more so NYK than Atlanta ). NYK fans were WILD. F*** Trae Young became an international meme, and it even spilled over outside of basketball, because the Knicks are an embodiment of NYK culture.

And then both teams took a huge step back, both underperforming and finding no success. There are reasons upon reasons for this, but without spending all day going over them - It was extremely strange seeing two up and coming rising teams, both fall harder than I've seen middling/rising teams fall. Both at the same time.

But now after a healthy off season for both squads, they've brought in more firepower and rounded out their rosters a bit more. Now if Trae can find any defensive consistency and Randle remembers how to play like he did 2 years ago, they should be in position to both be in the top 6 of the east.

3. A healthy Bulls roster: Pretty self explanatory here. Zach Lavine played on one knee all last season. Patrick Williams didn't play. Lonzo Ball's knee (and it still isn't looking very good), Alex Caruso having his wrist broken by Grayson Allen, Vucevic with a lingering knee/ankle injury through the season, Javonte Green's random bangups, and to top it off one of the most Covid riddled teams of last season. I really think with how well Demar played last season, an actual healthy lineup could be very successful and fun to watch.

My runner up would have to be the Brooklyn Debacle. Where they all land, or whether they stay.

[Harry Garris]

1. Seeing the best players from last year's incredible draft continue to develop and progress towards future stars. I think Cade, Jalen Green, Mobley, Barnes, and even Josh Giddey all have all-star appearances in their future.

2. Having great parity league-wide. Although I do think we have a relatively small number of teams who are most likely to win the finals if healthy and all goes well, the past few seasons have shown us that for the first time I can remember in NBA history, we have a really unpredictable league and events don't always play out as projected. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but I for one really enjoy going into a season having no idea who's going to be in the finals.

3. Watching the Nets situation unfold. I just hope something interesting happens here. Whether it's KD and Kyrie both buying in and playing well and making the Nets a legit championship contender, or KD getting traded and turning a team that was on the brink to legit contenders, it's going to be interesting. The least fun outcome would be if the Nets hold on to both their stars but the rest of the team is bad and the Nets are just a mediocre playoff team this year. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

[Joao Saraiva]

Looking forward to see where Denver can go with a healthy roster to be honest. I think this might be a season that makes justice to who Jokic really is, since he's not getting the respect I think he deserves - at least among casuals.

I'll be interested in watching the Lakers too - if they land Kyrie or not. If they don't I wonder how much Westbrook is willing to give for the team because I think it will implode in very funny ways.

Also interested in what Gobert does in Minnesota. Quite honestly I liked him a lot and I believe Mitchell held him back, not the other way arround.

For the rest... I just hope the season goes by fast and that the Jazz finally get the #1 pick and it turns out to be a superstar.

[TravisScott55]

Where KD and Kyrie and Donovan Mitchell end up

Which young player(s) takes the leap

Seeing how the Suns respond to that monumental collapse

[Ni Da Ye]

GSW not able to repeat.
LeBron misses PO again.
Nets drama continues.

[Duffman100]

GSW not able to repeat.
LeBron misses PO again.
Nets drama continues.

[life_saver]

[b]2. The rise and fall and rise of Atlanta and New York: Just two seasons ago these two teams delivered one of the most exciting conference semi finals I've seen in a while. That series was full of grit and grind, with both teams putting their overdue growth on display. Both teams went through a hefty drought of playoff success prior to making it that year (more so NYK than Atlanta ). NYK fans were WILD. F*** Trae Young became an international meme, and it even spilled over outside of basketball, because the Knicks are an embodiment of NYK culture.

And then both teams took a huge step back, both underperforming and finding no success. There are reasons upon reasons for this, but without spending all day going over them - It was extremely strange seeing two up and coming rising teams, both fall harder than I've seen middling/rising teams fall. Both at the same time.

But now after a healthy off season for both squads, they've brought in more firepower and rounded out their rosters a bit more. Now if Trae can find any defensive consistency and Randle remembers how to play like he did 2 years ago, they should be in position to both be in the top 6 of the east.

it was first round series, not conference semifinals

[BK_2020]

Lebron not making the playoffs
Nets implosion
Sixers 2nd round exit

[basketballRob]

1. How will Chet hold up against NBA athletes?

2. How will the Nuggets and Clippers look when they're healthy?

3. How will the Magic look when they're healthy? Can Suggs look better once the game slows down for him? Can Paolo and Franz become starts?

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[Duffman100]

1. How will Chet hold up against NBA athletes?

2. How will the Nuggets and Clippers look when they're healthy?

3. How will the Magic look when they're healthy? Can Suggs look better once the game slows down for him? Can Paolo and Franz become starts?

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Man I'm routing for Suggs hard. I really hope he has a bounce back year.

[facothomas22]

1 The Clippers hopefully being healthy- Ever since the Clippers got Kawhi Leonard and Paul George,I believe they were Championship contenders. They had a disappointing playoff exit against the Nuggets in 2020 and suffered bad luck in 2021 playoffs when Kawhi Leoanrd suffered another major injury. I believe with a healthy Kawhi Leonard/Paul George and a even deeper Clipper roster compared to those 2 years,I think they are the best team in the NBA.

2. The young core of the Pistons and Cavaliers- The Pistons for the 1st time since they trade Chauncy Billips/ Richard Hamilton/Rasheed Wallace era came to a end actually look quite interesting. I expect Cade Cummingham to make a jump in his game and Jalen Ivery look really interesting. Duren also could be really good. The Cavaliers with Darius Garland,Jarrett Allen, and Even Mobley. I would be suprised if the Cavaliers miss the playoff once again. This is the making of the best defesive frontcourts that we have seen in quite some time and their offense will be quite nice as well due to Garland and Caris Levert and with Mobley expecting to take step forward in that area of the game.

3. The Heat if they get Kevin Durant,Donovan Mitchell or Kyrie Irving- Tyler Herro is nice,but I'm not sure if he develop into a all star or not. Jimmy Butler really another great scorer on his team to really take the Heat over the top. With Kevin Durant,they would have to give up a lot of assets,which hurt their depth,but have a top 5 player in the NBA. With Donovan Mitchell,they would have to give up less assets and would be able to keep Bam on the team. He is also still young,so he can make futher improvements. Kyrie Irving despite of his issue may be the best option for the Heat going since won't have to give up Bam or even Tyler Herro in this case. The downside of course is his off the court drama and injury history,but I think Pat Riley can fix a lot of that. If the Heat can get ether of the 3 stars,I might pick them to come out of the east(even over the Celtics and Bucks).

[basketballRob]

1. How will Chet hold up against NBA athletes?

2. How will the Nuggets and Clippers look when they're healthy?

3. How will the Magic look when they're healthy? Can Suggs look better once the game slows down for him? Can Paolo and Franz become starts?

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

Man I'm routing for Suggs hard. I really hope he has a bounce back year.

I think he'll be fine. It takes some guards until halfway through their rookie season for the game to slow down and he only played 48 games. After the season they also found out his recurring ankle issue was an ankle fracture.

He was top 20 in defensive Raptor already.

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