Here we are! Like every year, the NBA season which opens is full of questions. Which players will explode or, on the contrary, disappoint? Which recruits will change the situation? Who will be transferred? 82 matches in six months is a sometimes routine marathon, but it leaves room for surprises, which are always numerous as the months go by in the NBA.
This 2024/25 financial year is no exception and we have listed ten major questions that will occupy the minds of observers.
How many games will Paul George and Joel Embiid play together?
The biggest signing of the summer on a sporting level, Paul George arrives in Philadelphia with big ambitions. The title, nothing less.
Except that the winger is already physically fragile with very incomplete seasons with the Clippers. Last season, he certainly played 74 matches, but this is by far his record in Los Angeles. Before that? 48, 54, 31 and 56…
And this concern is obviously added to the equally unreliable physique of Joel Embiid. The 2023 MVP has never played more than 68 games in a season and last year, we only saw him 39 times. Nick Nurse has already spoken about the management of the duo, who should be excluded from the “back-to-backs” in the regular season. Both stars are used to the infirmary and will be managed closely: it is therefore not an exaggeration to wonder how many times we could see them fully express themselves together on the pitch.
Moreover, they are both announced to be absent for the first match of the season, against the Bucks!
Will their physical management allow Philadelphia to arrive in sufficient shape in the playoffs, and with enough automatisms, to go for the title?
Will Klay Thompson be the Mavericks’ missing piece?
It's one of the most talked about moves of the summer, and one of the most significant too since it closes a huge chapter in Golden State. The Warriors lost Klay Thompson and the words of loving spite from Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr clearly show the void left by the back in California. The latter packed his bags for Texas.
By arriving in Dallas, he strengthens the reigning finalist, no less. Obviously, a four-time NBA champion, one of the best 3-point shooters in history arriving in such a team, with Luka Doncic at the helm, is attractive. Here again, it's on paper, because on the field, Klay Thompson must regain his feelings.
Since his return to competition, he has not been quite the same. The fault of Golden State's spleen, after two years of frustrating negotiations? Will the air of Dallas allow us to find the player from before 2019?
Will Mikal Bridges keep his new shooting gesture?
Not sure the Knicks weren't expecting that when they brought in Mikal Bridges… The rookie missed his preseason, which can happen, but his 2/19 at 3-pts is even more worrying in terms of form . The former Suns and Nets decided to modify his shooting gesture to find more comfort. And the new formula is, visually, hardly convincing with a movement that is not very fluid and very slow, where the ball goes from very high.
He, who has never been particularly clumsy, takes a risk because a shooting mechanic cannot be replaced like that. It takes time and accepting to miss a lot to adjust to your new gesture.
Mikal Bridges takes this option during a very important season: his first in New York and with the Knicks who are aiming for the title, quite simply. Will he be skillful quickly or patient? Or will he return, faced with his own awkwardness and pressure, to his old gesture?
What style of play for the Lakers with JJ Redick?
The Lakers' season with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and company will obviously be closely watched and the fact that a new coach, JJ Redick in this case, is on the bench adds to this excitement. Even more: he is a trainer with no experience! Even that of assistant coach. Will he be able to take Los Angeles to the playoffs, or even further? That's what everyone is wondering.
What is also interesting will be to see his touch, his style. A coach is about ideas and over the years, the former player has had the opportunities to evoke them. Whether as a consultant for ESPN or with his podcast with LeBron James, JJ Redick has often talked about substance, basketball, systems.
Here he is now with a group to manage and a brochure in hand. But experiences like those of Derek Fisher or Chauncey Billups demonstrated that intelligent players were not necessarily good tacticians.
Is Victor Wembanyama heading for the stars?
After his more than successful first season and his silver Olympic Games in Paris, Victor Wembanyama begins his year II in the NBA. Even more ambitious, now more experienced, the Spurs pivot has everything to explode this season and become an All-Star. One more brick in his already thick track record for his age.
“I want all the trophies I receive today to be building blocks to build something great in the future. You know, a brick by itself is not much. You can get a palace when you accumulate them,” he said.
Especially since the presence of Chris Paul should allow him to shine and gain knowledge. With such a launch pad, it could still explode the counters. Except that we also have to move San Antonio forward. We will therefore be attentive to his progress, to his leadership in difficult times. He had passed his first test with flying colors. One star and one competitive season for the Texans, and the 2024 rookie of the year will change status.
Will the NBA tournament convince again?
We had to learn the format, circle the dates, adapt to the new floors, very flashy, even quite ugly, but also for the players to understand the “point average” system, but ultimately, the first mid-season tournament was been a success. And not to spoil anything in terms of prestige, it was won by LeBron James and the Lakers.
The players played the game (it should be remembered that a big check was promised at the end too…), there was emulation and regular season meetings in November and December, generally not very exciting and intense, were offered a pleasant spectacle.
Obviously, television audiences followed. The second edition is therefore expected to transform the essay.
What seasons for Kawhi Leonard and Lonzo Ball?
It is obvious that the two players do not live in the same world but, on a strictly physical level, their trajectory deserves to be scrutinized. The first was reassuring last season. Despite the new policy against “load management”, Kawhi Leonard had played 68 matches and confirmed what everyone has known for a long time: in full possession of his means, he remains one of the best players in the world.
Then, in the playoffs, his knee creaked again, the Clippers player missed matches and his start to the season was already compromised. Should we definitely mourn a healthy “The Klaw” from October to June?
For Lonzo Ball, it's even more exciting. For his third operation on his left knee in 14 months, the Bulls playmaker underwent an unusual procedure: a cartilage graft.
“We are on rescue”explained Matthieu Ollivier of the Institute of Movement and Musculoskeletal Apparatus (IML) in Marseille, in March 2023. “ This operation can give quite stunning results. But it's still random. For a professional athlete, the possibilities of returning to a high level are 70/30 in my opinion. » Lonzo Ball played again in the preseason and his return to the regular season will be after more than 1,000 days. So, rescue successful?
Can Ja Morant regain control of his career?
In a few months, Anthony Edwards has undoubtedly taken the place of media superstar promised to Ja Morant only two years ago. In 2022, the Grizzlies playmaker seemed launched towards the stars. He was strong, spectacular, and we awaited his highlights regularly. Then, his attitude took over, with his two big suspensions – for the same mistake… – which weighed down his career and his team. When he returned last season, after 25 matches on the sidelines, he quickly got injured: season over.
With his enormous talent, his style and at only 25 years old, Ja Morant still has plenty of time to redeem himself and win back Memphis fans, and also the NBA. But a first train passed and, as he did not get on it, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton and the competition got ahead.
Will the Bucks find the right solution?
Candidate for the title since the 2018/19 season, the Milwaukee franchise went through last season in relative discretion. Not media because between the late arrival of Damian Lillard and the departure of Adrian Griffin after 43 matches (and a very positive record) to install Doc Rivers on the bench, there was a lot of talk about the Bucks.
But little for their good sporting performances. The duo between the former Portlander and Giannis Antetokounmpo did not show the extent of its potential, the team never regained its former defensive level and Doc Rivers often seemed lost, thus provoking criticism from JJ Redick, injuries at the end of the season and playoffs only hastened things.
This season is a new beginning, where everyone can start from scratch. The group first. The Bucks with Mike Budenholzer, we liked it or not, but they had a strong, assertive identity. We knew how they played. Last season, it was more vague and the individual numbers of “Dame” and the Greek masked a lot of limits. Damian Lillard and Doc Rivers, even if he denies it, will have things to prove and he is always a good engine.
Will the Celtics do the double?
This is almost the question that arises immediately after the title won in June. Except that in recent years, times have been tough for kings. Since the Warriors' double in 2017 and 2018, they still leave the throne a year later. Can the Celtics, who took 16 long years to climb Everest again, reverse this trend? They have the weapons for it. Already, the group has not changed and it will have one more year of experience, even if Kristaps Porzingis is injured until the end of the calendar year. In addition, Joe Mazzulla's troops have been so consistent for several years that it seems impossible to exclude Boston from the list of very big favorites.
However, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown chased this title for a long time, overcame doubts, criticism and failures, and that offers crazy energy to get back on the horse. When we win, we are chased away and even if the players always say that we are never satisfied, it is not the same thing. Especially in an Eastern conference which has strengthened with Philadelphia and New York which clearly have the objective of bringing down the Celts.
