The NBA revealed its full schedule for the 2024/25 regular season on Thursday, and while there generally aren’t any surprises on that schedule (it’s not like the NFL, where a team plays fewer than half of the league’s other clubs), it’s still worth circling specific dates and marquee matchups.
Zach Harper of The Athletic, Chris Mannix of SI.com, and ESPN did just that, with Harper highlighting 35 games he’s looking forward to, Mannix naming 10 games to watch, and ESPN identifying 23 games not to miss.
Unsurprisingly, the Knicks/Celtics regular season opener (October 22), Paul George‘s return to Los Angeles with the Sixers (November 6), and Klay Thompson‘s return to Golden State with the Mavericks (Nov. 12) made all three lists.
The other two matchups that showed up on all three lists? Wizards at Hawks on Oct. 28 in the first regular season matchup between this year’s top two draft picks (Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr) and Spurs at Thunder on Oct. 30 in this season’s first Victor Wembanyama/Chet Holmgren showdown.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- A total of seven NBA teams operated under the cap and used room to make moves this offseason. As Keith Smith of Spotrac writes, those clubs used their cap space in very different ways, with some – like the Sixers and Thunder – making splashes in free agency, some (such as the Hornets) focusing on taking in salary in trades, and one (the Jazz) using most of its room to renegotiate a star player’s contract.
- Which NBA teams have been the “cheapest” in recent years and which have been most willing to spend? Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report explores that questions, ranking each team by its spending from 2017-24 and considering whether clubs should have been willing to invest more on those rosters. The Warriors, Clippers, and Bucks have been the biggest spenders over the last seven years, while the Bulls, Pistons, and Hornets are at the other end of the list.
- In a three-part series for The Athletic, David Aldridge ranks all 30 NBA clubs based on how much they improved their rosters with their offseason moves. Aldridge’s list, which is sorted by which teams improved most in the short term rather than which clubs made the “best” moves, features the Thunder, Sixers, and Magic at the top. Not coincidentally, those clubs made three of the summer’s biggest free agent signings, adding Isaiah Hartenstein, Paul George, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, respectively.
Which of these young trios would you rather have on your team for the next 5-10yrs, (Zacch Risacher/Jalen Johnson/Onyeka Okongwu), (Bub Carrington/Bilal Coulibaly/Alex Sarr), (Benedict Mathurin/Jarace Walker/James Wiseman), (Anthony Black/Jett Howard/Tristan de Silva), (KJ Simpson/Brandon Miller/Tidjane Salaun), (Marcus Sasser/Ausar Thompson/Ron Holland), (Jaime Jaquez/Nikola Jovic/Kel’el Ware) or (Josh Giddey/Dalen Terry/Matas Buzelis)? Rank a top3 if possible…
I’d rather have Keyonte, Kessler and Hendricks. Then add the 3 they added this Summer. Looking pretty good.
Of course, those 3, and a bunch on this list, have yet to play a single NBA game. Although, I do like that Heat trio. The rest are a bit of a tie for third. =)
Jazz are western conference and those guys have collectively played hundreds of NBA games. But I can dig the Miami trio.
This is easy – Wemby and any two random players you choose to add.
Utah and Indy.
Hawks/wiz a must watch??? Gotta be joking.
I would go;
1. Rissacher, Okongwu , Johnson
2. Giddey, Buzelis, Terry
3. Sassari, Thompson, Holland
Like the look of Buzelis for the Bulls and Giddey has such upside if used correctly.
Love all 3 of the Hawks players, really impressed with Johnson.
4th pick would be the heat players mainly due to Jovic, think he is going to be a star.
There’s no excitement for this group of rookies. The highest selling rookie card on eBay still is below the 1987 Rookie card of Steve Alford.
I think these rookies might take more patience to develop. Although, some of the bigs like Ware and Flip just need opportunity.
Not sure you can call the Pistons cheap after they sign a guy to the biggest coaching contract in sports history and then eat the entire contract after one bad year.
Incompetent? Sure. Cheap? Not really.