NBA Survival Guide: LeBron James, Steph Curry and 8 big questions to start the season

There are questions that need answers in every NBA season. Here are eight that pique my interest as 2024-25 tips off Tuesday night:

The Celtics are the defending champions, not the Nuggets like we anticipated going into last year. So, even with MVP Nikola Jokić, is Denver done winning?

It’s impossible to say “yes,” but the temptation is to say “yes.” There’s an MVP in the prime of his career, showing very little drop-off. Nikola Jokić, so long as he doesn’t get bored with the game or competition, stands to be the best player. And the bones of the team are still the squad that had a dominant run to the 2023 title. But the NBA’s punitive cap system could be the thing that prevents the one-time champions from doing it again.

Parity is what Adam Silver cherishes, having owners believe it’s a near certainty they can both make a profit and compete. What it takes away from, though, is the possibility of a team going on a dynastic run once it has reached full Voltron. The Celtics, while up for sale, have gone all-in with salaries and no mind to the tax — that’s not the case with the Nuggets.

It’s a fine line Silver has to walk, with all these new owners coming into the league, billionaires paying big money to own franchises that are no longer a vanity object in a portfolio. It’s a real investment owners expect a return on — and they also want to break up the Lakers-Celtics monopoly on championships.

Since 1984, the year the NBA playoffs expanded to four rounds and 16 teams, seven franchises have won 33 of the 40 NBA titles: the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Spurs, Warriors, Pistons and Heat. It’s Silver’s dream to have more regular-season games be somewhat meaningful as opposed to the titanic ones that occur just a few times a year. It’s an admirable goal, especially with the new media rights deal kicking in next season, with national TV games on every night.

So how does this affect the Nuggets, a team that just won their first title in 2023? They can’t retain key players on the margins — Bruce Brown and Jeff Green — on top of losing a key 3-and-D wing in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Signing Michael Porter Jr. to a max extension when they did it was par for NBA business (in 2021), along with re-upping Jamal Murray recently before coming to an agreement with Aaron Gordon at the deadline buzzer Monday night. But it means one of them has to elevate to a superstar level or at least don a superstar’s costume multiple times in a playoff series — and that didn’t happen last year.

Murray admitted to fatigue during the playoffs when he was hounded and harassed by the Minnesota Timberwolves in Denver's shocking second-round loss. He shot 40 percent from the field in that series, and it could’ve been the chief factor in that loss. More will be expected from Murray and Porter, particularly, and with each having preexisting health issues, it’s a tough haul to predict them making a leap that elevates the Nuggets in an increasingly crowded Western Conference.

Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, Christian Braun — one of them has to step up with increased opportunity, along with the wild-card acquisition of Russell Westbrook, a Jokić favorite.

But with all the factors working against them, they still have Jokić — which means they have a shot.

The 76ers and Knicks have made big changes to catch the Celtics. But can either be trusted?

On media day, it seemed like both teams had the whole thing wired: A front office with a plan, buoyed by solid coaching that aligns with said plan and cooperative players. Honestly, that’s the case for 30 NBA teams on Sept. 30.

Then reality began to hit even before a real game was played. Joel Embiid mentioned not playing back-to-backs at all this season — perhaps a detail he should’ve kept to himself given his injury history and the scrutiny sure to come in this load management era. Then, Paul George suffered a minor knee injury that brought up all the old concerns about his durability.

Can a team have its two major pieces miss considerable time and have enough continuity to make a deep playoff run? Insult the regular season if you will, but that’s a time where sweat equity is developed, and the playoffs are where it’s reinforced. Embiid wants to be healthy for when the games matter most, and props to him for recognizing that and not chasing regular season MVPs. But roles fluctuate nightly when he’s not there — scheduled or not.

George profiles like the perfect superstar role player — efficient from 3, able to create off the bounce, low-maintenance and a high-level defender. But it looks like the 74 games he played last year is a mark he won’t reach this season, and it puts more responsibility on Tyrese Maxey.

For the Knicks, Mikal Bridges’ jumper has undergone a transformation and it doesn’t appear to be for the better. Remember, he was the big acquisition before trading for Karl-Anthony Towns on the eve of training camp, and Towns has to be worked in. Josh Hart admitted he feels lost in the new roster configuration and has surmised coming off the bench could be the answer.

The Knicks don’t have depth and have been hit with early injuries to supplemental players, on an already-thin roster beyond the top six. Precious Achiuwa will miss time, and Mitchell Robinson is out at least until early 2025. Tom Thibodeau has no problem giving heavy minutes to his top players — we all know that’s his MO — and they’ll gladly take it on.

But it looks like the margin for error on a team built around a 6-foot-2 point guard — not with a 6-foot-2 point guard, a big difference — just got super thin. Jalen Brunson is a bona fide star, but they could be asking him to carry too much while everyone else finds their way, assuming they do.

That said, the Knicks feel structurally better equipped to make a run than the 76ers, even if it feels like neither will reach the conference finals.

Are you saying the Bucks have a shot at the conference finals? Or has the East passed them by?

We think of the Bucks as a champion in name only, in large part due to winning just one playoff series since their 2021 triumph over the Phoenix Suns.

Are they old, too old or just veteran enough to get one more good run from their vets and a supernova? It seems with the movement at the top of the conference, we’ve forgotten about them as true contenders, as the Knicks and 76ers have boldly stolen the headlines with loud personnel moves and the Celtics running rampant through the conference, going unchallenged for an entire playoff run.

Damian Lillard admittedly wasn’t in his usual shape all season, which placed more weight on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s shoulders. He responded with another stellar season, and his 73 games were the most he played in an 82-game season since 2018. But he sustained a calf injury right before the playoffs that prevented him from playing against the conference finals-bound Indiana Pacers.

As he approaches 30 in December, can he rev it up on both ends for another season, going full-bore while having considerable diesel fuel in the tank to take it to another level for the postseason? Here, it still says he's the best player in the Eastern Conference because he can dominate each side with force, and a healthy Lillard could be the best sidekick and clutch player, perhaps in the league. Lillard turned 34 over the summer, a year after his 3-point shooting took a dip to 35% territory, his worst since 2015. And small guards don’t age well — but a bounce-back season feels on the horizon, assuming better health.

Those are big ifs, though. And because of Khris Middleton’s health, where he stands to miss the start of the season after summer ankle surgery, and the advancing age of center Brook Lopez, is there enough reliable youth on the roster to keep things upright?

Believe it or not, the Bucks have more continuity than any top team not named the Celtics, so there’s a leg up for Doc Rivers in the meantime. But there’s not much salary-cap wiggle room to make improvements, due to those aforementioned luxury tax restraints in the CBA.

Still, if Giannis is healthy by April, anything is possible — including a showdown against the Celtics in the conference finals.

Speaking of contenders/pretenders, do the Warriors or Lakers have one more great run in them?

On a given night — unless you’re the ageless Stevie Wonder — your favorite singer of all time can have a night that harkens back to the best of what they’ve had to offer. The notes can sound as fresh and timeless as the day they were recorded, decades ago.

Those days can lead you to believe the all-time greats still got the pipes with the best of them, and for a night, you’d be right. But it’s only for a night — or during spotty periods. The Lakers and Warriors are bound to give you both, and mark the words here, with those two franchises being on national TV as much as they will be, the vintage games will give the illusion a run is possible.

It just won’t feel sustainable.

LeBron James played the most games since going all 82 his last year in Cleveland, and Anthony Davis played the most games in his entire career — and it resulted in the Lakers winning 47 games, getting out of the play-in and getting bounced by their tormentors in Denver in five. And as we saw, that wasn’t the vintage Nuggets that stomped their way to a title.

Now, was it all Darvin Ham’s fault? Is JJ Redick the answer? The Lakers seem to think so with few roster changes this time around, but then again, building around two max players is difficult for even the best franchises, so the Lakers will only get dumped on so much here.

What’s the alternative? Going back to the days of Robert Sacre and Marcelo Huertas (no disrespect to either) doesn’t seem palatable. But depending so heavily on variables that don’t seem repeatable in a more competitive conference feels like a recipe for, at best, a seven seed.

But that could be better than what’s happening in the Bay.

The Warriors struck out on Paul George and couldn’t make a significant move besides letting Klay Thompson depart for Dallas.

Stephen Curry is bound to light up the night again, but he is turning 37 in March. James will be 40 in December, but compared to Curry, at least he has Davis as a two-way running mate.

And at times, you could see it wearing on Curry, with his numbers dropping ever so slightly across the board — and with an extension that keeps him through the 2026-27 season that the Warriors were wise to offer.

The Lakers made it out of the PIT, the Warriors did not, and it seemed to signal wholesale change was needed in Golden State. They’re deeper than last year, but it will put a greater burden on coach Steve Kerr to maximize rotations — and that feels impossible.

For a night, when things go right, the Warriors will look as good as they can, because Curry will be as great as he ever was. But that doesn’t feel like a real plan.

How will Anthony Edwards top his breakout year?

Easy. With an MVP candidacy. Perhaps it’s too much to ask. He’s 23. This is his fifth season and he’s coming off a full year and Olympic run where he practiced every day with the likes of Curry, James and Kevin Durant.

That iron-sharpens-iron environment spelled MVP for Charles Barkley in 1993 after the summer with the Dream Team, and it produced supernova years for James, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony after the 2008 Redeem Team.

The Michael Jordan comparisons are both unfair and tantalizing to make. Jordan was 24 at the start of his first MVP season, in 1987-88, so it’s not impossible. And Edwards just started to tap into his defensive prowess last year, even if he still has more work to do off the ball.

He’s just started to taste success, and without Towns as a running mate to cede space to and consider, he could be ready for a real MVP run to keep the Timberwolves at the top of the West.

One might say it’s necessary. Edwards was at 27.6 points with 7 boards and 6.5 assists in 16 playoff games, and it didn’t look like the game was too difficult for him, most of the time.

If that’s the production this year, assuming he can handle the extra attention and preparation, he’ll be in the conversation.

But what about Luka Dončić, wouldn’t this be his 'turn' to win MVP?

It’s more than possible, if not more likely than Edwards. Dončić (third) and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (second) were right behind Jokić in MVP voting, with Edwards finishing seventh. Oklahoma City seems ready to stay atop the regular-season standings out West for the second straight year, and Dallas had a magical run to the Finals.

Dončić has never won the MVP award, and he (or Anthony Davis) is probably the best active player without the trophy. It depends if Dončić truly wants to go for the award this season, as the want-to factor weighs in heavily here. It’s not like you can ask for much more statistically than his 34-10-9 season last year, but he did wear down in the Finals as the Celtics threw so many defenders at him. Will he have the regular-season moments that tattoo our minds or will he pace himself for the playoffs?

Same with SGA, who plays in the virtual anonymity of Oklahoma City. It’ll have to be more than the numbers. It’ll have to be loud, even though that’s not exactly his style. But a lot will be expected of OKC this year, meaning the eyeballs will be there.

One way or another, it feels like the trend of big men winning the last four MVPs could come to a halt.

Who is the next star player to get traded?

Just a hunch, feels like Brandon Ingram or Zach LaVine, no?

Ingram and the Pelicans didn’t come to terms on an extension this summer, and the Pelicans just re-upped with Trey Murphy III, along with having Herb Jones on a good number for the next couple of years.

Ingram, like LaVine, could be undervalued through the league for injury reasons. But they're bona fide scorers underneath the cap number, and once league business settles, there should be a market for both.

LaVine is healthy following surgery last season, and the Bulls have a glut of guards, even if they wanna play small and fast. The Bulls were trying to get off his contract before the deadline last season, with no takers, and even if both sides are playing nice, it stands to reason they would explore options this season.

Speaking of exploring options, should the league continue to tweak rules to give defenses more of a chance to compete?

Something must be done with the 3-point line, or at least every team's dependency on it. If you’re a seven-footer who can’t shoot, there’s less of a space for you — and it’s even more dire if you’re a swingman who can’t.

The game has seemingly become too homogenous and predictable because every team is looking at the game like a spreadsheet, and it’s taking away from the beauty of it. In last year’s Finals, the team who made the most triples won the game.

No other variable has that much weight on a game, and it shouldn’t.

Before, the mantra used to be: “No rebounds, no rings.” Now it’s evolved to this.

Now, there hasn't been any talk of moving the 3-point line back a few inches, but it seems like the competition committee should consider it. They’ve allowed a measure of physicality back into the game, at least on the perimeter, and it makes for more compelling and competitive basketball that players and fans actually enjoy — save for the free-throw merchants who want to trick the game.

The 3-point line was moved up in the late '90s to facilitate scoring for two seasons and then moved back up before the 1997-98 year, when the restricted area was implemented inside the paint.

Eliminate the corner three, or move the line back. Emphasizing post play or the dreaded midrange isn’t such a bad idea — it just adds variety to the game and you don’t want it to get stale.

Unless we want every game to be a 3-point shootout.