The start of the 2024-25 NBA season is less than two weeks away. Preseason action is in full swing and will end next Friday.
The real games begin Oct. 22 when the defending champions Boston Celtics welcome the New York Knicks, followed by LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves.
But before those games tip off, there are plenty of key questions surrounding several playoff contenders. How are new-look teams such as the Knicks and Timberwolves figuring out their rosters? Can teams like the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns bounce back from disappointing seasons?
And how are veteran superstars such as Klay Thompson, Paul George, and Chris Paul handling their first weeks with their new teams?
As the regular season draws near, our NBA Insiders answer top preseason questions for key teams around the league.
Jump to a team:
BOS | CHI | CLE | DAL | DEN | GS
LAC | LAL | MEM | MIA | MIL | MIN
NO | NY | OKC | PHI | PHX | SAC | SA
Do the defending champs need more help from the bench?
If you thought the Celtics were going to look different heading into coach Joe Mazzulla’s third season — and coming off their record-setting 18th NBA title in June — it took two preseason games in Abu Dhabi against the Denver Nuggets to quickly show that won’t be the case.
Over those two games, Boston got up a staggering 108 3-point attempts — and made 38 of them.
Since Mazzulla became coach in 2022, Boston has built a team that leans heavily into that strength, including a bench unit featuring players who can shoot 3s in a hurry in Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard. For all of the understandable focus on Boston’s star-studded starting lineup, it is that bench unit — which will include some combination of Pritchard, Hauser, Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman and Neemias Queta — that will be important this season.
The Celtics will try weather the absence of Kristaps Porzingis until at least December after he underwent offseason leg surgery and also limit the wear and tear on Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. Mazzulla has shown faith in his reserves by playing them in substantial roles in the past, and Boston is hoping that can be the case again this season. — Tim Bontemps
Is Lonzo Ball actually nearing a return?
In his first training camp in which he has been an active participant in three years, Lonzo Ball walked off the court and expressed his optimism.
“Today was probably my best day,” the Bulls guard said after practice last week. “It’s getting better each time.”
Ball still has not played in a game since January 2022 and has undergone three surgeries on his left knee since. But news of his recovery since a cartilage transplant in March has been trending positively. He has been participating in full 5-on-5 scrimmages with the Bulls for weeks, reporting to Chicago early before the start of camp to begin preparing for the season.
Ball did not play in the team’s preseason opener against the Cavs on Tuesday, and is not expected to play at all during the preseason. The Bulls are being cautious — Ball called the communication between him and the training staff constant — and the expectation is they will take his return slowly.
Ball has stated he wants to be ready for the season opener. The team will monitor him each step of the way, but there is a growing — and cautious — optimism in Chicago that he will be ready to take the court once again. — Jamal Collier
Will a new coach unlock a more efficient offense?
The Cavs brought back their top eight rotation players with whom they reached the conference semifinals last season. So how is new coach Kenny Atkinson planning to fix the offense problem that contributed to J.B. Bickerstaff’s firing?
It’s a common idea this time of year: run. Atkinson took the team to Florida for camp and tried a bunch of ways to get the Cavs to speed up: shortened shot clocks, lots of fast-break drills, instructions to make quick decisions.
You’ve heard of seven seconds or less, the mantra of the 2000s Suns? The Cavs would love it to be five seconds or less, at times.
The Cavs’ issue, sometimes, is their two-big lineup with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley can be great at the defensive end but make them easier to guard in the half court. So the idea is, don’t play as much in the half court.
“I think we were 23rd or 24th in pace last year,” guard Donovan Mitchell said. “Obviously it’s tougher with a two-big lineup. But we still can find ways to continue to move it.”
When the Cavs do slow down, they intend to have Mobley (who signed a five-year, $224 million contract extension) play with the ball in his hands more. Mobley is a multitool offensive player but has mostly made his mark on the defensive end. His slower-than-expected offensive maturation has frustrated Cavs fans.
“Evan can bring the ball up, he’s knocking down 3s, I think that’s really gonna help us continue to space the floor,” Mitchell said.
But if Mobley has the ball, then it’s not with Mitchell or point guard Darius Garland. It would make more sense for Mobley to become a floor spacer — he has but to limited effect to this point — but for now this is how the Cavs will operate. October brings hope. — Brian Windhorst
How is Klay Thompson meshing in the early days in Dallas?
New Mavs guard Klay Thompson called this preseason “the most important one I’ve had in so many years,” following his legendary 13-year run in Golden State. That mindset was evident in Thompson’s approach to training camp practices in Las Vegas.
“He doesn’t take any reps off,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “When someone has played in this league the years that he’s played, sometimes it’s hard to make that adjustment on the system. But he’s in for every rep because he feels he wants to get it right. … He does have a lot to prove. You can see that he is hungry.”
Thompson sat out the Mavs’ preseason opener as a healthy scratch alongside Kyrie Irving, while Luka Doncic didn’t play because of a calf contusion. Kidd said the plan is for Thompson and Irving to play in the Mavs’ three remaining preseason games.
“Hopefully, Luka can get back here soon to get that continuity, to get some work and also to see how those three look out there at the same time,” Kidd said. “That would be nice. But it’s a marathon.” — Tim MacMahon
How pivotal of a season does Jamal Murray face?
Nuggets coach Michael Malone said before training camp started that Jamal Murray reminded his teammates not to take this moment together for granted.
“We have a championship window,” Murray said, according to Malone. If the Nuggets are going to return to the NBA Finals after being dethroned in the second round by Minnesota last season, Nikola Jokic will be the unstoppable MVP force that he has been.
Murray was rewarded with a four-year, $208 million max contract extension this offseason, but in some ways this will be a bounce-back season for the point guard. After averaging 25.0 points per game and 40% 3-point shooting in his first three postseasons combined, his numbers dipped to 20.6 and 32% in last season’s playoffs.
He also had a disappointing summer with Team Canada, averaging 6.0 points and 14.3% 3-point shooting. It just didn’t look like the Murray who starred during the Nuggets’ 2023 title run. Jokic will need Murray to be healthy and return to being one of the most clutch guards in the game, especially with the duo adjusting to a slightly different supporting cast with new addition Russell Westbrook and younger players Christian Braun and Peyton Watson set to play bigger roles this season. — Ohm Youngmisuk
What is Jonathan Kuminga’s best fit in a new-look lineup?
When coach Steve Kerr started Jonathan Kuminga in the Warriors’ first preseason game on Saturday alongside Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis in the frontcourt, he was giving Kuminga his first audition at the starting small forward spot.
Kerr’s assessment of the lineup?
“Not great. But it’s preseason for everybody. … I want to keep looking at it,” Kerr said despite the team’s 91-90 win over the LA Clippers in Hawai’i. “Obviously all three guys are talented players, and you want to be able to play your best players together on the floor, but it has to click. So we will keep trying.”