Apart from the number of blockbuster trades & free agent signings, this NBA season sure is anticipated by a lot around the globe.
Let's start with one of the biggest trades this NBA offseason between the Houston Rockets & the Washington Wizards. The Houston Rockets traded away Russell Westbrook in exchange for John Wall from the Washington Wizards. I didn't see any one team losing this trade because both the point guards were well equipped talents for their organisation and have gotten equally in return. Though rumor has it that Houston star James Harden is not willing to work things out with Houston's front office & is still demanding a trade. Let's see how that turns out to be.
Then onto the NBA draft. The Minnesota Timberwolves surprised the league by picking Anthony Edwards as their no.1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft. Many expected Lamelo Ball to be the no.1 pick but Lamelo fell down to the second spot & was picked up by the Charlotte Hornets. Lamelo is a pass first point guard and the preseason debut he had displayed signs of a bright future for the young man.
The highly awaited player Zion Williamson will be playing this NBA season after his last season was cut short due to injuries. Brandon Ingram has shown a lot of star caliber potential & hints of leadership as well. This duo is going to be as high-flying as one could get.
With the Warriors missing out on their dynamic duo of Stephen Curry & Klay Thompson, at least one half of the duo has made a complete recovery and is already draining threes on opponents. Klay Thompson is yet to miss out on another season in the NBA with another injury, though the Warriors have added quite the talent to the team including some big trades & draft signings. The Golden State Warriors added Andrew Wiggins last season and now Kelly Oubre Jr as well. And to top that off, the Warriors also got the best bigman in this draft with James Wiseman. Though the Warriors will miss Klay Thompson's flawless shooting, they have added enough firepower to stay afloat in their conference.
Now onto the team that has made the most roster changes this NBA offseason, the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder traded away almost their entire starting lineup to build a better one for the future. The 10 time all-star Chris Paul went over to the Phoenix Suns to join forces with DeAndre Ayton & Devin Booker. Steven Adams was sent over to the New Orleans Pelicans to join forces with Zion Williamson & Brandon Ingram. Danilo Gallinari ended up with Trae Young & the Atlanta Hawks & the Thunder also traded away some of the supporting bench cast to create some cap space for the future. I don't know if this was the best move for the Thunder but let's see how things go from here on out.
Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets has also made his debut after being off the court for more than 500 days or so. We will finally be able to see how the highly awaited Kyrie Irving & Kevin Durant combo is going to work out. Kyrie, an excellent ball handler & Durant a sniper from anywhere on the floor, this newly formed duo is going to be deadly to deal with. The Nets ended up with the 7th seed in the eastern conference playoffs without Kyrie & Durant, so with the addition of these two back in the starting lineup, it's going to be an absolute tear.
The NBA is where amazing happens and to make predictions this soon would only be foolish. Though some teams that will be serious contenders for the championship this season would be the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics & maybe the Miami Heat too. But there are several other teams that have shown a lot of upside to their team game. The Nuggets have developed a strong core, Philadelphia has added shooting to surround Joel Embiid & Ben Simmons, the Raptors are still going strong whereas Houston Rockets situation is still unclear with James Harden & his trade requests.
I believe the Suns adding Chris Paul is going to do wonders for the team with how he plays and will get plenty of shots for Booker & alley-oops to Ayton.
The Minnesota Timberwolves also got Ricky Rubio back and finally D'Angelo Russell & Karl Anthony-Towns will finally be able to play together after sharing the court during college so their on-court chemistry is going to be sub-par.
Apart from that, it is still unclear to what the outcome will be but we sure have an idea of what's going to happen in the upcoming NBA season as it might just go down as one of the most competitive seasons to ever go down in history.
To read more in the details about the pre season teams analysis:
