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NBA Teams Under Most Pressure to Win 2024 Championship – Bleacher Report
Every NBA season, a batch of teams enter with championship-or-bust pressure draped across their shoulders.
The following four teams are among those who will face that pass-or-fail assessment in 2023-24, but they’ll tote around more urgency than normal. Each has an uncertain future that could—and should—be directly shaped by their performance this season.
If they don’t win it all, then substantial changes must be made.
It’s possible these teams could make moves that alleviate some of this win-or-it’s-all-over pressure. The Milwaukee Bucks, for instance, seemingly just bought themselves some extra time by adhering to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s plea for urgency and winning the Damian Lillard sweepstakes.
Anything short of a championship or that type of transaction, though, and it’ll be time to rethink the blueprint.
No matter what happens this season, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green will remain Bay Area-based beyond it. However, just about everything could change around them, and some of those adjustments might be made in-season depending on how the Dubs start.
Since this core isn’t getting any younger or cheaper, Klay Thompson’s upcoming free agency could lead to a lot of tricky, uncomfortable discussions. Early extension talks have started, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said on The Lowe Post podcast (via NBC Sports Bay Area), but “there’s no hurry to these discussions.”
Thompson’s three-ball has played an invaluable role in this franchise’s wildly successful run, but age and his injury history may have done irreparable damage to his defense. If they have, a discussion must be had over whether he remains the ideal backcourt mate for Curry.
It’s hard to imagine Chris Paul’s tenure in Golden State spanning more than one season, as his $30 million salary for 2024-25 is non-guaranteed. The real debate might be whether he even lasts this full campaign with the Warriors. If it’s obvious they need to make a significant midseason upgrade, Paul’s salary would almost certainly be needed to make the money work.
Oh, and if the Dubs do make a splash this season, that’d surely spell the end of Jonathan Kuminga’s run with the organization that made him the No. 7 pick in 2021. It’s hard to pin down his trade value given his relative lack of floor time (career 18.8 minutes per game), but his age (21 by opening night), upside and encouraging flashes all put him on the short list of this team’s top assets.
The Warriors only have so many cracks at this left with Curry, who turns 36 in March, still clinging to his prime. Given how infrequently an all-time talent like him passes through, Golden State must do whatever it takes to best position him for success. If this season proves the Dubs don’t have a championship roster, then everything should be on the table as they scramble to build one back up.
The Clippers can only stake their championship hopes on crossed fingers for so long.
To date, none of that wishful thinking has amounted to the level of success L.A. first envisioned when bringing star wings Kawhi Leonard and Paul George together in 2019. It feels like one or both have been injured ever since, a brutal stretch of misfortune that has limited this core to three series victories and zero NBA Finals trips in four seasons.
The group still looks great on paper, but what does that matter if it never comes together in practice? It’s hard to imagine the Clippers can stomach another fruitless, injury-filled season, particularly with potentially colossal paydays on deck for Leonard and George.
Each holds a $48.8 million player option for the 2024-25 season, meaning both could enter unrestricted free agency next summer. They could be extended before then, but it sounds like there are some hesitations on L.A.’s side to simply offer a max commitment, and why wouldn’t there be? The Clippers have played 308 games over the past four seasons; Leonard has missed 147 of them, and George has missed 119.
It is, objectively speaking, a total bummer, because this club could be fantastic if it was ever full-strength at the right time. L.A. thrashed its opponents by 8.9 points per 100 possessions with Leonard and George together last season. However, that twosome managed fewer than 1,000 minutes across just 38 contests.
This team clearly has a championship upside, but how much does that matter when so much of that potential is tied to a pair of oft-injured 30-somethings? If this franchise’s fortunes don’t change this season, then its roster should in dramatic fashion next summer.
You’d think Philadelphia would be in a good spot by virtue of rostering the reigning MVP in Joel Embiid and having posted .600-plus winning percentages in three consecutive seasons. And yet, the Sixers seem on the verge of splintering before this season even starts.
James Harden has vowed to never again suit up for a franchise that employs Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey. Embiid has wondered aloud about winning a title “in Philly or anywhere else.” Tack on an offseason coaching change (Doc Rivers out, Nick Nurse in), and this feels about as unstable as you’ll ever see a perennial contender.
Then again, maybe it’s being overly generous to label the Sixers as such. For all of their recent regular-season success, this club hasn’t advanced beyond the conference semis since Allen Iverson steered it to the 2001 NBA Finals.
Harden has stumbled more often than not in critical postseason contests, while Embiid has seen is scoring output and shooting efficiency regress from his regular-season rates in each of the past two playoffs. The Sixers are built to follow the lead of their stars, and that simply hasn’t led them far enough.
Maybe Nurse schemes up something that bucks this trend. Perhaps there’s another leap year in the works for Tyrese Maxey or a better way to take advantage of Tobias Harris’ scoring touch. The Sixers, who had last season’s third-best net rating, certainly aren’t hopeless.
But if it doesn’t happen this season, this core may not get another chance. Unrestricted free agency awaits Harden and Harris after this season. Maxey will head to restricted free agency next summer, too. If the light bulb fails to ignite, Embiid could be looking at a substantially different supporting cast this time next year—if not sooner.
The Mat Ishbia era will be nothing if not eventful in Phoenix. The billionaire businessman assumed controlling interest of the organization in February, and he has already overseen several massive moves.
The Suns went all-in at last year’s deadline to add Kevin Durant and then doubled down this summer by sacrificing Chris Paul and most of their remaining draft assets to get Bradley Beal. In between those megadeals, they axed former skipper Monty Williams and brought in Frank Vogel. They’ve since rounded out this top-heavy roster with a slew of veterans making minimum money.
It’s a fascinating wager, and one that almost certainly won’t have a long shelf life.
The colossal cost of this core could be untenable under the new collective bargaining agreement, which places a host of punitive restrictions on the Association’s biggest spenders. If the money doesn’t doom the Suns—Ishbia certainly doesn’t seem to mind paying a premium—it’s possible age or injuries could do them in. Durant and Beal are both on the wrong side of 30, and neither has the cleanest health history.
While the Suns will likely keep the Durant-Booker tandem intact regardless of what happens this season, no one else on the payroll should feel super certain about their futures. This roster might be newly assembled, but it’s already on a now-or-never time crunch.
Statistics courtesy of Basketball Reference and NBA.com.
Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @ZachBuckleyNBA.