10 NBA Storylines to Watch During 2023-24 NBA Season – Bleacher Report

With less than two weeks until the start of the 2023-24 NBA season, we’re running out of time to get our bearings. It’s all the more important to lay out key angles to follow now, because every year brings twists and turns that quickly shift focus to new narratives.
A key injury here or a blockbuster trade there, and much of what we thought would matter in October falls off the radar in a hurry.
Here, we’ll hit 10 storylines that seem likely to define the upcoming campaign for now. Most of the league’s biggest names will make appearances, as will multiple contenders. We even have new rules to cover.
Think of this as a guide to where you should focus your attention ahead of what’ll surely be an unpredictable and exciting season.

Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney were the best high-usage five-man unit in the league last season, and it wasn’t close. Their plus-22.1 net rating was eight points per 100 possessions better than the runner-up.
If that dominance seems familiar, it’s because the Warriors’ preferred starting five was nearly as good when everyone was healthy in the 2021-22 playoffs. That group put up a plus-17.1 net rating in 339 possessions en route to a championship.
Tinkering with that lineup would be the epitome of trying to fix something that was nowhere near broken. With that said, new addition Chris Paul has started all 1,363 games (regular season and playoffs) that he’s played across 15 seasons. His willingness to come off the bench may not be a given, even if he and the Warriors are saying all the right things.
“Whatever I can do to help our team win,” Paul told reporters when asked about his role at media day.
Looney, who has subjugated his ego and come off the bench several times over the years, added: “I feel like I worked hard enough to be a starter in this league, but we got five other guys that been in All-Star Games. Just got to go with the flow and see what happens.”
Ultimately, the closing lineup matters more than the starting one. And given the age of Golden State’s core, it’s not the worst thing to have six clear starters to rotate in and out when someone needs a night off. But this remains a dynamic worth watching.
If Paul agrees to a reserve role and supercharges a second unit that needs reliable shot creation and poise, he might wind up with the first championship of his Hall of Fame career.

Aggrieved by some combination of the Philadelphia 76ers’ failure to offer him an acceptable contract and their subsequent refusal to trade him to his preferred destination, James Harden is prepared to make things uncomfortable.
The 10-time All-Star is somewhat limited in his ability to stick it to the Sixers, as he’d risk losing a shot at free agency by withholding services his for more than 30 days. He showed up to training camp on Oct. 4 after missing media day, but there’s nothing stopping him from loafing, sitting out with an injury or otherwise hurting his team by giving less than full effort.
He’s done it before. More than once.
This is a mess, but it could morph into a full-blown disaster if Joel Embiid finally tires of playing for a franchise that can’t seem to support him with reliable talent. Just two years ago, Embiid was stuck answering questions about Ben Simmons’ playoff disappearance and ensuing unavailability.
If the Harden situation drags into the season, Embiid would be justifiably frustrated. The same would be true if the Sixers find a trade for Harden that doesn’t improve their championship equity like president Daryl Morey hopes. And if Philadelphia tries to sell 2023-24 as a gap year to Embiid, a reigning MVP entering his age-29 season? Well, let’s just make it plain: Embiid would be well within his rights to demand a trade.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported that Embiid “has given the franchise assurances he is OK riding out the current drama with Harden.” But nobody’s patience is infinite, and Embiid has already put up with more than most players in his position would have.
Even the most loyal superstars hit their breaking points eventually. Just ask Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal.

Some aspects of the Milwaukee Bucks’ Damian Lillard acquisition are easy to forecast. A franchise that has had issues with bogged-down and predictable playoff offense is adding perhaps the most effective pick-and-roll ball-handler in the league, a lead guard whose teams routinely perform more than 10 points per 100 possessions better on offense when he’s on the floor.
In adding Lillard, Milwaukee has addressed its greatest weakness. The Bucks are almost certain to be much better on offense, especially in the late-game and postseason moments that matter most.
To get Dame, though, Milwaukee sacrificed depth from an already thin and top-heavy roster. It also compromised its perimeter defense to a degree that can’t be understated.
Jrue Holiday, who has since been re-routed to the rival Boston Celtics after heading to the Portland Trail Blazers as the key piece in the Lillard exchange, is one of the most fearsome perimeter stoppers in the league. He was always tasked with checking the opponent’s toughest scorer, whether that player was a point guard or a small forward.
Lillard, in contrast, has been a bad defender for his entire career. In seven of his 10 seasons in Portland, the Blazers defensive rating was worse with him on the floor, and that’s with rosters often constructed to cover for his shortcomings.
The Bucks regularly play drop coverage in which Brook Lopez sinks into the lane and concedes mid-range looks. Holiday’s ability to contest shots from behind and generally make opponents uncomfortable in those situations was critical. Lillard has never shown Holiday’s screen-navigation skill or multiple-effort mentality on defense.
Maybe that will change now that Lillard is on a team with realistic title aspirations for the first time in his career. Either way, the interplay between Lillard’s certain offensive excellence and dubious work defensively will make the Bucks a must-watch team all year.

The Boston Celtics essentially replaced Marcus Smart, Robert Williams III, Malcolm Brogdon and Grant Williams with Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis. While depth concerns and injury risks give this revamped rotation a lower floor, the sheer talent of Boston’s best players clearly raises its ceiling.
You won’t find a better top six than Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Al Horford, Porziņģis and Holiday. You’ll also struggle to locate a team with more ability to alter its postseason lineups to attack competition of all shapes and sizes.
And yet…none of it will matter if Tatum can’t take a step forward.
At the risk of oversimplifying, the team that wins the championship often has a player who, in any given series, is likely to be the best on the floor. Tatum is agonizingly close to that status, but he’s mixed in too many duds among his brilliant showings to officially join that club.
For every 51-point closeout effort, like the one he hung on the Sixers in last year’s conference semifinals, there’s a 6-of-18 shooting night in a 26-point loss (Game 3 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals) or a 13-point clunker in an elimination game (Game 6 at home in the 2022 NBA Finals).
The good news: Tatum is only 25. He’s made three All-NBA teams, four All-Star games and has already been to the Eastern Conference Finals five times. By every reasonable estimation, he’s ahead of schedule as he enters his prime years. The expectation should be that he isn’t done leveling up.
The Celtics start the season looking more dangerous than ever, but Tatum is the only one who can make them truly lethal.

There’s nothing new about the NBA encouraging teams to play their best players as often as possible. The league first started issuing $100,000 fines for resting healthy stars in high-profile or nationally televised games back in 2017.
But an update that adds teeth and subtly rebrands the idea—the Player Resting Policy is now called the Player Participation Policy—will go into effect this season.
The league has defined “stars” as anyone who’s been and All-Star or on an All-NBA team in any of the previous three seasons, creating a group of roughly 50 players who, if rested in a way that runs afoul of the rules, could trigger team fines north of $1 million. Exceptions exist for players 35 and older, those with more than 34,000 career minutes or 1,000 combined regular-season and playoff games. Teams can also cite unusual injury histories or name other reasons in writing when seeking exceptions.
The new policy is designed to keep teams from scratching healthy stars. And with a new 65-game minimum to be eligible for MVP, an All-NBA team, Defensive Player of the Year, an All-Defensive team or Most Improved Player honors, the league has also incentivized players to get on the floor as often as possible.
Perhaps most interesting of all, teams can no longer shut down healthy stars late in the year, which was a common practice among tankers.
Teams can still skirt the rules by citing suspect hamstring strains or sore knees that only seem to crop up on the second night of back-to-back sets. It’ll be fascinating to see how organizations try to game the system in service of load management and how serious the league is about hitting teams with massive fines.

On the strength of last year’s championship and sheer star power, it’s reasonable to place the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns, respectively, in a tier of their own. But the rest of the Western Conference is a jumbled mess of teams that could finish in almost any order.
Consider: An incredible seven clubs in the West have over/unders between 44.5 and 46.5 wins, per FanDuel Sportsbook. That group includes the Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings, Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves. The Los Angeles Lakers (47.5) and the Golden State Warriors (48.5) aren’t exactly miles ahead of that pack, either.
And do you really want to rule out the rebuilt Houston Rockets from blowing past their figure of 31.5 to join the crowd? Or the Utah Jazz, who won 37 games in 2022-23 despite packing it in with a few weeks to go?
Even the San Antonio Spurs could be heard from if Victor Wembanyama comes anywhere close to meeting the hype and Devin Vassell levels up in ways that make his five-year $146 million extension look like an immediate bargain.
The only team it seems safe to rule out of contention for 40-plus wins is the Portland Trail Blazers, and even they have serious upside if Scoot Henderson is a star, Shaedon Sharpe pops and Deandre Ayton becomes his best self in a new situation.
Injuries will knock one or two teams out of the mix, but that’s the case every year.
The simple takeaway here is that the West is poised to be wilder than ever, but there’s an even more interesting global angle to consider: The NBA’s various rule tweaks to disincentivize tanking are working. Virtually everyone in a historically competitive conference enters 2023-24 believing they have a chance to see postseason action.

We soon won’t have to wonder if Victor Wembanyama can deliver on what would be ridiculous expectations for almost anyone else in NBA history. Not since LeBron James entered the league two decades ago has more hype accompanied an NBA prospect.
For over a year, all we had were those exhibitions against the G League Ignite and footage of Wemby’s games with Metro 92 that often looked like it was shot from the nosebleeds with an iPhone 4. Now, we get to see actual reports on (and footage of) him from a real-life NBA training camp.
All of it is encouraging—from Wemby talking up his physical condition to head coach Gregg Popovich sounding as if he’s ready to nominate the 19-year-old for a Nobel Peace Prize.
It’d be unfair to assume Wembanyama won’t encounter struggles in his debut season. It’s hard to remember now, but even James looked the part of an overmatched rookie at times, like when he shot a combined 6-of-23 and scored only 15 points in his third and fourth NBA games.
Wemby will get pushed around, look lost and put up the occasional ugly shooting night. But his combination of size and skill will also allow him to do things we’ve never seen before, and he might immediately emerge as a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
All of it will be thrilling to watch.

We’re about see if an extra $500,000 and a newly minted NBA Cup trophy are enough to coax maximum buy-in from all 30 teams during the part of the season that typically feels more like a feeling-out period.
The inaugural in-season tournament will span from Nov. 3 to Dec. 9, using already scheduled regular-season games to form a group stage followed by a knockout round. The semifinals and championship will be played in Las Vegas, with the latter being the only game that doesn’t count toward teams’ final record.
It’s generally a good to idea to model things after European soccer, which peppers various cup games and auxiliary tournaments into the normal league schedule. The NBA could do a lot worse than cribbing off the most popular sport in the world. The question is whether a league that already has an issues with a devalued regular season is offering enough incentive to reorient teams’ priorities.
At the very least, squads that might be out of the postseason mix by the trade deadline in February will have an opportunity to compete in slightly more meaningful games. That’ll be helpful in the development of young players and should spark an uptick in fan interest. However, it remains to be seen how contenders for the actual NBA championship—especially those led by veterans who need their rest—will approach things.
It’s hard to imagine someone like LeBron James going full bore in December of his 21st season for a half-million dollars and a trophy that isn’t the Larry O’Brien. Then again, when the lights go up in Vegas and the world is watching, it might be difficult for the game’s top stars to turn off their hyper-competitive switch.
In an ideal world, the in-season tournament will command every team’s full focus and serve as a showcase for players who might not feature in the actual playoff hunt. It could also provide a preview of the NBA Finals with real stakes, perhaps even ginning up some bad blood between contenders. Here’s hoping we get all that and more, and that the in-season tournament winds up being a staple for years to come.

As superteam cores go, the Phoenix Suns’ trio of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal isn’t on the level of the LeBron James-led Miami Heat. It’s not even the most frightening collection of talent to include Durant. One could argue KD had better teammates when he briefly joined forces with James Harden and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn, and the competition-crushing Golden State Warriors with whom he won two titles are on another tier entirely.
With that said, the Suns’ recently reconstructed roster warrants watching because it might be the last of its kind.
The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement features multiple punitive measures for expensive, top-heavy teams like these Suns. Clubs that exceed the second apron (set at $17.5 million above the luxury-tax threshold this year) face brutal financial penalties, trade encumbrances and even restrictions on their future draft picks—not that the Suns have many of those.
Many expected the new rules to render teams like the 2023-24 Suns extinct, but new owner Mat Ishbia rode in with a clear intention to capitalize on most other teams’ fear. If almost nobody else is willing to face the pain of these new restrictions, maybe his willingness to stare them down is a competitive advantage worth exploring.
The downstream pain is unavoidable for Phoenix, as well as the Milwaukee Bucks and maybe the Boston Celtics. But if the near-term payoff includes an NBA Finals trip for Phoenix, maybe we’ll see more organizations throw caution, financial prudence and long-view planning to the wind.
And if things go belly-up for the Suns, we might remember them as the last of a dying superteam breed.

Zion Williamson has played 114 games in four years, an average of 28.5 per season. He missed the entire 2021-22 campaign because of a foot injury, and a hamstring strain cost him all but 29 contests last year. As a result, every mention of Zion’s generational talent now comes in conjunction with concerns about his health and fitness.
It’s not so much that this is Williamson’s last chance to prove he can stay on the floor, or that he’s forever lost the benefit of the doubt. Some optimists will always hold out hope that he’ll eventually deliver a dominant full season. But for the pragmatists out there, another injury-ravaged campaign headlined by questions about Williamson’s conditioning and commitment will fundamentally change how he’s viewed.
Some may already operate with the expectation that the stars will never align for Williamson, that his frame—truly the first of its kind in league history—simply isn’t designed to hold up. That’ll be a sad state of affairs, but it seems the likeliest outcome based on his history.
When healthy, Williamson has been spectacular in the simplest, most undeniable way.
The point of offense in basketball is to score as many points as efficiently as possible. While conceding it’s a small sample that doesn’t account for era-related variance, Zion is the only player in NBA history to average at least 25.0 points while shooting over 60.0 percent for his career. By that basic measure, he is the most efficient high-volume scorer we’ve ever seen.
We just need to see more of him. More minutes, more games, more buckets. Just…more.
Zion has a chance to redirect his career trajectory this season. He can rewrite the disheartening “what could have been” narrative that increasingly threatens to define him.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale.

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