The 2023-24 NBA season is fewer than 100 days away and there are hundreds of reasons to tune in when the season commences. Five of those reasons are a smattering of players that demand attention.
There are any number of reasons to keep an eye on a certain player. Maybe it’s time they blow up, in a good way. Or maybe they seem destined to blow up in a bad way. They could hold the key to the entire season, or they could be worth watching because it’s the last we may see of them in the NBA. Maybe they have a chance to revolutionize the game.
Even months out, however, we’re getting a sense of players that should be magnets to the eyes in 2023-24.
Who are five players everyone needs to be paying close attention to when the 2023-24 NBA season tips off in the fall?
First, let’s get LeBron James out of the way. Every season, arguably the greatest player of all time is worthy of all eyeballs on him, from what he does on the court to what he says off of it. Enough said.
Another one we can skip for today is Victor Wembanyama. Frankly, everyone is already glued on every step the big man takes, including in the Summer League. There’s not much left to write about the French center until he actually starts playing in meaningful games for the San Antonio Spurs.
Are any other players NBA fans should be keeping an eye on in 2023-24? Let us know in the comments!
Otherwise, here are five players to lock into and set alerts for this coming season.
5. G Fred VanVleet, Houston Rockets
There was arguably no bigger free agent signing with a new team this offseason than Fred VanVleet going to the Houston Rockets. How he performs on a young team with his newfound reaches will have a big impact on whether or not Houston can take the next step up.
After spending his entire career with the Toronto Raptors, VanVleet signed a three-year, $130 million deal with the Rockets. The contract makes him the highest-paid undrafted player in the history of the NBA.
VanVleet walks into H-Town and immediately assumes the mantle of the best player on the roster. He also has the distinction of being a veteran leader – he’s 29 years old – on a team stacked with high-end youth, such as Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson, and Cam Whitmore.
Because of his humble nature, VanVleet has never received the flowers he deserves, with just one All-Star nod to his name. But he’s been a high-caliber player for years and is coming off a season averaging 19.3 points and a career-high 7.2 assists per game. He also has a title to his name, something most of the Rockets can’t claim.
VanVleet doesn’t seem like the kind of player who will be content with the money. At the same time, he’s not going to become the peak James Harden from when he was on the Rockets. He’s a star, but he’s not a supernova.
In Houston, he’s the best they’ve got. He’s been there and he knows how to work to get to his destination. Every NBA player has had to work to get where they’re, but it’s hard not to contrast his story with those of the lottery picks on the roster.
After building from the ground up in Toronto, he’s tasked with playing a role similar to the one Kawhi Leonard played when he joined the Raptors. How VanVleet adjusts to his new surroundings makes him a player that must be watched this year.
4. F Mikal Bridges, Brooklyn Nets
For the first time in his career, Mikal Bridges holds the keys for a team. Watching what he did with the Brooklyn Nets at the end of last season should give fans some excitement as to what he can do over a full season.
Bridges was the big prize in the deal last season that sent Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns. The young wing can do it all on both sides of the court but had never shown as much of a knack for scoring as when he wasn’t surrounded by the likes of Devin Booker.
Consider this: after the trade, Bridges actually averaged more than two minutes fewer on the court than he did with the Suns last season and shot worse from three. Yet his scoring increased from 17.2 points per game all the way to 26.1 points per game.
With an offseason to plan, Bridges’ usage should only grow in 2023-24. There are some intriguing complementary pieces, such as Spencer Dinwiddie, Cam Johnson, and Nic Claxton – not to mention whatever will come of Ben Simmons – but Bridges is clearly the focal point of this roster.
Already an elite defender and scorer, Bridges has talked up his goal to improve on playmaking this summer. He was developing as more of a passer in Phoenix, rising up to 3.6 assists per game last year in Phoenix, but slumped back down to 2.7 assists per game after the trade.
If Bridges keeps improving as an all-around player, he could be a legitimate NBA MVP candidate this season, with Brooklyn’s postseason aspirations rising and falling on his shoulders.
3. G Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
The trade for Rudy Gobert didn’t offer grandiose returns. Karl-Anthony Towns’ future remains murky at best. It’s time for Anthony Edwards to seize control of the Minnesota Timberwolves on the court.
Ant-Man is entering his fourth season in the league, fresh off a season that included his first All-Star appearance. In 2022-23, Edwards averaged 24.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, hitting 45.9 percent of his field goals and 36.9 percent of his threes – all of those numbers were career bests.
This week, Edwards revealed that he was changing his jersey number, going back to the No. 5 he wore in high school and college. The impact of such a move is often overstated, but it can’t be forgotten that Edwards wore that number when he developed into a first-overall pick at a school not known for basketball, the University of Georgia.
Edwards is already a confident player, one who can score with ease when he attacks the rim. He attempted nearly 500 shots at the rim last year, according to Basketball Reference, and may try pushing that even higher.
His ability to be a player who can improve both himself and his team could be on full display this summer. He’s competing with Team USA for the first time, set to play in the FIBA World Cup later in the month.
Gobert and Towns are towering pillars of the Timberwolves, but this year, all eyes should be on Edwards and his development. It could be the difference between a deep postseason push or the disassembling of a team.
2. G Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are a team that could swing either way this season. Two years ago, the Hawks seemed on the verge of greatness. Last year, they felt more like a powder keg. It all begins and ends with Trae Young.
There was always a sense of intrigue last offseason when the Hawks spun a deal for another lead guard, Dejounte Murray. Atlanta doubled down on the Young-Murray duo by handing the latter a four-year, $120 million extension.
Young’s scoring took a slight backseat and his passing numbers improved. His scoring dropped to 26.2 points per game, but he averaged more than 10 assists per game for the first time in his career. Young’s three-point shooting took a notable hit, knocking down 33.5 percent of his threes, his worst since his rookie season.
Young does plenty on the court, but his best asset has always been his ability to pop a shot from anywhere on the court, a la Steph Curry. If he’s not doing that at an elite level, the Hawks immediately become a different team.
Real or not, the reported tension between Young and former coach Nate McMillan will no longer be an issue, as the coach is gone, replaced midseason by Quin Snyder. He did a great job taking the Utah Jazz up a notch, even if that team didn’t hit the ultimate success by the end of his tenure. The gelling between Young and Snyder began last year but ideally continued this summer.
With John Collins jettisoned to the Jazz, the fulcrum of the Hawks is clearly the Murray-Young duo going forward. As the more dynamic – and polarizing – player, the onus is on Young to lead the way. Either way, it should be fascinating to watch.
1. G Chris Paul, Golden State Warriors
The number of storylines percolating with Chris Paul’s move to the Golden State Warriors are limitless. There may not be any better show or player to keep an eye on this season.
First, this is a team with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. In college, the NBA regular season, and the NBA postseason, Paul has never come off the bench – not one single time. That appears poised to change, and how he handles that will set the bar for the Golden State culture this season.
For what it’s worth, the team isn’t tipping its hand that Paul will come off the bench. Owner Joe Lacob played coy when recently asked about CP3’s role. But it feels like there’s no other satisfactory option than for Paul to follow the Russell Westbrook rubric.
It’s also no secret that Paul and Draymond Green have beef. Green has expressed a desire to put that behind them, but he made a similar proclamation after last year’s infamous punch of Jordan Poole, a cloud that hovered over the franchise all year long.
Then, there’s the narrative that envelopes the whole roster: is this the last hurrah? That assumption has been made about Golden State before, but then they won a title a year ago and proved the doubters wrong. Still, the core isn’t getting any younger and Paul is no spring chicken at 38 years old.
Paul could soon go down as one of the greatest players of all time without a ring on his hand. There have been times with the LA Clippers and Suns where he’s felt close, but made only one NBA Finals appearance to this point, with the latter in 2021. This could be the last gasp.
Chris Paul won’t be one of the best players in the NBA. He won’t even be one of the best players on his own team, in all likelihood. If this is the swan song for a legend, however, it’s worth tuning in.