After a short break, the NBA will unofficially kick off its 2020-21 season Friday night when the pre-season gets underway.
Sportsnet will have three games to kickstart our coverage of the association this season: New York Knicks vs. Detroit Pistons (7:00 p.m. ET, SN1), Houston Rockets vs. Chicago Bulls (8:00 p.m. ET, SN) and Sacramento Kings vs. Portland Trail Blazers (10:30 p.m. ET, SN).
This will kick off what promises to be yet another bizarre NBA season filled with much uncertainty, as the league will attempt to finish a 72-game season for all 30 of its teams plus a full, four-round slate of playoffs in the midst of a still-raging pandemic without the help of a convenient Disney bubble.
With that said, the pre-season is just the first step here, and despite the obvious gloom the pandemic has cast over the season, this is still the NBA and there’s plenty to get excited about and to monitor — even if this is only exhibition play.
Here’s a look at a few storylines as the pre-season gets started.
COVID watch
The exhibition season is usually one that serves as a good proving ground for coaches to see what players at the back end of their rotations and benches can bring to the table. It’s also where new offensive and defensive concepts can be experimented with before games begin for real.
This go-around, the pre-season will also prove to be an excellent test of how the NBA will handle COVID-19 during the regular season.
The NBA has already reported that a total of 56 tests have returned positive out of 1,087 total tests the league has conducted since players returned to their respective markets for training camp.
In the grand scheme of things, that’s a low number (5.15 per cent), but any number of positive tests is a discouraging sign — and now, with teams beginning to travel for pre-season games, those numbers are bound to go up again.
As such, it’ll be interesting to see what measures the NBA takes to keep its players, coaching staff and personnel safe with everyone now flying around the United States.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania recently reported that the NBA was planning to have a “point-of-care, rapid testing system” ready for its teams during the season, with results expected by 30 minutes for teams in their markets and 90 minutes for clubs on the road.
Additionally, Charania reported that should a COVID-19 test come back as “invalid,” a player would be able to undergo another quick test and be eligible to participate in team activities while awaiting the result.
It’ll be interesting to see if this might be set up in time for pre-season and, if so, when these tests might be taken. The closer to tip-off would mean that, if there’s a slew of positive tests, postponing the game would be that much more difficult.
The NBA is about to enter uncharted waters here and the first step to navigating them will be during this pre-season.
The James Harden saga
Perhaps the biggest story in basketball right now is the debacle going on in Houston with James Harden.
A great player who has won the NBA’s scoring title three seasons running and was named MVP just two seasons ago, Harden’s on-court ability is undeniable — but his behaviour off the court has been a topic of concern.
To put it lightly, Harden has looked like the poster child of player selfishness lately.
It’s one thing to want a trade out of your current situation — these things happen all the time — it’s an entirely other matter to behave like a spoiled brat like Harden has in trying to get his way.
A player who’s owed more than $41.2 million this season, Harden felt it would be a good idea to not report to camp on time and, instead, spend time celebrating Lil Baby’s birthday in strips joints in Las Vegas and Atlanta, obviously without a mask on, and then have the audacity to reportedly add even more teams to his list of preferred teams he’d like to be traded to.
Raptors Newsletter
Common sense would dictate that the Rockets should look to punish Harden and then try to trade him to a crappy situation in an effort to levy further punitive measures against him for his boneheaded behaviour.
That isn’t going to happen, though. In the age of overwhelming player influence, the Rockets probably don’t want to seem unfriendly to players. They’ll likely let Harden do whatever the hell he wants as the team tries to mend the rift that has been created between the two sides, or try to find an amicable deal for Harden and themselves.
And this is why monitoring the Rockets during the pre-season will be interesting. Even if Harden doesn’t play a single minute of these exhibition games — and there’s a chance he may not — the shadow he’s cast over Houston entirely can’t be ignored.
Early impressions of the Nets
The other big story in the league is the Brooklyn Nets.
It took a season, but we’re finally going to see what the combination of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving can do with high-level role players like Jarrett Allen, Spencer Dinwiddie and possible future star Caris LeVert.
And now with the addition of Steve Nash as the team’s head coach, the intrigue around this team has reached such a level it could be tangible.
The assumption, with all that superstar talent and a coach who was a former two-time MVP and one of the greatest, most creative offensive players ever, is that the Nets will be a dominant force in the Eastern Conference. But no one really knows until we see them on the court — and we’ll finally get to see that during the pre-season.
Top of the list of things to watch for with the Nets will be Durant. We haven’t seen him play basketball for an entire season, and coming off an Achilles injury he’ll have to show what kind of player he is.
Durant’s shooting ability shouldn’t be impacted, but what made him truly dangerous was his ability to take and make any shot he wanted on the floor — combined with explosive athleticism at his size and length. Durant’s first step opened up a world of possibilities for him to not only get all the way to the basket but to activate his pull-up game as well, and that, in particular, will be worth monitoring to see if he still has that burst to get freed quickly and finish a possession with a high-percentage look.
Nash making his coaching debut will also be of interest. What he did as a player can’t be questioned, but he’s never coached at any level before and now will be in the pressure cooker as a rookie head coach on a team with sky-high expectations.
It’ll be important to see what specific principles Nash puts into place with the Nets, and what ideas he has for lineups and rotations. We’ll get our first taste of that during the pre-season.
Lastly about the Nets, an emerging story that has come to light recently is Irving’s apparent feud with the media.
Irving and the Nets were recently fined for refusing to fulfill his league-mandated media obligations, instead opting to send out a text message claiming he wanted to control his own message.
A day after getting hit with this fine, Irving appeared to double down on his stance, sending out a public message seemingly calling members of the media, “pawns.”
Based on what went down in Boston and then the prickly nature of his first season in Brooklyn in 2019-20, Irving doesn’t exactly have the most sterling reputation among those who cover him. But openly declaring war against the New York media just seems foolish.
The Nets have high expectations, but Irving getting into it with the press corps could very well distract from the task at hand. We’ll have to see how this plays out now during pre-season and beyond.
Old faces in new places
Last among the most fun things to do during the pre-season is getting a chance to see all the players who changed teams in their new digs.
Chances are you won’t see much of them — particularly if the player is an established guy — but it’s still interesting, nonetheless, to see significant players on the court with their new team.
Here’s a rundown of some players you’re probably familiar with who have changed squads.
Atlanta Hawks: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kris Dunn, Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo
Boston Celtics: Jeff Teague, Tristan Thompson
Charlotte Hornets: Gordon Hayward
Dallas Mavericks: Josh Richardson
Detroit Pistons: Jerami Grant, Delon Wright
Golden State Warriors: Kelly Oubre
Houston Rockets: DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, Christan Wood
Los Angeles Clippers: Serge Ibaka
Los Angeles Lakers: Marc Gasol, Montrezl Harrell, Wesley Matthews, Dennis Schroeder
Milwaukee Bucks: Jrue Holiday
Minnesota Timberwolves: Ricky Rubio
New Orleans Pelicans: Steven Adams, Eric Bledsoe
Oklahoma City Thunder: Trevor Ariza, George Hill, Al Horford
Philadelphia 76ers: Seth Curry, Danny Green, Dwight Howard
Phoenix Suns: Jae Crowder, Chris Paul
Portland Trail Blazers:: Robert Covington
Utah Jazz: Derrick Favors
Washington Wizards: Robin Lopez, Russell Westbrook
