Now that we’re a few games into the ’20-’21 NBA season, here is a quick look at the 10 teams that I’m most interested in following.

  1. Boston Celtics

There’s something that you need to know about me right off the bat; I’m a ride or die Celtics fan.  I have been all my life so Boston being at the top of my list is not earth shattering.  They were leading my “most interested” list as far back as 1998 when our most exciting players were Antoine Walker and Ron Mercer.  In 2021, however, there is fair reason to have them up high without being a lifelong fan. 

Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown are officially rounding into form as a championship caliber one-two punch.   The additions of Jeff Teague and Tristan Thompson are clear upgrades to the roster this year and add depth, energy, and experience to a young team.  The Celtics as currently constructed may still be a couple of years away from being a true Finals contender in a suddenly crowded Eastern Conference, so it will be interesting to see how Danny Ainge wants to approach his options.  Will Ainge give into the temptation to flirt with the idea of trading for James Harden and open a 2 year window to compete for championships now?  Or does he stick with his current roster, continue to develop guys like Grant Williams, Payton Pritchard, and Aaron Nesmith, and potentially open a larger title window in a year or two? 

All of this may hinge on the health of Kemba Walker.  Can Kemba get healthy and STAY healthy?  His status may determine the ceiling of this team for this year and years to come.  Either way, Boston is in a good place with options. 

2. Houston Rockets

Look, the Rockets are on this list because I live in Houston and am a default Rockets fan. I want them to succeed and I want them to be an interesting team.  Right now, the Rockets are interesting for one reason only:  Where is James Harden going? 

Gone are Mike D’Antoni, Daryl Morey, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and the ultra small-ball experiment.  What’s left, is a disgruntled James Harden and a LOT of unknowns.  Harden has made it clear that he wants out, but with 2 years remaining on his current contract, the situation is complicated for everyone.  Houston has no obligation or need to trade Harden this year, and the pitch to convince him to stay is currently underway. 

John Wall and Boogie Cousins are in town and while their long-term health is still unknown, the early returns have been promising.  The addition of Christian Wood is looking like the steal of the year as he seems to have the makings of a discount Anthony Davis and is certainly the most offensively talented big man that Harden has had to play with in his career.  Workhorse PJ Tucker is still in town and Eric Gordon has moved back into a sixth-man role in which he has thrived in the past.  As long as an engaged James Harden is on this roster, don’t count Houston out of the playoff race. 

3. Brooklyn Nets

Now that we’re past my fandom, we can move on to teams that interest me purely for basketball reasons.  With that being said, no team in the league is more interesting than the Brooklyn Nets. 

In last year’s Bubble, the Nets featured a fun, likeable team built around Spencer Dinwiddie, Jarrett Allen, Joe Harris, and Caris LeVert and despite being swept out of the first round of the playoffs by Toronto, showed how promising their young core could be.  This year, that core is back but with the additions of a healthy Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and invaluable experience. 

Kyrie is one the premiere ball handlers in the history of the league and a clutch scorer who can lead this team to wins on any given night.  Kevin Durant?  The last time we saw KD fully healthy, he was arguably the best all around player in the NBA. 

Three games into the season and the Nets look scary good.  As Kevin Durant continues to get healthy and shake off the rust from missing a full year of basketball, Brooklyn should boast a top tier offense and round into the Eastern Conference favorites.  Here are the main things to watch with this team:

Can Kyrie and KD find contentment and lead this team to a focused season?  We all know that both players come with complex personalities and with the baggage of malcontent at each of their previous teams.  Are they truly happy with each other in Brooklyn or will adversity later in the season cause another locker room fracture?  Time will tell and it could ultimately dictate the success or failure of this team. 

Like Boston, will Brooklyn give into the temptation and look to trade their deep assets for James Harden?  The Nets certainly have the assets to entertain the idea, especially if a third team gets involved, but is it worth it?  Would Brooklyn be willing to sacrifice its depth to bring in another large personality to an already combustible locker room?  My current guess is no.  Brooklyn likely still has some moves to make before they are a finished product and the unfortunate injury to Spencer Dinwiddie makes things more complicated. 

As it stand, expect Brooklyn to build on an elite offense, look to find their true identity on defense, and gear up for a Finals run that could have legacy implications for Kevin Durant. 

4. Dallas Mavericks

I’m not ashamed to say that I have Luka Mania.  I’m actually still clutching my chest over this and I fully expect last year’s series against the Clippers to be a springboard of greater things to come for Luka Doncic.  I’m not convinced in the media hype that Luka is the MVP frontrunner this year… I think it’s a little too early for that just yet.  But the MVP(s) will be here soon and Luka will have the Mavericks competing for championships for a very long time. 

The most pressing issue for Dallas at this moment is the health and future of Kristaps Porzingis.  Each year, Porzingis is inching closer and closer to Yao Ming status, that is, the unfulfilled promise of an oft-injured big man.  His growing list of leg injuries is becoming more and more concerning.  The 2021 version of the Dallas Mavericks will not reach its full potential without a healthy and reliable Kristaps Porzingis.  At some point, Dallas will have to ask the question if Kristaps can consistently be that second star to Luka, or will they have to make a move to bring someone else in?  This season will determine the course that Dallas will need to take and the consequences of their decision could shape the competitive balance of the NBA for the next decade.  No big deal.   

5. Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers are on this list for obvious reasons:  They are the defending champs, and they have LeBron James and Anthony Davis.  With additions of Dennis Schroder, Wesley Matthews, and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell, and the emergence of talented Talen-Horton Tucker, head coach Frank Vogel finds himself with an embarrassment of riches.  Los Angeles is your NBA Finals favorites until proven otherwise. 

The most interesting thing to watch with this team over the next couple of seasons is wrapping up LeBron’s legacy.  James is now chasing the two career milestones that have a chance at giving him an argument for becoming the greatest basketball player of all time:  Michael Jordan’s six NBA Titles, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all time scoring record.  As I write this, LeBron needs two more Finals trophies and 4,029 points to tie both.  Both are achievable, and LeBron is well aware.  I’m not saying that hitting both milestones will make LeBron James the unquestioned GOAT (that’s another article for another time), but it certainly cements his career as unassailable. 

The Lakers will likely do some coasting this year until they turn it on for the playoffs, so the regular season will be most interesting to tune in to see LeBron take down milestone after milestone and of course watch Anthony Davis continue to develop into an even more devastating force than he already is.  Lakers in five. 

6. Phoenix Suns

Remember that this list is not a power ranking or anything like that, this is just a list of team that intrigue me.  And my gosh are the Suns intriguing. 

Getting to the 2021 version of the Suns has been a long, slow, grueling process, but smart draft picks over the years, good player development, and under the radar off season acquisitions have Phoenix poised to be a sneaky contender in the notoriously crowded West. 

Devin Booker has come into his own as the centerpiece of a franchise.  He led Phoenix to an 8-0 run in the Bubble last year and that success is already translating to the new season.  The Suns are balanced and deep.  The acquisitions of Chris Paul and Jae Crowder add savvy, veteran leadership to stabilize and young core, not to mention both are hungry for further post-season success.  Is it a stretch to say the Chris Paul and Devin Booker are already one of the best back-court duos in the league?  The numbers would say they are. 

Ultimately, the Phoenix Suns’ ceiling may be determined by the development of Deandre Ayton.  Ayton has shown flashes of potential stardom over the last couple of seasons and his development since being drafted as a raw prospect has been incredible.  If he can continue to build his game into an elite big man, the Phoenix Suns could have all the ingredients necessary for a deep playoff run.

7. Miami Heat

Only two months removed from the Miami Heat making an unlikely Finals run and it still doesn’t exactly feel real.  Maybe it was just the weirdness of last season and the Bubble.  Maybe it was the injuries to Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo that directly affected the competitiveness of the Finals. Regardless, while Miami’s Finals run was unexpected, it wasn’t any less earned.  With the emergence of Brooklyn and Giannis looking to finally break through in the East, it feels like Miami may be getting slightly overlooked even coming off a Finals trip. 

Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are both two-way stars who lead a deep and versatile roster capable of matching up against virtually any style of team.  And the roster as a whole can almost certainly improve.  Tyler Herro had a standout rookie season and was a crucial part of Miami’s run in the Bubble.  Can he make a significant leap in year two?  Bam Adebayo seems to be only scratching the surface of his potential.  How much higher is his ceiling? 

On The Mismatch Podcast, Kevin O’Conner of The Ringer compared this Miami Heat team to the Detroit Pistons of ’02-’03.  Those Pistons were built similarly with rookie standout Tayshaun Prince making the leap in year two to a key starter and Rasheed Wallace was added at the trade deadline to complete a roster that would make back-to-back Finals, winning one.

Can Miami make a similar roster move to take them over the top and set up a couple more Finals runs in the Jimmy Butler era?  It feels like it might be necessary to keep pace in the East. 

8. Los Angeles Clippers

Will the real Clippers team please stand up? I’ll be honest, I have no idea who these Clippers are or what they are capable of accomplishing this year. 

Pros:

  • On paper, this is one of the most talented teams in the league and the closest competitors to the Lakers.
  • Kawhi Leonard is a top five player in the league.  A player of his caliber keeps you in contention regardless.
  • Paul George is (in theory) a top twenty player at minimum.
  • The addition of Serge Ibaka provides an added dynamic to the frontcourt that was missing last year.

Cons:

  • Sixth-Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell bolted for the neighbors’ greener grass.
  • This locker room is shaky at best.
  • The Clips have a new coaching staff but it’s actually the same coaching staff.

Like the Lakers, this team has the depth and talent to somewhat coast through the regular season, but unlike the Lakers, the Clippers do not seem like a team that is capable of turning it up a notch in the playoffs.  Questions remain about Kawhi’s over-all health (he still hasn’t looked like the Kawhi that we know ever since arriving in LA) and Paul George’s ability to play at a consistent championship level.  A universe exists where this Clippers team puts it all together and wins a title.  However, after such a messy end to the season last year, and the lack of efforts to fix the internal problems this year, it’s tough to see this version of the Clippers making any significant improvements.  They CAN do it.  Whether or not they WILL is the question.

9. Milwaukee Bucks

Can Giannis Antetokounmpo take the final step in his career to win a championship?  The Bucks have other issues that need to be ironed out:  Kris Middleton needs to be more involved in the grand scheme of the offense, Jrue Holiday needs to be an offensive upgrade over Eric Bledsoe, and really, the Bucks simply need another piece.

For two straight seasons, Giannis has won league MVP and the Bucks have been Eastern Conference favorites, and for two straight seasons, the Bucks have been figured out in the playoffs, shut down, and failed to win the East.  In the postseason, Giannis MUST figure out how to add another dimension to his game.  Whether it’s some sort of a serviceable jump shot or perhaps a post presence, back to the basket game, something must be done for the Bucks to break through.  In the last two seasons, the top tier teams of the East have only gotten better while the Bucks have largely stayed the same.  A two time league MVP keeps you in Finals contention, but at some point the regular season success must translate to postseason success. 

This offseason, Giannis signed a 5-year contract extension to stay with Milwaukee.  It is now up to the Bucks organization to develop Giannis personally and put the correct team around him to compete for championships.  Anything less is a failure and their decisions over the next couple of seasons (much like Dallas) will directly affect the NBA landscape over the next decade.

10. Philadelphia 76ers

To trade for James Harden or not to trade for James Harden.  That is the questions for the Sixers and one that could make or break the entire franchise with either decision. 

Daryl Morey came to town and immediately improved the roster adding some desperately needed shooting with the additions of Seth Curry and Danny Green.  This team already makes more sense around Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons than it did at any point last season, HOWEVER, this team is not good enough as presently constructed to win this Eastern Conference.  If the Sixers are committed to building a contender out of Embiid and Simmons, then it is imperative that they find a backcourt partner for Simmons who can consistently create his own shot. 

The only other solution that makes sense would be for Philly to package Ben Simmons in a trade for James Harden (which currently seems like the best and most realistic trade options for both parties).  It’s hard to know where to even put the Sixers in the Eastern Conference race until this roster shakes itself out, with or without Harden.  In the meantime, this will still be a fun, entertaining team to watch.