Predicting How Juiciest 2023-24 NBA Storylines Play out

Every NBA season is filled with intrigue, and the 2023-24 campaign should be no different.

New storylines will develop throughout the regular season and continue to pop up until the Larry O'Brien Trophy is either given back to the Denver Nuggets or awarded to one of the other 29 franchises.

Even at this late-offseason stage, prominent narratives and plotlines are already emerging.

The old guard, led by Stephen Curry and LeBron James, is still around. A new crop of talent, highlighted by uber-prospect Victor Wembanyama, is looking to take center stage. And in between, captivating unfoldings await around every corner.

We've looked at 10 storylines, ranked by our ultra-serious and totally objective Juiciness Meter, that are most important to follow heading into 2023-24.

If you're not already excited for the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets to open the NBA calendar at 7:30 p.m. ET on Oct. 24, it's time to change that.

Rarely has such hype accompanied an incoming NBA player.

Victor Wembanyma is supposed to run away with Rookie of the Year honors. He's supposed to steer the San Antonio Spurs into immediate playoff contention. He's supposed to change how basketball itself is played with his combination of extreme size and off-the-bounce skill.

That's a lot of pressure.

The 19-year-old's first summer league effort was a flop, but he rebounded quickly and showed the well-rounded nature of his skill set immediately after—albeit against weaker competition than he'll face on a nightly basis while navigating the grind of an 82-game NBA schedule.

"I don't want to re-litigate where Wembanyama ranks among prospects over the last several decades, other than to say that where he stands relative to guys like LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan, being even a reasonable discussion in that regard illustrates the point that he's in no way a 'normal' first overall pick," The Athletic's Seth Partnow wrote while ranking him in Tier 4B, which includes players at Nos. 55-66 in the pecking order.

The hype is real. The skill set is real. Now it's time to see how it translates.

Juiciness Meter: 3.9/10

Wembanyama should, and will always, be under the NBA microscope, and he'll be fascinating to follow. But expecting drama from this Spurs organization is laughable, particularly with such a prized prospect.

Prediction

The Frenchman more than justifies the hype, making the All-NBA third team and representing the Spurs in the All-Star Game as he averages a smooth 23 and 12—among massive contributions elsewhere in the box score and everywhere on the defensive end.

The NBA is so overloaded with high-end talent these days that even the bottom of the odds table features youthful upside capable of breaking through and drastically altering the standings.

To illustrate the point, look at the five teams with the longest championship odds, per FanDuel:

• Detroit Pistons (+50,000): Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2021 NBA draft, showed signs of breaking through before a shin injury ended his sophomore season after 12 games. He, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren offer plenty of promise.
• Charlotte Hornets (+50,000): Similarly, LaMelo Ball, the obvious face of the franchise, is returning to action after playing just 36 games last year. Supported by Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, Brandon Miller and more, he could push the Hornets up the Eastern Conference standings quickly.
• Washington Wizards (+50,000): [Theory does not apply]
• Houston Rockets (+35,000): Few teams possess more boom-or-bust potential than a squad featuring Jalen Green, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Şengün, Cam Whitmore and Tari Eason, especially with veterans Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet entering the fray.
• Orlando Magic (+35,000): Reigning Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero is sure to make more strides as a second-year star, and he's propped up by a wealth of young talent, including Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr., Jalen Suggs (yes, he still has breakthrough potential) and Markelle Fultz (see previous parenthetical).

Juiciness Meter: 4.1/10

This is captivating from a pure basketball-appreciation standpoint, but it's not headline fodder.

Prediction

Cade Cunningham and LaMelo Ball shine, but the Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets take the biggest strides forward. The Wizards play basketball.

Between his perpetual MVP dalliances, friendly(?) award-based rivalry with Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid, seemingly nightly trips to uncharted statistical territory and ability to carry the Denver Nuggets to the first title in franchise history, Nikola Jokić has taken center stage over the last few seasons.

The 28-year-old isn't done hogging the spotlight yet, either.

Is he going to become the first center in league archives to average a triple-double? He came up just 0.2 assists per game shy in 2022-23.

Will the Serb earn back-to-back titles as the Nuggets run it back with a largely similar core? His indifference in the wake of the first championship makes his motivation inscrutable.

Can he join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James, Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as a three-time MVP winner? He certainly has the ability.

We at least know the journey toward all these answers will be entertaining and filled with crafty feeds.

Juiciness Meter: 4.4/10

Is anything involving Jokić truly juicy? This will have a major impact on the NBA title race, but don't expect much day-to-day drama.

Prediction

Jokić accomplishes every goal under the sun, earning his third MVP trophy and leading the Nuggets to one of the most elusive feats in the NBA world: back-to-back titles.

The Golden State Warriors aren't going to go gentle into that good night. But how effective will their rage be after a 4-2 series loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals ended their dreams of back-to-back championships?

Stephen Curry remains one of the NBA's most dynamic offensive forces, but he's 35 years old at a position that can feature sudden drop-offs in production after players enter their mid-30s. Klay Thompson was a lesser version of his old self in last year's return from an extended absence, and he's 33.

Draymond Green is the same age with an offensive game that isn't getting any better. And while Chris Paul is an exciting addition, how much does the 38-year-old future Hall of Famer have left in the tank?

The Warriors still have some youthful upside in the form of Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Brandin Podziemski. Dario Šarić should be a crucial addition, and Paul might be a better fit for the Dubs than Jordan Poole ever was, even when the trigger-happy guard was at his best.

If Golden State is to earn a fifth title of the Curry era and extend the dynasty, though, it will have to overcome the advanced ages of so many key contributors.

Juiciness Meter: 5.9/10

Let's not rule out anything after last year's out-of-nowhere Draymond Green-Jordan Poole brouhaha. But Curry is always motivated to keep things positive, and the Warriors have already overcome more significant infighting than they should moving forward.

Prediction

The Warriors are appropriately in the second tier of title contenders. They don't truly extend the dynasty since that's not possible without a title, but they prove they're still a force to be reckoned with on any given night.

Jayson Tatum is in the middle of a huge five-year deal worth $163 million. Jaylen Brown inked a five-year, $288 million extension with the Boston Celtics in late July. Even with Marcus Smart, a fixture in Beantown since he left Oklahoma State, departing for the Memphis Grizzlies, the most important part of the core is intact.

But for how long?

Tatum and Brown make up one of the NBA's leading duos, but with great power comes great responsibility. And as good as they have been, are and will continue to be, they're caught firmly in the web of expectations.

Boston has been a perpetual title contender in recent years, but it has yet to finish the job. After a half-unexpected run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2020 and a disappointing first-round exit in 2021, the C's fell to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals and lost a seven-game Eastern Conference Finals to the Miami Heat last season after nearly completing the heretofore unseen comeback from a three-game series deficit.

The clock is always ticking in today's NBA, due both to organizational impatience and star players' abilities to submit trade demands that actually come to fruition. One more failure could be the last one for this Celtics iteration, recent extensions and all.

Juiciness Meter: 6.3/10

This would have been far different had Brown not just signed his max extension. The highly scientific Juiciness Meter only skyrockets if the Celtics flame out late in the season.

Prediction

Boston keeps Bostoning. In other words, the C's make it to the Eastern Conference Finals yet again...and fall short yet again. However, the front office realizes Brown and Tatum are just too valuable to split up and instead try to build something different around them.

LeBron James made headlines quite often during his age-38 season.

The living legend became the NBA's all-time scoring leader and averaged a sensational 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists while shooting 50.0 percent from the field. Though he only played in 55 games—his third straight campaign below the 60-contest threshold—he helped the Los Angeles Lakers post a winning record and finish in the postseason party despite a sluggish start.

And once he got to that most important part of the calendar, he orchestrated a 4-2 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies and a 4-2 defeat of the Golden State Warriors before running into a broom-bearing Denver Nuggets juggernaut.

What does the veteran have in store for the NBA world during his age-39 season? He's already sustained his extended prime so long that nothing should be surprising. The range of reasonable outcomes extends from living in MVP territory to resting more frequently and preserving himself for the playoffs.

Juiciness Meter: 7.7/10

Drama, intrigue and headlines tend to follow James. We've seen most of them before, but they definitely still exist.

Prediction

If you haven't learned to stop doubting King James, he'd be more than happy to give you one more reminder. He isn't winning any awards of note, and the Lakers won't make it through the Western Conference, but he will keep playing basketball at an unbelievably high level.

How coveted will the NBA Cup actually be when the league, presumably with commissioner Adam Silver leading the charge, hands it to the champion of the inaugural in-season tournament on Dec. 9?

The basketball world knows the new event will feature a four-game group stage played in November that's intended to mimic the format of European soccer tournaments, that the event has been years in the making, that it's designed to generate more revenue for the league, and that it will force the Association's 30 squads to make in-the-moment adjustments because they won't know their final two regular-season games until the event is played.

But will fans tune in? Will players care about the incentives ($500,000 to players on the winning team, $200,000 to the runners-up, $100,000 to semifinal losers, $50,000 to quarterfinal losers)? Will teams employ load-management strategies in games that don't have as much impact on the pursuit of the actual end-of-season prize?

The only certainty here is that the tourney will be taking place.

Juiciness Meter: 8.1/10

The NBA Cup can become a coveted commodity that draws plenty of fan interest, but that's by no means a guarantee. And what happens if a star goes down or teams still elect to go into load-management mode? The league surely doesn't want this to fall flat or affect the pursuit of the real championship.

Prediction

The tournament goes smoothly but isn't played with enough intensity to be an enormous success. Viewership still spikes.

Though Damian Lillard joining the Miami Heat via trade was initially painted as a fait accompli, complete with threats that the star point guard wouldn't even bother playing for any other team, he remains a member of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Maybe that's just in name only, but that status is undeniable. And that means the Blazers still hold at least some of the cards, regardless of what the 33-year-old intends to do.

Will he report if he isn't traded? What if he's dealt to a team that doesn't play in Miami? Is it possible for the Portland front office to smooth things over and pretend like nothing ever happened? How does Jerami Grant feel after he signed his major contract before the Lillard situation went nuclear? Will Lillard rip the city apart—verbally, of course—if he doesn't get his way?

Few players deserve this level of scrutiny, but Lillard certainly qualifies.

Juiciness Meter: 9.5/10

So much for Lillard being a one-franchise legend. The relationship between him and the Blazers doesn't seem like it's getting repaired anytime soon, but logical outcomes are few and far between. The roller-coaster ride will continue for a while longer.

Prediction

The Heat get their guy after negotiations drag into the regular season. Lillard immediately meshes with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, and the Heat match up with the Nuggets for a second time in two years.

Zion Williamson's brilliance on the basketball court is beyond obvious.

The Duke product can dazzle onlookers with his aerial prowess, powering his way through even the tightest defense en route to acrobatic finishes and rim-rattling slams. He's a scheme-warping matchup nightmare capable of racking up assists, forcing dramatic defensive shifts and single-handedly changing outcomes.

But that's only when he plays.

Williamson sat out the entire 2021-22 campaign with a foot injury and could only suit up in 29 contests during the 2022-23 season as more injuries and conditioning concerns piled up.

Now, after an offseason in which non-basketball headlines took center stage, the New Orleans Pelicans can't be too sure what they'll get from the uber-talented 23-year-old.

However, if he's healthy, keeps getting to the rim at the same astronomical rate and shows at least some commitment on the defensive end, the Western Conference will have to fear a starting lineup—CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram, Trey Murphy III/Herb Jones, Williamson and Jonas Valančiūnas—that will immediately position itself in the league's upper echelon.

Juiciness Meter: 9.8/10

Between the offseason's off-court unfoldings and Williamson's impact on the rare occasions he's been consistently healthy, this has "tabloids" written all over it.

Prediction

Williamson enters the 2023-24 season more motivated than ever, providing a forceful reminder of his dizzying talent. A first All-NBA appearance of his career awaits as a reward.

Over the last two years, the Philadelphia 76ers have won a combined 105 games but failed to advance past the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Broaden the scope and you'll see that each of the last six seasons in the City of Brotherly Love has featured a playoff berth and a premature exit—five times in the semis and once in the opening round.

Joel Embiid is, without any hint of hyperbole, one of the premier talents in NBA history, but he has yet to play in even the postseason's penultimate round. And if he wants to do that in Philadelphia, his opportunities may be dwindling.

Enter James Harden.

The bearded guard, who opted into the final season of his contract with the Sixers under the impression that he'd be traded, per USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt, is still on the roster. He just doesn't plan to play in Philadelphia anytime soon, as he made clear at an event in China during which he called president of basketball operations Daryl Morey a "liar" and vowed not to play for any organization that employed him.

Now, per the Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey, Harden is talking about playing in China—never mind contractual limitations—and Embiid, no stranger to internet trolling, scrubbed references to processes and Philly on social media.

What comes next? Well, that's anyone's guess.

Juiciness Meter: 10/10

A public feud between star and front-office executive? The unraveling of a consistent contender? A trade demand gone awry? Further repercussions with an MVP candidate who's never afraid to speak his mind? Get the popcorn ready.

Prediction

The Sixers combust. Harden doesn't play a single minute and fails to fetch a promising return, and the Embiid sweepstakes begin in earnest after a first-round playoff exit.

All stats, unless otherwise indicated, courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball Reference.