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    George McGinnis Dies at 73; Powered His Way to Basketball Stardom

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    He won two titles with the Pacers of the A.B.A. before joining Julius Erving on the N.B.A.’s 76ers, but it was 35 years before the Hall of Fame inducted him.George McGinnis, whose rare combination of size and agility made him a pillar of two early 1970s championship teams in the upstart American Basketball Association, but whose heralded pairing with Julius Erving on the N.B.A.’s Philadelphia 76ers failed to fulfill expectations of a title, died on Thursday in Indianapolis. He was 73.The Indiana Pacers, the team with which he won his A.B.A. titles, said his death, in a hospital, resulted from complications of cardiac arrest, which he suffered last week at his home in Indianapolis. McGinnis had struggled to walk in recent years after undergoing multiple back surgeries because of a hereditary condition, the team said.McGinnis played at the high school, college and professional levels in basketball-obsessed Indiana, where he broke Oscar Robertson’s scholastic scoring records while leading Washington High School in Indianapolis to a 31-0 record and a championship in 1969.McGinnis led Washington High School in Indianapolis to a 31-0 title run in 1969.Frank Fisse/IndyStar, via ImagnAs a forward, he averaged 30 points and 14.7 rebounds in his one season at Indiana University before joining his hometown Indiana Pacers. The Pacers immediately won successive A.B.A. championships, though McGinnis, surrounded by the veterans Mel Daniels, Roger Brown and Bob Netolicky, was not the team’s unquestioned star until his second season, when he averaged 27.6 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.At a chiseled 6 feet 8 inches, 235 pounds, McGinnis was a harbinger of basketball’s athletic revolution, featuring taller players who could be brawny around the basket but more agile away from it with each passing decade, navigating skillfully in open space.“Big guys in my era couldn’t handle the ball,” he said in an interview with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame before he was inducted into it in 2017, an honor that many believed was egregiously overdue 35 years after he retired. “But I could dribble with my left hand, my right hand and take guys outside.”He credited those skills to the coaching he had growing up in Indiana, where “fundamentals are well taught,” he said.Len Elmore, a Pacers teammate for one season — McGinnis’s last in Indiana before joining the 76ers in 1975 — said in a telephone interview that he harked back to McGinnis when LeBron James, slightly bigger at 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, entered the N.B.A. in 2003 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.“Similar size, strength, mobility,” Elmore said, “I remember saying it immediately — George was LeBron before LeBron. You couldn’t believe that with his body he could be that agile.”McGinnis during Game Two of the N.B.A. finals against the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977.James Drake/Sports Illustrated, via Getty ImagesOne distinctive part of McGinnis’s game was his midrange jumper, a right-handed shot-put-like release that made purists cringe. “It was different, but he made it work for him,” Elmore said.After leading the A.B.A. in scoring, averaging 29.8 points, and sharing the league’s 1974-75 Most Valuable Player Award with Erving, his future 76ers teammate, McGinnis left the cash-strapped Pacers, calling his departure “a dollars and cents thing.”In a challenge to the N.B.A.’s constitution, he tried to circumvent Philadelphia’s draft rights by signing with the New York Knicks. But when the league voided the deal, McGinnis joined the 76ers, accepting a six-year contract for $3.2 million (the equivalent of about $18.3 million today). It was one season before the team acquired Erving from the New York Nets as it entered the N.B.A. with three other A.B.A. teams, including the Pacers.“George was the turnaround factor in pro basketball in this town,” Pat Williams, the team’s general manager, told Sports Illustrated in 1982. “Julius put up the walls and a roof, but it was George who built the foundation.”The 76ers’ slogan for McGinnis’s first season in Philadelphia was “Let George Do It.” Led by McGinnis, who was voted to play in the first of his three N.B.A. All-Star games, the 76ers increased their win total to 46 from the previous season’s 34 but lost in the first round of the playoffs.Erving’s arrival electrified the sport, though questions abounded on whether the two prolific forwards could coexist. “It was inevitable that people would say we hated each other, but Julius and I knew it wasn’t true, and we were above it,” McGinnis said in the Sports Illustrated article.The 76ers were within two victories of fulfilling their supposed destiny, taking the first two games against the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1976-77 league finals. But the Bill Walton-led Blazers won the next four. McGinnis struggled with his shot until the last game in Portland, when he scored 28 points.The Western Conference All-Stars in 1979. McGinnis is seated on the left, in the front row.NBAE, via Getty ImagesTrailing by two with one last possession in Game 6, the 76ers’ head coach, Gene Shue, called a play for McGinnis. Erving, who had already scored 40, was bewildered by Shue’s bypassing him and Doug Collins, the team’s best pure shooter.After another disheartening playoff exit the following season, the 76ers dealt McGinnis to the Denver Nuggets, landing Bobby Jones, whose staunch defense better complemented Erving and helped the 76ers win the title in 1983.McGinnis did not have a long career, especially compared with James’s 21st-century standard. His performance declined in Denver, in part because of an Achilles’ tendon injury. He returned to the Pacers during the 1979-80 season, finishing his 11th and final pro season, 1981-82, with an average of 4.7 points over 76 games.George F. McGinnis was born on Aug. 12, 1950, in Harpersville, Ala., about 30 miles southeast of Birmingham, the son of Burnie and Willie (Keith) McGinnis. His father was a carpenter. With a daughter, Bonnie, the family settled on the west side of Indianapolis.During McGinnis’s senior year of high school, his father died after falling off scaffolding at a construction site — days after watching George score 53 points and grab 30 rebounds in an All-Star game. McGinnis, who was also an all-state football player, said he left Indiana University early to help support his mother.He expressed regret that he had missed out on playing for the Indiana coach Bobby Knight by one season, speculating, “I think it would have given me different values.” (Knight died in November.)Many believed McGinnis’s induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017 was egregiously overdue, coming 35 years after his professional retirement from the sport.Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE, via Getty ImagesMcGinnis was married for 43 years to Lynda (Dotson) McGinnis, who had been a high school girlfriend. She died of cancer in 2019, not long after he underwent surgery to address a back issue, spinal stenosis, that forced him to walk stooped with a cane or walker. His survivors include his sister, Bonnie McGinnis.After his playing years, McGinnis worked as a broadcaster in Indianapolis, where he and his wife founded GM Supply Company, a provider of special tooling and abrasives to manufacturers, in 1991.McGinnis remained a popular fixture in the state’s basketball community, and in September was inducted into the Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame.Twenty years earlier, he told The New York Times, “One of the great things about being a basketball player in Indiana is that they never forget you.”Alex Traub More

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      NBA Season Preview: The Nets and the Lakers Are the Wild Cards

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      Even for a league used to drama and headlines, the N.B.A. had a dizzying off-season.There were trade requests (Kevin Durant) and trade rumors (Russell Westbrook); injuries (Chet Holmgren) and returns (Zion Williamson). The power structure of the Western Conference could be upended by the return of Kawhi Leonard with the Clippers; the power structure of the East is again unclear.And a series of scandals at Boston, Phoenix and Golden State could have lasting implications for the league.In short: A lot is going on.Headline More

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      NBA Says It Will ‘Follow the Science’ as Coronavirus Cases Rise

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      Outbreaks and exposures on multiple teams led the league this week to postpone games for the first time this season, with a series of marquee matchups looming.For the first couple of months of the N.B.A. season, the league operated with something that approximated business as usual: full arenas and full rosters as teams adapted to the new normal of playing through the coronavirus pandemic.But amid a recent surge of players and coaches who have landed in the N.B.A.’s Covid-19 health and safety protocols, the league finds itself contending with some familiar challenges and concerns.Positive tests. Canceled practices. And the looming possibility of more postponed games, just as the N.B.A. approaches what some fans consider its real opening day: a five-game slate on Christmas Day.On Tuesday, the Nets announced that six more players, including James Harden, had joined Paul Millsap in the protocols, meaning they had tested positive for the coronavirus or had been in close contact with someone who had. That left the Nets with a very short rotation for their home game against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night. The Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, canceled their practice after Talen Horton-Tucker entered the protocols ahead of the team’s flight to Dallas for a game against the Mavericks on Wednesday.Once in the protocols, players cannot return to play until they have isolated for 10 days or returned two negative test results at least 24 hours apart.Those developments came one day after the league announced that it was postponing a pair of Chicago Bulls games this week after 10 of the team’s players, as well as other staff members, landed in the protocols. Those two games — against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday and the Raptors on Thursday — were the league’s first postponements of the season.“Like the rest of the country, and as was predicted by our infectious disease specialists, we have seen an increase of cases around the league,” said Mike Bass, an N.B.A. spokesman. “As we have since the pandemic began in March 2020, we will continue to follow the science and data, and will, in close partnership with the players’ association, update our protocols as deemed appropriate by our medical experts.”All of the Bulls’ players have been vaccinated, according to two league sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the players’ vaccination statuses.The league has said that more than 97 percent of its players are fully vaccinated, and that more than 60 percent of those eligible have received booster shots. The players’ union did not agree to a vaccine mandate before the start of the season. A few players, such as the Nets’ Kyrie Irving and Washington’s Bradley Beal, have spoken out about not wanting to get vaccinated.Last season, the league and the players’ union reported more than 75 positive tests among players, most of them before vaccines were widely available. More than 30 games were postponed.Given the possibility that players might have been exposed to the virus during Thanksgiving gatherings this year, the league and union agreed to institute mandatory testing on Nov. 28, 29 and 30. Before then, vaccinated players were being tested only if they exhibited symptoms or had been around someone who had tested positive.CJ McCollum, the president of the players’ union, told The New York Times recently that he was encouraging players to get vaccines and booster shots, and that he doesn’t allow unvaccinated people into his home. Extra testing, he said, “just makes sense.”The Coronavirus Pandemic: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 5Pfizer’s Covid pill. More

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      New Black N.B.A. Coaches Wonder Why It Took So Long to Get a Shot

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      The N.B.A.’s coaching ranks have long been dominated by white men, but a demand from Black players for more diversity may be changing things.Jamahl Mosley has traveled the world for basketball.He played for professional teams in Mexico, Australia, Spain, Finland and South Korea. He was a player development coach with the N.B.A.’s Denver Nuggets when Carmelo Anthony was there. He was an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the four long years after LeBron James left for Miami. Dirk Nowitzki’s final years with the Mavericks and the rise of Luka Doncic? Mosley was there, too, as an assistant in Dallas.He spent 16 seasons on N.B.A. coaching staffs, developing his skills and hoping for his big break to be a head coach. He had heeded his mother’s advice about playing college basketball for a Black coach, to learn leadership skills from someone who looked like him. The doubts about his ever getting that kind of job only surfaced in recent years when he interviewed for — and was turned down for — seven N.B.A. head coaching jobs.“Because you knew you were qualified,” Mosley said. “You knew you had interviewed well. You knew that you had the ability to do it.”The N.B.A.’s coaching and executive ranks have long been dominated by white men, even though more than 70 percent of players are Black. But this year, Mosley became part of an unusual off-season, in which seven of eight head coaching vacancies were filled by Black candidates. Five of them, including Mosley, who was hired by the Orlando Magic in July, are first-time head coaches. The others are Wes Unseld Jr. of the Washington Wizards, Willie Green of the New Orleans Pelicans, Ime Udoka of the Boston Celtics and Chauncey Billups of the Portland Trail Blazers. Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks and Nate McMillan of the Atlanta Hawks had been head coaches elsewhere before.“If this was 15 years ago, we probably don’t get these positions,” Green said.The uptick — 13 of the league’s 30 coaches are now Black and two others are not white — came during a broader national conversation about race and hiring practices. Black players harnessed their voices to seek change that they felt was overdue.“This is a stain on the league that no one can deny,” Michele Roberts, the executive director of the players’ union, said in an interview, “and we’ve got to continue to do better.”‘There’s a natural cultural bond’Long before he became the coach of the Celtics, Udoka was a self-described student of the game. As a teenager in Portland, Ore., he would record games that featured some of his favorite college players, standouts like Syracuse’s Lawrence Moten and Lamond Murray of the University of California, Berkeley. Then he would head to the playground to mimic their moves. (Udoka still has a stack of VHS tapes at home.)“There’s a natural cultural bond that Black coaches are going to have with their players,” Boston Celtics Coach Ime Udoka said.Michael Dwyer/Associated Press“I wasn’t the most athletic or skilled guy,” Udoka said, “so I really had to use my brain for an advantage. I always thought through the game a certain way, and I think some coaches saw that in me, too.”Udoka grew up in a predominantly Black neighborhood, went to a Black high school and had Black coaches. He was not especially conscious of race, he said, since being in that environment was all he knew. But his high school coach “preached family and togetherness and a brotherhood,” Udoka said, and he carried those lessons with him.Udoka was bouncing around the N.B.A. as a defense-minded forward when he got what he described as “the coaching bug.” He helped found an Amateur Athletic Union team in Portland that included Terrence Ross and Terrence Jones, future N.B.A. players. Udoka also participated in coaching clinics hosted by the N.B.A. players’ union. After retiring, he joined the San Antonio Spurs in 2012 as an assistant under Gregg Popovich.The Celtics job opened in June when the team announced that Brad Stevens, who had coached the team for eight seasons, would be its new president of basketball operations. Jaylen Brown, one of the Celtics’ young stars, said in a recent interview with The Undefeated that he had told the team to hire a Black candidate. Representation was important to him, he said.Udoka, left, talked with Marcus Smart during a preseason game this month.Winslow Townson/Associated Press“Players were asking and demanding and wanting to see more guys who looked like them,” Udoka said. He added: “In coaching, I think there’s been a shift from Xs and Os and game plans to the value that’s placed on relationships. And there’s a natural cultural bond that Black coaches are going to have with their players.”Udoka said he was not suggesting that white coaches couldn’t bond with Black players. He cited Popovich, who is white, as someone who has long stressed the importance of relationships. But for a new coach on a new team, it would be naïve to believe that race was not a factor.“Basketball is mainly minority-based,” Celtics point guard Marcus Smart said in an interview. “So having a minority as a coach, I can connect with him. I can say things to him, or he can say things to me, and we get it. Whereas it’s different when you don’t. You have to try to figure out, OK, how can I meet them halfway?”Still, a coach is a coach: Udoka suspended Smart for the team’s preseason finale for breaking an unspecified team rule.‘This decision is coming fast’About three years ago, Rick Carlisle, as president of the National Basketball Coaches Association, was hearing from an increasing number of young assistants of diverse backgrounds who felt they were not getting a fair shake at head coaching jobs.The league and the coaches’ association soon began the N.B.A. Coaches Equality Initiative, a program aimed at developing young coaches and ensuring that qualified candidates are visible when jobs arise. Since 2019, there have been numerous workshops, summits, panel discussions and networking opportunities.David Vanterpool, left, was passed over for the head coaching job in Minnesota after the team fired Ryan Saunders, right.David Zalubowski/Associated PressAnd there is an app, a coaches database that was unveiled last year. It now includes profiles of about 300 coaches, whom the league’s power brokers — owners, general managers, team presidents — can access, Carlisle said. Coaches can upload their histories, their philosophies and even their interview clips. Think of it is as Bumble for the N.B.A. coaching set. But it is all part of a larger mission, said Oris Stuart, the chief people and inclusion officer for the league.“We have ongoing conversations with our teams about the importance of making sure that, as they’re making decisions, the process is inclusive,” Stuart said in an interview. “We focus on the importance of making sure that the best talent is considered, that we make a wide reach and that we go beyond the pre-established networks that people are working from.”But within the past year, the hiring processes for two white coaches — including the one that landed Carlisle with the Indiana Pacers — have been criticized for not appearing to be inclusive.The Minnesota Timberwolves fired Ryan Saunders as their coach in February and announced his replacement, Chris Finch, who is white, on the same day. The Timberwolves chose not to promote the team’s associate head coach, David Vanterpool, who is Black, which would have been typical after a midseason firing. (Vanterpool is now an assistant for the Nets.)The perception was that there was no way the Timberwolves could have seriously considered any Black candidates given their accelerated timeline, said Roberts, the executive director of the players’ union. The timing of the change, she added, “got under a lot of people’s skin.”Within days, Carlisle and David Fogel, the executive director of the coaches’ association, released a statement in which the organization expressed its “disappointment” with Minnesota’s search, saying that it is “our responsibility to point out when an organization fails to conduct a thorough and transparent search of candidates from a wide range of diverse backgrounds.”Rick Carlisle expressed some trepidation before he accepted the offer of head coach from the Indiana Pacers in June.Doug Mcschooler/Associated PressBut just a few months later, in June, Carlisle accepted the Pacers job after what appeared to be an abbreviated search. Indiana had fired Nate Bjorkgren earlier in the month after just one season, and they had interviewed only one other candidate when they offered Carlisle the job. Chad Buchanan, Indiana’s general manager, said in an interview that the team wanted an experienced coach and that Carlisle had unexpectedly become available after he resigned from the Dallas Mavericks, which he had coached for 13 seasons and led to a championship in 2011.Buchanan sought to assure Carlisle by telling him that the Pacers had interviewed 17 candidates, of whom eight were Black and one was female, before hiring Bjorkgren eight months earlier.“This was something I was concerned about,” Carlisle said, “but when they gave me that information, I was comfortable moving forward.”Washington Wizards Coach Wes Unseld Jr. was known as the Genius for his attention to detail and his instinctive feel for the game.Sarah Stier/Getty Images‘It’s more of a systemic issue’As an economics major at Johns Hopkins University, Wes Unseld Jr. thought he would get into investment banking. But for two summers, before and after graduating in 1997, he interned for the Wizards. His father, also Wes, who was synonymous with the franchise from his Hall of Fame playing days, had moved into the front office as the team’s general manager after seven seasons as its head coach. The elder Unseld invited his son to learn the ropes, just in case the financial world was not for him.“If you’re going to be in this business, you’ve got to learn the business,” Wes Unseld Jr. recalled his father telling him. “So I’m thinking, OK, I’ll be around basketball. ‘No, you’re going to intern in every department.’ Community relations, public relations, marketing, sales — you name it, I did it.”Unseld, who was a very good Division III player for Johns Hopkins, soon realized that he could not leave the game behind, and he became one of the many unsung, behind-the-scenes fixtures in the N.B.A. After eight seasons as a scout for Washington, he spent the next 16 as an assistant for various teams around the league. He refined offenses. He built defenses. With the Wizards, he was known as The Genius for his attention to detail and his instinctive feel for the game. In Denver, he helped shape Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray into stars.Yet Unseld could not land a head coaching job. He said he was never sure if his race was a factor. “When an opportunity doesn’t pan out, sometimes it’s easy to ask, ‘Was it that?’” Unseld said. “And it may have been. It’s difficult to tell.”Willie Green, the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans, spoke to reporters at a news conference last month.Sean Gardner/Getty ImagesAfter a record 14 Black coaches were manning benches for teams at the start of the 2012-13 season, those numbers dipped in subsequent years, showing how tenuous progress can be. Unseld said the N.B.A. is “a network business like any other business.”“If you’re not connected to the decision makers, it can be difficult,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s an overt way of not interviewing or not giving people of color a chance, but maybe they just don’t have that network to pull from. It’s more of a systemic issue.”Roberts commended the coaches’ association for working to address that issue in recent seasons. But the real power, she said, has come from the players themselves.“A happy team is probably a more successful team,” she said. “And if the players think management is thumbing its nose at their articulated concerns about a coaching staff, then what’s their motivation to stay?”In New Orleans, Willie Green often thinks of his uncle, Gary Green, who coached him when he was growing up in Detroit, and who imbued him with the fundamentals. After several years as an assistant with Golden State and Phoenix, Green said he felt a heightened sense of responsibility.“We have to be caretakers of these opportunities,” he said.In Boston, Garrett Jackson, a former player on Udoka’s A.A.U. team, is now one of Udoka’s video coordinators. And Mosley got his first win for the Magic with a narrow victory against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. He was gifted the game ball, then got back to business.“It’s like anything,” he said. “You just put your head down and do the work.” More

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      N.B.A. Eastern Conference Preview: The Bucks Aren't Finished Yet

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      The Bucks might be better, while the Sixers and Nets are playing wait-and-see with key stars. The Eastern Conference could play out in several ways.Here lie the N.B.A.’s most compelling story lines.Potential contenders in the Eastern Conference scrambled during the off-season to assemble teams fit to knock off Giannis Antetokounmpo — now with a new, improved jump shot? — and the reigning N.B.A. champion Milwaukee Bucks. Even the conference’s perennial bottom feeders built rosters that will demand attention from basketball devotees. Some teams are just hoping that distractions don’t derail their seasons before they start.Many wonder how the Ben Simmons situation in Philadelphia will end. The 76ers seemed locked in a stalemate with Simmons, a three-time All-Star, who has wanted to be traded for months. Simmons ended his holdout midway through the preseason and reported to the team but has not played. The 76ers have said they want him on their roster, but if they persuade him to stay, can they really go forward with business as usual?Meanwhile, the Nets have a bona fide championship roster. They know this, and even with the distraction of Kyrie Irving’s murky status because he’s not vaccinated, they expect to hoist the Larry O’Brien championship trophy at season’s end.Could the N.B.A.’s balance of power, which has long rested in the West, be shifting to the East? Here’s a look at how the Eastern Conference shapes up this season.Miami HeatIn some ways, it seems so long ago. But little more than a year has passed since the Heat plowed their way to the 2020 finals before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers. Was it a fluke, aided by playing under the unusual conditions of a bubble environment, with no fans? The Heat were up and down last season before the Milwaukee Bucks ejected them from the 2021 playoffs in a lopsided first-round series.Jimmy Butler needs to be efficient. Duncan Robinson needs to be consistent. Tyler Herro needs to recapture his assertiveness. And Bam Adebayo needs to keep making the sort of strides that have pushed him toward becoming a perennial All-Star.The team should benefit from two additions: Kyle Lowry, who at 35 left the Raptors after nine seasons, and P.J. Tucker, who helped the Bucks win the championship last season.Philadelphia 76ersThe Sixers don’t need Ben Simmons to be competitive (they do have Joel Embiid, pictured), but they are better with him.Matt Slocum/Associated PressBen Simmons is, for now, back in the City of Brotherly Love.Simmons, who reportedly demanded a trade in late August and missed training camp, reported to the 76ers ahead of their third preseason game but did not play. Simmons’s future in Philadelphia remains unclear, though. He still has four years left on his maximum contract.With or without him, Philadelphia is antsy to win now. Joel Embiid is coming off the best season of his career, when he finished second in the voting for the Most Valuable Player Award. The 76ers were the No. 1 seed in last season’s Eastern Conference playoffs but collapsed in the semifinals, continuing their inability to turn regular-season wins into deep postseason success.Philadelphia is a better team with Simmons, 25, despite his offensive shortcomings. But even if he doesn’t play anytime soon, Embiid, Seth Curry, Danny Green and Tobias Harris should be experienced enough to keep the Sixers in contention.New York KnicksThe Knicks doubled down on last season’s roster, which unexpectedly made the playoffs then flamed out — albeit after a brilliant flare — in the first round. The veterans Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson are back, but Elfrid Payton, who triggered an influx of gray hairs for fans, is not. The additions of Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker are significant, and should help take the offensive load off RJ Barrett and Julius Randle, who signed a four-year contract extension in the off-season.This feels like a make-or-break year for the 23-year-old Mitchell Robinson, the center who is up for an extension and can jump through the roof. At his best, he protects the rim and is an excellent roll man. But he has had difficulty staying healthy. Look for bigger roles for Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin, who each showed promise off the bench as rookies last season.The Knicks should easily make the playoffs, but their bench depth is a question mark.Milwaukee BucksThe Bucks kept the band together. Same coach. Same star. Same core — mostly. And why not? Fresh off their first championship since 1971, the Bucks seem poised for a title defense.The challenge could be fatigue. Because of the pandemic, their postseason run stretched into July, and two starters — Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday — helped the U.S. Olympic team win gold in August. The Bucks also lost P.J. Tucker, invaluable in the late stages of last season, to the Heat in free agency.But Giannis Antetokounmpo, the two-time M.V.P., is still the face of the franchise and the proud owner of a newly minted championship ring. And he may be better than ever, showing off an improved jump shot in the preseason. With a contract that runs through the 2025-26 season, he is not going anywhere anytime soon.Atlanta HawksAtlanta guard Trae Young led the Hawks on a surprising run through the first two rounds of the playoffs last season.Brett Davis/USA Today Sports, via ReutersAfter a surprising run to the Eastern Conference finals last year, the Hawks enter the season with the burden of expectations and the benefit of continuity. This team is deep and should compete to be one of the best in the East.Most of the key players are back. The Hawks locked in their two best players, Trae Young and John Collins, with long-term extensions. Coach Nate McMillan will be running the team from opening night, as opposed to being thrust into the job midseason as he was during the last campaign after Lloyd Pierce was fired.Atlanta almost pulled off a miracle run to the N.B.A. finals last season, after taking down the Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers, but were bedeviled by injuries against the eventual champions, the Milwaukee Bucks. Players who were unavailable or not 100 percent, like De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish and Bogdan Bogdanovic, are expected to start the season with clean bills of health. The Hawks also added some quality veteran bench pieces in Gorgui Dieng and Delon Wright, and an intriguing rookie they drafted late in this year’s first round, Jalen Johnson.Charlotte HornetsLaMelo Ball, last season’s rookie of the year, highlights Charlotte’s promising young core. He’ll likely be the Hornets’ primary facilitator and already has great court vision and playmaking ability, and he is continuing to improve his jump shot.Ball and forward Miles Bridges in the pick-and-roll were elite last season, with Bridges’s power at the basket and Ball’s precise lob placement on display. That pairing should only be better this season.The Hornets already had solid veterans in Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward, and they added Kelly Oubre Jr. and Mason Plumlee. Oubre is an inconsistent shooter, but could be impactful in transition. Plumlee is a versatile big man.This group won’t be knocking at the door of the N.B.A. finals this season, but the Hornets will be a fun team to watch, and have a real chance at a playoff berth.Brooklyn NetsWith the addition of Patty Mills and Paul Millsap, as well as the return of Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge, the Nets, on paper, are one of the best teams in N.B.A. history. In normal circumstances, they would be title favorites, given their Big Three of Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Kevin Durant. But that was the case last year too, and the Nets bowed out in the second round of the playoffs.Health will be the principle factor for determining how far the Nets go. All of the Nets’ top players have significant miles on their legs and have missed substantial time in recent years.If there is a potentially weak point for other teams to exploit, it is defensively, where the Nets struggled last season, and their off-season additions didn’t seriously address that. This could come back to bite them in the postseason, particularly in the frontcourt against players like Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored at will during last year’s playoffs, or Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid.But the offensive firepower is top notch. It’s hard to see the Nets being beaten in a seven-game series if they’re healthy.Chicago BullsDeMar DeRozan gives the new-look Chicago Bulls a threat from the mid-range.Kamil Krzaczynski/USA Today Sports, via ReutersChicago could be a sneaky-good team this season.Arturas Karnisovas, the Bulls’ executive vice president of basketball operations, voiced displeasure with the team’s 31-41 record shortly after last season. Since then, he’s added DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso and Tony Bradley to a roster with Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, whom Chicago acquired from Orlando at the March trade deadline.DeRozan is lethal in the midrange, but some have questioned how he’ll fit with LaVine, as both players are most effective with the ball in their hands. Chicago will have an upgrade at point guard with Ball, who is a deft passer. And Caruso will add a rugged spark off the bench. Coach Billy Donovan will have to figure out how they all fit on the court.In any event, Michael Jordan said that with the changes the Bulls made, they could compete in the East. How long has it been since those words were last spoken?Toronto RaptorsIt’s a new era in Toronto basketball. Kyle Lowry, perhaps the most lauded Raptor in franchise history, has gone to Miami. Without him, the Raptors are likely stuck between being too talented to get a top draft pick and not being so good that they’ll contend for a top seed in the conference.But there may be an opening for Toronto in the turbulent East: Scottie Barnes, whom the team surprisingly drafted at No. 4 this year, showed potential in the preseason. And the Raptors’ frontcourt, helmed by Chris Boucher and the newly acquired Precious Achiuwa, will be a force.There are lots of questions for the Raptors entering the season: Is Pascal Siakam, who is expected to miss the start of the season as he recovers from shoulder surgery, a true franchise cornerstone? Will Lowry’s replacement at guard, the 35-year-old Goran Dragic, last the season in Toronto? Or will Masai Ujiri, the Raptors head of basketball operations, flip Dragic’s expiring contract?Detroit PistonsYou’d be hard pressed to find any Pistons fans who haven’t already crowned the rookie guard Cade Cunningham as their Magic Johnson. Johnson, of course, won an N.B.A. title as a rookie after the Lakers drafted him No. 1 overall in 1979.Detroit drafted Cunningham, a savvy scorer and shot creator, No. 1 overall earlier this year to hopefully lift itself out of years of irrelevancy. An ankle injury sidelined him in the preseason, and the team is being cautious.Detroit’s young group showed promise last season, despite finishing with the worst record in the East, but the Pistons are another team in rebuilding mode. Coach Dwane Casey has said that this season’s goal is to earn a spot in the postseason play-in tournament.Cleveland CavaliersOnly someone like LeBron James could render an entire franchise into an afterthought. But that was what he effectively did when he departed the Cavaliers for the glamour of Hollywood in 2018, leaving them to rummage through the wilderness without him. The Cavaliers instantly went from title contender to lightweight, though the team has some up-and-comers — highlighted by Collin Sexton and Darius Garland in the backcourt — who are cause for cautious optimism.None of this is to suggest that the Cavaliers will come anywhere close to sniffing the playoffs. But a slow, steady rebuild — augmented by smart draft picks — is the way back to respectability. And there is more good news: Kevin Love (remember him?) has just two seasons remaining on his gargantuan deal, which could make him a more appealing target on the trade market.Boston CelticsJayson Tatum has shown promise with Boston, but postseason success has so far eluded him.Jasen Vinlove/USA Today Sports, via ReutersFrom the start of training camp, Ime Udoka, the Celtics’ first-year coach, has had a particular emphasis: ball movement. He does not want the ball to stick. He wants his players to work together to generate the best shots.This must have been welcome news to fans who got tired of watching the Celtics’ offense devolve into isolation sets last season. Jayson Tatum, 23, and Jaylen Brown, who will turn 25 this month, form one of the most talented young tandems in the league, but fulfilling their promise in the postseason has so far eluded them.Perhaps Udoka can help them deliver. He replaced Brad Stevens, who moved to the front office after a posting .500 record and losing in the first round of the playoffs in his eighth season as the team’s coach.Washington WizardsWes Unseld Jr., Washington’s new head coach, has a tall task ahead of him.The Wizards are not a championship-caliber team, even after adding solid veterans like Spencer Dinwiddie, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell. So this season will be mostly about persuading Bradley Beal, who can become a free agent next summer, to make a long-term commitment to the franchise.It’s hard to win without multiple elite playmakers, and the Wizards have just one in Beal after trading Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers. But even in a yet another bridge year, the Wizards should, at the very least, have a playoff team. They’ll have the promising center Thomas Bryant back from injury, and the team can hope for some growth from its last two lottery picks, Deni Avdija (2020) and Rui Hachimura (2019).Orlando MagicThe Magic have a young team with a first-year head coach in Jamahl Mosley. They’ve made just two playoff appearances in the past nine seasons, and traded away their best players, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic, in the middle of last season. Then they landed Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs at No. 5 in this year’s draft.Suggs joined a roster that is crowded at guard, with Markelle Fultz, who will return from a knee injury, RJ Hampton, Terrence Ross, Cole Anthony and Gary Harris. Suggs probably has the highest ceiling of those players, though, and he was solid in the summer league before injuring his thumb.The Magic will not be legitimate contenders for a while, so they have plenty of time to sort out their roster.Indiana PacersRick Carlisle, back for his second stint with the Pacers, is the team’s third coach in three seasons. Indiana could use some stability to help develop a young core that includes Malcolm Brogdon, Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis, already a two-time All-Star at 25.But the Pacers, who have not advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2014, are coming off a 34-38 season, and Caris LeVert is out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his back.Carlisle coached the Pacers for four seasons, from 2003 to 2007, while guiding them to three postseason appearances. It will take some hard work to get them there again. More

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      Bobby Leonard, Hall of Fame Basketball Coach, Dies at 88

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      He coached the Indiana Pacers for 12 seasons and took them to three A.B.A. titles. The governor of Indiana called him “the embodiment of basketball.”Bobby Leonard, an All-American guard for Indiana University’s 1953 N.C.A.A. basketball champions who later coached the Indiana Pacers to three American Basketball Association championships, died on Tuesday. He was 88.Leonard’s family said in a statement that he had experienced many ailments in recent years, but they did not provide the cause of death or say where he died. He had been living with his wife, Nancy (Root) Leonard, in suburban Indianapolis.Leonard was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in 2014 for taking the Pacers to A.B.A. titles in 1970, 1972 and 1973. He coached the team for 12 seasons, eight in the A.B.A. and four in the N.B.A. after the two leagues merged.“He has meant as much as anyone in the state of Indiana when it comes to the game of basketball,” Mike Woodson, who played for Indiana University in the late 1970s and became its head coach this season after many years in the N.B.A., said in a statement. “He played the game with great flair. He coached with undeniable passion.”Gov. Eric Holcomb of Indiana called Leonard “the embodiment of basketball.”Leonard was known as Slick. A 6-foot-3-inch guard, he was a fine playmaker in his seven seasons in the N.B.A. But his nickname wasn’t derived from his savvy on the court.As he once told the story to Carmel magazine, an Indiana monthly, while playing for the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950s he was involved in a game of gin rummy with the team’s star center, George Mikan, on a preseason bus trip. “I blitzed him,” Leonard recalled, “and one of the players said that I was too slick. It stuck.”Leonard was an analyst and color commentator on Pacers broadcasts for some 35 years, beginning on television in 1985 and later moving to radio. He injected a colorful note with his exclamation “Boom, baby!” after an Indiana player hit a three-point shot.William Robert Leonard was born in Terre Haute, Ind., on July 17, 1932, one of three children of Raymond and Hattie Leonard. His father dug ditches during the Depression. “We used to stand in commodity lines, and they would give you a few cans of food and some flour,” he recalled in “Boom, Baby! My Basketball Life in Indiana” (2013, with Lew Freedman).Leonard was an outstanding basketball and tennis player in high school and then played for three seasons at Indiana University. His free throw with 27 seconds remaining gave the Hoosiers a 69-68 victory over Kansas in the 1953 N.C.A.A. championship game. He was named a third-team All-American in 1953 and a second-team All-American in 1954 by The Associated Press and was chosen for Indiana University’s all-century team.Leonard was selected by the original Baltimore Bullets as the 10th pick in the 1954 N.B.A. draft, but the Lakers obtained his rights in a dispersal draft later that year when the Bullets franchise folded. After serving in the Army, he joined the Lakers in 1956. He played for them for four seasons in Minneapolis and one season, 1960-61, after they moved to Los Angeles.His best season came in 1961-62, when he averaged a career-best 16.1 points and 5.4 assists with the expansion Chicago Packers. He was a player-coach in 1962-63 with Chicago, which had changed its name to the Zephyrs.When the team moved to Baltimore and became the Bullets (the second franchise by that name) in the 1963-64 season, he was the full-time coach. But he resigned after posting a losing record.Leonard watched as a banner in his honor was hung during halftime of a game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in October 2014, shortly after he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.Aj Mast/Associated PressLeonard’s Pacer teams won 529 games and lost 456. He was voted the A.B.A.’s all-time most outstanding coach by a national sportswriters and broadcasters association.A banner at the Pacers’ Bankers Life Fieldhouse honors Leonard with the number 529.In addition to his wife, Leonard’s survivors include five children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.The Pacers and three other A.B.A. teams that joined the N.B.A. before the 1976-77 season were stymied by financial burdens imposed by the league — essentially the cost of their entry. Leonard and his wife turned to TV to boost ticket sales.“If it weren’t for Slick, this franchise wouldn’t be here,” the Boston Celtics’ Hall of Fame forward Larry Bird, who had played for Indiana State in Terre Haute and later was a coach and president of basketball operations for the Pacers, told The New York Times in 2000. “I can remember in 1977, he had a telethon. I can remember being glued to the TV watching him. He was singing ‘Back Home in Indiana,’ trying to do everything to sell season tickets. I know the history behind the Pacers, and most of the history is Slick Leonard.” More

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      Myles Turner Will Block Your Shot. If T.J. McConnell Doesn’t Pick Your Pocket First.

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      Turner and McConnell of the Indiana Pacers lead the N.B.A. in blocks (Turner) and steals (McConnell), a rare feat for teammates and a headache for everyone else.In some obvious ways, Myles Turner and T.J. McConnell couldn’t be more different as basketball players. Turner is a 6-foot-11 center who does much of his finest work above the rim. McConnell is a 6-foot-1 point guard who plays a more earthbound brand of the game. Turner swats shots, while McConnell picks pockets. One is an ominous presence in the paint; the other, a self-described “pest” who roams the perimeter.But in a challenging season for the Indiana Pacers, Turner and McConnell have come together to press, strip and thwart opponents, a two-man misery machine. In the process, they could become the first pair of teammates to lead the N.B.A. in blocks and steals since the 2000-1 season, when Theo Ratliff (blocks) and Allen Iverson (steals) of the Philadelphia 76ers did it.“The defensive end is just about effort,” said McConnell, who has come off the bench to average a league-leading 1.8 steals per game. “That’s truly what it comes down to, and that’s something I can control. I can always give as much effort as possible.”Turner, who is averaging a league-leading and career-best 3.4 blocks per game, gave the Miami Heat enormous problems in back-to-back wins over the weekend, blocking a total of 10 shots. On Sunday, he had two of them in overtime to help the Pacers seal their 109-106 victory.“No shot is safe around him,” McConnell said.They say they have made each other better players — “Knowing that you have someone who is going to match or even amplify your intensity only helps you,” Turner said — and they have probably played a part in boosting each other’s league-leading totals.McConnell feels that he can jump into passing lanes and be even more aggressive, he said, because he knows Turner is stationed behind him as a safety net. Turner has gone so far as to encourage McConnell and the team’s other guards to funnel players in his direction.“He’s always talking to me about how we can kind of get each other going,” McConnell said. “He’s even giving me angles to send players toward the rim. If I foul someone, he’ll come up and be like: ‘Hey, don’t foul. I got you. I’ll block the shot.’ ”Anything can happen ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline, especially for a struggling team like the Pacers, who fell to 19-23 after losing to the surging Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night. Several teams are reported to have interest in Turner, though the price would be high.T.J. McConnell went undrafted in 2015 but has since ascended to lead the league in steals.Darron Cummings/Associated PressFor now, Turner and McConnell continue to cultivate their on-court bromance — one that began to take shape in 2015 when they found themselves in three of the same pre-draft workouts, including one for the Pacers. They already knew of each other, having both played big-time college basketball — McConnell at Arizona and Turner at Texas.In their workout for the Pacers, they teamed up in a game of three-on-three — and dominated, McConnell said. The Pacers selected Turner with the 11th pick that year. McConnell went undrafted.“He always jokes about it: ‘I’m the one who got you drafted here,’ ” Turner said.McConnell eventually signed with the 76ers, who were wading through the thick weeds of their notorious tanking epoch. It was an experiment that gave McConnell an opportunity to prove himself in the 2015-16 season, one that he did not waste. In addition to operating as a pass-first distributor — he averaged 4.5 assists in 19.8 minutes a game — he collected 95 steals.He stuck with the 76ers for four seasons, and occasionally found himself bumping in to a familiar figure: Turner, who had quickly emerged as one of the league’s most fearsome interior defenders. McConnell considers himself fortunate that he never had any of his shots blocked by Turner. And in a way, McConnell may have one-upped Turner by stealing one of his passes when they were first-year players.“I will make sure he is aware of that stat,” McConnell said.In their second season, though, Turner erased a potential assist for McConnell. The 76ers were playing the Pacers when McConnell ran out in transition and tossed a lob to his then-teammate Robert Covington for what nearly everyone in the arena must have assumed was an easy alley-oop layup. But at the last moment, Turner came from behind to swoop through the lane and rejected Covington at the rim.“A lot of people in that situation would be scared to get dunked on,” Turner said. “But I don’t care if get dunked on. You have to develop that mentality as a shot blocker. All the great shot blockers get dunked on.”McConnell, who signed with the Pacers before the start of last season, and Turner, who has spent his entire career in Indiana, both say that a lot of what they do on defense cannot be taught. Turner described his shot-blocking ability as “a gift.” McConnell said his type of defense was a mind-set.“I just want to make it as hard as possible for guys to get into their offense, for them to get over half court — anything,” he said. “You come into the game, and I’m not physically imposing or all that quick. But I’ll pressure you.”Turner said the key to defense is being “in the right spot at the right time.”Frank Franklin Ii/Associated PressWhile they lean on instinct, timing and effort, they have refined their skills. In college, Turner said, he was often more athletic than the players he defended. But when he entered the N.B.A., he discovered a league populated by decathletes like Russell Westbrook — players who could bound past him or over him. So Turner polished his positioning with the help of Dan Burke, a former assistant coach for the Pacers who now works for the 76ers.“You have to be in the right spot at the right time,” Turner said. “You have to get there first.”McConnell was around basketball from an early age. His father, Tim, was his coach at Chartiers Valley High School outside Pittsburgh, where the players occasionally did defensive slides while holding bricks.“We wouldn’t do it that often,” McConnell said. “But we definitely did it.”As he got older, McConnell would study Chris Paul’s defensive prowess — “He just makes it so hard on guys,” McConnell said — while earning his way into the N.B.A. with the same sort of resolve. McConnell is routinely underestimated by opposing players, Turner said.“Especially by the young guys coming into the league,” Turner said. “They look at him, like, ‘Who is this white boy in front of me?’ But T.J., it’s like he takes that to heart. He loves the challenge — the challenge of people looking at him that way.”Earlier this month, before the All-Star break, McConnell had one of the best games of his career, finishing with 16 points, 13 assists and 10 steals in a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. During one extraordinary stretch of the first quarter, he had steals on five straight possessions. He set an N.B.A. record with nine steals in the first half.“That’s as good of a game as you’re going to see,” the Pacers’ Malcolm Brogdon said.McConnell also leads the league in deflections, though he doesn’t want to know his tally in real time during games, he said, because he worries that he might become “overzealous.”At the same time, McConnell has managed to block 14 shots. Every time it happens, he said, it comes as a total surprise. And for the briefest moment, he gets a glimpse at what life must be like for his taller teammate.“It’s kind of like, ‘Did I just do that?’ ” McConnell said. More

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      N.B.A. Eastern Conference Preview: Will the Nets Reign Supreme?

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyN.B.A. Eastern Conference Preview: Will the Nets Reign Supreme?The Bucks got better, but the Nets with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant might be too much for Milwaukee — or any other team in the East — to overcome.With Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant healthy, and a strong supporting cast, the Nets are poised to make a run to the top of the Eastern Conference.Credit…Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty ImagesDec. 21, 2020, 3:00 a.m. ETIs it already the most wonderful time of year again? With LeBron alley-ooping and referees demanding we be of good cheer? There’ll be dunks used for posting, Kawhi laughs for roasting and trash talking out in the snowwwww.Yes, the N.B.A. season is upon us, beginning Tuesday, with a much different landscape from any other season. Most arenas won’t have fans in the stands because of the pandemic. At the same time, several top stars who missed most or all of last season will be returning, shifting the balance of power in the N.B.A.And all eyes are on James Harden to see where he ends up, whether he has to stay in Houston for the season or gets sent to one of his preferred destinations, like Milwaukee, Philadelphia or Miami.The Eastern Conference is wide open this year. Here’s a look at where it stands.The ContendersNow that Kevin Durant, left, and Kyrie Irving are finally able to play together, they should make the Nets the best team in the East.Credit…Kathy Willens/Associated PressBrooklyn Nets2019-2020 record: 35-37 (No. 7 playoff seed)Key additions: Jeff Green, Landry ShametKey subtractions: Wilson Chandler, Garrett TempleOutlook: On paper, this is the most talented team in the East, if not the league. The only new players this season are key reserves, but the real addition is Kevin Durant, who is ready to play after missing last season with an Achilles’ tendon injury. His friend and fellow perennial All-Star Kyrie Irving also will be returning, from a shoulder injury that limited him to 20 games last season. If they are close to the players they were before their injuries, this team is a threat to win the finals, especially considering its dynamic supporting cast.The Nets have elite shooting in Shamet and Joe Harris; rebounding and shot-blocking in DeAndre Jordan and Jarrett Allen; quality playmakers in Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie; and bench sparkplugs like Green and Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot.Getting Giannis Antetokounmpo signed to an extension was a victory of its own kind for the Milwaukee Bucks.Credit…Pool photo by Ashley LandisMilwaukee Bucks2019-2020 record: 56-17 (No. 1 seed)Key additions: Jrue Holiday, D.J. Augustin, Bobby Portis, Torrey CraigKey subtractions: Robin Lopez, Eric Bledsoe, Marvin Williams, Wesley Matthews, Ersan IlyasovaOutlook: The Bucks enter the season without the cloud of whether Giannis Antetokounmpo will sign an extension hanging over Wisconsin. That’s a huge win in itself. But now the focus will be on whether this team will vie for a championship or disappear early in the playoffs again.Trading for Holiday, a former All-Star, was a great start. Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Holiday are a fearsome trio. The Bucks also revamped their bench, adding Augustin, a veteran who can shoot the ball, to make up for the loss of players like Matthews and Ilyasova. (Side note: Antetokounmpo has the opportunity to become the first player since Larry Bird in 1985-86 to win the Most Valuable Player Award for a third straight season.)Repeating as the Eastern Conference champions could be tough for the Miami Heat.Credit…Kim Klement/USA Today Sports, via ReutersMiami Heat2019-2020 record: 44-29 (No. 5 seed)Key additions: Avery Bradley, Maurice HarklessKey departures: Solomon HillOutlook: After last year’s Cinderella run to the finals, the Heat enter this season with the same team more or less, led by Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic. You can expect Tyler Herro, who mostly came off the bench last season and delivered many strong performances in the playoffs, to have a bigger role. You do wonder whether Miami will be able to take teams by surprise again, with many teams in the East making significant moves to get better or having players return from injury.The MaybesThe Sixers brought in two elite shooters, but they still need Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons to improve to avoid last season’s disappointment.Credit…Matt Slocum/Associated PressPhiladelphia 76ers2019-2020 record: 43-30 (No. 6 seed)Key additions: Seth Curry, Danny Green, Dwight HowardKey departures: Al Horford, Josh RichardsonOutlook: Daryl Morey, the new team president, already left his mark on the roster, shipping out the ill-fitting Horford for Green, who will provide Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons some much needed spacing, as will Curry. The team is better balanced than the disappointing one last season, but Embiid and Simmons still must elevate their play. (And let’s not forget: The Sixers are in play to trade for Houston’s James Harden.)The Celtics are counting on Jayson Tatum’s improvement to go deeper into the playoffs this season.Credit…Matt Slocum/Associated PressBoston Celtics2019-2020 record: 48-24 (No. 3 seed)Key additions: Jeff Teague, Tristan ThompsonKey departures: Gordon Hayward, Brad WanamakerOutlook: This was a bad off-season for the Celtics, who lost Hayward, an All-Star talent, in a free-agency-related trade that netted Boston a record trade exception, which the franchise could use to acquire a solid rotation player. To contend, the Celtics will need Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to make another leap, plus better-than-expected contributions from their stable of young players like Grant Williams, Robert Williams and Romeo Langford, especially given Kemba Walker’s knee troubles.The dynamic guard Trae Young and a much-improved roster make the Hawks a must-watch this season.Credit…Dale Zanine/USA Today Sports, via ReutersAtlanta Hawks2019-2020 record: 20-47Key additions: Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Rajon Rondo, Kris Dunn, Solomon HillKey departures: Vince Carter, Evan Turner, Jeff TeagueOutlook: The Hawks are a team primed to make The Leap. Aside from having an elite talent like Trae Young, the team signed several strong veterans to surround a dynamic core that includes John Collins, Clint Capela, Kevin Huerter and Cam Reddish. Melding so many new faces will be difficult, and this team will probably be poor defensively. But Atlanta will be a must-watch on League Pass.Russell Westbrook was a surprise addition to a Wizards team that struggled last season.Credit…Sarah Stier/Getty ImagesWashington Wizards2019-2020 record: 25-47Key additions: Russell Westbrook, Robin Lopez, Raul NetoKey departures: John WallOutlook: Both of the team’s stars — Bradley Beal and Westbrook — will be playing this season with chips on their shoulders: Beal, for being snubbed for All-N.B.A. teams despite his stellar last season and Westbrook for the narrative surrounding his campaign in Houston, despite making an All N.B.A. team. Look for Rui Hachimura to be in the conversation for the Most Improved Player Award after a strong rookie season.The Indiana Pacers had a quiet off-season, but at least Victor Oladipo is still with them.Credit…David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty ImagesIndiana Pacers2019-2020 record: 45-28 (No. 4 seed)Key additions: NoneKey departures: NoneOutlook: The biggest acquisition the Pacers made this off-season was a new coach, Nate Bjorkgren. Aside from that, they’ll have a healthy Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to build around, as well as Malcolm Brogdon and TJ Warren, who had a great run in the Florida bubble. Hard to see this team making any real noise as the season progresses, though.Pascal Siakam wasn’t great in the playoffs, but he still has value for the Raptors this season.Credit…Kim Klement/USA Today Sports, via ReutersToronto Raptors2019-2010 record: 53-19 (No. 2 seed)Key additions: DeAndre’ Bembry, Alex Len, Aron BaynesKey departures: Serge IbakaOutlook: This might be the toughest team in the East to peg. Pascal Siakam’s stock took a dive after his performance in the playoffs, and replacing Ibaka with the combination of Baynes and Len might not be enough. Kyle Lowry turns 35 this season. Toronto was knocked out of the playoffs in the second round and didn’t upgrade much in talent. Even so, the Raptors are never to be counted out.The Non-ContendersThe Magic sneaked into the playoffs last season and look to be only so-so again.Credit…Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesOrlando Magic2019-2020 record: 33-40 (No. 8 seed)Key additions: Cole AnthonyKey departures: D.J. AugustinOutlook: The only reason to watch this team is to see what kind of player Anthony, drafted 15th over all last month, will be. Otherwise, the team is set up to be average again, especially with Jonathan Isaac likely to miss the year with a knee injury. It’s time for this franchise to start over. Building around Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier is just not good enough.LaMelo Ball, the Hornets rookie, has already made waves during the preseason with his playmaking skills.Credit…Chris Carlson/Associated PressCharlotte Hornets2019-2020 record: 23-42Key additions: LaMelo Ball, Gordon HaywardKey departures: Nicolas BatumOutlook: This team could challenge for the playoffs. Hayward had a great year in Boston last season, and Ball is showing himself to be a talented playmaker during the preseason. Devonte’ Graham (18.2 points a game in his sophomore N.B.A. campaign) is a solid young talent poised for a leap.Zach LaVine can put up big numbers for the Bulls, but this season they need him to be consistent.Credit…Nam Y. Huh/Associated PressChicago Bulls2019-2020 record: 22-43Key additions: Garrett Temple, Patrick WilliamsKey departures: NoneOutlook: The Bulls have a new coach, Billy Donovan, who has a penchant for squeezing production out of less-than-stellar rosters. Zach LaVine put up all All-Star numbers (25.5 points a game) last season, but will need more consistent playmaking to actually become one. If the Bulls want to be competitive, they’ll need Lauri Markkanen to recover from a down year.Obi Toppin will give Knicks fans something to cheer about this season.Credit…Raj Mehta/USA Today Sports, via ReutersKnicks2019-2020 record: 21-45Key additions: Obi Toppin, Alec BurksKey departures: Bobby Portis, Wayne Ellington, Maurice HarklessOutlook: The Knicks, aside from hiring Tom Thibodeau as coach, didn’t make any major moves this off-season, which is fine. They sat out a weak free-agent class and kept their flexibility. Barring any major star trades, this is another development year for the franchise. It’s a chance to determine what exactly RJ Barrett, Kevin Knox and Mitchell Robinson can do. Separately, Toppin may be the most exciting Knicks draft pick in years.Blake Griffin’s future with the Detroit Pistons is uncertain.Credit…Raj Mehta/USA Today Sports, via ReutersDetroit Pistons2019-2020 record: 20-46Key additions: Killian Hayes, Mason Plumlee, Jahlil Okafor, Josh Jackson, Jerami Grant, Saddiq BeyKey departures: Luke Kennard, Christian WoodOutlook: It was an odd off-season for Detroit, as the team stocked up on big men who can’t shoot, while trading away talented pieces like Kennard and Wood. But Blake Griffin is healthy, and the franchise is hoping Hayes is ready for big minutes. This is probably not a playoff team right now, but players like Hayes offer hope for the future. Will Griffin be on the team come season’s end?The Cavaliers were at the bottom of the East last season, and their prospects now don’t look much better.Credit…Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty ImagesCleveland Cavaliers2019-2020 record: 19-46Key additions: Isaac Okoro, JaVale McGeeKey departures: Tristan ThompsonOutlook: Collin Sexton, going into his third year, is one of the few guaranteed bright spots on the team. He’s a proven scorer. But Andre Drummond and Kevin Love on the frontline are … an interesting pairing. It wouldn’t be shocking to see Cleveland last in the conference again.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More