NBA back! The 2017-18 season is just around the corner. To prepare for all of the LeBron chase-down blocks, 3-pointers and trade rumors to come, we’re breaking down one team per day, each day, until tipoff on October 17.
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October 17, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Golden State Warriors
Can anything stop the best team in the world from winning another title?
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October 16, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Houston Rockets
In any other era, a James Harden–Chris Paul partnership would be enough to make the Rockets championship favorites. But can they win one with the Warriors still around?
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October 15, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Phoenix Suns
One more season at the bottom of the West may do the trick. In the meantime, enjoy the Devin Booker scoring barrage.
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October 14, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Memphis Grizzlies
The team will continue down coach David Fizdale’s modern, post–Grit ’n’ Grind path, but outside of Marc Gasol and Mike Conley, do they have the talent to stay relevant?
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October 13, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Utah Jazz
Gordon Hayward may be gone, but the team philosophy lives on in Rudy Gobert and Co. Is there enough star power to make another playoff push?
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October 12, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Portland Trail Blazers
A full season with their core of Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic will keep them viable in the playoff picture, but in a dramatically improved West, where does that take them?
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October 11, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Philadelphia 76ers
This is the season the Process finally bears results … if Joel Embiid can stay on the floor
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October 10, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: L.A. Clippers
With Chris Paul gone, Blake Griffin gets to take the reins for the next era of Los Angeles’s other NBA team
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October 9, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Sacramento Kings
The cowbells will be out in full force for De’Aaron Fox and the rest of Sacramento’s youth movement—but will coach Dave Joerger stick with the team’s aging veterans?
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October 8, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Toronto Raptors
The Raptors’ roster might not have changed much, but their style of play has. They’re taking a ton of 3s, but will their new, modern approach be enough to stay in contention?
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October 7, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Detroit Pistons
Andre Drummond is promising to be better than he was in last season’s disastrous campaign. Can the Pistons’ star big man lift the rest of the team up, or is it time to pull the curtains on this era of Detroit basketball?
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October 6, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: San Antonio Spurs
Noted Spurs fan Shea Serrano lays out his dream and nightmare scenarios for the upcoming season. Look out, Rockets.
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October 5, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Charlotte Hornets
Is Dwight Howard enough to push the Hornets back into the playoff field?
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October 4, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: New Orleans Pelicans
Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins are entering their first full season together as a dynamic duo, but after another puzzling offseason, it’s still unclear if there’s enough talent for a postseason berth
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October 3, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Oklahoma City Thunder
Is OKC’s new Big Three of Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony built for the long haul, or will it be just another one-season wonder?
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October 2, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Miami Heat
With a number of offseason signings, Pat Riley’s squad is set for the foreseeable future. They’re one of the deepest teams in the NBA, but do all the pieces fit?
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October 1, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Atlanta Hawks
After finally moving on from the core of their 60-win season, the Hawks hope to lead the race to the bottom
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September 30, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Indiana Pacers
For a franchise now without Paul George, the true measure of success won’t be a playoff appearance, but in turning Myles Turner into a bona fide star
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September 29, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Washington Wizards
John Wall and Co. are running it back in an Eastern Conference that has gotten a makeover (and looks worse, for the most part). Will internal development be enough to reach the conference finals?
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September 28, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: New York Knicks
With Carmelo Anthony gone, can the Knicks rebuild around Kristaps Porzingis without screwing things up (again)?
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September 27, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Dallas Mavericks
Dennis Smith Jr. is the potential-laden point guard the team hasn’t had in years. Can he bring Dallas back to the playoffs, or is he destined for Rick Carlisle’s doghouse?
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September 26, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Minnesota Timberwolves
Karl-Anthony Towns, Jimmy Butler, and Andrew Wiggins are primed to end the longest active postseason drought in the NBA. Is there anything holding them back?
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September 25, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Cleveland Cavaliers
Is this the end of LeBron’s reign in Cleveland (again)? The Cavs attempt to balance the present and the future.
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September 24, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Orlando Magic
A late-season surge from Elfrid Payton and the promise of rookie Jonathan Isaac offer glimmers of hope, but for one Magic fan, the team’s best case isn’t much rosier than its worst case
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September 23, 2017
Best Case, Worst Case: Chicago Bulls
A new Bulls era has begun. Let the pain and suffering commence.