April 20, 2024

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Nets, LeBron and the new NBA generation |  Sports

Nets, LeBron and the new NBA generation | Sports

Four different champions in the last four years and eight in the last 11. This is the NBA, and it’s prone to collecting star kits, and the teams are full of trees all Stars And continues on the throne without interruption. The best players add to the dynamism, especially since LeBron James has announced that he is leaving Cleveland for Miami to play alongside Wade and Bush. They reached four finals and won two titles, in 2012 and 2013. LeBron set up a school. Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City in 2016 to join Stephen Curry and Clay Thompson and win two rings with Golden State in 2017 and 2018. Kawhi Leonard opened the door for San Antonio to join Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam and Marc Gasol in toasting Toronto’s first-ever title in the year 2019. LeBron picked a team again in 2018 and went to Los Angeles, where he arrived a year later Anthony Davis after a sharp disagreement to leave New Orleans. outcome: The Lakers won the 17th title in their history.

There are other ways to align the title. Last season, Milwaukee thwarted the Brooklyn Draft by eliminating it in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference semifinals, a blow to the team that reunited Kevin Durant, after he disavowed the Warriors, Keri Irving, after a year spent with the Celtics, and James Harden, after agreeing to leave Houston at the start of the season to what extent standards prevail. The Bucks built a long-running team around Giannis Antetokounmpo, who, at 19, picked 15th in the 2013 draft, and Khris Middleton, who was drafted from Detroit that same season, when he was 21. Jrue Holiday’s arrival from New Orleans last season completed the cocktail that led the Bucks to a second title in their history, 50 years after the first. Now they are betting on continuity, although they have lost PJ Tucker and Forbes and have merged Hood, Hill and Grayson Allen.

The NBA’s 75th Anniversary season kicks off Tuesday with a wide range of hopefuls, but one clear favorite, the Nets. 72% of sports directors in 30 league franchises consider it this way, while 17% prefer the Lakers and 10% to the Bucks. But one thing is the prediction in the fall and the other is the reality when the playoffs arrive in April and the finals in June. An unpredictable factor like injury was decisive in the recent qualifiers, with sensitive losses such as Anthony Davis, Kohi Leonard, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, Jamal Murray, Mike Connelly and Serge Ibaka.

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Doubt Irving

This season starts seriously affected by Irving’s situation, The rule that refuses to vaccinate And who the Nets won’t return the team as long as it doesn’t comply with New York health authorities’ requirements for access to sealed packages. Steve Nash lined up as many as 27 players last season at the Nets as Durant, Harden and Irving rarely played together and LaMarcus Aldridge lost to a heart problem. Now, recovered at the age of 36, he’s back in the team, which hits point guard Patty Mills (San Antonio) and powerhouse forward Paul Millsap (Denver).

The Lakers were disappointed last season and lost in the first round of a crucial stage to Phoenix. His offensive disaster when he missed LeBron or Davis led to a revamp of his squad, from which Schroeder, Caldwell Pope, Kuzma, Marc Gasol and Drummond all disappeared. Russell Westbrook arrives in Los Angeles from Washington. The goalkeeper, who turns 33 this month, the player with the most triples in NBA history (184), completes a hat-trick of aces, backed by veterans like Ariza, 36, Dwight Howard and Rondo, 35, and Carmelo Anthony, 37, The same age that LeBron will turn in December, Uncombustible is looking for his fifth ring to match, among other things, the rings of Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson and Tim Duncan. Their average age is 31 in the Lakers, nearly four years longer than the league average.

Phoenix retains the trio that propelled him to the final with Chris Paul and two faces of the new generations, Devin Booker, on the verge of turning 25, and Dender Eaton, 23, the same age as Tra Young, the starting guard. Last season he led Atlanta to the Eastern Conference Final. The Utah Jazz, with 25-year-old Donovan Mitchell cruising with ambition to top the division, has reached the semi-finals three times in the West since 2017. Alongside him, Joubert has been voted the best defender in the league on three times. From the past four seasons, Bojan Bogdanovic and Conley. The Celtics started from a similar position, with Jason Tatum, 23, at the helm. He’s been eliminated from the Eastern Conference three times in the past five years and in the first round last season, they signed Josh Richardson, Al Horford and Spain’s Juancho Hernángómez. Luka Doncic is the youngest of the new generation leaders. At 22, he began his fourth season with Dallas. The franchise has staked everything on it. After several frictions with Doncic, Rick Carlisle left the coaching position to Jason Kidd. Soon after, the Slovenian Guard was renewed for five years and 178 million euros. The team’s progress, which has been knocked out in the first round of playoffs in the past two years, will depend largely on Porsenges, who has been hampered by injuries.

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Nikola Djokic was the best player last seasonThe 26-year-old is the player the Denver Draft has tended, very close to the final in the past three seasons and at the expense of Jamal Murray recovering from a ligament injury, the same thing Golden State expected from Klay Thompson. The last two seasons due to a knee injury and another to the Achilles tendon. Stephen Curry, 33, and Draymond Green, 31, await him as they are eager to re-green their laurels alongside Wiggins, 26, and James Wiseman, 20-year-old center, runner-up in the 2020 draft and already a year in the making. Miami signed Kyle Lowry, 35, and PJ Tucker to wrap up a superb start to five with Butler, Robinson and Adebayo. The Sixers were annoyed by Ben Simmons’ TV series, the Ranger who requested a transfer, who was hooked up with Embiid, a 27-year-old hub, in what they called The Process, the never-ending tale.

Garuba and Aldama premiere

Three years after Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol’s titles with Toronto and Pau Gasol’s last season in the NBA, the league also starts without Marc and six Spaniards. Their teams and goals are very different. The biggest challenge is that of Juancho Hernangomez. After five seasons and having shown his potential at a trickle, the 26-year-old striker came to the Celtics, a very tough challenge. Ibaka, who has had a back injury since last season, played in the playoffs 11 times and at the age of 32 his goal was to max with the Clippers.

Constant traffic led Ricky Rubio to the Cleveland team, his fourth team in 11 years. The expectations for the Cavaliers, who finished 13th in the East last season, are modest. In principle, the starting point guard will be Darius Garland, 21. Ricky, 30, would be much more than a mentor. Willie Hernangómez, 27, is facing his second season with New Orleans, alongside Zion Williamson. His goal is to continue the progress he showed last season. Garuba and Aldama began with the pretense of learning and prosperity. The powerful 19-year-old striker arrived from Madrid to Houston, the worst team in the league last season. The 20-year-old Aldama excelled in pre-season trying to carve out a spot in Memphis, ninth in the West last season.

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