For the first time in what feels like forever, the Los Angeles Lakers will not be featured on NBA Opening Night. That does not mean Lakers fans have nothing to watch for. There will be several storylines that deserve an attentive eye.
Why waste time? Let us talk about them.
LeBron James' regular season debut with the Philadelphia 76ers
One of the defining moments of the offseason was LeBron James putting in an early call and telling the Lakers he had no intentions of returning to the franchise. That allowed Rob Pelinka and company to push forward with a plan for life after LeBron. James, meanwhile, took his talents back to the East.
The all-time great thought his best opportunity at ring number five was going to be with the Philadelphia 76ers. James signed a two-year deal to join his new team. That put together an on-paper superteam that featured LeBron, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, and V. J. Edgecombe.
Tuesday night's matchup against the New York Knicks will give everyone their first chance to see that star-studded group play meaningful regular season basketball. Nothing will be truly figured out from one game, especially this early. However, it should still represent the first measuring stick opportunity to gauge whether James was onto something by picking the 76ers over the Lakers.
A clash of Western Conference titans between the Spurs and Thunders
The Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs are the benchmark that every team in the Western Conference will be measuring themselves against. Tuesday night's head-to-head will be the first glimpse of just how great those two juggernauts are after their offseason tweaks.
Sam Presti was forced to change the formula in OKC to avoid the dreaded second apron. While doing so, the Thunder also managed to add the likes of Aday Mara to the team. The NCAA champion looked impressive in the preseason.
San Antonio added Tobias Harris. However, with the Spurs, the intrigue has to do more with the growth of their young core. How much better are Victor Wembanyama, Dylan Harper, and Stephon Castle?
Lakers fans will get their chance to assess the presumed gap between these two teams and their own by watching the matchup.
Any Lakers regret for picking Walker Kessler over Jalen Duren?
Walker Kessler was the defining addition of this Lakers offseason. Pelinka went all-in on adding the up-and-coming center to back up his star duo of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Should he have picked Duren instead?
The Lakers were poking around on Duren at the start of free agency. That proved to be the backup plan, and Kessler was the main target all along.
Duren will make his season debut after a drawn-out free agency saga with the Detroit Pistons. Has last year's All-NBA and All-Star center leveled up once more? If so, does that leave the Lakers with any regret over choosing Kessler instead? That is tough to answer from one game, but worth watching nonetheless.
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