T
HE LAST TIME Dwight Howard
signed with the Lakers, this publi-
cation famously proclaimed, on its cover,
nOW this IS gOING TO bE fUN! It wasn’t,
and appropriate steps have been taken to
ensure we’ll never see a cover like that
again. Nonetheless, Superman is back in
Hollywood. But this time we’re tempering
our expectations. The Lakers will be fun (no
exclamation point), but not the most fun
team in the league. That would be the...1 NUGGETS
Nikola Joki ́c is the rare
superstar who is out of
shape but doesn’t need to be load-managed.
Add Jamal Murray’s frenetic energy, a deeply
talented roster and Michael Porter Jr.’s wild-card potential,
and you have the most entertaining team in the league.2 BUCKS
Milwaukee is the perfect blend of a uniquely
gifted superstar and a style of play. Basi-
cally, everything Giannis Antetokounmpo does borders
on breathtaking, and the rest of a roster filled with floor
spacers only serves to enable his greatness.3 LAKERS
L.A. could be No. 1 if LeBron James didn’t
have to take some nights off to preserve
his body for the playoffs, which is almost a certainty. But
this team is going to have a fun closing five with James at
point, and people need to be more excited to watch Anthony
Davis play for a good team.4 CLIPPERS
The Clips were pretty watchable with-
out two superstars last season. Kawhi
Leonard and Paul George have the potential for two-way
dominance we haven’t seen since LeBron and Dwyane
Wade’s first season in Miami.5 WARRIORS
Part of the appeal here is the mystery
factor, with so many dynasty pieces
missing. More exciting is the prospect of a team that needs
Stephen Curry to outscore opponents because of a suspect D.6 PELICANS
Lonzo Ball plus Zion Williamson just
makes too much sense on paper for
this team not to be running some of the most-hyped fast
breaks in years.7 KINGS
De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield (left) are sneak-
ily one of the more exciting backcourts in
the Association. If there’s a team most likely to be involved
in a double-overtime thriller against a generally superior
opponent on a random Tuesday in January, it’s the Kings.8 76ERS
Their games will likely be defensive slugfests,
but after years of small ball dictating the
terms of engagement, watching a team so comically big at
every position will be refreshing. Also: Joel Embiid.9 ROCKETS
On one hand, the Rockets are like watch-
ing your little brother play a video game
and run the same two plays over and over again. On the
other hand, James Harden can go off for 60 on any night,
and the boom-or-bust potential of his partnership with
Russell Westbrook is impossible to ignore.10 BLAZERS
Portland is consistently good, providing
a similar level of comfort to a warm
mug of cocoa before a restful winter night’s sleep. And that
consistency comes from an explosive guard combo, including
a legit candidate for MVP: Damian Lillard.11 MAVERICKS
Luka Donˇci ́ c is the kind of player
who keeps your eyes glued to the
screen, and now once-and-future unicorn Kristaps Porzingis
is being folded into the mix. There should be some offensive
highjinks thanks to the mad-scientist stylings of Rick Carlisle.12 JAZZ
Don’t let basketbloggers’ maddeningly inces-
sant “don’t forget about Utah” speeches stop
you from actually appreciating the team.13 RAPTORS
Toronto was actually pretty good in
the games Kawhi Leonard didn’t play
in last season. There’s more than enough meat left on this
bone for an entertaining season, provided that championship
hangover doesn’t last too long—or that Masai Ujiri doesn’t
get too active in the trade market.The
86NBA
PREVIEW
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED- OCTOBER 21–28, 2019
JOHN W. MCDONOUGH (HIELD, JAMES); PETER READ MILLER (COVER);ALEX NAHORNIAK-SVENSKI/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES (CAVS)BY ROHAN NADKARNI