2023 NBA Season Primer
Malcolm Darnley
Updated: Nov 2, 2023
On June 12th, 2023 – for the first time in NBA history, the Denver Nuggets hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy above their heads and celebrated an NBA championship.
If that was the last time you checked in with the NBA, you missed one of the busiest off-seasons in league history.
As the 2023-24 season tips off – we get you caught up on everything you need to know about this year’s upcoming season.
2023 Need To Know Rule Changes
As a Raptors fan who watched Kawhi Leonard play in Toronto for 60 regular season games (while sitting out 22 games), I am all too familiar with the term load management.
I understand the frustration that can occur from a fan’s perspective.
When I watched Kawhi celebrate a championship with his Raptors teammates, I also understood the value load management can provide a player.
That said, the NBA is a business, and in business, we tend to put the needs and wants of our end users ahead of our employees.
After all, it is the end users who pay our employees’ salaries.
So, with that in mind, here are the five new rule changes Adam Silver and the NBA put in place this past off-season to try and clamp down on the amount of Load Management occurring league-wide.
- Only one (1) star player is allowed to sit out for a single game. A team cannot sit out two star players in the same game. Some refer to this rule as The Anti-Raptors Rule – because the Raptors don’t have multiple stars on their roster currently – and, therefore, don’t have to worry about breaking this rule.
- Teams must have at least one star player dressed for nationally televised and in-season tournament games.I was not able to find out what happens for a team like the Raptors, who many would argue don’t even have one star player on their roster.Do they have to make a trade to acquire one if they end up on the TNT game? Are we really counting Pascal Siakam as a star?
- Teams must balance between resting star players at home and on the road, with the league’s preference being that teams sit them out at home.Historically, teams would choose to rest star players for road games. The NBA wants to change that pattern and see star players rested for home games more often instead.
- Teams must abstain from long-term player shutdowns when they are healthy enough to play. The league also wants to crack down on teams changing a star player’s role so they no longer get the same amount of minutes and change the integrity of the game.
- Healthy star players who are being rested must still appear at the game and be visible to fans.
Again, when you look at this from a Raptors fan perspective, you could line up all 15 players in uniform on the bench, and Toronto fans would struggle to find a star player.
The In-Season Tournament
In 1979, the NBA adopted the three-point shot, changing the game forever.
At the time, I am sure some old men would shake their fists at the clouds and scream, “Who the hell is going to shoot the ball from way out there?”
Well, it turns out that with time and some innovation, the league would transform itself. The three-point shot has become the most important shot in the game today.
Does that mean the NBA In-Season Tournament, which launches this year, is guaranteed to be a huge success?
It most certainly does not.
However, Adam Silver should be applauded for at least trying to be innovative.
The NCAA March Madness tournament was a huge success. The European Champions League soccer tournament is a huge success.
The NBA has borrowed aspects of both those business models and tried to incorporate them into their regular season.
Here are the details.
Creating Divisions
- The NBA created three divisions for the 15 Western Conference teams and three divisions for the 15 Eastern Conference teams.
- Divisions were created by dividing teams based on their 2022 regular season records and then a random draw.
In-Season Tourney – West Divisions
| West Group A | West Group B | West Group C |
| Memphis Grizzlies | Denver Nuggets | Sacramento Kings |
| Phoenix Suns | LA Clippers | Golden State Warriors |
| L.A. Lakers | New Orleans Pelicans | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Utah Jazz | Dallas Mavericks | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| Portland Trail Blazers | Houston Rockets | San Antonio Spurs |
In-Season Tourney – East Divisions
| East Group A | East Group B | East Group C |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Milwaukee Bucks | Boston Celtics |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | New York Knicks | Brooklyn Nets |
| Atlanta Hawks | Miami Heat | Toronto Raptors |
| Indiana Pacers | Washington Wizards | Chicago Bulls |
| Detroit Pistons | Charlotte Hornets | Orlando Magic |
Group Play
- Each conference will use group play games to determine who will advance to the knockout stage. Each conference will send four teams to the next stage of the tournament. (8 teams total.)
- Each team will play the other four teams in its division once. Group play games will occur every Tuesday and Friday nights, starting November 3rd.
- Teams who win their division will advance to the knockout stage.
- One wildcard team from each conference will also advance to the knockout stage.
Things will get messy, with tie-breakers required to decide division winners and/or who that fourth wild-card team will be.
Point differential is one of the tie-breakers, which might mean that teams will continue to run up the score late in games, even if they are winning by a large margin.
That could impact NBA betting totals or point spreads and would be fun to watch if it happened.
Knockout Rounds
The knockout stage is the single-elimination portion of the in-season tournament.
The eight remaining teams will all play one quarter-final match. The four teams who win their QF game advance and the four losers are eliminated.
The teams will repeat this format for the two semi-final games.
**All group-stage games and all knockout rounds will count towards the NBA regular season standings.
The In-Season Tournament Championship game is the only game that does not count towards regular season standings.
Prize Money
The league believes that this type of tournament might bring extra attention and eyeballs to its product, which in turn would generate additional revenue for each of its 30 teams.
However, to get the players to participate and buy-in, prize money (and lots of it) will be awarded.
2023 In-Season Tourney Prize Money
| Tournament Round | Prize Money Awarded |
| Teams that lose their Quarter-Final game | $50,000 per player |
| Teams that lose their Semi-Final game | $100,000 per player |
| The team that loses the Championship | $200,000 per player |
| The team that wins the Championship | $500,000 per player |
Need To Know Off-Season Player Movement
Damian Lillard – Traded to Milwaukee
In the 2012 draft, the Portland Trailblazers selected Damian Lillard with the 6th overall pick and reaped the benefits of having one of the game’s all-time great shooters play for their franchise for 11 years.
However, this past off-season, Dame decided that Portland was no longer his team of choice and asked the Blazers to trade him to the Miami Heat.
There was great speculation about Lillard and his next NBA destination for three months.
Ultimately, the Milwaukee Bucks paid the asking price to acquire the talented point guard.
Although Lillard told Portland that Miami was his destination of choice, the chance to play with Giannis and the Bucks is a good Plan B, as Lillard appears very happy in his new home.
Jrue Holiday – Traded then Traded Again
When Lillard arrived in Milwaukee, that meant someone had to go.
That someone turned out to be Jrue Holiday, who was the Bucks point guard – but now was no longer needed.
Holiday was sent packing to Portland, who then flipped the 33-year-old point guard to the Boston Celtics.
In Boston, Holiday becomes part of a team who are now the Co-Betting Favorite to win the NBA title. Boston and Milwaukee start the year at +380 each to be the last team standing.
Earlier in the offseason, the Celtics traded fan-favorite Marcus Smart to Memphis, bringing Kristaps Porzingis to Beantown to join Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
If the Celtics and Bucks play each other in the Eastern Conference final this year, expect Holiday to have a very big chip on his shoulder for that series.
Bradley Beal Traded To Phoenix
The Phoenix Suns acquired Kevin Durant last year when the Brooklyn Nets were blowing up the biggest failed experiment maybe in NBA history.
Just after the NBA Finals ended last June, the Suns traded veteran PG Chris Paul to Washington in exchange for Bradley Beal.
Beal joins a roster that includes Devin Booker and, of course, KD.
Last year, the Suns won 45 regular season games on their way to a second-round playoff exit.
This year, sportsbooks have set the Phoenix win total at +51.5 and their championship odds at +550 to start the season.
The ripple effect of the Beal trade led to CP3 being shipped off to Golden State in exchange for 2022 NBA Playoffs darling Jordan Poole.
2023 NBA Betting Favorites
Sportsbooks evaluated all 30 NBA franchises heading into the 2023-24 season and decided four teams stand out among the 30 teams.
NBA Betting Favorites
| Team | Championship Odds | 2023 Win Total |
| Milwaukee Bucks | +380 | +53.5 |
| Boston Celtics | +380 | +54.5 |
| Denver Nuggets | +550 | +52.5 |
| Phoenix Suns | +550 | +51.5 |
Milwaukee and Boston lead the Eastern Conference.
Although the Bucks made the biggest off-season splash by adding Damian Lillard, the top 4 in Boston (Holiday, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis) will give opposition coaches nightmares.
In the West, Phoenix might have the best starting three players on any roster, but the Denver Nuggets have Nikola Jokic and the title of current NBA Champs.
I like Denver to go under their regular season win total this year, but I am not prepared to bet against Jokic and company in the playoffs just yet.
The 2023 NBA Rookie Class
Victor Wembanyama is the most talked about, most hyped rookie since the 2003 NBA draft, when someone named LeBron James was selected first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Wembanyama is a ridiculous 7’4” in height and likes to dribble the ball and spot up from three-point range.
You almost have to see him play to believe someone with his size can play that style of game.
But just like the 2003 draft that had LeBron in it, other players will undoubtedly make a big difference for their new teams as rookies.
2003 NBA Draft
| Player | Team | Draft Pick |
| LeBron James | Cleveland Cavaliers | 1st overall |
| Carmelo Anthony | Denver Nuggets | 3rd overall |
| Chris Bosh | Toronto Raptors | 4th overall |
| Dwayne Wade | Miami Heat | 5th overall |
Looking back at the 2003 NBA draft, it was loaded with future Hall of Fame talent.
It is worth mentioning that the Detroit Pistons selected Darko Milicic with the second overall pick of that draft – and set themselves back because of it.
2023 Rookie of the Year Odds
| Player | Team | 2023 R.O.Y. Odds |
| Victor Wembanyama | San Antonio Spurs | -145 |
| Brandon Miller | Charlotte Hornets | +4200 |
| Scoot Henderson | Portland Trailblazers | +550 |
| Chet Holmgren | Oklahoma City Thunder | +380 |
Wembanyama, Miller, and Henderson were the first three players selected in the 2023 NBA draft.
Chet Holmgren was selected with the number two pick in the 2022 NBA draft.
Holmgren hurt his foot last year and was forced to miss the entirety of the 2022 season, making him eligible for this year’s Rookie of the Year Award.
2023 LeBron James
When LeBron James was drafted first overall 20 years ago, he was the second youngest player in the league during his rookie season.
Darko Milicic, who was drafted second overall behind James in 2023, was (and still is) a few months younger.
LBJ will be the oldest player in the NBA this year, turning 39 just before we ring in the 2024 new year.
LeBron James – Last 3 Years
| Year | Age | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assist |
| 2022-’23 | 38 | 35.5 | 28.9 | 8.3 | 6.8 |
| 2021-’22 | 37 | 37.2 | 30.3 | 8.2 | 6.2 |
| 2020-’21 | 36 | 33.4 | 25 | 7.7 | 7.8 |
Because we enjoy stirring the pot, let’s compare LBJ’s last three years to date with the final three years of Michael Jordan’s career.
If these stats trigger heated debates between you and your friends about who the greatest player of all time is, then we will consider this a great success.
Michael Jordan – Last 3 Years in the NBA
| Year | Age | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assist |
| 2002-’03 | 40 | 37 | 20 | 6.1 | 3.8 |
| 2001-’02 | 39 | 34.9 | 22.9 | 5.7 | 5.2 |
| 1997-’98 | 36 | 38.8 | 28.7 | 5.8 | 3.7 |
Let’s remember that for two of his final three years, MJ was playing in Washington and was coming off a three-year retirement.
These tables are not exactly an apple-to-apple comparison, but they do provide enough information for a heated debate.
How about getting all caught up on the NBA Tournament?
