NBA opening night to tip off in style with four Western Conference heavyweights

Four heavyweights in the Western Conference will play on opening night, set for Oct. 24, of the 2023-24 season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. The defending-champion Nuggets host the Lakers, while the Warriors host the Suns, with both matchups being aired on TNT.

The Nuggets and Lakers squared off in the Western Conference Finals last season, with Denver winning via sweep, 4-0, before going on to win the NBA Finals. Denver’s roster is similar to last season’s. The Nuggets lost Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, but Green averaged only 4.1 points in 17.2 minutes in the playoffs last year. Losing Brown is huge, but Denver has several players who can help take over with larger roles, such as Christian Braun. Denver also drafted Julian Strawther, Jalen Pickett and Hunter Tyson while adding Justin Holiday in free agency.

While the Lakers lost to the Nuggets last year, they only lost one game by double digits. Their average margin of defeat was by six points. Los Angeles moved quickly to bring back several key rotation pieces from last year’s team, such as Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura. While they lost the likes of Dennis Schroder, Malik Beasley and Lonnie Walker, the Lakers brought in several free agents like Gabe Vincent and Taurean Prince. Los Angeles also drafted Jalen Hood-Schifino in the first round.

Both the Warriors and the Suns made it to the second round last season, but both teams made major shakeups. The Suns made headlines when they acquired three-time All-Star Bradley Beal to their roster, giving Phoenix one of the most top-heavy and expensive teams in the league. The Suns were active in the opening days of free agency, re-signing Josh Okogie, Ish Wainright and Damion Lee, while bringing in a multitude of minimum-contract players, like Yuta Watanabe, Eric Gordon and Keita Bates-Diop.

The Warriors also turned heads when they moved away young scorer Jordan Poole in a move to acquire Chris Paul, who had been involved in the aforementioned Beal trade, from the Wizards. While rumors circulated about Draymond Green potentially moving on in free agency or Jonathan Kuminga being potentially traded, both players remain on the team (Green courtesy of a new four-year, $100M deal). Golden State brought in Cory Joseph and Dario Saric in free agency and drafted Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis, both of which could play their ways into rotation spots.

More schedule news will trickle in in the coming weeks. The Christmas Day games, as well as other marquee matchups, are typically leaked before the full schedule release, which happened on Aug. 17 last year.