Return to the court sight for sore eyes
Hopes high as training camps open ahead of new season
The first practices of the season in the NBA are here, as teamshit the floor Tuesday to formally begin getting ready for the 2021-22 campaign.
Here are some things to watch as camps get started:
The champs
The Bucks are running it back.
The Bucks used eight players in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, the title-clincher against the Suns, and seven of them are still on the roster; the exception is P.J. Tucker, now part of the Heat. The Bucks also have seven of their top eight scorers, in terms of total points, back from a year ago; the exception in that case is Bryn Forbes, who returned to the Spurs.
Plus, Giannis Antetokounmpo played the game of his life to finish off that title run, a 50-point, 14-rebound masterpiece — and he isn’t even 27 yet. His best easily may be yet to come.
Camp central
San Diego hasn’t technically had an NBA team since 1984.
This week, the city has three.
The Clippers, Denver and Nets are all calling San Diego home this week for training camp. They’re all practicing separately, using three different facilities. The Nets will play in Los Angeles against the Lakers on Sunday before returning home, while the Nuggets and Clippers will play in Los Angeles on Monday.
Youth served
If so inclined, the Rockets might be able to do something very rare in the preseason.
Start with a three-guard lineup: Josh Christopher, Jalen Green and Daishen Nix. Put Usman Garuba at forward, put Alperen Sengun at center.
It adds up to five teens on the floor. There are no fewer than 21 teens on NBA rosters as camps began Tuesday, including five Rockets and a trio of 18-year-olds — the Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga, Thunder’s Josh Giddey and Spurs’ Joshua Primo.
Of those, Kuminga and Giddey will turn 19 before the regular season begins. Primo doesn’t turn 19 until Dec. 24. He’ll be 18 years, 300 days old when the Spurs open their season Oct. 20 against the Magic.
That means he’s in line to become the youngest player in an NBA game in more than 15 years — Andrew Bynum was 18 years, 191 days old when he appeared in a playoff contest for the Lakers in 2006.
There have been four 18-year-olds to debut in the NBA since Bynum: Dragan Bender, Sekou Doumbouya, Devin Booker and Antetokounmpo.
But technically, if Primo debuts before Nov. 17, he’ll be younger than any of them were for their NBA regular-season games.
Preseason perspective
The games that start Sunday when the Nets visit the Lakers mean, and this can’t be stressed enough, absolutely nothing in terms of wins and losses.
The Bucks went 0-3 in the preseason last year and won the NBA title. The Suns went 0-4 and went to the Finals.
The only team in the last 25 years that had the best record in the preseason and went on to win the NBA crown was the Warriors in 2016-17.
Finally home
For Raptors fans in Toronto, the wait is nearly over.
The team plays at home next week. Really at home, that is.
For the first time since Feb. 28, 2020, the Raptors will play a game in Toronto when they open their preseason schedule against the 76ers. Only a handful of players and staff remain from that team, so the Raptors are having camp in Toronto instead of going elsewhere in Canada — as they’ve done often in recent years.
Toronto called Tampa, Florida, home last season because of the pandemic.