With the NBA season coming around many people are excited about the upcoming year. Many teams are competing for the Championship and others are competing for the rights to Victor Wembanyama.

First of all, many teams will be tanking for generational talent in Wembanyama. Wembanyama is the most significant prospect ever since LeBron James in the 2003 draft. The French man is 7 ‘4 with one of the smoothest shots ever. In his first out of two exhibition matches against the G-League Ignite, Victor scored 37 points on 7-11 shooting from past the three-point line. He also blocked five shots throughout the game. This was Wembanyama’s first time playing in the United States and he did not disappoint. He impressed the eyes of many NBA players and front offices.

Wembanyama’s play was so impressive that James said, “Everybody’s been a unicorn over the last few years, but he’s more like an alien. No one has ever seen anyone as tall as he is but as fluid and graceful as he is on the floor. He’s for sure a generational talent.”

Many NBA teams believe that they could be hosting the Larry O’Brien trophy in June of 2023. There are six teams that many experts believe can be the champion this year. According to Caesars Sportsbook, the three favorites to win are the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, and Milwaukee Bucks.

The Warriors are returning from the championship to answer many questions throughout the off-season period. The Warriors are already the highest-paid team in NBA history and had to decide who and how they will spend the money to retain their core. On Oct. 17, the team decided to lock up the young core by re-signing guard Jordan Poole and forward Andrew Wiggins. With these two transactions, it looks like the team will be going away from forwarding Draymond Green after his contract expires after this season.

Another favorite in the west is the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets are led by back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic. Jokic, nicknamed “The Joker,” averaged 27 points with almost 14 rebounds and 8 assists without his other stars Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. With the two stars back and healthy, many people believe that they could win.

At the beginning of the free agency period, the Celtics looked like a team that was going to return to the finals but everything has gone down since. The Celtics’ free agent acquisition Danilo Gallinari tore his ACL in a game of EuroBasket. Then defensive center Robert Williams had surgery to reduce swelling in his knee. Williams rushed back from the same knee injury to return early in the postseason last year. Lastly, coach Ime Udoka is suspended for the year by the Celtics due to his part in a relationship with a female Celtics staff member.

Many other teams like the Bucks, Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers are also in contention.

The Bucks took the Celtics, the Eastern Conference champions, to seven games in the conference semifinals without their second-best player, Khris Middleton, being able to play. They also picked up key players like Joe Ingles and rookie MarJon Beauchamp.

The Clippers duo of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are going into their fourth year of playing on the Clippers. They have been very unlucky with injuries throughout this time, but this year looks like the best chance for this team to win. Leonard is returning from a torn ACL and is finally back on the court. This team is also the deepest team in the NBA.

With all of the problems surrounding every team, this year should be fun to watch many different storylines play out.