SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — LeBron James and son Bronny playing side by side for the Lakers.
Stephen Curry and Draymond Green competing without Klay Thompson, a trio who captured four NBA titles together with Golden State before Thompson’s recent departure for Dallas.
A Clippers roster now missing Paul George and Russell Westbrook as Kawhi Leonard’s leading men.
JJ Redick is new Lakers coach while Mike Budenholzer will be guiding Kevin Durant and the talented Suns.
Yes, there are a bunch of big changes in the new-look Pacific Division, one of the NBA’s most closely contested for playoff spots in the powerful Western Conference.
Curry has something to prove. He and the Warriors look to get back to postseason form after missing as the No. 10 seed in 2024 only two years after winning the title. And they will be missing Thompson, who joined the Dallas Mavericks. Buddy Hield is a new face expected to take on a big scoring load to help fill the void.
“You ask all 30 teams last season if you have championship aspirations, you probably take eight of them serious, 12 of them maybe, and only one of them gets to say, ‘Yeah, we had championship aspirations,’” Curry said. “I think we’re in that position where we can be a relevant team early and give ourselves a chance to compete and then assess where we are because that’s what every team has to go through.
“We just have the shadow of the expectations that we’re supposed to be in that conversation.”
A look at each team in the Pacific Division in predicted order of finish:
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Fresh off capturing an Olympic gold medal, coach Steve Kerr and two-time MVP Curry are counting on the Warriors bouncing back from missing the playoffs all together last season. They won a title in 2022.
Andrew Wiggins is eager to return to the form he showed during the championship run after two years ago after an up-and-down season and Draymond Green looks to stay healthy and help improve a defense that struggled to stop high-octane offenses. They will help complement an athletic young group featuring Jonathan Kuminga, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Brandin Podziemski.
“Our transition defense fell off the map last year,” Kerr said.
PHOENIX SUNS
The Suns are in Year 2 of their Big 3 era, hoping that an overhauled supporting cast can help their All-Star trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal after a disappointing first-round playoff exit last season.
Phoenix added Budenholzer, who won the 2021 NBA title with the Milwaukee Bucks, and beefed up their backcourt by signing point guards Tyus Jones and Monte Morris. The Suns didn’t have a true point guard last year, asking Booker and Beal to do a lot of the ballhandling.
The 36-year-old Durant continues his stellar career and the Suns need him to be as durable as he was last season. He played in 75 games, which was his most time on the floor since 2019. He and Booker didn’t get much of a break this summer because both were key contributors to the U.S. National Team, which won the gold medal in Paris.
Beal returns after missing a big chunk of last season with various injuries. The three-time All-Star averaged just 18.2 points per game, which was his lowest mark since 2016.
SACRAMENTO KINGS
As Mike Brown begins his third season coaching the Kings, the franchise is counting on taking another big step in becoming a regular contender in the West — hence the training camp theme of mountain climbing.
Brown brought in renowned moutaineer Ed Viesturs to speak to his team before practices begin. Viesturs has summited the world’s 14 highest peaks without the aid of supplemental oxygen.
Sacramento acquired DeMar DeRozan and re-signed key sixth man Malik Monk. DeRozan will be the primary scoring option on a team that already has three-time All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis, point guard De’Aaron Fox and Keegan Murray beginning his third NBA season.
The key for the Kings will come down to defense, something Brown credited with making the difference for his team late in the 2023-24 season when they lost in the second round of the play-in tournament.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
LeBron James will become the first NBA player to play alongside his own son when the top scorer in NBA history suits up with Bronny early in his record-tying 22nd season. Once that milestone is out of the way, the Lakers will attempt to turn two years of relative continuity into the success that eluded them last year.
General manager Rob Pelinka made almost no moves in the offseason, likely returning with 13 players from the team that finished eighth in the West and lost to Denver in the first round despite getting remarkably good health from the 39-year-old LeBron and oft-injured Anthony Davis.
The Lakers’ biggest change is on the bench, where Redick is replacing Darvin Ham. Redick has never coached a basketball team at any level, but the former sharpshooting guard won over Pelinka with his cutting-edge knowledge of the sport.
“The confidence and belief level is high, but the work is never done,” Pelinka said. “We’ll look for ways to upgrade the roster. That’s something we’ll always do. … But if we have good health and good fortune, I really like our chances.”
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Leonard will be without running mate George, who signed a lucrative deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. Westbrook is gone, too, having joined the Denver Nuggets. Leonard will team with holdover James Harden, whose scoring and assists dipped last season when he willingly gave up the ball to Leonard and George. In place of George, the Clippers added depth with lower-cost players like Derrick Jones Jr., Kris Dunn and Nicholas Batum.
Leonard’s ability to stay healthy and tame the inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee will be key. It’s an issue that limited him to 68 games last season and has made him unavailable at times in the playoffs. The Clippers should get a lift from playing in their new arena, where the schedule doesn’t include any day games.
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AP Sports Writers Greg Beacham, David Brandt, Beth Harris and AP Freelance Writer Michael Wagaman contributed to this report.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer