NBA Preseason: First Looks at the Reshuffled League — Giannis Debuts in Miami, LeBron in Philadelphia
The offseason's headline movers made their first on-court impressions this week.
Giannis in Miami. In his Heat preseason debut against New Orleans, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting with 4 rebounds and 4 assists in just 18 minutes — and Miami led 41-23 after one quarter. On his availability for opening night: "On October 22, I'll be out there dressed, ready to go." (The Heat acquired him from Milwaukee in the offseason's blockbuster.)
LeBron in Philadelphia. Per ESPN's preseason buzz file: "James scores 10 points in 18 minutes in 76ers debut." Joel Embiid, meanwhile, was a "full participant" in the Sixers' first practice after sitting four of their 11 playoff games last spring.
Kawhi in Toronto — later. Kawhi Leonard sat out the Raptors' preseason opener against Giannis's Heat in Quebec City on Oct. 3 while he ramps up following the delayed Clippers trade; per ClutchPoints, the 35-year-old paid his $700,000 fine for his role in the Clippers-Aspiration scandal and "wants to turn the page" on his second Toronto stint. Miami and Toronto don't meet again until Jan. 15, 2027.
Luka's conditioning storyline. A slimmer Luka Doncic needed only 16 minutes to score 21 first-half points in the Lakers' 127-103 preseason-opening blowout of the Kings in Sacramento on Monday; the Lakers sat Austin Reaves (tweaked ankle) and Walker Kessler (jammed finger).
What it means: the East's new chaos agents (Giannis's Heat, LeBron-Embiid's Sixers, Kawhi's Raptors) all passed their first looks, and the Lakers' season now visibly runs through Doncic's body and conditioning.1
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An instance of Blockbuster star swaps have produced duos everywhere and dynasties nowhere. — The offseason's blockbusters scattered stars across rosters as rival 'chaos agents' rather than stacking a single superteam. ↩︎