The official schedule release for the 2017-18 NBA season is still about a month away, but Adam Silver confirmed the date for opening night in his annual Las Vegas press conference Wednesday afternoon. It’s set for October 17, a much earlier date than most years because the league is trying to preserve its 82-game cash cow of a season while reducing the number of back-to-backs and stretches of four games in five nights that teams have to play.
When the Warriors receive their championships rings and raise the fifth banner in franchise history in mid-October, all eyes will be on Golden State. But you can bet the NBA wants another compelling squad on the court that night as well. It won’t be the Cavaliers – that matchup will be saved for Christmas, as always – but it also won’t be the lowly Suns.
Golden State is the talk of the town now, and is the biggest ratings-driver in a ratings-driven league. To boost the number of viewers and ensure sports fans across the country will be locked in to TNT on October 17, Silver should provide an interesting, competitive matchup for opening night. Here are the five most compelling possible (and realistic) opponents for the Warriors on their ring night.
5. Los Angeles Clippers
The once-fierce rivalry between the Warriors and Clips has lost its luster in recent years, and Chris Paul is now gone from SoCal too. But under Jerry West’s direction, the Clippers retooled in an interesting fashion by adding Patrick Beverley and Danilo Gallinari while still retaining Blake Griffin. Griffin won’t be healthy on opening night thanks to a foot injury, but Beverley and the Dubs have plenty of history that could reignite the rivalry with a scrappy contest to kick off the season. The Clippers still figure to be involved in next year’s playoff picture, so Steve Kerr and company would love to take a look at the new ways in which their division rival will operate in the first game of the long campaign.
4. Minnesota Timberwolves
No team will jump from relative obscurity to must-watch status more than the Wolves next season. They added Jimmy Butler, who along with Karl Anthony-Towns and Andrew Wiggins forms a big three that can go toe-to-toe with most other contenders in the league. Tom Thibodeau probably won’t want his young group to have to go up against the Warriors in game one of their new experiment, but an opening night win at Oracle Arena would go a long way in building confidence for Minnesota. If the NBA wants to pit the newest trendy dark horse team against the league’s best, this is the matchup for them.
3. Los Angeles Lakers
Picture this: LaVar Ball, guest hosting Inside the NBA on opening night alongside Charles Barkley and the rest of the gang. “Lonzo and the Lakers are gonna beat Golden State by THIRTY!” he exclaims. Ernie Johnson simply shakes his head, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry drop 70 points combined and Luke Walton thanks the schedule gods for getting one of LA’s mandated four games against the Warriors out of the way early on. This would be a more entertaining matchup off the court than on, but if Lonzo Ball makes his debut on national TV against the defending champions, that’s a great first test. Throw in the battle between KD and his mini-me Brandon Ingram, and there are certainly some compelling storylines to be found on the hardwood too.
2. Houston Rockets
Most pundits will predict the Rockets and Warriors to face off in the Western Conference Finals, especially if and when Houston acquires Carmelo Anthony. But even without Melo, the brand new backcourt duo of Chris Paul and James Harden squaring off against Steph and Klay will be fascinating. Who runs Houston’s offense when they’re down by two with a minute to go? Let’s find out in the first game of the year against the best team in the league. The Warriors maintained their roster stability this offseason, but because of their dominance, they forced organizations around the league to throw caution to the wind in the pursuit of a title. Houston is one of those teams, and their new star guards could either succeed spectacularly or fail miserably this year. October 17 would give us the first glimpse into how that might go.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
Do we really need to explain why this game would be the most fun to watch? The Russ-KD storylines can write themselves — and they have been, ad nauseam — but the addition of Paul George to a 47-win team might put the Thunder back at the contender-level status they enjoyed when Durant was in Oklahoma. The Thunder figure to also have a pretty strong defensive team, with Andre Roberson and Steven Adams now having more time to focus on defense while letting George and Westbrook handle the offense. With his MVP award already secured and the knowledge that he may have just one year to do anything meaningful with his current personnel, Westbrook will be a man on a mission next year. And there’d be no better way to hit the ground running on his rampage toward a conference finals matchup with his nemesis Kevin Durant than letting Russ get a crack at the Warriors in game one of the long season.