Blockbuster NBA season on Nuggets host Lakers; Wembanyama set for debut

LOS ANGELES – Victor Wembanyama launches his bid to lead the San Antonio Spurs back to basketball’s top table while the defending champion Denver Nuggets are chasing a dynasty as the NBA season tips off on Tuesday.

After a hectic off-season that saw a slew of coaching changes and blockbuster trades, the NBA’s marathon 82-game season gets under way with a double-header featuring four teams from the Western Conference.

The Nuggets host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in a rematch of their Western Conference finals duel last season, while the Golden State Warriors entertain Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns.

French teenager Wembanyama, meanwhile, the number one draft pick hailed as a once-in-a-generation talent, will get his first taste of competitive NBA action when the Spurs face the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday (tomorrow Manila time).

The 19-year-old from the outskirts of Paris has given every indication so far that he is ready to deliver on the hype that led James to label him an “extra-terrestrial” before he arrived in the NBA.

Wembanyama averaged just over 19 points a game in four pre-season appearances for San Antonio and did enough to suggest that his goal of returning the Spurs to the playoffs this season is well within reach.

At seven feet four inches (2.25m) and with a wingspan estimated at eight feet, Wembanyama’s rate combination of size and skill signals the emergence of a game-changing talent.

Wembanyama will be attempting to lead San Antonio back to the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-2019 campaign.

For that to happen, the Spurs will have to navigate their way through a stacked Western Conference that includes reigning champion Denver and a reloaded Lakers unit led by James, back for his 21st NBA season at the age of 38.

The Nikola Jokic-led Nuggets won their first NBA title with a dominant 4-1 series victory over Miami in June but immediately began talking about chasing a second.

“I’ve got news for everybody out there – we’re not satisfied with one,” head coach Michael Malone warned.

Denver will bring back the core of the team that swept to the title last season, and the age profile of their roster indicates they will once again be the team to beat.

In the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks landed the biggest coup of the off-season with the signing of Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers.