NBA media day is over, the cliches and platitudes distributed. Everyone's in the best shape of their lives, everyone's feeling great about their chances, everyone's going to have a great year -- blue sky everywhere you look.
Now comes the hard part. You know, the basketball part.
The NBA doesn't have training camp battles the way, say, the NFL does. In the NFL, the best player will get the nod no matter what. In the NBA, while it is certainly about skill and, ultimately, performance, it's also largely about fit, style and chemistry. Training camp is about finding the best player at a spot where there are multiple candidates, yes, but in some cases the better player may actually be better suited to come off the bench. Or even be ultimately moved if you have a real logjam. It's a puzzle, and putting it together is what training camp is for.
Speaking of positional logjams, the Sixers lead our list of eight training camp battles to watch:
Philadelphia 76ers
- THE CENTER DEBACLE
Nerlens Noel has made it pretty clear what he thinks of the situation, calling it "silly" as he, Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor are all top-ten picks and starting-caliber centers vying for the starting spot. Who goes to the bench? Who gets moved completely? There have long been rumors that either Okafor or Noel would be moved, but here they are.
Complicating matters is the fact that Ben Simmons is probably best deployed as a point forward, so that means you can't even really these true centers next to one another, plus Noel and Okafor were a disaster together last season anyway.
It's not easy in other spots, either, as Dario Saric will be competing for time on the wing, and Jerryd Bayless and Sergio Rodriguez are likely battling for the starting point guard spot. There's a lot up in the air for the Sixers and even if camp helps settle a rotation, there's still a need for a trade at least at the center spot.
Cleveland Cavaliers
- BACKUP POINT GUARD
The champs lost their go-to backup in Matthew Dellavedova, and they're now pretty thin at that spot in the event that Irving, who has had a spate of injuries in his career, misses time. Mo Williams elected to retire Monday, so he's out. Jordan McRae and Kay Felder are both unproven, but are probably competing for a chance to earn time before the post-deadline veteran buyouts. Markel Brown was brought in and has the talent to make the roster. Only Felder is a real point guard.
Even with LeBron James and Irving able to be staggered for more lineup options, the Cavaliers still need a stable backup option and some level of fresher legs on a veteran team. Don't be surprised if they bring in a veteran to take the backup reins.
Milwaukee Bucks
- STARTING SHOOTING GUARD
Khris Middleton's injury was bad all over. Bad for Middleton, bad for the Bucks. Middleton accounted for 32.5 percent of all Milwaukee's made 3-pointers last year. They needed shooting even with him. Now they're desperate for it with Jerryd Bayless having left in free agency and O.J. Mayo banned from the league.
They do have positional flexibility, as Giannis Antetokounmpo can play point guard, small forward, power forward or center, but not, you know, the one position they need him at. Their only real options are to run some sort of dual point guard setup with Michael Carter-Williams and Matthew Dellavedova, or have some good competition for an actual two guard.
If they go the latter route, the Bucks have drafted a pair of shooting guards in the last two seasons. Rashad Vaughn had a rough rookie season but showed some promise in summer league, and rookie Malcolm Brogdon may be the easiest fit. This a real hole in Milwaukee.
New Orleans Pelicans
- EVERY STARTING SPOT BUT ANTHONY DAVIS
Jrue Holiday will miss the first month due to his wife's brain surgery. Tyreke Evans is out indefinitely with a blood clot issue as well as injury. Norris Cole hasn't been re-signed. Tim Frazier is likely starting at point guard.
Their shooting guard options range from unproven E'Twaun Moore to rookie Buddy Hield to Langston Galloway. Quincy Pondexter is out long-term. Omer Asik is healthy, but that's not a good thing for the Pelicans.
Really, the Pels have to, fittingly, try to make a smoothie out of the team that plays in Smoothie King Center. They just have to throw a bunch of players into a blender and hope the concoction works out. It's going to be a mess, but simply for the presence of Davis, likely a competitive one.
Chicago Bulls
- STARTING POWER FORWARD
The Bulls have four of five starters established, with Rajon Rondo, Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler,and Robin Lopez, but after Pau Gasol's departure, they have a spot to fill at the four. Nikola Mirotic can play small-ball four, but you don't want him there full time, most likely. Bobby Portis has worlds of talent but hasn't seemed ready to fill that role. The team is high on Cristiano Felicio, but he may be better with the bench unit. Taj Gibson is probably the incumbent and the most likely guy to fill that spot, but he's usually been used as a bench weapon.
Gibson is the safe choice, Portis the fun one, Felicio may be the organization's preference. However, Mirotic may wind up taking the spot because the Bulls are a thirsty man wandering through the desert in search of an oasis of made 3-pointers. (No one can shoot.)
Miami Heat
- STARTING POWER FORWARD
Chris Bosh failed his team physical and is out, probably for good as Pat Riley sees it -- and suddenly the Heat have a lot of bad options to fill an urgent need. With Hassan Whiteside unable to stretch the defense, they need some range, and their options are Josh McRoberts, whose Miami nickname might as well be "Buyer's Remorse," Derrick Williams, James Johnson or Justise Winslow in a small-ball rotation.
There are no good options here, but how Erik Spoelstra proceeds will indicate what kind of team he's looking to form from this mess.
Phoenix Suns
- STARTING POINT GUARD
Devin Booker is the future, Brandon Knight is the veteran, Eric Bledsoe in in some strange middle ground. They want to play all three of them together, but that lineup will hemorrhage points, violently, on defense. The best solution is to have Booker start, push him as the future, and hope that Knight can up his trade value with solid bench production. But Booker will have to earn the spot.
The backup power forward spot with Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender will be a fun battle, too.
Denver Nuggets
- WHAT TO DO WITH FARIED
Kenneth Faried is the incumbent starting power forward, the most marketable and popular player on the team, and he makes a healthy salary. But coach Michael Malone wouldn't commit to giving Faried the starting four spot outright at media day Monday, and quite honestly, he probably shouldn't. Faried is a bad defensive player. He makes flashy blocks but his rotations are terrible, and the starting unit gets markedly worse defensively with him in.
Plugging in Nikola Jokic doesn't exactly make Denver a defensive monster, but you can more live with the holes on that end on account of Jokic's offensive skill. The same could probably be said for filling that starting spot with Jusuf Nurkic's size, Darrell Arthur's wisdom, or Danilo Gallinari or Wilson Chandler's versatility.
Faried naturally fits in a traditional bench role, bringing maximum energy in spurts. However, it's long been known that moving Faried to the bench could cause him to check out, and that's a problem. This is a tough one, and the Nuggets have been unable to work a trade for the hustle machine. This training camp will begin a very telling process about the future of Faried in Denver.
