NBA’s easiest and hardest schedules, key dates, and more for 2024-2025 season

August 16, 2024

The tough days of the NBA offseason are officially upon us, but there is light at the end of the tunnel: The 2024-2025 NBA schedule was released for all 30 teams on Thursday afternoon. The NBA will be back on track before we know it, but until then, the WNBA has basketball fans covered.

largely The NBA will hold its media day on September 30th and begin training camp on October 1st (with the Nuggets Celtics Boston and Denver will play the league’s first preseason games in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 4 and 6. The regular season begins on Oct. 22, when the Celtics Knicks,and Lakers Meet the Timberwolves.

The trade deadline is February 6th at 3 pm ET, and the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend begins on February 14th. The play-in tournament will begin on April 15th, and the NBA playoffs will officially begin on April 19th.

Now that their schedule has been announced, here are some fun facts, trends, and quirks that caught our eye.

The Nuggets have the easiest schedule

The Nuggets have the easiest schedule in the NBA. @presidentThis takes into account the benefits of home/away breaks, travel, altitude etc.

Denver has 10 games with rest advantage and 12 games with rest disadvantage. pic.twitter.com/0UpD1PeJ6P

— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) August 15, 2024

It’s hard to take anything away from the NBA’s preseason strength of schedule metric, but it makes sense that the Nuggets are leading this formula. Denver has always had a strong home court advantage by playing at high altitude (5,280 feet above sea level, as it says on the jersey), they’re centrally located with easy transport connections. What’s interesting is that the other four teams are in the much easier Eastern Conference. There’s no easy schedule for a Western Conference powerhouse like the Nuggets, but at least their schedule is a little more tolerable than some of their top conference rivals.

The Lakers have the most nationally televised games.

Top 5 nationally televised games for the 2024-25 season:

1) Lakers: 39
2) Warriors: 36
T3) Celtics: 34
T3) Knicks: 34
T5) Mavericks: 30
T5) Suns: 30 https://t.co/igejprP4Nf

— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) August 15, 2024

The Lakers aren’t the best team in the NBA, but they get the most TV time. In Los Angeles, 39 games will be nationally televised on ESPN/ABC, TNT and NBA TV. If you want to see a now-40-year-old LeBron James play with his son, Bronny, you’ll have plenty of opportunities. Hopefully James and Anthony Davis can stay healthy this season, or we’ll have a lot of boring nights in nationally televised games. It’d be nice to see a younger, better team do more, but LeBron always puts up numbers on the court and in the TV ratings.

The Suns have a tough schedule

Phoenix is using up all of its future draft picks and salary cap space this season on Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker. The Suns are hoping to improve on last year’s 49-win, first-round sweep, but their regular-season schedule means strict. Portland Trail Blazers They have the toughest schedule in the league, numerically. Phoenix isn’t far behind with the fourth-toughest schedule.The Suns “will play four fewer innings when they have the rest advantage than when they have the rest disadvantage” According to RealGM:the most in the league. Phoenix also Recorded 16 straight wins, the most in the NBA this seasonHowever, that honor is shared with 10 other teams. The Suns are facing more pressure than any team in the league this season to win a serious championship, and looking at their schedule, they appear to be at a disadvantage.

Raptors, Trail Blazers and Pistons have the least national TV coverage

These teams It will be broadcast nationally only four times throughout the year.That makes sense, as the Pistons are coming off a 14-win season and the Blazers are coming off a 21-win season. The Raptors aren’t necessarily rebuilding and will likely be in the Eastern Conference play-in mix, but national audiences won’t be seeing much from Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett et al this year.

Three “revenge games”

Dallas Mavericks in Golden State Warriors November 12, 10pm ET, TNT: Klay Thompson returns to the Bay Area for the first time. The crowd will be going wild for the greatest Warriors of all time and the tribute video will get the crowd going. Klay will either make 8 three-pointers or 0-for-15. Either way, it will be can’t-miss TV.
Philadelphia 76ers Nov. 6, 10 p.m. ET vs. Los Angeles Clippers, ESPN: The 66ers should be thankful every day that the Clippers rejected a fourth-year offer on a potential Paul George contract extension. PG is now in Philadelphia, but this will be a strange homecoming.
Brooklyn Nets The match will take place on November 15th at 7:30pm ET at the New York Knicks. Mikal Bridges was traded from the Nets to the Knicks. Villanova Reunion. The Nets are not looking to win at a high level this year because they are looking to get Cooper Flagg in the draft lottery. The Knicks think they are good enough to win the Eastern Conference. They could win by a 30-point margin.