NBA Opening Week: Ranking the 5 best matchups to start the year

4. New Orleans Pelicans @ Brooklyn Nets – Wednesday, October 19

The New Orleans Pelicans and Brooklyn Nets are both intriguing and for two different reasons. Let’s begin with the Brooklyn Nets, who made many headlines during the offseason. Even though the summer was the summer and it’s now the regular season, I’m not so sure that this team will easily be able to turn the page on everything that transpired just a few months ago.

That said, the trio of Kevin Durant, Kyrie, Irving, and Ben Simmons is enough to get me excited about this team’s possibilities. If everything clicks, the Nets should be a contender in the East.

And then you have the Pelicans, who happen to be one of the most intriguing teams out West. They have an excellent young budding star in Zion Williamson and if he can remain healthy, he will make it a formidable big three alongside Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum. If the Wolves can remain healthy throughout the entire season, there’s no reason to think that this team can’t compete on some level during the playoffs.