After a long four-monthoffseason, the 2023-24 NBA season officially kicks off on October24. Preseason action is currently underway, with teams evaluatingtheir roster and getting ready for the start of the regularseason.

There were a few roster rulechanges of note this offseason that were introduced as part of thenew CBA. Now, each team can sign up to three two-way players (upfrom two) who are able to play up to 50 games with their NBA teamand spend the rest of their season in the G League. Also, offseasonrosters were originally limited to 20 players but have sinceincreased to 21.

Each team needs to be at 15standard contracts prior to the start of the season, which means afew players on guaranteed deals will have to be cut prior to theseason. While some teams have a pretty set roster, others (like theOklahoma City Thunder) will be forced to part ways with talentedplayers to reach their roster limit.

Looking at the Central Division,let’s see how each team’s lineup is shaping up and what questionsthey may need to answer before the start of the season.

(This is part two of asix-part series. Check out our Atlantic Division preview,with more previews coming soon).

CHICAGO BULLS

Who will start at point guard?

The Bulls have a lot of capitalcommitted to a couple talented guards, but only one will be in thestarting lineup when they kick off the season against the Thunderon October 25. They wouldn’t be in this predicament if Lonzo Ballwere healthy, but the former UCLA guard has struggled with kneeissues throughout his time in Chicago and will miss his secondstraight season.

Head coach Billy Donovan has afew options to choose from in fourth-year guard Coby White,third-year guard Ayo Dosunmu and new signing Jevon Carter. Whitehas started throughout the preseason, averaging 11 points and 5assists per game, showing signs of improvement in his scoring andplaymaking abilities. The Bulls do have a surplus of scoringoptions, which could lead White being used as a primary scorer inthe second unit. Dosunmu didn’t totally impress in his extended runfilling in for Ball last season and hasn’t shown much to grab thejob in preseason. The former Illinois guard has had some shakyshooting recently, but his 6-foot-5, 200-pound frame brings uniquedefensive and size versatility for Chicago. Carter is probably themost akin to a replacement for Ball stylistically as a stoutdefender and transition specialist. Alex Caruso could also be awild-card option, but he is more likely to head-up the team’ssecond unit as the backup for Zach LaVine, as he was for most oflast season.

Roster Decisions

The Bulls likely don’t need tomake any immediate changes to their roster with 15 players onstandard contracts. However, they are currently projected at$219,401 over the luxury tax, which could push them to waive one ofCarlik Jones or Terry Taylor, who are on non-guaranteed deals. BothJones and Taylor have partial guarantees of $250K and $350K,respectively, if they make the opening-night roster. If either arecut after the start of the season, Chicago would take a dead caphit for their partial guarantees.

Rotation

Current Roster Count: 18players (13 guaranteed, 2 non-guaranteed, 3two-way)

Projected Starters: G Coby White, G Zach LaVine, F/G DeMar DeRozan,F Patrick Williams, C Nikola Vucevic

Projected Rotation Players: G Alex Caruso, G Ayo Dosunmu, C Andre Drummond,G Jevon Carter, F Torrey Craig

Projected Reserves: G/F Dalen Terry, F Julian Phillips, G CarlikJones (non-guaranteed), F Terry Taylor (non-guaranteed), G LonzoBall (injured)

Projected Two-way Players: F Justin Lewis, F/C Adama Sanogo, F OnuralpBitim

Projected Roster Cuts: N/A

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

Is starting Max Strus enough to help their deficienciesat small forward?

Coming off a season in whichthey vaulted all the way to fourth in the Eastern Conference, theCavaliers' missing piece always seemed to be a starting smallforward. They hoped that Isaac Okoro, their No. 5 overall pick in2020, would assume that spot by improving his offensive game tocomplement his strong defensive skills. However, Okoro has rarelybeen a net positive for Cleveland and his usage went steadilydownward last season.

In order to address their weakwing depth, the Cavs splurged in free agency by signing Max Strusto a four-year, $64-million contract. The former undrafted MiamiHeat wing was Cleveland’s top-free agency target this past summerand will replace Okoro this year as the starting small forward,according to Chris Fedor ofCleveland.com.Throughout his career, Strus has been a knockdown three-pointshooter and he has plenty of playoff experience that could bring anew element to a young Cavs team. Strus is not the elite defenderthat Okoro is, but he is far from poor on that end of the floor.While with the Heat, he matched up with forwards around 45% of thetime, perNBA.com stat tracking, and was able to hold his own. He won’t beguarding any primary ball-handlers, but he should be able to fitwithin J.B. Bickerstaff’s defensive gameplan and serve as anupgrade on offense.

Roster Decisions

The Cavaliers likely won’t makeany changes before the start of the season with a full roster. Ifthey have their eyes on someone else via free agency or waiverclaims, they can waive Tristan Thompson or Sam Merrill with littleto no dead cap hits.

Rotation

Current Roster Count: 21players (12 guaranteed, 1 partially guaranteed, 1 non-guaranteed, 3two-way, 4 Exhibit-10)

Projected Starters: G Darius Garland, G Donovan Mitchell, G/F MaxStrus, F/C Evan Mobley, C Jarrett Allen

Projected Rotation Players: F/G Caris LeVert, F Georges Niang, F/G IsaacOkoro, G Ricky Rubio, F/C Dean Wade

Projected Reserves: G Ty Jerome, C Damian Jones, C/F TristanThompson ($200K guaranteed), G Sam Merrill(non-guaranteed)

Projected Two-way Players: F Emoni Bates, F Isaiah Mobley, G Craig PorterJr.

Projected Roster Cuts: G Sharife Cooper (Exhibit-10), G Zhaire Smith(Exhibit-10), G Justin Powell (Exhibit-10), F Pete Nance(Exhibit-10)

DETROIT PISTONS

How will they manage the big-man rotation?

The Pistons have their fairshare of young bigs on their roster, but none have really taken aleap into stardom. While each of them have a unique skill-set, theyall have their shortcomings on the court and haven’t workedseamlessly together in any pairing.

They recently extended IsaiahStewart, who started most of last season at power forward, at afair value of four years, $60 million. Stewart has a good perimetergame, but struggles in the paint due to being slightly undersizedas a big. Jalen Duren fits the mold of a more traditional center,but is still raw on defense, especially in the paint. New headcoach Monty Williams haspraised Duren thispreseason, suggesting that they will try to get the young centermore opportunities on offense and that he’s confident Duren willcontinue to improve.

With Stewart and Duren likely tostart at the four and five, Williams still needs to decide whetherMarvin Bagley III or James Wiseman will get the primary backupminutes behind them. Bagley has some defense and size limitationsthat make him more of a power forward. Wiseman, already in hisfourth NBA season, hasn’t had much of an opportunity to prove he isa reliable NBA player despite his build. Bagley has had strongerplay this preseason, but Williams has yet to reveal who will be apart of the rotation when the season starts.

Roster Decisions

The Pistons have two interestingdecisions to make with one open standard roster spot and one opentwo-way spot. It appears as though Stanley Umude should earn eitherthe final standard roster spot or the final two-way spot, based onhis performance in the preseason (15.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 2.0 APG) aswell as playing with thesecond-unit in open practice, according to Palace of Pistons. Their movesare also dictated on whether they choose to make any trades beforetheir season tips off on Wednesday.

The Houston Rockets arereportedly interested in trading for Alec Burks, accordingto JakeFischer of Yahoo Sports, and would likely send back Victor Oladipo’sexpiring contract with second-round draft picks. It is unclearwhether Detroit is interested in acquiring Oladipo or dealing Burksin the first place. If things stay the same, look for the Pistonsto elevate Umude and promote one of their other Exhibit-10 signings(Buddy Boeheim, Tosan Evbuomwan, Jontay Porter or Zavier Simpson)to the two-way spot.

Rotation

Current Roster Count: 21players (14 guaranteed, 2 two-way, 5 Exhibit-10)

Projected Starters: G Cade Cunningham, G Jaden Ivey, F BogdanBogdanovic, F/C Isaiah Stewart, C/F Jalen Duren

Projected Rotation Players: G/F Ausar Thompson, G Monte Morris, G AlecBurks, F Marvin Bagley III, C James Wiseman

Projected Reserves: F Isaiah Livers, G Marcus Sasser, G KillianHayes, G/F Joe Harris, GStanley Umude (projected Exhibit-10 convert)

Projected Two-way Players: G Jared Rhoden, G Malcolm Cazalon,G Buddy Boeheim (projectedExhibit-10 convert)

Projected Roster Cuts: F Tosan Evbuomwan (Exhibit-10), G ZavierSimpson (Exhibit-10), F/C Jontay Porter (Exhibit-10)

INDIANA PACERS

Only 10 guys can reasonably play on a nightly basis, sowho gets left out?

The Pacers quietly have one ofthe deepest rosters in the league led by star guard TyreseHaliburton, who just received a max contract extension. Having asurplus of talent leaves some tough playing-time decisions for RickCarlisle. The team’s surefire starters include Haliburton, veterancenter Myles Turner, and free-agent addition Bruce Brown. BennedictMathurin will also likely move into the starting lineup at smallforward after coming off the bench during his rookie year.After that, things are still up inthe air in terms of who will get playing time and where.

When it comes to who will backup Haliburton, veteran T.J. McConnell has been a reliable optionfor the past few seasons, steadily improving his jump shooting overthat time. Andrew Nembhard held his own last season while fillingin for Haliburton as the starter while he was injured last year.Nembhard, coming off an All-Rookie-Second-Team season, could pushMcConnell for the backup-point-guard spot, but should get minuteson the wing regardless. Buddy Hield will start the season comingoff the bench and should be the primary scorer for the second unit,albeit to his disapproval (see below).

In terms of wing depth, newaddition Obi Toppin will most likely start at power forward,replacing Aaron Nesmith. Nesmith and Jordan Nwora have shownflashes, but may be on the outside of the rotation to start theyear. No. 7 overall pick Jarace Walker will likely be a key part ofthe rotation with his high ceiling and may push for Toppin’sstarting spot later in the year. Ben Sheppard, their otherfirst-round pick, has also made a case for playing time with hisplay this preseason, but he may have to wait for minutes to open upfor him. The backup big man spot should be mixed around betweenJalen Smith, Isaiah Jackson and Daniel Theis, all of which arecapable options on both ends of the floor.

Roster Decisions

The Pacers' roster is pretty setgoing into the season. One notable thing to mention is that BuddyHield requested a trade earlier this offseason in hopes of gettinga bigger role on a contending team. While other teams aredefinitely interested in Hield, it doesn’t appear as though Indianais interested in trading him at the moment. Things could change ifthe team has a poor start to the season.

Rotation

Current Roster Count: 18players (15 guaranteed, 3 two-way)

Projected Starters: G Tyrese Haliburton, G Bruce Brown Jr., F/GBennedict Mathurin, F Obi Toppin, C Myles Turner

Projected Rotation Players: G Buddy Hield, G T.J. McConnell, G AndrewNembhard, F/C Jarace Walker, C/F Jalen Smith

Projected Reserves: F Aaron Nesmith, F/C Isaiah Jackson, G BenSheppard, F Jordan Nwora, C Daniel Theis

Projected Two-way Players: G/F Kendall Brown, G Isaiah Wong, C OscarTshiebwe

Projected Roster Cuts: N/A

MILWAUKEE BUCKS

How will the Damian Lillard trade affect their defensivestrategy and depth?

The Bucks have shifted theiridentity on both ends of the floor with a bold offseason move,giving up Jrue Holiday and Grayson Allen to acquire Damian Lillard.Under Mike Budenholzer, the Bucks were a defensive juggernaut andthis propelled them to a championship in 2021. However, new coachAdrian Griffin will have to contend with the loss of two rotationplayers, including an elite defender in Holiday. Lillard has notbeen the best defender throughout his career and the task ofguarding the other team’s best perimeter player will likely have tofall on someone like Malik Beasley coming off the bench.As an assistant coach with theRaptors, Griffin was the architect behind Toronto’stight-ball-pressure defenses that were unpredictable on a nightlybasis and among the most efficient in the league. If theirdefensive schemes aren’t up to par, Milwaukee may just have tooutscore their opponents on a nightly basis, which they may be morethan capable of doing with Giannis Antetokounmpo andDame.

The loss of two starters fromlast year’s team also shouldn’t be understated. Pat Connaughton islikely going to fill Grayson Allen’s starting spot, which couldopen up bench opportunities for younger players like MarJonBeauchamp. Beauchamp had his moments during his rookie year,showing off his athletic potential while learning the flow of anNBA offense. He should get an opportunity for real playing time asa help on defense. It also seemed like second-round pick AndreJackson Jr. would get opportunities at backup point guard, but thenthe team signed Cameron Payne. Payne will likely man that spotgoing into the year, but Jackson Jr. has played well this preseasonand has shown he has the tools to be a jack-of-all-trades for theBucks.

Roster Decisions

The Bucks seemed to have theirroster set going into the season after making the move for Lillardand signing Payne. However, the team made some minor changes onWednesday, surprisingly waiving two-way player Omari Moore alongwith two training camp signings. Moore was signed to a two-yeartwo-way deal after going undrafted out of San Jose State and willlikely start the year with the Bucks’ G League affiliate, theWisconsin Herd. The only Exhibit-10 player who was not waived wasMarques Bolden, who will likely have his contract converted to fillthe team’s open two-way spot.

Rotation

Current Roster Count: 18players (15 guaranteed, 2 two-way, 1 Exhibit-10)

Projected Starters: G Damian Lillard, G/F Pat Connaughton, F KhrisMiddleton, F Giannis Antetokounmpo, C Brook Lopez

Projected Rotation Players: C Bobby Portis, G Malik Beasley, F Jae Crowder,G Cameron Payne, F/G MarJon Beauchamp

Projected Reserves: G AJ Green, G Andre Jackson Jr., C Robin Lopez,F Chris Livingston, F Thanasis Antetokounmpo

Projected Two-way Players: G TyTy Washington Jr., G LindellWigginton, F/C MarquesBolden (Projected E-10 Convert)

Projected Roster Cuts: N/A