2023 NBA Schedule Release: TV Info, Start Time, Date and More For Full Release | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

The NBA offseason may be where the drama, juicy headlines and trade requests are made, but legacies are formed on the court.

And the league's players are about to find out when and where that legacy-making will happen in 2023-24.

The NBA announced Tuesday it will release the full schedule for the upcoming 2023-24 season on Thursday.

How to Watch

Date: Thursday, Aug. 17

Time: 3 p.m. ET

TV Info: ESPN's The Jump

Soon attention will turn from Damian Lillard and James Harden trade requests to the pick-and-rolls and three-point shooting of actual basketball.

The campaign will even have the new twist of an in-season tournament.

With that in mind, here are some storylines to follow with the schedule right around the corner.

Storylines to Watch

In-Season Tournament Intrigue

There were times in recent years where the NBA's regular season felt somewhat stale as something to get through before the thrill of the playoffs.

So the league switched things up for 2023-24.

The first-ever in-season tournament will take place in November and December and add some basketball intrigue to the part of the sports calendar that is typically dominated by football. All 30 teams will compete and were broken into three groups of five per conference.

Each team inside a group will play one another once for a total of four group games per squad to determine the eight teams that advance to the single-elimination knockout rounds. The six group champions and one wild-card team per conference will advance.

The semifinals and Dec. 9 final will take place in Las Vegas, and the players on the champion team will take home $500,000 each.

ESPN @espn

The NBA in-season tournament is on its way‼️<a href="">@Rjeff24</a> has how it all works: <a href="">

The in-season tournament has been discussed for multiple years, but it is finally a reality. Motivation could be something of a question mark, but every game except for the championship will count toward the regular-season standings.

That championship will also have the financial incentive in place.

It clearly won't mean as much as the playoffs, but it is a fresh perspective on regular-season games and will add a layer of excitement and potentially more enticing matchups to the pre-Christmas schedule. Plus, the single-elimination element and the semifinals and final being on a neutral floor in Las Vegas will feel somewhat like March Madness.

And who doesn't love March Madness?

The NBA's Next Generational Star Takes the Court

Not since LeBron James was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2003 NBA draft has an incoming rookie generated as much hype as Victor Wembanyama.

The San Antonio Spurs' next superstar big man in a long history of them will have plenty of pressure on his shoulders. But he also has the talent to deliver in the face of that pressure.

Wembanyama is 7'4" with the ability to shoot from the outside, create plays off the dribble, control the boards, score in the post and seemingly fly to perimeter shooters to swat away their shots in a single motion.

It might take some time for him to fully adjust to the NBA game, but the future is bright in San Antonio. Throw in the fact that head coach Gregg Popovich will be on the sidelines just as he was for No. 1 picks Tim Duncan and David Robinson, and things are lining up for years of dominance.

Fans in opposing cities will surely circle the San Antonio games when the schedule is released given the chance to watch the early stages of a potentially legendary career.

After all, there were massive crowds in Las Vegas for summer league when Wembanyama took the floor, and that anticipation only figures to build when the games start to count toward the standings and a championship pursuit.

It has been a few years since the Spurs were appointment viewing, but they will be in 2023-24.

Western Conference Power Struggle

Until further notice, the NBA belongs to the Denver Nuggets.

And how could it not?

Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and Co. steamrolled their way through the playoffs for their first championship in franchise history. They notably swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, lost a single game to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals and didn't drop more than two games in a single series.

Repeating will be anything but easy, though, especially in this season's Western Conference.

It was the Phoenix Suns who managed to win two games against Denver in the second round, and they went out and added three-time All-Star Bradley Beal to the lineup this offseason. It is difficult to match a starting group that consists of the star power of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Beal, and big man Deandre Ayton is at least someone who is, in theory, big enough to make Jokić work some for his production.

A Western Conference Finals showdown may be inevitable, although the Lakers will have something to say about it.

Los Angeles kept its core intact, added solid secondary players such as Gabe Vincent and Taurean Prince, and received plenty of praise for its successful offseason. It played excellent basketball down the stretch and into the Western Conference Finals last season and should start the new season with plenty of momentum and confidence.

Elsewhere, the Golden State Warriors can't be counted out after they brought back Draymond Green and added future Hall of Famer Chris Paul to a group with championship DNA. The Los Angeles Clippers still have the name power of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, the Sacramento Kings could take another step after reaching the playoffs and the Memphis Grizzlies have plenty of talent.

Everyone is chasing the Nuggets, but the Western Conference figures to be a power struggle all season.