NBA schedule: One of the best homecoming games for 2024-25 season, Mavs’ Klay Thompson returns to face Warriors

The NBA has released its full statement 2024–25 regular season schedule on Thursday. We’ve covered the event from several different perspectives, including 10 must see Games, Ranking christmas day gamesand a list of who has the most Nationally televised games,

Here’s another one: homecoming games. We won’t call these revenge games, though that would accurately characterize some of these contests (Klay Thompson is returning to play for the Warriors and Paul George is getting his first shot at the Clippers since they refused to pay him max money), because there haven’t been too many bad-blood moves this summer.

Still, even in amicable divisions, athletes find whatever sources of potential they can find, and it’s always exciting to go back to old turf and play a former team. It was no coincidence that Bradley Beal scored a season-high 43 points against the Wizards last year.

So, call these homecoming games or revenge games or whatever you want, but circle them on your calendar if you’re an NBA fanatic. These aren’t all “big” games, but they will feel pretty big to the people involved.

October 23: The Doctor returns to Philly

This is a game of coach’s revenge, as Doc Rivers was fired two days after the Sixers lost to the Boston Celtics in the 2023 Eastern Conference Semifinals, a series they once led 3-2. Rivers’ teams are no strangers to squandering playoff leads, and this was the third consecutive season they failed to get the Sixers past the second round. So they brought in Nick Nurse … and failed to get out of the first round. Rivers has taken a lot of criticism for Philadelphia’s shortcomings, and regardless of whether he’ll ever admit it or not, he’d love to go to Philadelphia and beat the Sixers on opening night.

October 25: Obi Toppin returns to MSG

Toppin has played for the Knicks several times since he was traded to Indiana, including last year’s New York-Indiana Conference semifinal where Toppin, who recently received a $60M deal, played well. Still, I don’t think a player like Toppin, who was the No. 8 overall pick and was never given a full chance to show what he can do under Tom Thibodeau, would ever not want to come to New York and make the Knicks a little nervous.

October 28: Alex Sarr will face the Hawks

For a long time, Sarr was seen as the guy who would go No. 1 on the Hawks. But as the draft got closer and Atlanta selected Zachary Risachar, that changed. These guys have egos. Sarr will want to show the Hawks that they made a mistake. To do that, he will have to look a lot better than he did in Summer League, where he frankly looked like a mess on the offensive end.

November 6: Paul George returns to LA

The Clippers are opening their new arena this season without George, who they let go in Philly for nothing rather than pay max money. The threat of a second apron and George’s advancing age were understandable concerns for the Clippers, but George certainly doesn’t see it that way. He might not be able to make them pay for the court, but he’d certainly look to make them pay for it.

12 November: Returned to Clay Bay

This is going to be the most emotional Homecoming game of the season. There’s no need to rehash what Thompson did in his 13 years with the Warriors. He’s a legend. But there’s no doubt it ended on a pretty bad note, with Thompson watching the Warriors sign Jordan Poole and Draymond Green for a combined $240 million while they weren’t willing to offer him more than the reported $48 million he turned down.

Who knows what the actual numbers or official offers were, if there even was one by the end, but you can bet Thompson feels like the Warriors screwed him out. He’s nowhere near the player he used to be. The Warriors justified taking a hard stance on his contract. But Thompson is as competitive as any player in the league and he’ll try to tear the Chase Center to the ground.

November 22: Ben Simmons returns to Philly

No matter how irrelevant Simmons becomes, as long as he’s in the NBA, it will become a story every time he goes back to Philadelphia.

Nov. 24: Harden returns to Philly

Harden made a very poor attempt to get out of Philly. He has been back with the Clippers since the trade, putting up 16 points and 14 assists in the Clippers’ one-digit wins last season, but this is a recent situation that fans will still take to harass Harden because they want to show him how much better they are without him.

December 2: Murray returns to Atlanta

There shouldn’t be too much animosity here. Things didn’t go well with Murray in Atlanta, but that had nothing to do with him. Yes, his defense faltered in that environment, but he tried to keep the ball away so Trae Young could control the offense, and he did a pretty good job of that. He did most of what he could; in fact, it’s fair to wonder if the Hawks would have preferred to keep him over Young, but it was Murray who had more trade value.

Everyone loves playing in their old building anyway (New Orleans hosted Atlanta earlier in the season). Murray would be up for it.

December 23: Barrett, Quickley face Knicks

This isn’t the first trip to Madison Square Garden for Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, who were traded to Toronto in the OG Anunoby deal last December, but there will still be something to prove for the two guys who were victims of New York’s lofty aspirations (with the team the Knicks have put together, fans probably won’t care about Barrett and Quickley).

Barrett performed well in Game 1 at the Garden, scoring 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists while Quickley added 12. They will look to do more damage this time around.

Jan 10: i-Heart feels the love of MSG

There are no bad guys here. The Knicks couldn’t afford Isaiah Hartenstein, who got an $87M deal from the Thunder. But he’ll get a lot of praise from Knicks fans. He was great for them.

Jan. 12: DeRozan at Chicago

Chicago fans should have nothing but love for DeMar DeRozan returning to the Kings. He was fantastic in his time with the Bulls. Fans should just be upset that the Bulls didn’t trade DeRozan first. Instead, they somehow sent away DeRozan, Alex Caruso, and Andre Drummond without bringing back a first-round draft pick. DeRozan will receive a well-deserved accolade.

January 21: Bridges at Barclays

The biggest trade of the summer was Mikal Bridges going to the Knicks, who sent five first-round picks, four of which are unprotected, plus another pick swap and Bojan Bogdanovic to the Nets. With a deal like that, Brooklyn, which also got back its own pick from Houston sent in the James Harden trade, has no hard feelings over Bridges’ desire to play across town. It was a big win-win deal, but it would still be fun to see Bridges back at Barclays Center, which will always be the place where he developed into an All-Star level player.

Jan. 28: Dames visit Portland

Damian Lillard has already been back to Portland as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks. It didn’t go all that well as he made just 3 of 13 shots from 3 and the Bucks lost to the Blazers, but given his impact on that franchise and city, it’s going to be a story every time he goes back there for the rest of his career. He’ll get his next chance to showcase himself to his old fans as he heads toward the All-Star break of the 2024-25 season.

6 February: KCP in Denver

The Nuggets letting Kentavious Caldwell-Pope go to Orlando for nothing was purely a move to save money/avoid the second apron. Whether a team like the Nuggets — who had their own impressive starting lineup and could have perhaps compromised future flexibility to maximize this window with Nikola Jokic — should have bitten the bullet and kept KCP is debatable, but there’s no doubt Caldwell-Pope is eager to show his former team they chose wrong.

March 19: Westbrook vs. Lakers

The Lakers aren’t the team Russell Westbrook has played for lately, but his stay with the Clippers was a pretty positive one. He played well and the fans didn’t stop groaning when he touched the ball. Westbrook was like an outcast for most of his time with the Lakers. He was blamed for everything. His family was being harassed in their seats. Westbrook plays full throttle every time he steps on a court, and this won’t be the first time he’s played for the Lakers since being traded. But my guess is that he’ll always have a little extra vinegar in his tank whenever he plays in front of Lakers fans.

March 24: Kyrie returns to Brooklyn

Again, the story of Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn is old news. But it was so toxic that the emotions still linger. Like Ben Simmons going back to Philly, Kyrie going back to Brooklyn will be a topic of discussion for a long time.

March 31: Gidey attacks the O.K.C.

The Thunder took Josh Giday with the No. 6 overall pick in 2021. This summer, they traded him for Alex Caruso. It makes sense. Giday needs the ball to perform at his best and he was never going to get that opportunity with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in Oklahoma City. Giday reportedly wanted a trade, and he should get a chance to control the offense in Chicago like he did at the Olympics, where he was stellar for Australia. I’m sure he would like nothing more than to have a triple-double in Oklahoma City.