The NBA season tips off on Tuesday and you’re probably really excited because basketball has been gone for four months and you miss the highest scoring major sport in America. In two months, you’ll realize that there are still 50 games remaining in the season and you’ll become bored with the games. Around the All-Star break you’ll get pumped for the Slam Dunk Contest, only to be disappointed again, but your spirits will pick up at the trade deadline because every sports fan loves trade. And then it’ll be playoff time and you’ll rejoice at competitive basketball and its finest before cursing the fact that everyone will get hurt.
Until then, here are the top storylines to keep an eye on heading into the new season.
The East has been Decided
The Cleveland Cavaliers are winning the East. It’s already been decided. They may finish second or third in the standings during the regular season because Kyrie Irving is hurt and LeBron James will take a month off, but no one is beating them in a seven game series.
Anyone picking against the Cavs is just being a contrarian. There’s support for the Miami Heat even though they didn’t make the playoffs last year. And yes, I realize Chris Bosh had a blood clot scare and if that doesn’t happen, they’re in the playoffs, but they still missed the playoffs IN THE EAST with Dwyane Wade, Hassan Whiteside, and Goran Dragic. I’m just not understanding the Heat love. The Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards, and Toronto Raptors will probably turn in strong regular seasons, but they don’t have the fire power to knock off the Cavs. And everyone will jump on the Bulls bandwagon after Derrick Rose has a couple of good games, only to be disappointed once again.
Don’t pay attention to the East until the conference finals. And then pay attention for two games.
Eight Seed Up for Grabs in West
The top six seeds, baring injury, will be Golden State, Oklahoma City, Houston, Los Angeles, San Antonio, New Orleans and Memphis. That leaves one spot available for the rest of the West.
The favorite is Dallas because they have a great coach and everyone loves Dirk, but they lost Monta Ellis in the offseason and tried to replace him to Deron Williams. Phoenix made a run last year before trading their entire team at the deadline. They improved in the offseason, adding Tyson Chandler, but they don’t have much depth and Markieff Morris is unhappy. The Kings are a sleeper pick because they have the best center in the league and people still hold out hope that Rajon Rondo isn’t washed up. People love the Jazz although I’m not sold. The rest of the West isn’t worth discussing.
I’m going with the Kings to take the eight seed. I love me some DeMarcus Cousins. He and Willie Cauley-Stein are going to be tough in the paint, Rondo has a little left in the tank, and they’ve got solid shooters. As long as Cousins doesn’t kill George Karl, I have confidence in the Kings.
Carmelo Anthony Rumors might trump Kevin Durant Rumors
All season you’re going to hear about Kevin Durant’s impending free agency. The only thing that might get more attention than where Durant goes in July 2016 is where Carmelo Anthony goes during the season. The Knicks are going to suck this year and Carmelo is 31-years-old. He doesn’t want to be part of a rebuilding project. He’d probably be traded tomorrow if his contract didn’t owe him $24 million over the next four years, but some team will be desperate enough to trade for Melo.
My guess?
The Dallas Mavericks.
I don’t know if Mark Cuban pulls the trigger on the deal during the season, but he’s going to do something major between now and next season to help salvage the last years of Dirk’s career. If the Mavericks do acquire Melo during the season, they replace the Kings as my eighth seed in the west.
The Emergence of Anthony Davis
We’re all in on Anthony Davis this year. And by “we” I mean every NBA fan. If you’re a NBA fan, you should be rooting for Davis to stay healthy and be excited for him to be unleashed under Alvin Gentry.
My only concern about Davis is that he’s developed a three point shot. Sometimes big men fall in love with the three too much (right, Serge Ibaka?) and forget that they’re really tall and strong athletes who can dominate in the post for much easier points. Even if he takes one too many threes per game, he’s still going to average a double-double plus three to four blocks and a couple of assists.
Davis is going to make a strong case for MVP this year and the Pelicans should be in the playoffs.
The Possibly Dysfunctional Clippers
The Clippers have a lot of guys that you’ve probably heard of and a lot of guys who have been good at some point or another. Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, J.J. Redick, Lance Stephenson, Jamal Crawford, Josh Smith, Paul Pierce, and DeAndre Jordan are all good to great players. And Doc Rivers is a good to great coach.
But how will it all work?
CP3 and PP3(4) will fake an injury any chance they get and argue over who gets the last shot, Griffin will complain about a non-call and then feign ignorance after kicking someone in the nuts, Jordan stands around looking dumbfounded a lot of times, Redick is from Duke, Stephenson, Smith, and Crawford want to take all the shots, and Doc has already lost his voice.
They have too much talent not to be good in the regular season, but I suspect that we’ll see a number of games where guys are unhappy with the amount of touches and shots they’re getting. Plus, this team will be judged by what they do in the playoffs. After last season’s epic collapse, they had to change up their team a bit. But they dramatically changed their team and brought in guys who need to have the ball in their hands in order to be effective.
Players to Watch Rankings
Here are the top five players that you should be excited to watch this season.
1. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook: You’re already watching one, the other is just a bonus.
2. Steph Curry: Because you never know when he’s going to dribble for 20 seconds, break all the ankles, and then make a 30-foot shot like it’s nothing.
3. Anthony Davis: Chances are he’ll record a monster block on one end and then throw down a dunk on the other end at least once per game.
4. DeMarcus Cousins: There’s a 50% chance that he nearly kills someone, most likely his own teammate, every time he steps on the court.
5. Kobe Bryant: At least for the ten games he plays before getting hurt and retiring.
Storylines that only I care about.
*Jeremy Lamb, no longer hindered by Scott Brooks, is going to set the league on fire.
*The Kendrick Perkins/Omar Asik duo better get playing time. Offenses will get nothing in the paint.
*Not sure if James Harden will be able to recover from Khloe Kardashian leaving him.
PREDICTIONS!
*The Oklahoma City Thunder will win the NBA title. I’m all in with the team this year. If they stay healthy, they’re going to be extremely tough to beat in the playoffs.
*James Harden will win MVP. Harden simply cares too much not to win the award. He was so bitter about not winning last year that he’s going to kill himself to win it this year. It might hurt his team, but that doesn’t matter to him.
*Randy Wittman will be the first coach fired.
*The Lakers will win more games than the Knicks. Neither team will win 25.
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