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Reasons We're Hyped About The Return of The NBA

You will only pretend to hate the Warriors.

Long before they won 73 games, blew a 3-1 lead, the Warriors were the darlings of the basketball world. Golden State was appointment viewing not because we had to watch but because we wanted to. With the addition of Kevin Durant, the Warriors haven't just demolished the league's competitive balance and made themselves the obvious focal point of the upcoming season. If the preseason is any indication, the Warriors will be relentlessly inventive, a dizzying, unpredictable variation on last year's theme. You'll say you're watching because you have to. But anyone who doesn't up enjoying this team is lying to themselves. We may want the Warriors to be the team we love to hate; instead, they'll end up being the squad we hate to love.

Russell Westbrook is going to burn down the league.
Russell Westbrook has long been the NBA's glowering anti-hero, a disruptive force whose own team often didn't seem to know what to do with him. When the Thunder were calm and focused, they fed off of KD. Westbrook's style of play was the unseemly, ecstatic alternative—it could ignite the Thunder but also frequently left them feeling strung-out and jarred. Even his 2014-15's (KD-less) triple-double spree felt oddly profane, as if Westbrook were at once fighting like crazy to keep the Thunder from unraveling while simultaneously pushing them to the brink of catastrophe. Now truly flying solo, Westbrook doesn't merely get to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants—the Thunder are now officially his team, molded in his image and designed to showcase his game. OKC won't just live and die by Westbrook, they'll be lost without him.

 

James Harden will swipe the MVP and the scoring title from Russ.
Heading into the final day of the 1977-78 season, George Gervin and David Thompson were in a dead heat for the scoring title. Thompson put up 73, Gervin dropped 63, and the Iceman finished a scant .07 points ahead of Skywalker on the season. Imagine that for an entire year and you get a sense of what we're in store for. Look for Russ's face-melting numbers and apocalyptic intensity to make him the popular favorite. But Durant, now playing in what might be his own private basketball utopia, has a good shot at thriving like never before. And under Mike D'Antoni, James Harden will find weird and wonderful ways to expand his game, doubling down on his scoring prowess while facilitating a high-test offense—the dark horse who, even if he can't play a lick of defense, simply refuses to be counted out of the conversation. Russ, KD, Harden—now all on different teams, vying for the league's top honors. This is bound to get personal.

James Harden will also swipe the "best point guard in the West" title from Steph.
D'Antoni back. The Rockets hired Mike D for the mad scientist he was in Phoenix, not the beleaguered pragmatist we saw in Los Angeles and New York. Harden already dominates the ball and his playmaking abilities are beyond reproach. Why not see if the league's premier off-guard … belongs in the same breath as Westbrook, Curry, and Chris Paul?

 

LeBron James race against the clock—and MJ—gets real.
I don't even believe in destiny but it's safe to say that LeBron has fulfilled his. If—for argument's sake—LeBron had walked away from the game this summer, it would've been an mic drop light years beyond MJ's Byron Russell jumper. But James, who has spoken cryptically of chasing Jordan, isn't anywhere near done. In fact, he's made it his express purpose to always stay one step ahead of Father Time, adjusting his game every offseason to determine exactly what he's capable of and how to best exploit it. And let's remember, it's LeBron James we're talking about, a player so formidably gifted that even an optimized (rather than idealized) version of LBJ routinely does things that border on implausible—see, for instance, The Block. And while LeBron's game is changing, so is the perception him. No longer the game's resident Goliath, he's now the Man Who Saved Cleveland; when James is humanized and relatable, it allows us to really connect with his play, rather than taking it for granted as an otherworldly given.

 

Melo will finally matter! 

Used to be, Carmelo Anthony was the miscreant of the Banana Boat crew. While his buddies chased rings and sweated their legacies, he was a ball-stopping, score-first gunner whose contract—by design—ate up the Knicks cap space and kept them in a holding pattern. Over the summer, though, the perception of Melo shifted dramatically. He went further than any of his NBA peers in speaking out against police violence, and held a town-hall-style event that the league itself put forth as a template for athlete activism. By leading Team USA to a gold medal in Rio for the third time—and collapsing in tears after it was over—he got people thinking about him as a winner. And with the Knicks now at least reasonably well-equipped to make the playoffs in the East, Melo has the chance to make a whole new case for himself as one of the best players of his generation.

But Derrick Rose probably won't / shouldn't.
The Knicks' new point guard is arguing in court that he doesn't understand the concept of consent, which seems downright evil of him until you realize he's not making it up. If Rose really doesn't know better, there's a much larger conversation to be had about sports and rape culture. What remains to be seen is if Adam Silver—who has not been shy about pushing the league in a progressive direction—wants any part of it.

 

Dwyane Wade coming home to Chicago will not be a feel-good story.
The Heat did Wade dirty and he'll be playing with a massive chip on his shoulder this season. But he'll be sharing a no-shoot backcourt with Rajon Rondo, a player whose basketball psyche is so bizarrely disfigured that it's now more chip than shoulder.

Dwight Howard coming home to Atlanta? Also not a feel-good story.
The eight-time All-Star and three-time Defensive Player of the Year is out to prove that the whole world has mistakenly dismissed him as washed-up, banged-up, and too ingratiating to bear. He's not, but he's close enough on each count for this to go as well as it needs to.

The Clippers will try (and fail) to be the good guys.

For years, they were the dark foils to OKC and GSW. This season, they'll be the anti-Warriors—the team we'd really like to pull for… but just can't at the end of the day. Off the court, they're the funniest, most endearing team in the NBA—big personalities at every turn: Blake, CP3, goofball DeAndre, Paul Pierce wrecking psyches with a smile. They laugh, joke, prank, act and sparkle in the media. But no matter how strong Blake Griffin's deadpan timing has become, or how warmly their key guys goof around on social media, or how much good Chris Paul does in the world, they remain frankly disagreeable on the court. They often seem like they actively dislike each other. For our sake, please let this team go deep into the playoffs, so can focus on their latest Instagram war instead of entertaining silly questions about CP3's legacy.

 

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EASTERN CONFERENCE 

 

1. Cleveland Cavaliers (60-22)

The Cavaliers will return their entire starting five and were able to add Mike Dunleavy, Jr. from the Chicago Bulls. Dunleavy will add some more perimeter shooting to the Cavaliers’ offense while also providing some much-needed length on the wing. The only real notable loss for Cleveland was Timofey Mozgov leaving to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.


2. Chicago Bulls (50-32)

Honestly, this team isn’t really constructed all that well as there are zero outside shooters that are expected to play major minutes. Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott will see time as role players, but the starting lineup will be devoid of any shooting threats. That being said, Rondo, Wade, and Jimmy Butler should do a great job of working open mid-range shots for the offense.


3. Toronto Raptors (49-33)

The Raptors lost Bismack Biyombo, who was their best interior defender and rebounder which could cause some problems, but Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan form the best backcourt in the Eastern Conference, and a full year of DeMarre Carroll and Jonas Valanciunas, should be enough for the Raptors to finish in the top-three.

4. Boston Celtics (47-35)

The Celtics went into the offseason with the hopes of making some serious upgrades with the cap room and the numerous draft picks they possessed. Things didn’t happen exactly as general manager Danny Ainge had hoped, as the Celtics only ended up adding Al Horford through free agency and Jaylen Brown with the No. 3 overall pick. This team is still good enough to compete in the upper-echelon of the conference.


5. Indiana Pacers (45-37)

The Pacers added Jeff Teague and Thaddeus Young through trades and then signed Al Jefferson off the free agent market. The projected starting five of Teague, Monta Ellis, Paul George, Young, and Jefferson is as good as any team in the Eastern Conference not named the Cleveland Cavaliers. If the Pacers can gel early under new head coach Nate McMillan, they could be the biggest threats to the Cavaliers.

6. New York Knicks (43-39)

Phil Jackson finally got tired of watching the Knicks be one of the worst teams in the NBA and did something about it. He hired Jeff Hornacek to take over the reins and then traded for Derrick Rose and added Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee, and Brandon Jennings through free agency. If Rose and Noah can stay healthy, the Knicks could return to the playoffs.

 

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Western Conference 


offe3b-b88822485z.120161021184050000g1ojklop.10.jpgThe addition of All-NBA talent Kevin Durant makes the Golden State Warriors among the most formidable starting lineups in league history. (AP Photo/John Locher)

1. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (73-9)

 

The Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals and responded with one of the biggest offseason wins in NBA history, adding Durant to the best regular-season team of all time. They took some minor lumps to do it, losing some key bench pieces, but it’s hard to see anything or anyone stopping them out West. There’s an obscene amount of offensive skill on this team, one that also happens to be one of the best defensive squads in the league.

The Warriors attempted and made more 3-pointers than any team in the NBA last season, shooting 41.6 percent from the arc. The second-best shooting team, San Antonio, hit 37.5 percent.

2. CLIPPERS (53-29)

 

Cap-strapped (again), the Clippers re-signed rotation pieces and tried to fill out the roster with veterans on minimum deals. The rotation looks full of capable players, and the core looks healthy. But can this team avoid the catastrophic injury/self-inflicted wounds that have cost it the past two seasons?

In the three seasons Doc Rivers and Chris Paul have been together, the Clippers have finished in the top five in turnover rate – a stat that measures how frequently possessions end with a turnover.

3. SAN ANTONIO SPURS (67-15)

 

With Duncan retiring, the Spurs are entering the next stage in their transition. While Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker remain, it’s really on Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge to keep the Spurs among the top three in the West. Speculation about Aldridge’s discontentment have surfaced, making things slightly more complicated. Adding Gasol helps, but the Spurs will miss Duncan’s defense.

 A big reason the Spurs held teams to a league-worst 92.9 points per game? No team fouled less.

4. HOUSTON ROCKETS (41-41)

James Harden takes over at point guard in Mike D’Antoni’s up-tempo system, a dangerously exciting fit. With the addition of shooters like Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon, the Rockets should be one of the top offenses in the NBA, and when you score a lot, you can win a lot in the regular season.

James Harden attempted 174 more free throws than anyone else in the league, which, with him shooting 86 percent, resulted in nearly 150 points.

5. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (55-27)

The Thunder took the biggest hit of the summer, losing one of the league’s top three players. They responded as well as possible under the circumstances – acquiring Victor Oladipo and signing Russell Westbrook to an extension. Without Durant, Steven Adams and Enes Kanter will need to take on bigger roles.

 Durant accounted for 22.4 percent of the Thunder’s points, 14.7 percent of their rebounds, 19.1 percent of their assists and 27.4 percent of their 3-point baskets last season.

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Prince Malachi is the founder of The Oracle Network and the Streetwear brand Y.A.H. Apparel

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