Top 5 Story lines For The NBA Season
29 Oct, 2013
The NBA regular season is tipping off tonight and for basketball fans it couldn’t come soon enough. With the league seemingly getting stronger and stronger, it figures to be another season full of intrigue and drama. So just to add to the hype, here are our top 5 story lines heading into the 2013-14 season!
5. Tanking
This might be the most interesting year to watch bad teams in a decade. There’s been a ton of talk about the loaded 2014 draft class, and in particular Andrew Wiggins, who’s been called the best prospect since LeBron James. Really, this is a reckless label, and there’s no telling how well the 2014 prospects pan out. Maybe a few enjoy a bit too much McDonald’s in college and lose their edge; maybe someone gets hurt; maybe they’re just not as good at a higher level. But in the meantime, we’ll see a frantic tanking effort from the league’s worst teams, which should be interesting in an odd way.
4. Dwight’s Last Chance
This is perhaps a bit dramatic but let’s be honest: we’re all sick of Dwight Howard being dissatisfied with his playing situation. He’s a supremely talented player who just doesn’t seem to have the mental edge needed to become a champion. So in a sense, Houston is his last chance with fans. The Rockets’ roster is loaded with talent, and it should be a fun team to watch – but if it’s not, and if Dwight shows signs of discontent, his reputation will be irreversibly damaged.
3. Damaged Big Men
Greg Oden and Andrew Bynum don’t really seem destined for NBA success at this point, but both will get chances to stage comebacks this season. Bynum could put Cleveland in a position to compete with the best teams in the east, and Oden could solve Miami’s occasional issues with opposing big men by providing a big, sturdy presence in the paint.
2. Brooklyn All-In
After its monster deal with Boston, Brooklyn is all-in on this season, and absolutely has to perform. If a roster featuring Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in addition to Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez can’t win, then the Brooklyn Nets are, for now, a failed experiment.
1. The Return Of Derrick Rose
There’s a lot of skepticism about Rose’s return, but let’s get one thing clear: Derrick Rose is an incredibly hard worker and dedicated competitor. He wasn’t spending his injury time lounging around in sweatpants playing bingo at BetFair. Of course, sweatpants are great, and BetFair is an incredibly enjoyable online gaming experience where people can spend down time gambling real money on casino games from their own homes. It’s probably appealing for an athlete unable to play ball. But rest assured, Rose was working every minute of his return, and now some are saying he’s better than ever. If that’s true, the Heat might have a real challenger.
TR
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