It occurred to me that much like the National Basketball Association forgot to start their season on time, I forgot to write up a preview/prediction post in time. But, as you may note, I’m not two months late, just a few meaningless days.
I’ve also changed it up a bit, not just previewing what I think of each team. You might say that it’s a bit more condensed, you know, like this freaking ridiculous NBA schedule. I could also make the joke that I’ve changed my system, unlike the NBA did after sitting on their asses stubbornly for months at time.
Also let’s face it; I’m not going to call it the 2011-12 season because only a week’s worth of games – as condensed as they may be – isn’t enough to waste those extra characters.
So, without further ado, here’s what will happen during this NBA season.
-We’re going to see a lot of injuries. Players haven’t had training time to ease into the season and will face a barrage of games. This will lead to…
-We will see a ton of NBDL callups. Hey, somebody has to play the third game in those back-to-back-to-backs, right? And don’t expect older teams like the Celtics, Lakers or Spurs to be trotting out their stars for a second longer than they think they have to.
-The Miami Heat will win it all. They’re better than everyone and don’t have a clear rival to oppose them. We will make fun of LeBron’s fourth-quarter failures, but he might not even be needed to come through this year.
-Speaking of LeBron, he’ll win the MVP. If only because I expect Dwyane Wade to miss a week or two. Carmelo Anthony should win the scoring title and finish second in MVP voting.
-Derrick Williams will win rookie of the year. Kyrie Irving has too much of an uphill battle playing for the Cavs.
-The Thunder will collapse under the weight of enormous expectations. This Durant-Westbrook dynamic is just not healthy. Can they really win it all?
-The Lakers and Mavericks aren’t in trouble. Both are older, both lost their first two games, but both will make the playoffs. They just won’t be very high seeds.
-Derrick Rose won’t repeat as MVP. Why not? Because now we know what to expect of him and will be disappointed if the Bulls don’t finish atop or near the top of the East.
-The Clippers won’t be as good as people think. Two reasons: Their coach is Vinny Del Negro and their starting shooting guard is an over-the-hill Chauncey Billups, who normally plays the point.
-We’re going to see some good movement at the trade deadline. Teams are going to be looking to shake things up as the new pieces of the CBA puzzle fall into place. Plus, players coming back from China will be looking to sign with contenders that might need to shuffle things around.
-Dwight Howard will finish the season in Orlando. There’s no way they can deal him before hosting the all-star game, then it may be too late. Plus, there’s not a lot of trade suitors out there right now. The Nets are most likely, but Brook Lopez – their key trade chip – is injured.
-More stars than usual will miss or skip the all-star game. Who wouldn’t want some extra days off this year? It’s a joke that all-star weekend wasn’t scrapped entirely.
-There will be more tanking than ever. The reasons: This draft is going to be super loaded, teams are going to be legitimately bad, it’s justifiable to sit banged up players, the condensed schedule means that players will be playing poorly anyway.
-Don’t expect any back-to-back-to-back posts about the NBA on this blog. After nearly blowing up their season to get a new system, it was a slap in the fans’ faces to come back with only a few minor changes. I’m outraged at how piss-poorly David Stern is running this league, from the lack of urgency in negotiations, to the prolonging of the lockout, to the condensed schedule money-grab, to the vetoing of CP3-Lakers deal. It’s all a huge f***ing joke.
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