BIG YEAR IN STORE FOR AUSSIES
ANDREW Bogut is expecting one of the closest and most unpredictable regular seasons in NBA history.
From whether LeBron James can bring Showtime back to the LA Lakers to how the cast of Aussies stars headlined by Ben Simmons will fare, there is no shortage of intriguing storylines going into the 2018-19 NBA season.
Bogut will be following the NBA as a fan this year after deciding to call time on his 13- season career in “The Show” and join the Sydney Kings.
While King James’ move from Cleveland to Tinsletown has significantly raised the expectations of a Lakers title, Bogut he says there is a clear favourite.
“Golden State and then everyone else,” Bogut said of his former franchise, where he won a title in 2015.
“Maybe Houston finish second in the West and I don’t think the Lakers will win a championship with LeBron this year.” Over in the Eastern Conference, Bogut believes it is a two-horse race between the Celtics and Sixers, with the boys from Boston the favourites to progress through to the NBA Finals. “I think Philly will be up there, but the Celtics are ahead of the field at the moment,” he said.
Bogut can’t wait to watch the Aussies excel in the NBA again this season.
There will be 11 Australians in the world’s best league in 2018-19, including former Adelaide 36ers star Mitch Creek at Brooklyn. Bogut has high hopes for his fellow Boomers. “I think Baynes will continue to do what he has done at Boston,” he said.
“Patty [Mills] has a lot more pressure now with Tony Parker gone and a few more tweaks to their roster, but he’ll be OK.
“I’m interested to see how Dante [Exum] goes at Utah.
“Because he was hurt so much last season, you could see he was thinking about his deal a little bit.
“But now he has got that, I think it settles him down and that is when he plays his best basketball. And Joe [Ingles] will be Joe.”
Then there is Ben Simmons — the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year coming off a recordbreaking season with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Simmons has worked tirelessly over the off-season to hone his skills and Bogut is expecting the Melbourne-born point guard to star again this year. “Ben took the league by surprise, so he is going to have a lot more eyes and focus on him in scouting reports, but I think he’ll be fine,” he said.