10 BURNING QUESTIONS
Can anybody stop the Cavaliers? Will the Raptors take a step forward or back? 10 questions for the NBA season
The Panel | Ryan Wolstat and Mike Ganter cover the Toronto Raptors and the NBA for the Toronto Sun and Postmedia News. Scott Stinson is a national sports columnist for Postmedia and the National Post
1 Will the Toronto Raptors take a step forward this year, or a step back?
Ryan Wolstat: Back, with fewer regular season wins, even though this is a better overall team (assuming early injury woes go away). That said, they should win the division again, win a round and be the favourite in Round 2.
Mike Ganter: Highly likely a step back in terms of regular season wins. The combination of a better conference and the likelihood that the injury situation can’t possibly be as good as it was a year ago will contribute. I do believe, though, that they will get back to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Scott Stinson: Both. That is, a regular-season record of somewhat less than the record 56 wins of last year, but a better playoff run. They don’t go beyond the conference finals, but they look better doing it.
2 Who are your conference finalists?
SS: Cleveland and Toronto again in the East, with playoff experience giving the Raptors the edge over the Boston Celtics, who should be very good this season. And Golden State-San Antonio in the West, which is boring but still a very safe bet. And I’ll take the Spurs, since they’re due.
RW: I would love to be a contrarian, but unless LeBron is hurt, the Cavs will have an easy time with any opponent from the East. Golden State is a juggernaut, so we’re going to see a Finals rubber match. Cleveland-Toronto, Golden StateSan Antonio.
MG: It will be a repeat of Golden State and Cleveland in the finals barring an injury to LeBron James. Golden State can likely sustain an injury to its big three and still get there.
3 Can anyone threaten the Cavs in the East?
MG: Only the Cavs can threaten the Cavs. The aforementioned injury to LeBron would accomplish this, as would a fracturing of the chemistry within that locker room although that seems unlikely as long as James is ruling the roost.
RW: The Cavs might get a bit complacent and go a bit half-hearted through the regular season, but if healthy, nobody can win more than two games against them in that conference. Look out for Atlanta (a well-coached team that should excel defensively), providing the creaky legs there hold up, as well as the Raptors and maybe Boston.
SS: No. Toronto and Boston will be frisky, but with the weight of the title drought lifted, a confident Cavs team should cruise through the regular season, and be ready to be a terror in the playoffs again.
4 Who is your pick for league MVP?
RW: Golden State’s stars will split the vote, LeBron likely coasts a bit and sits a lot, so, it will be one-man wrecking crew on a mission. Russell Westbrook, or his former teammate James Harden. I lean towards Westbrook.
MG: I’m going with the insanely-driven Russell Westbrook for MVP. If there is a guy left in the league who plays better with a chip on his shoulder than Westbrook, I would be shocked. It doesn’t hurt that all of OKC’s offence will go through him, either.
SS: James Harden. The big stars on Cleveland and Golden State will take points away from each other, which leaves Harden to shoot approximately one zillion times per game and rack up gaudy numbers.
5 Who will be the most important Raptor not named Kyle or DeMar?
RW: Jonas Valanciunas. He looked awful for Lithuania at the Olympics and brutal in the pre-season. He’ll never get enough touches in this offence, but he needs to take advantage when he does and find a way to react far more quickly at the other end.
SS: Terrence Ross. He probably shouldn’t be the third option on the Raptors, but I’m not convinced that the offence will ever run through Jonas Valanciunas for long stretches. If it doesn’t, Ross has the scoring ability that could spell Lowry and DeRozan every now and then.
MG: I’ll go with DeMarre Carroll. Injured almost his entire first season with the club, we still don’t know what impact he can have on the team. What we do know is he was a huge difference maker in Atlanta.
6 What team will be surprisingly good this season?
MG: The Utah Jazz, assuming Gordon Hayward isn’t out long, will shock the NBA. A very good team a year ago that was just growing now adds Dante Exum from injury and a bigger dose of Trey Lyles, who will stretch the floor for them. They could be in that second tier in the west.
RW: The Minnesota Timberpups. Tom Thibodeau is a maestro, KarlAnthony Towns is a future MVP, and Andrew Wiggins is one heck of a sidekick. The other pieces are nice and will continue to develop.
SS: Milwaukee. The Bucks seemed like a team that would be decent last season, and they went in the tank. But they still have the pieces to be good, and to get on a roll much like the Raptors did last year.
7 What team will be a disappointment?
SS: The New York Knicks. There are a lot of good pieces on the Knicks, but it feels like too many random parts and too many guys on the downside of their careers. Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose and Carmelo Anthony would be a terrifying combo in 2012, less so in 2017.
RW: The New York Knicks, because the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NBA always are, no matter what. The talent looks sexy on paper, but Derrick Rose is a shell of his old self, old pal Joakim Noah, too. And how long until Carmelo Anthony gets jealous of all of the attention rightly directed at Kristaps Porzingis?
MG: It’s a disappointment just based on yet more over reaction to all things Knicks. Yes Melo can score and yes Porzingis is going to be crazy good, but the surrounding cast, what there is of it, is old and rickety, not to mention very, very thin.
8 Which Canadian player will have the biggest impact on his team?
MG: I was going to say Tristan Thompson here until all that Kardashian silliness started. So I will stay away from Brampton’s favourite son and go with the obvious choice in Andrew Wiggins. Minny is getting better in leaps and bounds and Wiggins is a huge part of that. OK, Towns too, but Wiggins was there first.
RW: It was probably Tristan Thompson last year. The Raptors expect a breakout from sixth man Cory Joseph, but it has to be Wiggins, one of the five best athletes in the entire NBA. Coach Tom Thibodeau must unlock more. The potential and natural gifts are there.
SS: With Andrew Wiggins the definite second option in Minnesota after Karl-Anthony Towns, Jamal Murray could assert himself as the big scorer in Denver’s offence. The sleeper pick is Cory Joseph, who just might bust out in Toronto if Lowry misses any significant time.
9 Will the Golden State Warriors manage to play with only the one ball?
RW: Yes! Many other super-teams failed (remember Kobe, Shaq, Karl Malone and Gary Payton?) but these guys are so unselfish and really love whipping the ball around. Plus, Durant shared almost to a fault with Westbrook in Oklahoma City and is a willing passer. This is going to be a spectacular show.
MG: Steve Kerr is the underrated fourth piece in the newly formed Big Three in Oakland. Durant’s arrival means fewer touches for somebody and I’m guessing that will be Draymond Green, who will defer because he knows it’s the right thing to do and because Kerr says so.
SS: Golden State’s absurd depth will allow them to win another huge number of games in the regular season, but I’m not convinced that they will be able to sort out who does what in the playoffs. Past experience suggests the super teams need a full season to get everyone moving in the same direction.
10 Other than Drake, who are you most excited to see at the ACC this season?
MG: Celebrities do nothing for me. I’ll go with Kevin Durant because he always seems to have something special when he comes to Toronto. Sadly, his only stop is on the back end of a back-to-back with the Raptors in Cleveland the night before so it might not be as special as hoped.
SS: Connor McDavid. No, wait, the Celtics: With Al Horford’s arrival in Boston, it would be something if Toronto could develop an actual division rivalry for the first time.
RW: Joel Hans “The Process” Embiid. This kid is scary good and likely would have been the No. 1 pick over Kansas teammate Wiggins had he stayed healthy. After so much time off, the Sixers will limit his minutes, but they will all be must see. He averaged 32.3 points, 16.9 rebounds per 40 minutes (including 18 and 9 in 18 minutes in his final outing) in the pre-season.