2015 NBA season: Top five storylines

With the NBA regular season starting on Tuesday night, here are five storylines to pay attention to as the 82-game marathon unfolds:

KOBE BRYANT

Is this the last go-round for the 36year-old future Hall of Famer, entering his 20th season with the only franchise he’s ever played for? And if it is, how will he handle it? By gently ceding some control of the team to the younger set, or will he try to go out guns blazing to make up for two injury-riddled seasons?

KEVIN DURANT

Oklahoma City was supposed to be a perennial championship contender with a group of budding young allstars who got a taste of a title chase in 2012.

Now, Durant will face an entire season of free agency speculation, Scott Brooks is out as the coach and the wonder is if the proverbial window is closing.

DIVISONS? WHAT DIVISIONS?

The three Atlantic Division championship banners that hang in the Air Canada Centre now signify an accomplishment that is obsolete. Winning a division now gets teams nothing, because playoff seeding will be determined by overall record, making things more fair.

GO SMALL OR GO HOME

The move in the NBA these days is towards so-called “small ball.” But having a multi-faceted group on the court seems to be the way everyone’s going, and developing a lineup of basically interchangeable parts is the goal.

A fad or a strategy?

ROTTEN BIG APPLE?

Compared to the lack of success they’ve had — 17 wins last season — the New York Knicks get a disproportionate amount of publicity and chatter.

But it’s worth it for Raptors fans to pay a bit of attention to them this year and to hope for losses since New York owes Toronto a first-round draft pick in June. Doug Smith