NBA title up for grabs

Golden State has been a fixture in the NBA Finals over the last five campaigns but opening a new chapter in franchise history with the introduction of a fresh arena, it doesn’t look like the Warriors will make it back to the Last Dance for another run this season.

Kevin Durant has moved to Brooklyn although he’s not expected to resume playing until April 1 to recover from an Achilles injury. Klay Thompson is out until June 1 so Steph Curry will miss his Splash Brother distracting the defense. Shaun Livingston has retired while Andre Igoudala was traded to Memphis but may wind up moving to the Los Angeles Lakers or Clippers. DeMarcus Cousins has gone to the Lakers but isn’t able to play until May 15. Andrew Bogut, Jordan Bell, Jonas Jerebko and Damian Jones are others who won’t be back in a Warriors uniform this year.

So it’s a new-look Golden State squad that will start the NBA’s 74th season against the Clippers at the 18,064-seat Chase Center in San Francisco tonight (tomorrow morning, Manila time). Curry and Draymond Green remain coach Steve Kerr’s vital cogs plus the Warriors brought in guard D’Angelo Russell who averaged 21.1 points with Brooklyn last season. Russell, 23, is a four-year veteran who started his career with the Lakers. He’s not exactly a Splash Brother type but with Thompson languishing in sick bay, Kerr will try to make do.

Kerr’s ability to keep Golden State competitive despite the roster changes will be put to an acid test. He’s in the record books as the NBA coach with the highest winning percentage in the regular season (.785) and playoffs (.733) but whether he can sustain his lofty standards of performance is now a big question mark. The Warriors don’t look like a championship-caliber team with a hodge-podge lineup that will put a lot of pressure on Curry to lead the charge almost singlehandedly.

Unlike in previous seasons where the Warriors were easy favorites to crash the Finals, there is no clear consensus as to which will be the last two teams standing in the playoffs. That’s because the balance of power has dramatically shifted with the movement of key players. Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan are now with Brooklyn and when Durant returns to action, the Nets will become a more formidable force in the East. Kemba Walker left for Boston while Kawhi Leonard and Paul George made the Clippers an instant title contender. Anthony Davis joined LeBron James with the Lakers and Russell Westbrook reunited with James Harden at Houston. Chris Paul transferred to Oklahoma City and Jimmy Butler to Miami.

Injuries will also affect team standings. Indiana’s Victor Oladipo will be out until Nov. 15 with a shoulder issue. George will suit up by about Nov. 15 after recovering from surgeries to repair a partially torn tendon in his right shoulder and a small tear in his left labrium. Washington’s John Wall is out for the season to recover from surgery to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon. New Orleans rookie Zion Williamson is expected to make his pro debut on Dec. 9. He recently underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn right lateral meniscus.

Five head coaches will make their debut with new teams – John Beilein with Cleveland, Frank Vogel with the Lakers, Taylor Jenkins with Memphis, Monty Williams with Phoenix and Luke Walton with Sacramento. How quickly the coaches and players adjust to each other will determine their team’s level of performance. The only ex-PBA import to nearly make an NBA roster was Elijah Millsap who played for Petron in 2013 and San Miguel Beer in 2016. Millsap was a late cut by the Denver Nuggets.

Joining Livingston in the retired circle this season were Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Channing Frye, Darren Collison, Zaza Pachulia and Luol Deng. Still active is Vince Carter, 42. He’s playing in his 22nd season and if he plays through next year, the “HalfMan, Half-Amazing” 1999 Rookie of the Year will become the first NBA player to see action in four decades.

With the Warriors virtually ruled out as a prospective finalist, experts are split in their championship forecasts. Street and Smith’s NBA Preview made a bold prediction that the Milwaukee Bucks will beat the Clippers in the Finals while Lindy’s Sports Pro Basketball Magazine chose the Nuggets to go all the way.

The Bucks posted the NBA’s best regular season record of 60-22 last year and led eventual champion Toronto, 2-0, in the Eastern Conference Finals before folding up. MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, 24, is back to terrorize opponents and returning Coach of the Year Mike Budenholzer brought in Robin Lopez, Wes Matthews and Kyle Korver as veteran backups. Lopez and twin brother Brook will give defenders double-vision while Korver, a four-time three-point shooting leader, remains deadly from deep. Khris Middleton, who played for the US at the recent FIBA World Cup, is the glue guy in the squad. He averaged 18.3 points last season and writer Gerry Woeltel described him as “the perfect complement” to the Greek Freak.

To make things even more comfortable for Giannis, the Bucks signed up his older brother Thanasis who played two games for New York in 2015-16. Milwaukee could’ve made it to the Finals last year but blew an early edge and lost four in a row to the Raptors, marking only the sixth time that a team bowed out of a best-of-7 conference finals after taking a 2-0 advantage.

As for Denver, the Nuggets are a long-shot to claim the throne. Last season, they went 54-28 in the regular grind, second best in the West behind Golden State’s 57-25. In the playoffs, Denver ousted San Antonio, 4-3, then lost to Portland, 4-3. Coach Mike Malone’s hopes hinge on Serbian center Nikola Jokic who averaged 20.1 points, 10.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists last campaign. Malone’s lineup is almost intact with Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Will Barton and Paul Millsap surrounding Jokic. Jerami Grant and 7-2 Bol Bol are additions but they’re not expected to make serious waves. The danger of stagnancy is predictability and in the dynamic NBA, that’s a recipe for disaster.