WEST SIDE STORY
The stars may be in Hollywood, but don’t forget a certain Greek Freak in Milwaukee
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N THE past, as new sports seasons approached, smart money said to bet the champs. Never underestimate the heart of a champion and all that. Sometimes, it paid off. Sometimes, it blew up. You don’t always see it coming. But sometimes, you do. So while the defending champion Raptors again will be talented and formidable, few see them as 2019-20 NBA favorites. You lose your very best player, Kawhi Leonard, to free agency and your chances take a Richter scalelike hit. And that is one reason why teams across the NBA landscape are preparing a “Why Not Us?” mantra for the season, which officially starts Tuesday. “I can’t remember where you legitimately have nine teams in the league that are contenders,” Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations for the Clippers, said in a text. “I think teams will need 2½ to three months to really understand who they are and what needs they have to address.” Frank has built one of the strongest contenders with the free-agency acquisition of Leonard and the trade acquisition of Paul George. Those are two legit superstars for a team that won 48 games in blue-collar style last season. Leonard and George represent another theme for NBA 2019-20: massive relocation. Big names changed addresses like online addicts change passwords, so continuity could be a real strength. “With all the movement, it’s hard to know or say what anyone has,” one veteran Eastern Conference scout said. “It will take a while to see what’s what.” Here is one early attempt to assess what’s what, one through 30, with last season’s records:
Why not? The Bucks were the league’s only 60-win team last season and reaped a boatload of awards, including MVP for Giannis Antetok
ounmpo. They led the league in scoring, but little mattered after losing the Eastern Conference Finals (blowing a 2-0 lead) to Toronto. They have basically the same group back with a big exception: point guard Malcolm Brogdon, a signand-trade departure. With Eric Bledsoe nursing a rib injury early, vet George Hill should man the point. Sharpshooter Khris