BURNING QUESTIONS FOR NEW TIP-OFF
As the 2017-18 NBA season gets set to tip off, we’re pondering burning questions that (we hope) will be answered throughout the year
uWith an overhauled roster and a core group featuring All-Stars Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford, can coach Brad Stevens and the Celtics get to the Finals?
uIs it Stevens’ time to win Coach of the Year?
uCan D’Angelo Russell reset the perception on his NBA career and, along with young guys Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen, reshape the culture in Brooklyn?
uWill Charlotte newcomer Dwight Howard or rookie Malik Monk relieve the scoring burden from Kemba Walker in the wake of Nic Batum’s injury?
uCan Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson produce like they did in 2015-16 and get the Pistons back to the playoffs?
uAfter seven years of Paul George bliss, what’s the identity of the Pacers moving forward, and how much is that shaped by the development of Myles Turner?
uWill this Heat team be more like the one that finished 2016-17 with a 30-11 record or the one that started the season 11-30?
uAmid a Knicks rebuild without Carmelo Anthony, will Kristaps Porzingis develop into the superstar so many believe he can become?
uCan Joel Embiid, who just signed a massive five-year, $146.5 million extension, stay healthy enough and make the Sixers a playoff contender?
uWill John Wall make good on his declaration that he’s the best two-way point guard in the NBA, and can Bradley Beal finally get some All-Star Game love?
uNikola Jokic and Paul Millsap should make up one of the NBA’s most formidable front lines, but will the Denver backcourt – particularly guard Emmanuel Mudiay – follow suit?
uCan Chris Paul and James Harden co-exist in Houston, considering that the latter is coming off a season where he averaged a league-leading 11.2 assists a game?
uAfter six years of Paul engineering the Clippers’ offense, how will Patrick Beverley incorporate new forward Danilo Gallinari with tenured offensive pieces Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan?
uThe Lakers are headed to the lottery yet again, but can Lonzo Ball and the intriguing youngsters, coupled with Magic John- son’s intuition, entice any big name free agents to head to Laker Land this summer?
uWith the Grit ‘n’ Grind Grizzlies a thing of the past now that Zach Randolph and Tony Allen have moved on, will this new group be able to adapt to the uptempo NBA, and perhaps more importantly, fend off the injury bug while doing so?
uT’Wol►es are poised to end their NBA-worst 13-year postseason drought, but just how far will the Big Three of Jimmy Butler, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins lead this team?
uThe DeMarcus Cousins-Anthony Davis pairing only had 17 games last season to learn each other’s tendencies, and it didn’t land the Pelicans a postseason berth. With a training camp under their belts, will they find success with the prospect of Cousins po-
tentially leaving after this season?
uRussell Westbrook, coming off a historic MVP campaign, finally has the help (and then some) he was lacking all last season. But how will the additional firepower of Carmelo Anthony and Paul George in Oklahoma City affect his game?
uWith Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum the clear-cut No. 1 and No. 2 options offensively in Portland, can Jusuf Nurkic – who played the best basketball of his career for the final 20 games of last season after being traded from Denver – pick up where he left off and help lead the Blazers back to the postseason?
uCan the Kings mesh the old guard (Vince Carter, Zach Randolph, George Hill) with the new (Willie Cauley-Stein, De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and Justin Jackson) and make basketball fun again in Sacramento?
uAfter the offseason departure of franchise cornerstone Gordon Hayward, will the small-market Jazz be able to stay relevant in the brutal Western Conference?
uAfter a year in which Giannis Antetokounmpo transformed from budding star to full-blown superstar, who will be the next player to take the league by storm and win Most Improved Player?
uIn a loaded rookie class, can a guy who was drafted in 2016 (Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons) win Rookie of the Year?
uWhich players and teams benefit the most from the league’s new scheduling rules that reduce the amount of back-to-backs and eliminate four games in five days scenarios?
uIs this the season Kawhi Leonard wins his first MVP, or can LeBron James keep it away from the impressive group of twentysomethings and wins his fifth?
uUnder the new policy which gives the commissioner discretion to penalize teams for resting players in certain situations, will Adam Silver fine a team this season?
uHow much will the upcoming free agent class, potentially headlined by LeBron James, Chris Paul and DeMarcus Cousins, affect league-wide roster decisions this season?
uWould a fourth consecutive Cavs-Warriors Finals force Adam Silver into considering reformatting the postseason, and is there any potential fan fatigue at seeing the same two teams matched up in the Finals year after year?
uWith one fewer timeout (two, down from three) in the final three minutes of regulation and in overtime, how will teams adjust their strategy in crunch time?