2014-15 NBA Season Preview: LeBron James Tries to Reshape East, Spurs Look to Repeat

By Trevor Lowry @TheTrevorLowry on October 27, 2014

Someone pinch me. I must be dreaming.

LeBron James certainly did not take his talents back to the Cleveland Cavaliers, right? And there’s no way that the always good, but seriously underrated San Antonio Spurs knocked off the Miami Heat in five games in the NBA Finals, correct?

As Will Ferrell’s Ricky Bobby character would say, that just happened. Yup, entering the 2014-15 NBA season, King James will really be playing for his hometown Cavaliers once again, and the Spurs could very well repeat as champions. Those are the two big storylines entering the new year, but they certainly aren’t the only ones. Let’s take a second to look at what happened this summer in the wild, wild NBA.

ESPN the Magazine cover-gracing, super-prospect Andrew Wiggins was picked No. 1 overall in the 2014 NBA Draft … just to have his talents, along with Anthony Bennett’s, shipped to the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Kevin Love. LeBron and the Cavs took the Beatles’ hit “All You Need Is Love” to a whole new level with this move.

Meanwhile, fellow top college hoopster Jabari Parker went to the Milwaukee Bucks (head coach Jason Kidd went to Milwaukee as well), while the injured and ridiculously talented Joel Embiid went to the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers are practically turning tanking into an art these days, putting together an NBA record-tying 26-loss streak to acquire the third overall pick.

With the biggest of the Big 3 having left town, Chris Bosh had his own circus act where he tricked the Houston Rockets, and put Pat Riley in a likely state of panic, just to nix Houston’s offer and return to South Beach. Dwyane Wade rejoined as well. Luol Deng signed on. So did Danny Granger. And others.

Speaking of Houston, the offseason really wasn’t all that kind to them. Chandler Parsons said adios to the Rockets and fled to the Dallas Mavericks, creating yet another instance of the most overused, but sometimes necessary term in the NBA — a Big 3 (Monta Ellis, Dirk Nowitzki, Parsons). Houston did land Trevor Ariza, though.

Despite the Rockets’ lackluster offseason, however, they weren’t nearly as badly off as the Indiana Pacers, who lost the Lance Stephenson sweepstakes. Oh, and they also lost superstar Paul George to a gruesome leg injury, potentially sinking their season before it even started. I would not recommend watching it, although I really would.

Onto teams with better injury news regarding their superstars, the Chicago Bulls are now instant title contenders with former MVP Derrick Rose finally at full health, and they added a key piece to the championship puzzle with the acquisition of power forward Pau Gasol. I also believe they struck gold by landing rookie Dougie McBuckets (Doug McDermott) this summer.

While he doesn’t quite make his team instant Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy contenders, Kobe Bryant is also healthy and ready to prove the doubters wrong. He’ll have a difficult time doing so, however, as the Los Angeles Lakers struck out time and time again in free agency. They did land Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer, for what it’s worth.

Going from the biggest sports market in the west to the biggest in the east, Carmelo Anthony returned to the Big Apple and will receive Big Apple-like money, while the new regime of Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher are all about bringing the Triangle (offense) to the New York Knicks.

There were, of course, many other things that happened this summer; but really, just like it was back in 2010, the basketball offseason was all about LeBron, LeBron, LeBron. To think otherwise would be just kidding ourselves.

 

5 Games That Should Have Every Sports Fan Excited

Just for the record, the season starts on Oct. 28.

Mavs vs. Spurs on Opening Night: The Mavs have upgraded, and everyone wants to see the defending champs’ first game of the season, right?

Los Angeles vs. Houston on Opening Night: Who knows how the actual game will go, but Kobe Bryant playing his first game in what feels like forever is exciting stuff in itself.

Cavs vs. Bulls on Halloween night: Here’s a spooky thought for you — Cleveland and Chicago are the top two contenders in the East entering 2014-15. Okay, not spooky at all, but intriguing nonetheless.

Cleveland vs. Miami on Christmas Day: It really doesn’t get much better than this when it comes to storylines. LeBron vs. Miami is all you need to know … on Christmas, no less. Thank you, Santa.

Spurs vs. Thunder on March 25 and April 7: Both of these games could help decide which team is the No. 1 seed in the West. That is all.

 

Key Contenders Out West

Without a doubt, the Spurs are at the top of the food chain, with every single team chasing them.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will see how good they are without Kevin Durant for a while, but when he comes back, the team will contend in the West. The Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors could also find themselves in the playoffs this year.

If Kobe actually returns to form, and shows he is worth the ridiculous amount of money he is getting paid, then the Lakers could surprise some people.

 

Dark Horses in the West

Any team not named the San Antonio Spurs can be considered a dark horse. Seriously — that’s how deep the West is, and how good the Spurs are.

Tim Duncan and co. have everyone back from last season’s championship run. Do you remember what they did to the Heat in the Finals? They beat the Heat so bad that LeBron retreated back to Cleveland. Okay, while San Antonio didn’t actually make the King go back to the team that drafted him, I still think there is no way LeBron would have signed with Cleveland this summer if Miami won three in a row.

Needless to say, San Antonio is the huge favorite in the West entering 2014-15. Anyone else representing the conference would be a surprise.

You want a real dark horse? How about the Minnesota Timberwolves. Do I think the T-Wolves will make a charge to the top of the West this season? No, absolutely not. That’s crazy talk. However, they do have a very talented and skilled star-in-the-making in Andrew Wiggins. They have Anthony Bennett, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 draft, but is nearing bust status quicker than anticipated.

They somehow even landed Thaddeus Young, who averaged 17.9 PPG with the 76ers in 2013-14, in the Love trade. They still have Ricky Rubio and a bunch of talented young players. Unfortunately, Minnesota plays in the West, and until Wiggins actually proves to be the best thing since LeBron James, the Timberwolves won’t even be a playoff contender.

Other teams worth looking out for: New Orleans Pelicans,  Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns.

 

Key Contenders Back East

LeBron James has played on some really good teams, and he has played on some really not-so-good teams. Regardless, he is the best player in the world. As a result, his teams make the playoffs, and those teams usually make deep runs. That is just basic logic, people.

Naturally, Cleveland will be many people’s favorite in the East to start the season. Him, Kyrie Irving and Love will make up a — you guessed it — formidable Big 3.

However, Chicago could be better right now (at least according to LeBron). Miami still has talent, Washington has game, and the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors are also not too far behind.

 

Dark Horses in the East

The East has been the weaker of the two NBA conferences for quite some time, and that was even the case when Miami went back-to-back. With the talent spreading out a bit this offseason thanks to LeBron going to Cleveland and the return of Rose, the East should see better times.

You want a dark pony? How about the Milwaukee Bucks. Okay, you got me, I jest. They are still a long, long ways away from doing anything, although rookie Jabari Parker will likely make some noise.

In terms of actually capturing the No. 1 seed in the East, any team not from Cleveland or Chicago is a dark horse. For me, Washington and Miami have what it takes to steal the thunder from both teams. Simply put, I dig the Wizards’ backcourt as Bradley Beal will eventually come back from injury, and they’ve been on a steady upward trajectory over the last couple of seasons.

Over at South Beach, despite having their Big 3 being reduced to a Big 2 (this probably won’t catch on), the Heat still have some good things going for them. Will Chris Bosh drop the 3-point shooting act and play a bigger role? You betcha. 20-25 points per game is certainly a realistic range for Mr. Bosh, but how effective he will be in scoring those points is the big question.

As much as I want to say Dwyane Wade and Danny Granger will return to being studs, I just don’t know. More than likely, Granger will score some points when needed, and Wade will look like the Flash of old at times … but not at all times.

Other teams to note are, of course, the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, and possibly the Detroit Pistons as well.

 

Best of the Best

Here, we will simply break down the cream of the crop — no questions asked.

Best Player: LeBron James

Best Dunker: Blake Griffin

Best Rookie: Andrew Wiggins

Best Defender: Joakim Noah

Best Nickname: Dougie McBuckets, The Monster (Mitch McGary)

Best Future Rivalry: Wiggins vs. Parker

 

5 Predictions

Doug McDermott Wins Rookie of the Year: Although Wiggins and Parker could go on to have better careers, McBuckets is in the perfect situation, and he can flat-out shoot.

Spurs Repeat: C’mon. The Spurs are hands-down the best team in the league entering the season. This team just plays really good basketball — the name of the game.

Cavs Make Finals: If Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and LeBron James all mesh together in short order, this team could be really scary — we all know that.

Someone Other Than Durant Or James Wins MVP: James has bigger things to worry about than winning the MVP this year, and Durant is now going to have to come back from injury. My best guess is that Anthony Davis or Derrick Rose will take home the award this year.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope breaks out: KCP always seems to tear it up in Summer League, which really doesn’t have any significance, but still. He scored 30 points in his last game of 2013-14 and averaged close to 17 in the preseason. Time to unleash your secret weapon, Pistons.

Trevor Lowry is a Content Associate at www.RantSports.com. If you’re a tweeter feel free to follow him @TheTrevorLowry or add him to your network on Google.