The top storyline for every NBA team entering the season

The Celtics were a proposed superteam not all that long ago. They had traded for Kyrie Irving, signed Gordon Hayward and had youngsters like Jayson Tatum on the rise. Then last season happened. The Celtics disappointed, and Irving’s schtick got old fast. Irving is now with the Nets, and Al Horford is a Sixer. Boston has replaced Irving with Kemba Walker? Will this move be what gets the Celtics to the next level?

Speaking of Irving, he’s now in Brooklyn where the plan is to pair him with Kevin Durant. Well, eventually. Durant is dealing with an Achilles injury, and the plan is for him to sit out the whole season to heal his heel. Will the Nets just be in a holding pattern without their best player? Or do they have enough to make some real noise in the playoffs?

The Knicks finished with the worst record in the NBA last year at 17-65. Things could get even worse from there. In a way, they already have. At least last season had the hope of salary cap space leading to signing big free agents. Instead, their biggest get was Julius Randle. New York has what appears to be clearly the worst roster in the Eastern Conference, and probably the NBA. Hey, maybe this time the Knicks will actually get the first-overall pick in the NBA Draft.

Simmons is a special player. He’s a 6-foot-10’ point guard who can play lockdown defense. He also can’t shoot. The NBA world lost its collective mind when he made ONE three-point shot in the preseason. That’s where the expectation levels are. If Simmons can space the floor even an iota, that will change things for the 76ers, who are a title favorite. No more dunker spot for Simmons!

Last season was magical. The Raptors won their first NBA title. They were also led by Kawhi Leonard. Kawhi is gone. There was talk that the Raptors may even try to rebuild this offseason. They didn’t, as they still have Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol and Pascal Siakam. Another title run is unlikely, but where will the Raptors finish in the East’s pecking order?

Quick, who is Chicago’s best player? Is it Zach LaVine? It’s sure fun to watch him dunk, but he hasn’t been efficient and he doesn’t play defense. How about Otto Porter? Now that he’s not behind John Wall and Bradley Beal, can he take his game to the next level? Will Lauri Markkanen become the poor man’s Finnish Dirk Nowitzki? What about Wendell Carter, who had some rookie struggles last season? Unless somebody steps up as a clear go-to player, this team isn’t getting back to the playoffs.

Beilein has been a great college coach. He made it to two NCAA championship games with Michigan. However, Cleveland is his first gig in the NBA. He’s 66 years old, and he’s got a terrible roster at his disposal. How is this team going to look under Beilein, and will the college lifer prove to be in over his head?

Blake Griffin was an All-Star last year. He worked as a point forward, running pick-and-rolls and taking seven threes per game. That’s a long way from the dunk machine he was in his early years. Andre Drummond grabbed 15.6 rebounds a night to lead the NBA and played actual good defense. And then…a big ol’ question mark. Reggie Jackson has had a mediocre career. Luke Kennard was drafted before Donovan Mitchell but hasn’t broken out just yet. If the Pistons want to be anything more than the eighth seed in the East, they need a third player to have a good season.

Two years ago Oladipo won the Most Improved Player Award. Last season he was leading the Pacers once again, but then he tore a tendon in his right quad. He made the All-Star team but didn’t play in it, or any of the games after. The talk is he may not be able to return until January. Do the Pacers have enough talent left on the roster to stay afloat while they wait for their best player to return? Maybe new addition Malcolm Brogdon will be the key piece that makes the plan work.

The Bucks won 60 games last season. They finished with the top record in the NBA, Mike Budenholzer won Coach of the Year, and Giannis was the MVP. Despite having perhaps the best player in the NBA, the Bucks fell just short, losing to the Raptors in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Can they take that extra step this year and make the NBA Finals — and maybe win the title?

There is a lot of intrigue about the Hawks for a team that may not sniff 40 wins. It makes sense because there is so much young talent on this team. Obviously Trae Young is the big name. However, John Collins is one of the most underrated players in the NBA. Throw in Kevin Huerter and promising rookies De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish, and the Hawks have the foundation of a playoff team. Is this a year too early, though?

Kemba Walker was the only thing the Hornets had going for them. Now he’s gone. Can you name any current Hornet? This may not be the worst team in the NBA, but it is the most boring. Charlotte’s franchise face is gone. What do the Hornets do now?

Wherever Jimmy Butler goes, controversy follows. The man has talent — people wouldn’t put up with him otherwise — but he seems to cause problems at all his stops. He forced his way out of Chicago and Minnesota, and things weren’t always smooth in Philly despite how good that team was. Will Butler finally be content now that he’s in Miami, or will more problems follow?

The Magic are a sleeper in the East. Not, like, win the title sleeper, but maybe they could be the fourth seed. They have some interesting young players like Jonathan Isaac, but all the eyes will be on Fultz. After the Sixers made him the first-overall pick, Fultz seemingly forgot how to shoot. It’s been a wild journey for the former Washington Huskie. He will probably never live up to being the top pick, but if Fultz can even be a pretty good backup point guard, it would be a huge step in the right direction.

When this piece was originally written, the question here was about whether Beal, the one real asset the Wizards have, would be traded to signal a rebuild. Instead, the sharpshooter who averaged 25.6 points per game last year signed a two-year extension and that means he can't be traded this season. That means Beal isn't going anywhere...but will he come to regret it? When the Wizards are sitting 10 games under .500 and out of the playoff race, will Beal still be able to give it his all? Or will he be second guessing his extension?

Nobody expected Denver to finish with the two seed in the West last year. That’s just what the Nuggets did, though, despite lacking a superstar. Maybe that’s just a matter of us underrating Nikola Jokic, possibly the best passing big man of all time. The talent of the rest of the roster isn’t that impressive, though. Can Denver pull off the repeat performance? Or will the rest of the tough West drop them down the standings?

Honestly, Towns has MVP-level talent. He’s averaged over 20 points and 12 rebounds in each of his last three seasons. KAT has also averaged over a block per game. The thing is that Towns has been held back by Tom Thibodeau’s archaic offense. Did you know he’s the best 3-foot shooter over 7-feet tall by career three-point percentage? Imagine if he gets to take six or seven threes a game? This could be his first time on the All-NBA First Team, and don’t be surprised if he makes a run at the MVP if he can get Minnesota into the playoffs. That may be the hardest part of this.

It’s a brave new world for the Thunder. Since Kevin Durant left for Golden State, this has been Russ’ team, for better or worse. He’s averaged triple-doubles. He’s stolen rebounds from teammates and jacked up threes even though he’s not all that good at taking them. Westbrook was also a tempestuous presence off and on the court. The Thunder was Russ’ team, and now it’s not. That’s going to be weird to see in action.

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Portland is running it back. This team is still paced by Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Terry Stotts is still the head coach. Portland has never been to an NBA Finals with this crew, but it hasn’t changed anything. Will that work out? Or are the Blazers just Charlie Brown with that football?

The Jazz play some great defense, largely thanks to Rudy Gobert. The big Frenchman has won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year Awards, after all. Donovan Mitchell was running the offense, but he wasn’t quite ready to shoulder the load by himself. Enter Conley, the former Grizzly. The 32-year-old is still an above-average point guard. Will Conley be that piece needed to take this core to the next level?

Kevin Durant is gone, and Klay Thompson will be out for a while. Draymond Green isn’t going to take many shots. That leaves Curry. NBA fans are fascinated to see what he will do now that he has the green light to shoot as much as he wants. Will he blow away the record for made three-pointers? James Harden averaged 36.1 points per game last season. If Curry wants, he could beat that this year.

Believe it! A lot of people are calling the Clippers, for many years the laughingstock of the NBA, the favorites. It’s a whole new era. They’ve added both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to the roster. Imagine trying to score on those two and also trying to stop them from scoring? The Clippers have never been in the NBA Finals. A lot of people are picking them to change that this season.

LeBron James was the first big addition for the Lakers. It wasn’t enough to get them to the playoffs. Thus, L.A. traded for Anthony Davis, who is even better than LeBron at this point. The Lakers have been a franchise of turmoil for a few years. Is this enough to stabilize them, or at least make them a winning franchise again? Can you believe the Lakers haven’t been in the playoffs for six seasons?

The Western Conference is so tough. So many teams in the conference are well run and loaded with talent. Then there’s Phoenix. The Suns have missed the playoffs the last nine seasons. They haven’t even won 30 games in their last four seasons! The West isn’t getting any easier, but where is the talent in Phoenix? Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton aren’t going to get this team in the playoffs this year. All Suns fans can expect is a glimmer of hope.

The Kings surprised us last year when they improved their win total by 12. They picked up the pace behind De’Aaron Fox, one of the most improved players in the NBA. Buddy Hield is an elite three-point shooter. Marvin Bagley III and Harry Giles have potential. Sacramento went 39-43 last year. It will probably take about five more wins to eke into a playoff spot. Can they make it happen?

It’s been a while since we’ve seen the original Unicorn. He didn’t play at all for the Knicks last season, and now he’s a Maverick. Dallas traded for him to pair him with wunderkind Luka Doncic. Porzingis averaged 22.7 points per game the last season he played. Will there be rust? Or will Porzingis look like the All-Star he was prior to his injury absence?

There are off-court problems for the Rockets right now. Daryl Morey’s Hong Kong tweet has caused a ton of problems for the Rockets and the NBA, and there have even been murmurs that Morey might get fired. Let’s focus on the court, though. Harden and Westbrook are both used to controlling the ball all game long. Will they figure out how to make it work, or will we be getting used to seeing Russ and The Beard sniping at each other?

This is a completely revamped franchise. Grit N’ Grind is dead. All those franchise icons, Mike Conley, Zach Randolph, et al, are gone. Memphis has a first-time head coach in the 35-year-old Taylor Jenkins. The team also has a new front office. The Grizzlies are changing everything and rebuilding around Jaren Jackson Jr. and Ja Morant. What does that look like?

Yes, this one isn’t being phrased a question. Although, we could probably have said “Zion!?” as well. We’re all excited to see Zion Williamson, the top prospect to enter the NBA since Anthony Davis. He’s dunking in our dreams. All that being said, what does he look like as an actual player in actual NBA games? How good can he be? Good enough to take this team to the playoffs? Or just good enough to be fun but not a playoff contender? We'll have to wait a little longer than expected to see, as a preseason knee injury will sideline him for the first few weeks of the season.

We’ve been waiting. The Spurs have made the playoffs for 22 straight seasons. People keep asking if this season will be the one when Gregg Popovich’s crew finally doesn’t make it. Tim Duncan is gone. Manu Ginobili is gone. Tony Parker is gone. Kawhi Leonard is gone. Somehow, Pop finds a way to get his team into the postseason. Will this finally, finally, be the year when San Antonio falls short?