HERE we are again — the 74th renewal of the world’s ultimate pro basketball forum that is the National Basketball Association (NBA) that will unveil on Wednesday, October 23 (Philippine time), with a pair of explosive games that will likely not feature one of the league’s top-five stars as well the prohibitive favorite to romp away with the Eddie Gottlieb hardware that goes to the Rookie of the Year awardee.
The first two of the 1,230-game regular schedule will have the new-look New Orleans Pelicans travelling to the North to face the reigning NBA champion Toronto Raptors at the Scotiabank Arena and the revitalized Los Angeles Lakers will take on the championship-contending Los Angeles Clippers in the debut of the four-game Battle of LA series at the Staples Center where the two teams have been co-tenants since the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season.
The Clippers will have 2019 NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who was pried away from the Raptors last summer through free agency, will be there on opening day. But the other half of the Clips’ dynamic duo Paul George, who finished third in the 2019 NBA MVP balloting, won’t be available.
George, who demanded a trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder last July to be with Leonard, his best friend and co-California native, will be out at least the first 13 games of the season while recovering from surgery on both shoulders. That’s according to Clippers bench boss Glenn (Doc) Rivers, who has been with the team since the 2013-14 campaign.
In a survey among the NBA’s 30 general managers as to which team will capture the Larry O’Brien title trophy in June 2020, the Clippers received 46 percent of the vote.
The franchise has never won an NBA championship since breaking into the league as the expansionist Buffalo Braves in 1970-71 then becoming the San Diego Clippers in 1978-79 before relocating to Los Angeles in 1984-85.
The Milwaukee Bucks, bannered by reigning league MVP Giannis Antetokuonmpo from Greece, were second with 36 percent while the Lakers ranked third with 11 percent.
The Bucks topped the regular season a year ago with a 60-22 record but were beaten by Toronto in the East final playoffs, 4-2, after leading 2-0.
The Lakers have missed the playoffs for the last six seasons – the longest postseason drought in their storied franchise history (Minneapolis-LA since 1960-61) that produced 16 titles – one shy of the Boston Celtics’ league-leading 17. However, the trade acquisition of All-Star frontliner Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans and the free-agent signing of wingman Danny Green out of Toronto last summer to partner with The King LeBron James have instantly installed the Lakers as a championship-contending unit.
The Pelicans themselves look to contend for one of the eight playoff tickets from the West with slam-dunking rookie forward Zion Williamson, the No. 1 selection in the entire NBA draft last June, on board. The three youngsters that the Pelicans obtained in the trade that sent their disgruntled star Davis to the Lakers, namely, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart, are expected to play major roles as well.
However, the 6-foot-6 (officially that is) Williamson is hobbled by right knee problems – an injury he suffered in the Pelicans’ preseason game (the fourth of a five-game slate) against the San Antonio Spurs last October 13 and will be sidelined for a considerable time. It’s said that the Duke University alum is expected to miss a period of weeks to start the 2019-20 wars.
Williamson’s exciting brand of play already has the Pelicans selling more season tickets than they had in the past decade.
With veteran guard Kyle Lowry and well-conditioned center Marc Gasol from recent FIBA World Cup gold medalist Spain returning and reigning NBA Most Improved Player award-winning forward Pascal Siakam back as well with a four-year, $130-million maximum rookie contract extension in tow (the third player from the 2016 NBA draft class to do so after Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons and Denver’s Jamal Murray), defending NBA champion Toronto remains a playoff contender out East despite being the first team ever to lose its Finals MVP (Leonard) following a title finish and the departure of outstanding three-point gunner Green to the Lakers.
Even the once-dynastic Golden State Warriors cannot be discounted and remain in the hunt for a playoff berth.
The Dubs snared three titles in NBA Finals appearances in each of the past five years before losing this summer a pair of Finals MVPs in Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets but he’s sitting out the new season with a ruptured right Achilles tendon he suffered during the NBA Finals vs. Toronto) and valuable reserve Andre Iguodala (via a trade to Memphis Grizzlies) and a 34-year-old role-playing sub in Shaun Livingston to retirement.
Golden State, which is making its debut in the brand-new Chase Center in San Francisco this season following a 47-year stay at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, still looks formidable with two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry, the league’s highest-paid player this season with an unprecedented salary of over $40 million, and do-everything frontliner Draymond Green coming back and the free-agent addition of high-scoring playmaker D’Angelo Russell out of Brooklyn.
The team also expects shooting guard Klay Thompson to return by the All-Star break (Chicago) in mid-February after he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee during the Finals series-clinching Game Six loss to the Raptors.
Meanwhile, the New York Knicks, yes the laughingstock Knicks, are expected to miss the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year. The Sacramento Kings, who currently own the NBA’s longest playoff drought at 13 years, could make some playoff noises this time while the Phoenix Suns, with high-scoring Devin Booker and 2019 FIBA World Cup MVP Ricky Rubio in the backcourt, are likely to watch the postseason from the sidelines for a 10th consecutive year.