ET start for Boston-Detroit, followed by the Knicks hosting the Sixers for their ring night and Thunder-Spurs in the nightcap. That's quite an Opening Day lineup, and it's a fitting start to a season that is going to give us incredible matchups and storylines for the next six months before what figures to be a wild postseason. Right now, there are no fewer than 14 teams who absolutely believe they can win the title.
A few are probably fooling themselves, but not many. There have never been this many genuinely good teams in the NBA. The talent collection is as high and balanced as I've ever seen it.
The title race, the awards races, they're all going to be intensely dramatic, just as this offseason was with all the blockbuster trades. There will be more to come on that front, too, because enough teams rightfully believe they are one move away and there are big names to be had. This season has the makings of an absolute roller coaster.
Here are 15 bold predictions for what we're going to see along the way. The second one will be unanimous unless Victor Wembanyama doesn't play in 65 games, in which case both of these predictions will be moot. But assuming he does, DPOY is a wrap.
Anyone who checks a box for any other name should have their voting privileges stripped. If Wembanyama is to pull off the double feature and win his first MVP, however, he'll need to defy a pretty strong historical trend. As our Sam Quinn recently noted, every MVP since LeBron James in 2012 has checked two boxes: they have fallen between the ages of 24 and 28, and they were a First- or Second-Team All-NBA selection in the prior season.
Wembanyama checks the latter box (he was First-Team All-NBA last year), but he doesn't turn 23 until January. The "not his time yet" narrative could be strong in a tight race, but even in a loaded field, I don't think it will be terribly close. Wembanyama and the Spurs are on a mission this season, and the dominance is going to be undeniable as he becomes the fourth player in NBA history to win MVP and DPOY in the same year, joining Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
