The Top 10 NBA Storylines to Follow Before the Season Starts

BOSTON, MA - MAY 30: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets looks on during the game against the Boston Celtics during Round 1, Game 4 of the 2021 NBA Playoffs on May 30, 2021 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

All apologies to the immortal Gennadiy Golovkin, but Ben Simmons is the new Big Drama Show and it’s not a compliment. The Sixers are a certified shitshow right now as Simmons’s status with the club remains unresolved, uncertain, or whatever descriptor you prefer to use on the AWOL PG. He wants to be traded, he doesn’t want to suit up for Philly ever again, yet the Sixers seem intent on trying to convince him he should just man up and play until they can find appropriate trade value for the offensively deficient three-time All-Star and All-NBA third-teamer last season. It’s a circus and it looks like we could be in store for weeks of weirdness. Would Simmons really sit out until he’s traded and lose out on big portions on the remaining four years and $147 million of his max contract? It’s complicated, it’s messy, and it doesn’t appear like a viable solution is on the horizon so expect one of the weirdest showdowns in modern NBA history between a player and a team—and even his teammates who reportedly tried to meet up with him in Los Angeles recently—to offer up a steady stream of drama. 

Every coach, player, referee, and NBA employee is vaccinated. Players, however, do not need to be thanks to the efforts of the NBPA which strongly opposed any mandate. However you feel about that incongruence, it’s notable and newsworthy since Kyrie Irving isn’t the only player in the league who has yet to protect himself and others from Covid-19. The league reportedly features a 90 percent vaccination rate amongst players which is great. But the small percent who, for whatever reason, are not vaccinated—like Washington’s Bradley Beal—could end up being a distraction or actually hurt their squads by missing games in select markets if they don’t comply with local mandates. If you want to enter Canada to play the Raptors, who are happily returning to their home market after spending last season in Tampa Bay, you need to be vaccinated. Andrew Wiggins could miss home games for the Warriors since his religious exemption from the vaccine was denied by the NBA and San Francisco says everyone must be inoculated against Covid-19 if they want to attend a game in Chase Center. Same for Irving since New York City says all Knicks and Nets players must be vaccinated to attend games at Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center. The city can bar visiting players from the arenas who aren’t inoculated. The Knicks are fully vaccinated while Brooklyn GM Sean Marks said before training camp kicked off they expected to be in compliance before the season tipped. So about that… 

I used to think Kevin Durant was the most fascinating NBA player to analyze psychologically. But Kyrie Irving has lapped his buddy and Nets teammate after it emerged in a Rolling Stone story that the mercurial guard isn’t too keen on being vaccinated—and could possibly have some, shall we say, interesting reasons why not. Irving dodged direct questions about his vaccination status on a Zoom call Monday with reporters since he wasn’t able to attend Nets media day in person. 

“I’m a human being first and obviously living in this public sphere, there’s just a lot of questions about what’s going on in the world of Kyrie and I just would love to just keep that private and handle it the right way with my team and go forward together with a plan,” Irving said. “Obviously, I’m not able to be there today, but that doesn’t mean I’m putting any limits on the future of me being able to join the team.”

Whatever his reasons are for not getting a shot, whether legit or maddeningly ridiculous, Irving’s availability is now a serious subplot. Because he hasn’t complied with NYC regulations, Irving could miss home games—starting with the home opener against the Hornets Oct. 24 as well as games against the Knicks, Raptors, and Warriors—and become a never-ending distraction for arguably the best team in the NBA. Can the Nets win without him during the regular-season? Absolutely. Would they prefer Irving do his duty, like millions of other Americans, and get vaccinated? Of course. Do the Nets need him healthy and inoculated if they’re going to live up to expectations and reach the NBA Finals? Duh. 

It’s been a long time since the Eastern Conference could stack up talent-wise against the West, but the migration in recent years of premier players from west to east means the East is no longer the least. As you’ll soon see, nine of our top 20 NBA players entering the 2020-21 season play in the East. (That’s called a tease in the business.) The conference is no longer whatever team LeBron’s on and 14 afterthoughts. With the defending NBA champions residing in Milwaukee, a stacked Nets squad, a dangerous 76ers team, and the retooled Heat, the top of the conference hasn’t been this competitive, and frankly good, in what feels like forever. Plus you have squads like the Hawks, Knicks, and Bulls who have made huge strides in recent seasons as well as the Celtics that just happen to feature two of the best players under 25 in the league. So is the Eastern Conference actually better than the West? We asked the Heat’s Jimmy Butler to weigh in.   

“I don’t like the word better because anybody can be beat on any given night,” he says. “I think you’ve got some people over here that can play. You have the same that goes over in the West. I think there’s going to be a lot of good basketball, a lot of entertaining games every single night. This will be a season for the ages.” 

Where do we sign up?

Could be Utah. But can you trust them come the postseason? Phoenix seems like the obvious choice. But was last year’s run to the NBA Finals predicated on a lot of luck and will all those miles catch up to Chris Paul? The Clippers won’t have Kawhi Leonard. The Nuggets will be missing Jamal Murray. The Warriors are set to feature the Splash Brothers for the first time in two years, but what can we realistically expect out of Klay Thompson? Luka Doncic is going to be one of the MVP favorites every year for the next decade, but doesn’t he need way more help? Portland didn’t really improve. While I like what the Grizzlies are doing, you can’t consider them serious contenders. So I say all of that to say I don’t really know who is the West’s second-best squad. On paper, the Western Conference is the Lakers to lose. Check back in when April arrives for an updated answer. 

The brand of basketball the NBA features on a night-to-night basis is far from perfect, but at least the league keeps tweaking things in an attempt to give us the best product possible. So salute to the Association for implementing a new rule this upcoming season that will no longer reward offensive players for drawing a foul (and potentially a trip to the free-throw line) via a non-basketball move. You know what we’re talking about here. Hopefully gone are the ticky-tack fouls James Harden, Trae Young, and a bunch of others are become experts at drawing like:

- Launching into a defender

- Shooters excessively kicking out their leg to draw a foul

- Hooking arms with a defender

- Offensive players egregiously initiating contact

Offensive plays can now earn a foul in certain situations and it’s about damn time. If you paid attention to Olympic basketball then you know the international game is officiated way differently than the NBA—it’s a more physical and, frankly, better game if you ask me—and a number of NBA stars were frustrated when fouls they’re normally used to drawing weren’t called. Absolutely nobody needs to see Young pump-fake a three and then launch themselves into a defender in order to head to the free-throw line or Harden (expertly) hooking arms with a defender as he drives that more often than not earns him a whistle.  

Free agency wasn’t exactly a free-for-all, as notable names didn’t get nuts swapping cities left and right. But a number of All-Stars/quality players did change locales. Kyle Lowry is now running point in Miami and he’ll be joined by PJ Tucker. While the roster configuration is a little weird, Chicago made big splashes by inking DeMar DeRozan and acquiring Lonzo Ball in a sign-and-trade. Spencer Dinwiddie is teaming up with Bradley Beal in the Wizards’ backcourt. Evan Fournier is the Knicks’ new shooting guard and Kemba Walker is now New York’s point guard. The Nets fortified their bench by bringing in Patty Mills. Dennis Schroder’s gamble on himself didn’t pay off and now he’s playing on a minimum deal in Boston. Same for Andre Drummond who’s now backing up Joel Embiid on a one-year deal in Philly. They’ll look weird for a minute in their new jerseys, but that wears off before you even realize it.