Burke is being handed the starting job by the rebuilding Jazz. His backup is journeyman John Lucas III, which means he will play 35 minutes a game if he can stand. And he is a point guard on a team searching for scorers, which means he will have the ball and do whatever he wants with it.
6. The Los Angeles Lakers will have the worst defense in the league. Unless Dallas does. OK, on the perimeter will be veritable EZ-Pass lanes Steve Nash, Nick Young and eventually Kobe Bryant, who has really fallen off on the work-hard end of the floor. Defending the rim are Pau Gasol and Chris Kaman, who don’t exactly strike fear in opponents with their fierceness in the paint. And devising the schemes is Mike D’Antoni, who thinks defense is a good time to rest until you get the ball again. The Lakers are going to lose dozens of 130-115 games but might be able to outscore the Mavericks, who have moving walkways Monta Ellis, Jose Calderon and Dirk Nowitzki funneling dribblers to aging stringbeans Shawn Marion and Sam Dalembert.
7. The Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers will make the playoffs. There are a handful of playoff berths available in both conferences, and the Blazers and Cavs are positioned to grab one. Portland was 33-36 in late March before collapsing and has fortified its awful bench with three former starters – Dorell Wright, Robin Lopez and Mo Williams, who may end being the best bargain signing of the offseason. Forty-five wins is not out of the realm of possibility. Cleveland has added top pick Anthony Bennett and savvy combo guard Jarrett Jack to a young, talented core led by Kyrie Irving, who can take over any close game. The Cavs also get back defensive anchor Anderson Varejao and may even have Andrew Bynum. That could be enough in a weak Eastern Conference.
8. Randy Wittman will be the first coach fired. Every season, the Washington Wizards look like they could be a playoff team if things come together. And then things fall apart. Guns in the locker room, injuries, dumb trades, knuckleheads, you name it. Before its first preseason game, Washington already has Emeka Okafor, Chris Singleton and top draft pick Otto Porter dealing with injuries. And that doesn’t include starters Bradley Beal and Nene, who are coming off injuries. Wittman is in the final year of his contract, 10 of Washington’s first 16 games are on the 
road, and proven names such as George Karl, Stan Van Gundy and Lionel Hollins are readily available. And there was this from owner Ted Leonsis: “I’m tired of losing.”
9. Amar’e Stoudemire won’t play a game this season. While title-starved Knicks fans may be fretting how Andrea Bargnani may fit in or when J.R. Smith will return, Stoudemire’s status has flown somewhat under the radar. But the New York Daily News reported recently that Stoudemire had knee surgery in July – his third in 12 months – which the team did not disclose to the media. We don’t wish ill health upon anybody, but we have seen enough of this in the past – Bill Walton in Boston, Brandon Roy in Portland, Andrew Bynum everywhere – to know that this doesn’t look good.
10. Chris Broussard will say something this season that gets him fired. Broussard used to be part of ESPN’s NBA studio show until being re-assigned within the network prior to last season. That can only be viewed as prescient timing or dumb luck, because twice in the last six months, Broussard has stood upon his religious beliefs to make some damning statements about gays and promiscuous people. Broussard certainly is entitled to his beliefs. But applying and espousing them alongside the PC world of the NBA and within the punditry kneejerk of the 24-hour news cycle is a formula for disaster.
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Chris Bernucca is a regular columnist and the managing editor of SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.