May: 10 Predictions for the 2013-14 Season

Danny Ainge is on record as saying he thinks the 2014 draft class isn’t deep, but top-heavy. Would he sacrifice a shot at one of those top-heavy picks for a successful playoff drive and a certain first-round exit? Methinks not. But he may have that option.

6. Kevin Garnett will miss a number of games. But he will be OK when the playoffs start – and that’s all that really matters. The Nets already are talking about holding KG back on the second night of back-to-backs, something that would not sit well with the uber-competitive Big Ticket. But history tells us that Mother Nature will intervene, which has been the case almost every year since Garnett left Minnesota, where he was a model of durability. In six seasons with the Celtics, Garnett missed no fewer than 11 games in five of them. When you play as hard as he does, at his age, you have to figure something is going to happen.

7. Daryl Morey will win Executive of the Year. He already has the inside track after landing Howard over the summer. This comes on top of the acquisition of James Harden a year ago, giving Houston two of the top 15 players in the game. But Morey probably has one more move to make – and it should involve center Omer Asik, who could help any number of teams and who seems obsolete now that Howard is around. One of Morey’s favorite axioms comes from Stephen Sondheim’s magnificent “Into The Woods”: Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor. He will strike again – and then collect his award.

8. Bill Simmons won’t be back on ESPN’s studio show. It got to the point last season where you thought Simmons was a mole for a competing network. The humor and irreverence which dominates his writing was nowhere to be seen on a set where he so clearly was the DC (Designated Caucasian). The personality that characterizes his writing doesn’t come through at all on TV. Surely, he has to realize this. He seemed almost trapped, more likely to try to please Magic Johnson. He’s done some marvelous things at ESPN; the 30-for-30 shows are terrific. But the DC stint on the NBA Studio Show is not one of them.

9. We gave him how much for how long?? Here’s something that Vivek Ranadive, the new owner of the Sacramento Kings, should have realized. Just because you change bosses doesn’t mean your employees are going to change. Which is why at some point this season, someone within the Kings is going to wonder: What were we thinking when we gave DeMarcus Cousins a maximum-level extension? Putting up numbers on bad teams is a time-honored NBA tradition and, apparently, one that pays well (see Walker, Antoine). Cousins will be doing that again this season as the Kings slog through another 20-something win season.

10. Danny Ainge will make a trade. You can pretty much book it. Kris Humphries (expiring contract) is ideal trade material. My friend Sam Smith (among many) thinks Rondo will be shipped out of town. All I know is that Ainge will do something – and he may not even wait until the trading deadline to do it. There is no more fearless, unconventional general manager in the NBA, as his hiring of Brad Stevens shows. In the past six years, Ainge has pulled the trigger on deals to improve the Celtics’ fortunes for the playoffs. This season? He may go Belichickian and try to move backward. But he will do something. He always does.

RELATED: CHRIS SHERIDAN’S 2013-14 PREDICTIONS 

RELATED: CHRIS BERNUCCA’S 2013-14 PREDICTIONS 

TOMORROW: JAN HUBBARD’S NBA PREDICTIONS

Peter May is the only writer who covered the final NBA games played by Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. He has covered the league for three decades for The Hartford Courant and The Boston Globe and has written three books on the Boston Celtics. His work also appears in The New York Times. You can follow him on Twitter.