The New York Times brought the front page news recently that more people watched The Walking Dead and NCIS; New Orleans last week than Game 1 of the World Series.
Which leads me to Prediction No. 1 for the 2014-15 NBA season: Commissioner Adam Silver is going to take on the national pastime, move up the start of the season by a week and see what happens.
Which leads us to prediction No. 2: When Silver does this, his league will outdraw the World Series.
I know this is a basketball Web site, so we are a little bit (OK, a lot) biased in this regard. But I am a former card-carrying member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, I can no longer watch that sport because it is interminable, and I do not think the NBA can reach its popularity peak until it starts playing some hardball against the sport Barry Bonds and Bud Selig ruined.
Think about it: Would you rather watch the Royals and Giants play nine innings, or watch LeBron James open the season against Kobe Bryant? If the NBA was bold enough to schedule a Cavs-Lakers opener and put it on ABC, they would crush the TV ratings for the World Series. Crush it.
And because I believe Silver is a bold thinker, I will put a timeline on Prediction No. 1: Two years from now.
But enough about the distant future. The focus today is the near future … as in what is going to happen this season. Our staff will weigh in with their predictions Monday, so for today and the weekend you will only have my crystal ball material. And keep one thing in mind: Predictions are like armpits. Everyone has them, and most of them stink.
So with that caveat out of the way, let’s get right to it.
NBA CHAMPION: San Antonio Spurs. For some strange reason, the oddsmakers have put their over/under at 56 1/2 wins. How is that exactly? They won 62 games a season ago, ran circles around Miami in the Finals, and showed throughout the campaign that they were in a class all by themselves. Since they are all back, I see no reason why that should change. They will beat the Cavs in five games.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Blake Griffin, Clippers. Very few people gave him the credit he was due a season ago (OK, I was the only one) when he led the Clippers to the best record in franchise history with 57 Ws (three more than LeBron James had with the Heat, which is why I voted him third on my MVP ballot, one spot behind Griffin). And in case you were wondering, I stand behind my reasoning as much now as I did then. Sixty Ws gets him the award. Otherwise, LeBron gets it. His team is a lock for 60.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Jabari Parker, Bucks. Has a rookie ever led the league in minutes played? This guy is going to have the chance to jack up as many shots as he wants (when O.J. Mayo is not in the lineup alongside him), and we all know that statistics, rather than wins, is what earns players this award. That’s why MCW got it last season in Philly.
COACH OF THE YEAR: Mike Budenholzer, Hawks. How is it that Atlanta and New York are both projected to finish below .500 (oddsmakers set their win/loss prop at 40 1/2). Atlanta has a solid starting five with tremendous outside shooting (Kyle Korver) and a great front line (Al Horford and Paul Millsap) along with one of the most underrated pickups of the offseason in Kent Bazemore. And they play in the East. The Knicks have Carmelo Anthony and Phil Jackson y nada mas.
SIXTH MAN AWARD: Jamal Crawford, Clippers. He will get pressed by Andre Iguodala and the usual suspects, including Manu Ginobili, but he has been so en fuego in the preseason, and he is on such a good team, I’ve got him bringing home the trophy as a repeat winner – a rarity in this category.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Joakim Noah, Bulls. People are finally going to start taking notice that this guy can defend four positions – five if you allow him to check Ray Felton when the Bulls play the Mavs. This award is often numbers driven, and Anthony Davis is going to block so many shots that it will earn him quite a few first-place votes. But being a great defender is about so much more than blocks and steals. It’s about locking dudes up. That’s what Noah does.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Kawhi Leonard, Spurs. It will be saying something when people start saying he is the best player on the Spurs. That should have become apparent during the Finals, when he was the MVP, but sometimes people need a reminder. Leonard will do that throughout the season. DeMarcus Cousins (Kings) and Mirza Teletovic (Nets) will be in the mix, too.
EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR: David Griffin, Cavs. He will get a little bit of the credit for LeBron James’ return, which he shouldn’t. But he will get plenty of credit for pulling off the Kevin Love trade and building a Big Three in Cleveland that will be better – when all is said and done – than the Big Three we watched in Miami the past four years.
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALISTS: Cavs and Bulls. Duh.
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALISTS: Spurs and Clippers.
GOOD PLAYER MOST LIKELY TO BE TRADED: David West, Pacers.
COACH ON THE HOT SEAT: Tom Thibodeau, Bulls. (Not on best of terms with front office).
MOST OVERRATED PLAYER: Paul Pierce, Wizards.
MOST UNDERRATED PLAYER: Tobias Harris, Magic.
MOST OVERRATED TEAM: Houston Rockets
MOST UNDERRATED TEAM: Atlanta Hawks.
WHO WILL WIN THE SCORING TITLE? Kobe Bryant.
Chris Sheridan is publisher and editor-in-chief of SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.
Yeah, baseball is slow, but have you ever watched the last 2 minutes of an NBA game?
People are sleeping on the hawks man. I keep telling people. if you really take a look at there roster and go and watch film/highlights of the players on there team. they dont have a superstar but they got two allstars in the front court with Horford and Milsap. A rising star and fringe all star in teague. Shooters all over the court, and improved defense on the wings. They are DEEP! Hawks will finish with a top 3 seed and suprise the League with how good they are playing in Coach Budenholzer, spurs, system for the seconed year. Spurs East takes full effect this season.
Damian Lillard led the league in minutes played during his rookie year
Not sure Kobe will play enough minutes to lead the league in scoring but he’ll definitely lead the league in usage rate.
Senile old cracker.
RACIST much. Cracker is as offensive as the N word. don’t be a hypocrite
This is the team Thibs needed for his system to work. There’s still a spot open for ray allen too. With health, will be an epic spurs bulls final. And lol at the raps^^^
Think the Raps are better than the Bulls and they learned a lot last post-season while adding depth where it was needed.
I think they’ll come 2nd in the conference and loss to the Cavs in the conference finals.
I agree completely, even though I am from Toronto and I will be biased, I do believe that unlike Chicago we do have a deep bench that has a year under it’s belt. The one flaw Chicago has is that beyond Tony Snell Noah, Butler Hinrich and Rose, a lot of these guys are still new to the rotation. The Raptors will once again turn heads. I see us facing the Cavs in the Finals.