NBA preview

It’s about that time of year. The NBA regular season begins in a mere five days, and the storylines could not be more intriguing for a league that is coming off an eventful offseason. Be it free agency, a new TV deal, ownership changes or a gold medal in Spain, it’s time for real NBA basketball.

Where to begin? Let’s start in the lowly “Leastern Conference,” where the season preview could not be more different than last season. We would have been shocked to see an Eastern Conference Finals that did not include Miami and Indiana last season. But this season, the power has shifted completely to the Central Division, which houses the Cavaliers and the Bulls.

Irving, Love and James pitted against Rose, Gasol and Noah. All-star lineups that most expected to blaze a wildfire through the rest of the East on their way to a head-on collision in May. But not so fast. There are other teams in the East that will have something to say about that, but might not have the manpower to back it up. Washington, fresh off a trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals, may have the best backcourt in the East with John Wall and Bradley Beal. Add in a savvy veteran like Paul Pierce, and things could get interesting.

Miami, although losing out on keeping James, kept Chris Bosh and signed former Cavalier and Bull Luol Deng. Toronto retained their All-Star-game-snub point guard Kyle Lowry, and with DeMar DeRozan playing at a high-caliber level the Raptors could build upon their three-seed last season. There are other teams out there, like Charlotte and Brooklyn, that have the potential to do some damage, but each lacks either experience or talent to make a deep playoff run.

The mighty Western Conference seems set up to provide an intense regular season and an even more exciting postseason. The Spurs, Thunder (even with a hobbled Durant) and Clippers seem to be the creme de la creme once again, but there are teams that are in that second tier that desperately want to advance past that second round of the playoffs. I’m talking about you, Warriors, Trail Blazers, Mavericks and Rockets. Golden State enters the season with a new head coach -- the highly-coveted Steve Kerr. Maybe he can push the “Splash Brothers,” Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, over the hump. The Blazers were a nice story last year, that is until they met Coach Poppovich and the Spurs in the playoffs. All-Stars Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge will anchor the team again, and they hope to push against the power complex in the West. Dallas signed Chandler Parsons this summer, and with perennial All-Star Dirk Nowitzki, Monta Ellis, and returning center Tyson Chandler, the Mavs look poised to make a run. The third team in Texas, Houston, is the home to James Harden, Dwight Howard and now Trevor Ariza. Although the Rockets do not seem as set up for success as the aforementioned teams out West, it would be naive to count them out.

The storylines are endless and fan bases are anxiously awaiting the tip-off to the 2014-2015 rendition of NBA basketball. New stars will emerge and a rookie class headlined by Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker will make its imprints on the league. It’s going to be a fun-filled season rich with highlights. It’s going to be a roller-coaster ride. I can’t wait.