Looking forward to the NBA 2016-2017 season
- Rares
- Oct 11, 2016
- 4 min read
There is less than a month until the start of the 2016-2017 NBA season and I can't be more excited! There's a lot been going on this summer with the trades and all and I'm eager to see how will the NBA Champions will match up against the stronger Eastern Conference teams or how will the Golden State Warriors get along with KD.
To get acquainted
My love for basketball began 9 years ago and in the same year I've watched my first NBA game. It was the 2007 All Star game and there I saw and I knew I had a new favorite player, Lebron James( I think he won the All Star MVP that game). From that point on I've been watching NBA games regularly.
Last year I've managed to watch over half of Cleveland's regular season games and more than 15 Playoff games. It may not seem as such a big deal but considering the fact that I live in Romania which is located in Eastern Europe and the time zone has a 7 hour difference from the US time zone I think it's not that bad. I had to watch most of the games at 2 or 3 in the morning till sun up which resulted in a lot of sleepless nights and even skipping school.
To know what to expect next season, let's see what important trades took place this summer
Dwayne Wade to the Chicago Bulls
Rajon Rondo to the Chicago Bulls
Joakim Noah to the New York Knicks
Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks
Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warriors
Al Horford to the Boston Celtics
Harrison Barnes to the Dallas Mavericks
Dwight Howard to the Atlanta Hawks
So many questions going through my mind for the next season : "how will Westbrook and OKC deal with the absence of KD?" , "Will the Bulls pe a contenter to the title now that Wade decided to join?", "Are the Knicks finally going to be as good as everyone expected to be?". I don't really know what to say it's going to happen but one thing I know for sure: the Eastern Conference will be a lot stronger and the Cleveland Cavaliers have a new rivalry in D. Wade and the Chicago Bulls. I think this is going to be a very fun matchup between the two teams and it will be fun to watch even if you're not a fan.
The one thing I'm really sad about is that players like Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett are retired, or even Mo Williams. The game is going to miss those players but we have to move on because there's a lot of talent in this league that is worth watching. Another great thing is that today I was able to watch the media day from all around the NBA and I have to tell you that I was happy because from what I've seen, every player and every team are very eager to star the new season but at the same time they're very focused on the mission ahead of them. That and the new additions to every team will promise to deliver one of the most spectacular seasons yet. I truly believe that!
My expectations
It's going to be a great season, no doubt, but what is going to be when it's all said and done? I have a few ideas on what's going to happen. For example, I think that in the Western Conference the Spurs will still be a top 3 or top 4 team even though Tim Duncan is retired. The addition of Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warriors makes them a straight contender to the title but I think that this year Oklahoma City Thunder will have a better regular season record than the Warriors. Yes, I really think this is going to happen and I'm basing my assumption on karma. Haha! Moving on, I really like the Los Angeles Clippers, Chris Paul and Crawford being two of my favorite players ever. And the whole squad with Jordan, Griffin and Pierce would really deserve at least an Western Conference Finals appearance but we'll have to wait and see because the competition is fierce. As always in the Western Conference.
On the other hand, the Eastern Conference was always considered much weaker than the Western Conference but if we look on how things went last year you can say that the Eastern Conference is going to be stronger every year. You don't think so? Just look on how the Bulls and the Knicks got stronger. Even Atlanta Hawks now has Dwight Howard and who knows, maybe it will be a great addition to them and they will have a better record than last year. Don't get me started on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Sure, they haven't signed J.R Smith yet and Mo Williams has retired but while LeBron James and Kyrie Irving are on the team, they will be a contender. Oh an they have added Chris "Birdman" Andersen to the roster which gives them an defensive option from the bench and Mike Dunleavy is a great 3pt shooter which I think is going to help the Cleveland Cavaliers.
To make a prediction, I would say that the Western Conference Finals will be between Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors. The Eastern Conference Finals will be represented by the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls and eventually, the Finals will be a matchup of Cleveland against the Los Angeles Clippers. If you don't agree with me, that's Ok, tell me your version. Until then, let's play a waiting game!
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