A New NBA Season Brings Leaves of Change

Ben Zimmer, Staff Writer

Around Halloween many people get different treats and candies, but for NBA fans around the world, they get something a little different – a brand new NBA season. And this new NBA season could be one of the most intriguing and unique ones we’ve seen in a long time.

This could be a great season for several good reasons; the first of which is due to new faces in new places around the league. The biggest free agent splashes this offseason were headlined by Kevin Durant leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder to take his talents to the defending Western Conference Champions, the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors already have 2-time MVP Steph Curry, sharpshooter Klay Thompson, and every-man Draymond Green, so this could be a team of the ages.

This move by KD was met by harsh criticism, which is justifiable due to the Warriors already breaking the all-time win-loss record which is now set at 73-9. Some other notable additions around the league were Joakim Noah signing with and Derrick Rose being traded to the New York Knicks, Dwight Howard heading to his hometown team, the Atlanta Hawks, and Dwyane Wade along with Rajon Rondo heading to the Chicago Bulls to accompany rising star Jimmy ‘Buckets’ Butler. All of these along with other signings could influence one of the biggest roster shake-ups we’ve ever seen.

Another big question entering this season is, ‘Who will win the League’s Most Valued Player Award?’ Some think it could be James Harden or Steph Curry (again) but local WHB freshman Michael Tomaro believes different. He said, “Russell Westbrook will win the MVP, due to Kevin Durant leaving OKC, he’ll have the ball even more in his hands and he’ll succeed.”

Due to more players leaving their old teams and signing for big money in other places, there have been significant roster shake-ups. This means that teams that weren’t in contention last year now have a fighting chance to sneak into the playoffs in the spring.  Teams like the Knicks as well as the, “Timberwolves because they have such young talent, where Karl Anthony-Towns can have his breakout year alongside Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins, and rookie Kris Dunn,” predicts Michael.

All of these questions plus many more will be answered over the course of this new and intriguing NBA season, and if you’ve never really been a fan of basketball this year could be the best chance to see what a great NBA season looks like.