1. Must-win season?
Don't look now, but that's Thunder rumbling in the distance
While there is talk of a dynasty after only one championship for Golden State and a former one renewed in San Antonio, is it possible an Oklahoma City team — with two of the NBA's best players, in a season that might mean everything for the franchise — is being overlooked?
Inconceivable, or so says Timberwolves interim coach Sam Mitchell.
"If Durant's healthy, no one's going to be overlooking OKC," Mitchell said. "Trust me."
To return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012, the Thunder, as Mitchell suggested, needs superstar Kevin Durant's fractured foot healed completely and it needs its players to adapt to new coach Billy Donovan — and vice versa — after nearly seven seasons spent with now fired coach Scott Brooks.
And all of it must happen in one short season: Durant becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Russell Westbrook nearly carried the Thunder to the playoffs by himself with a triple-double seemingly nightly. His team won 45 games and missed the playoffs on the final day.
Now he and Durant are surrounded by a supporting cast filled with size and shooters that includes Serge Ibaka, Enes Kanter, Dion Waiters, D.J Augustin and Anthony Morrow, among others.
"They've got two MVP candidates on their team," Mitchell said. "They're going to be good, trust me."
2. Warriors' title defense to start without Steve Kerr on the sidelines
Golden State coach Steve Kerr will receive his championship ring when they are awarded to players and coaches at the Warriors' season opener Tuesday night against New Orleans.
He just won't be there on the sideline when the ball gets tossed up.
This NBA season begins with Kerr on indefinite medical leave. Assistant Luke Walton will start the season as head coach while Kerr recovers from two summertime back surgeries.
Warriors GM Bob Myers says Kerr won't be absent.
"Steve's not gone," Myers told Bay Area reporters recently. "You might not see him on the sideline. But his voice will still resonate with Luke and the rest of the staff. He's there. He just can't be head coach."
3. Did you know: A three-pointer is worth more than a two?
Houston set an NBA record by making 933 three-point shots last season. It's a fair bet that it won't last beyond this season in a league now shaped by mathematics and statistical analytics.
The three-pointer has — and is — changing the game, increasingly used as a weapon every season since 2012. It's an arms race led last season by the Rockets, Golden State, L.A. Clippers and Cleveland — three of four playoff semifinalists — in which the Wolves are struggling to keep up.
The Wolves' best legit three-point threat is veteran guard Kevin Martin, who is expected to come off the bench because Mitchell likes his scoring there.
"We think our guys who are out there are pretty good shooters," said Mitchell, whose team was last in three-pointers made last season. "We'll see. We'll know Oct. 28."
4. There's a new mayor in Chi-Town
He was The Mayor in his hometown of Ames, Iowa, a beloved coach who turned around his alma mater's basketball during five years on the job there.
So how did former Timberwolves player and front-office executive Fred Hoiberg get here, back to the NBA as the new coach of the Chicago Bulls?
The year-round demands of college coaching probably had something to do with it. So, too, did his history once playing for the Bulls and his longtime friendship with Bulls GM Gar Forman.
He was hired in June to replace fired Tom Thibodeau, a move in which the Bulls replaced Thibodeau's intense, defensive approach with Hoiberg's cool and fun-loving offense.
Hoiberg said the chance to coach at the game's highest level — in a league where he played 10 years and spent another four years in the Wolves' front office — with a team that can contend for a title swayed him. He's getting Derrick Rose back ready in time for the opener, albeit on limited minutes.
"I had a great situation at Iowa State, and it was an awesome five years," he said. "But this was such a great opportunity."
5. Playoff format changed: It was broke, they fixed it
The NBA intended its unbalanced scheduled and divisional alignment would promote regional rivalries, but last spring all it did was create an outcry when the 56-win L.A. Clippers and 55-win San Antonio met in a first-round series because 51-win Portland received a top-four seed after winning the Northwest Division.
So the league changed its procedures. Each conference's top eight teams now will be seeded in order of regular-season record. It also has changed tiebreak criteria for seeding and home-court advantage by making head-to-head results the first tiebreaking factor. The second now is whether a team won its division.
