The NBA season is upon us once again and once again there is no shortage of storylines to focus on.  From LeBron taking his talents to L.A. to the Jimmy Butler drama in Minnesota to D.Wade’s last season in Miami. It is great to have the NBA back!!

Now that King James has plotted his escape from Cleveland and found himself in L.A., there are many questions about how his 4-year reign will begin. How about how James will play with two other ballhandlers in Rajon Rondo and Lonzo Ball?  This is not even mentioning the rest of the, shall we say, eclectic talent that Magic Johnson assembled for the King’s court.  Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley, JaVale McGee and on and on.  Maybe not yet ready to challenge for a championship, but Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram will continue to develop and very soon the new-look Lakers could be a serious problem in the West.

DeMarcus Cousins is the latest addition to the Golden State crew and his new teammate Kevin Durant will tell anyone who listens that he is being disrespected and not being recognized as one of the best players in the world. No Kevin, we do recognize that you are one of the best that is why you on this team makes the league so top-heavy and lopsided.  If you can’t tell by my comments, I am suffering a bit from Warrior fatigue. Don’t get it twisted, I love their style of play and the unselfishness and ball movement and their sardonic head coach and just about everything else that they do, well besides all the weird emotional technical fouls the team tends to get – Cousins will fit right in there.  The problem is that I like competition and since Durant has joined this team, there hasn’t been much of any.  I don’t know how much the rest of the league can provide and I fear that the only team that will beat the Warriors are the Warriors themselves.  Until they part ways, that’s probably just how it’s going to be.

I have a confession to make. My favorite player in the league today is one Dwyane Wade.  I’m very glad that he came back for one last year and I’m hoping he can give us just a few last glimpses of Flash.  The Miami Heat will play hard and compete in every game and probably make a little bit of noise in the playoffs.  I’ll be paying close attention to the last days of D.Wade.  His #3 jersey number is appropriate, because he is the number 3 shooting guard of all time behind only Kobe and of course MJ.  Don’t believe me?  Go back and look at his stats for the 2006 Finals or the 2008 regular season or just take a look at what he did to Varejao back a few years ago. Hide the kids! (Copyright NBA)

He will be missed, so I’m going to enjoy his last dance.  If Minnesota wakes up and frees Jimmy Butler, the Heat may make one last magical run with Wade on the roster – possibly all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Speaking of Jimmy Buckets, here’s a recap of what’s going on in that situation. Back in the early part of the summer, albeit after the Twolves decided not to offer Jimmy Butler a huge contract extension, Butler told management that he wanted out and they should look to trade him.  The summer dragged on and so did the Twolves, thinking that by the time the season rolled around Butler’s competitiveness would make him play through his desire to move on.  That was a huge miscalculation and Butler is hot at everyone who kept him on the team, including management who pretty much reneged on a trade with the Miami Heat a couple of weeks ago that was virtually a done deal.  Butler responded by now infamously returning to the team in a practice to bust up the starting squad with a team of bench players and G-leaguers, all the while cursing players and management.  Not a good look for anyone, but the man told them he wanted out way back in May.  He pretty much believes the other two “stars” on the team are soft as tissue.  Free Jimmy Buckets!!  Preferably to Miami!!

Let’s get this new season rolling or bouncing would be more appropriate. My predictions coming soon right here on this site.  Let me know what you’re looking forward to this season.