15 Assumptions You Shouldn't Make About the NBA Season Ahead

I think we can all feel it in the air. The NBA is back!

Like many of you, I am getting tired of the preseason games and just want to see some real games being played. Games that really matter.

I'm also pretty sure that everyone reading this has some very clear predictions as to how the season is going to go. Which teams will dominate, which players will improve, things like that.

Well, I have a list of 15 things you should not be so confident about, so here it goes.

Vinny Del Negro Will Become a Good Coach

"Practice makes perfect" is an old saying, and we are going to see the same old Vinny Del Negro this year.

Questionable lineups? Yeah.

Lack of player improvement? Check.

Blown leads and crushed expectations? Definitely.

Del Negro has been a coach for four years now, and the only time his record improved was when he was given a better team. He never could make a team play better than its potential, only worse.

Lob City wasn't something he created, it was something he admired like the rest of us. Maybe one day Vinny will become a great coach, but that's really hard to picture from where I am sitting right now.

Anthony Davis Is a Lock for Rookie of the Year

Davis was the first pick of the NBA draft and is an Olympic Gold Medalist, but he is in no way a lock for the Rookie of the Year award.

Unlike last year, this is a very deep draft with a lot of talent and potential in it. Last season, Kyrie Irving was the favorite and Ricky Rubio was the only other rookie to contend with him.

This year, on the other hand, Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, Terrence Jones and others are just as capable as Davis of winning this award. It's going to be a tight race, and the odds are against Davis.

He might very well win, but it should be far from expected.

The Spurs Are Done

This is a prediction that is made nearly every year. How can the Spurs keep on getting older, but keep on winning?

Well, the answer lies in Gregg Popovich, and as long as he is the coach, they will keep on winning. They have their core in Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker with some promising young pieces around them.

Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter and DeJuan Blair have proven to be solid players and could develop to be very good starters.

This team is going to stay right where they are.

The Bobcats Will Stop Being Terrible

Not yet. The Bobcats made some improvements this year, but this team is in no way losing games. They won't repeat last year's performance, but they won't be far off.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist could be a very good player, but he is not the type of guy that can turn a team around by himself.

Ramon Sessions is not a good replacement fro DJ Augustin, and the team is pretty much the same as last year. Eventually this team will climb out of the gutter, just not right now.

The Wizards Are Missing the Playoffs

I am not saying this is not going to happen, but don't expect to see the Wizards at the bottom of the East this year. If everything goes right, they could very well hold the final playoff spot when all is said and done.

With John Wall and Bradley Beal in the backcourt, the Wizards could finally have the explosive offense they have been striving for.

Throw in Nene and an improved Jan Vesely, and this team could shock everyone in 2013.

Flopping Rules Won't Be Stricly Enforced

Since it's the very first year of the flopping rules, some might think they aren't going to be heavily enforced. Stern has made it clear he hates flopping, so don't expect him to take it easy on the players this year.

There will be plenty of fines, and there will be plenty of suspensions. The NBA's image has taken a hit ever since flopping made it into our dictionary, and Stern wants to get rid of it.

It's his last full season as commissioner and he will make the most of it.

Ibaka's Block Numbers Will Drop off

It's not ridiculous to think that someone who averaged 3.6 blocks a game is going to get worse, but it won't be Ibaka. He is still 23 years old, and while his athletic ability remains, his basketball IQ is going up.

As he becomes smarter and continues being an exceptional athlete, he will continue getting an insane number of blocks.

Don't be surprised when he is leading the league in rejections from a very early point in the season.

Steve Nash's Age Will Show

On February 7, Steve Nash will turn 39 years old. You would expect to see a huge drop in production at some point, but Nash has defied all expectations.

Those who expect him to finally start slowing down this season will be very disappointed. A change of scenery can hurt a player's production, it won't hurt Nash's.

There Will Be a Lack of Big Trades

The NBA usually has one or two exciting trades every year, but the majority of them don't involve any great players.

This season, expect some pretty good players to move on. Eric Gordon, Rudy Gay and Marcus Thornton are just a few names who could see themselves in another jersey this season.

We already saw one big trade just a few days ago when James Harden was traded to Houston for Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb. Expect some big moves this year, especially by contending teams.

The Knicks Are Done Underperforming

On paper, the New York Knicks should be right behind the Miami Heat in the East. Instead, the Brooklyn Nets could very well be the best team in New York.

Their roster was built with the wrong principles in mind, and they are now trying to fix their mistakes by desperately signing whoever they can. Jason Kidd is the type of point guard the Knicks need, but he is 39 years old.

Marcus Camby is a good addition, but he is 38. Rasheed Wallace is 38 as well and coming out of retirement.

The Knicks went from a talented underperforming team to a talented, underperforming old team. Not the turn Knicks fans wanted.

Showtime Is Back

It's very easy to fall into this trap when Steve Nash, Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant are on the roster.

If this was year two of this new Big Three, then I could see some Showtime, but not in the first season. Chemistry is an important factor and this is an amazing group of players; it's just not an amazing team yet.

The longer they player together, the better they are going to become, but don't expect a historic season out there in LA.

The Heat Are Done Dominating

Coming off of a championship, some might expect LeBron and company to slow down a little bit, but not me. One is not enough, neither is two, or three, or four...

LeBron wants more, Wade wants more and the entire city of Miami wants more. The Heat showed us what they can be when they can build chemistry and deal with injuries.

Now they have chemistry, a ring and they are healthy. I don't look forward to seeing the Heat demolish my favorite team.

Derrick Rose Will Play This Season

Derrick Rose is a warrior and I will not be put on record questioning his work ethic. However, his style of play relies heavily on quick moves, high vertical and an unstoppable motor.

Coming off of a torn ACL, those aspects of his game will have to be replaced with fundamentals and smarts. He could very well be in good enough shape to come back, but do the Bulls really need him?

Rose will not start and will most likely get time off the bench, but the Bulls will be near the bottom of the Conference, and might be better off taking a few more losses.

It won't be a popular decision, but the Bulls need to do what's best for them.

There Are Only Three Teams in the Championship Hunt

Ask 10 NBA fans to name their Championship favorite, and chances are they will answer Oklahoma City Thunder, Miami Heat or Los Angeles Lakers.

It's understandable. Miami are the current champs, the Thunder were the runner-ups, and the Lakers are loaded with Hall of Fame talent.

What many forget is this is the NBA, and anything can go down. The Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs fly under a lot of championship radars, but they have the ability to win it.

The Nuggets have a very well-rounded team and the addition of Andre Iguodala is huge, while the Celtics and Spurs only have a few more years left in them.

We could easily see a Nuggets-Celtics Final this year, no matter how odd this might read to most fans. Not saying they are the favorites, they just shouldn't be written off like they don't exist.

LeBron James Is Going to Slow Down

There are very few players currently in the league who I would describe as legends. LeBron James is one of those few players.

After winning his first ring, the haters have grown thin in numbers, but LeBron will now get to play without anything weighing him down.

He doesn't need to focus on winning rings, he just needs to go out there and play. He could very well have the greatest individual season in NBA history. I doubt many would be surprised.

Thank you for reading and please leave a comment below with your thoughts!