Breaking Down the Top 4 Stories Heading into the 2014 NBA Training Camps
The 2014-2015 NBA season is right around the corner, and the upcoming 2014 NBA training camps will be our first impression of how the year is likely to go.
There are numerous storylines that we will be watching, but a few are just so enticing that they are sure to dominate the coverage during training camp. These stories are more question marks at this point, but we can begin to see how the season will come together by looking at these four stories.
Story 1: the Cleveland Cavaliers and Their "Big Three"
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It goes without saying that the biggest headline of this offseason, the re-signing of LeBron James by the Cleveland Cavaliers, will continue to be the biggest story of this season.
Training camp will be no different. All eyes will be on James and his new teammates Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. The questions will range from how well they gel as a unit to how many championships James is predicting from this group (not five, not six).
Lebron seems to be the one given of this group, this biggest question is how well the other two pieces of the new "Big Three" will gel with the NBA's best player. Kyrie Irving has been the lead player in Cleveland since the day he arrived, which ironically coincides with Lebron James departure from Cleveland. It will be interesting to see if Irving can develop into a better player simply from not having the burden of being the focus of the Cavs offense.
Irving should benefit from opposing defenses not being able to key on him exclusively.
Kevin Love comes from a similar situation, one in which he is used to opposing defenses attending to him as the focal point of his team's offense. Love averaged 26.1 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists last year on a team that lacked any other marquee player. How will he fair this year when opposing defenses must account for James and Irving? Signs point to greater efficiency in exchange for lower scoring numbers, an outcome that would likely mean success for the Cavaliers.
Another less obvious story line for this "Big Three" is how James will play with younger, high-profile players. With Miami's Big Three, LeBron was the youngest player in the group. This is not to say that he didn't assert himself because of some age pecking order. It's to acknowledge that he was not required to motivate and lead those players.
It will be interesting to see how James embraces his newfound role as the unquestioned leader of an NBA franchise.
2: the Highly Anticipated Return of Kobe Bryant
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The 2013-2014 Los Angeles Lakers were terrible, losing a franchise record 55 games and missing the playoffs for only the fifth time in franchise history. They were without future Hall of Famers Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant, two figures who will be returning this season.
Bryant, 36, is coming off surgery for a torn Achilles, and the question on every fan's mind is simple: "What does an aging, recently injured Kobe bring to the table?"
Nobody doubts the fire and competitiveness that the five-time NBA champ possesses, but how much physical prowess does he have left? If anyone can bounce back from this situation, it's Bryant. As Phil Jackson told the New York Post's Steve Selby, Bryant is the hardest training athlete he coached:
"No. No one can approach that. I don’t expect anybody to be able to model their behavior after that, although Kobe modeled his behavior a lot about Michael Jordan, but he went beyond Michael in his attitude towards training, and I know Mike would probably question me saying that, but he did.
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Any guy who works harder than Michael Jordan at anything has the tools to return to greatness.
Bryant will be returning to a team that is no better than the one he left, having lost Pau Gasol to free agency and replacing him with Julius Randle, a rookie, and the 32-year-old Carlos Boozer. The pressure will be on for the Laker great to lead this team to the playoffs, but he will have to do it with limited talent and coming off a very serious injury.
3: The Indiana Pacers Without Paul George and Lance Stephenson
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The Indiana Pacers were not happy that they lost Lance Stephenson this offseason, but they were okay with it based on the notion that they still had Paul George.
But George went down in August with a horrific leg injury, and it may have donned on the Pacers just how much they had riding on their superstar.
The now-missing duo accounted for 36 percent of the Pacers' points, 39 percent of their assists and 49 percent of their three-point field goals last season. Replacing that kind of production would be nearly impossible for any team, but the Pacers were a team lacking in offensive firepower before the loss of these two players.
Neil Greenberg of The Washington Post goes a step further and shows how much worse the Pacers have been without George since drafting him:
"Since being drafted 10th overall in the 2010 NBA draft, the Pacers have a net rating of plus-5.6 during the regular season when George was on the court and minus-1.5 when he was on the bench for a plus-7.1 differential. In the playoffs, that number balloons to plus-16.4.
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The scoring load, and the team's success, now falls onto the back of 34-year-old David West. West has excelled with the Pacers as their best post scorer, but how will he fair without the spacing provided by their departed or injured shooters?
It will be interesting to see where the Pacers will turn to lighten the load on West and try to contend in the Eastern Conference. Will they succeed or will this be a return to the lottery for the franchise?
4: the Play of High-Profile Rookies
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Every year, a lot of attention is paid to the top draft picks from the previous NBA draft.
This year will be no different, but we may have increased attention and more players to pay attention to thanks to one of the deepest and most talented drafts since the heralded 2003 draft. The 2003 draft gave us the stories of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade to follow, and this year we have a similar quartet of possible superstars in Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Aaron Gordon and Dante Exum.
And that group doesn't even include the injured Joel Embiid.
Wiggins will be joining a Wolves squad that now lacks a go-to scorer, thanks to the departure of Kevin Love, and will be looking to the first overall pick to fill that void. Wiggins has all of the physical tools to be a superstar, but is he ready to take on the burden of leading a team?
Jabari Parker joins a Milwaukee Bucks squad that has a core of young players that relies on freak athleticism and size to compete, a stark contrast to the fundamentally sound Parker. Parker doesn't lack athleticism, he just doesn't rely on it. It will be interesting to see how Parker fits in with this group, and see just how much better the Bucks can be with a real scorer.
Aaron Gordon was talked about as possibly dropping out of the top 10 prior to the draft, which made it all the more surprising when the Orlando Magic took him with the fourth overall pick. Gordon now has the pressure of being a top-five pick on a team that already has Tobias Harris, Channing Frye and Maurice Harkless at the forward spots. If he cannot produce he will undoubtedly be lost on the bench.
Dante Exum is making the jump from playing against Australian high school players to competing against the best basketball players in the world. The young point guard struggled with this transition during the NBA Summer League, mixing jaw-dropping plays with a number head-scratchers.
With incumbent point guard Trey Burke—himself a top-10 pick—waiting in the wings, Exum will be on a short leash and likely playing a good bit of shooting guard. Will Exum show more of the superathletic plays that have Jazz fans salivating? Or will they spend all their time bemoaning two straight first-round picks of point guards?
