6 Newcomers to the 2015 NBA Playoff Field That Everyone Should Be Watching

The NBA playoffs aren't often a showcase for first-timers, but a handful of talents embarking on their maiden postseason voyages this year could provide just as much excitement as the more seasoned regulars.

For starters, there simply aren't many newcomers in these playoffs. Twelve of the 16 teams involved in last year's festivities are back for more, with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans Pelicans representing the only new entries.

What the field lacks in neophyte quantity, however, it makes up for in quality.

For example, if you're not absolutely riveted by the prospect of watching Anthony Davis impose his will and wingspan on games that actually matter, you'd better check your pulse. And if the idea of seeing what established regular-sesaon stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love can do when the lights get a little brighter, well, I'm not sure what to say.

Whether it's fair or not, we always cite postseason performances when judging NBA legacies. This year, we'll get to see some fascinating figures try to make the first entries in their playoff history books memorable. These newbies have a golden (but also terrifying) opportunity to prove themselves or fail, and we'll all be looking on intently.

Honorable Mentions

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Isaiah Thomas, Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics face a serious challenge in their first-round draw, so it's a good thing they've got a playoff newcomer capable of swinging a game or two by himself.

Isaiah Thomas is among the league's most dangerous blink-and-he's-got-20 scorers. One hot fourth-quarter surge from him and maybe the Celtics steal one from the vastly more talented, dramatically more experienced Cleveland Cavaliers.

Even if Thomas doesn't come through, you can be certain he'll start and finish his first playoff trip on his terms: gunning.

Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors

Because the Golden State Warriors leaped out to such a phenomenal start (and middle and finish) during the regular season, head coach Steve Kerr hasn't had to face much adversity. And whatever pressure there was to succeed as the replacement for a 51-game-winning coach, he erased by mid-November.

Now, the Warriors are among the league's top title favorites, and the concept that they'll be a disappointment if they fall short must be setting in. That's something Kerr hasn't dealt with before—not as a coach anyway.

He'll lean on copious championship experience from his playing career as he guides the Dubs to what should be a deep playoff run.

Other Notables

• Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks
• David Blatt, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Monty Williams, New Orleans Pelicans

Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans

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Some might say the Golden State Warriors came up rosiest on the final night of the regular season. Their playoff road got a whole lot smoother when the San Antonio Spurs lost to the New Orleans Pelicans and fell from second to sixth in the conference.

If San Antonio had stayed at No. 2 with a win, Golden State would have been in a similar position. But now, not only do the Dubs avoid the Spurs until the last possible juncture, but they also duck a potential Russell Westbrook explosion in the first round and will get either the banged-up Memphis Grizzlies or the beaten-down Portland Trail Blazers in the second.

That's a pretty big deal.

Also a big deal: the guy who orchestrated that Spurs slippage, Anthony Davis.

He'll take his historically high player efficiency rating (nobody his age has ever posted one above 30, per Basketball-Reference.com) and incalculably lofty ceiling into battle with the Dubs in a first-round series nobody expects the Pelicans to win.

But aren't those precisely the impossible odds we want to see someone like Davis, a once-in-a-generation megastar, face? Don't we crave the chance, however small, to watch him do something as seemingly impossible as giving the Warriors a scare?

In terms of individual talent, Davis has nothing left to prove. In a vacuum, he was probably the league's best player this past season.

His toughness is also beyond question, which we know because of the anecdote he offered on the Pellies' season finale, per Dan Devine of Yahoo Sports: "I don't know if people know — I dislocated my pinkie finger. And [Tyreke] told me, 'You wanna go home or you wanna be here?' I want to be here. And he said, 'All right, then go tape it up and let's play. Let's go. We not stoppin' at no stores. Straight gas. That's what we do, just keep going.'"

What we don't know yet is how Davis will respond to real pressure and real stakes, not to mention strategic adjustments in a series designed to take him out of the action.

We'll get our answers soon.

Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers

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You get a two-for-one here, as the playoff debuts of LeBron James' two main sidekicks share enough similarities to justify a combined entry.

Both Irving and Love have distinguished themselves as regular-season dynamos, with Love posting out-of-this-world individual stats during his time with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Irving adding "dominant All-Star Weekend performer" to his impressive resume over the years.

Both are ultra-skilled offensive forces, both are at or approaching their basketball primes and both have absolutely zero postseason experience.

Having James as a sherpa on their first playoff ascent will be supremely valuable. As long as he's there to guide them, Irving and Love are unlikely to stumble. And even if they do, it's not hard to envision a post-mortem breakdown on the Cavaliers' season that pegs James—and not them—as the main reason for coming up short.

That goes with the territory of being the alpha.

Irving has come into his own this season, while Love has struggled through back issues and an ill-fitting, minimal role as a spot-up shooter. For Cleveland to deliver on its championship potential, its two first-timers will have to play at least as well as they did during a terrific second half.

We know as much about Irving and Love as we can at this point. The regular season can't tell us any more.

We need to see them forge the next phase of their NBA careers in the postseason crucible.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Like the Milwaukee Bucks themselves, Giannis Antetokounmpo is young, has developed ahead of schedule and is liable to do something you've never seen before on a basketball court.

The second-year talent is impossibly long, possessing guard skills in a lanky power forward's frame—skills that help him fit perfectly in Milwaukee's switch-happy, passing-lane choking, turnover-creating defensive scheme.

That scheme produced the league's second-best defensive rating this year, according to NBA.com, and the only thing more invigorating than watching the Bucks approach defense in such a unique way was what happened when that defense wrested the ball from opponents.

Per Mike Prada of SB Nation: "The turnovers trigger the Bucks' transition game, which is deadly with Giannis Antetokounmpo and his long strides flying at defenders either with or without the ball. They need those turnovers badly, because the half-court offense can be a mess."

That's a pretty good nutshell summary of Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. They create chaos with a new-wave defensive model, then rely on their athleticism and youth to mask an otherwise unpolished offense.

Seeing Antetokounmpo stretch to deflect a pass or block a shot and then lope the length of the floor for a jam in four or five dribbles is a breathtaking sight. Watching him struggle to shoot and make decisions in the bogged-down half-court environment is uncomfortable.

But that's kind of the appeal of Milwaukee and Antetokounmpo. You're watching a team and its biggest talent find its way—sometimes messily, sometimes in a manner that screams, "This is the future of NBA basketball!"

It's a whole lot of flawed, beautiful fun.

Nikola Mirotic, Chicago Bulls

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The only thing more exciting than watching rookie Nikola Mirotic carry the Chicago Bulls on offense for a huge chunk of their season's second half is the prospect of how much better he might become as a secondary option.

Mirotic got a crash course in offensive primacy this past March, and he proved he could handle high-volume duties. But when Derrick Rose returned to the lineup and the Bulls' more established names (Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, to name three) got healthier, Mirotic lost some of his effective aggression.

He was trying to play the role of a rookie again—deferring, overthinking.

"'Niko, don't think,'" Mirotic said, explaining the directive his veteran teammates gave him April 13, per Nick Friedell of ESPN.com. "'Just shoot the ball because you're wide-open. Don't pump fake.' These guys, they're right. I just need to shoot because sometimes when I think, I miss the shots. When I don't think, I make it."

Mirotic didn't have to think for much of his March run because it was clear he was among the Bulls' only offensive options. He took tons of contested threes and barreled into the lane when defenders overcommitted. It was instinctive basketball from a highly skilled scorer.

If he rediscovers the confident approach that made him so effective in his stint as the offensive focal point, Mirotic could be a major key to Chicago's success. His better-than-expected defense has allowed him to stay on the floor against both forward positions, and there aren't many bigs who are comfortable chasing Mirotic out to the three-point line.

With Rose attacking the lane and Mirotic spacing the floor, the Bulls offense could get downright scary.

We know Mirotic can prop up an offense even when drawing the majority of defensive attention. What might he be able to do against defenses that have to worry about Rose, Butler and the rest of Chicago's increasingly healthy options?

Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics

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If any of this slide reads a little choppily, blame Brad Stevens.

It's really hard to get a good typing rhythm going in between slow claps for the job he's done with the Boston Celtics this year.

We've already lauded the Bucks for adding an unexpected postseason coda to a rebuilding campaign, but there's something particularly impressive about what Stevens has done. Boston's roster saw immense turnover as Celtics President Danny Ainge angled for future assets, and Stevens coached all comers, melding them into an intelligent, engaged unit that logged far more wins than the talent on hand suggested was possible.

Boston's inbound and after-timeout plays are among the best in the league, and its overall offensive scheme (defined by multiple floor-stretching frontcourt shooters and tons of off-ball movement) is on par strategically with many of the league's most effective systems. The only reason the Celtics ranked 20th in offensive efficiency this year was because they lacked guys who could make shots.

They took plenty of good ones.

The question now is: Can Stevens bring his obvious basketball acumen to bear in a seven-game series, where adjustments, strategy and approach matter more than they do in the regular season? On a related note, can he use his brains and motivational skills to scare the exceptionally talented Cavaliers and fellow NBA playoffs novice David Blatt?

Most likely, the Celtics will be out-gunned. But they won't be out-thought or outworked, which is a testament to Stevens.