NBA 2015 Playoffs Roundtable
The NBA's second season is here, and with it there are stars to be made, reputations to be tested and a champion to be crowned.
Bleacher Report's NBA Senior Writers Howard Beck, Ric Bucher, Kevin Ding, Ethan Skolnick and Jared Zwerling analyze the most compelling storylines and predict what the next few weeks have in store.
1. Who Has the Most to Prove?
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Beck: James Harden. We've seen him evolve from sixth man to All-Star to MVP candidate. But we haven't seen him lead the Rockets to the second round of the playoffs. In two postseasons with Houston, Harden has compiled a 4-8 record. Yes, the Rockets are limping into the playoffs without Patrick Beverley and Donatas Motiejunas. But the story of the Rockets' season has been about team resilience and Harden's dominance—the qualities the team pushed in promoting Harden for MVP.
That campaign will look awfully hollow if he's bounced in the first round for a third straight spring.
Bucher: Has to be the Warriors, in that they will be considered a disappointment if they don't meet the expectations set by being the league's best regular-season team by a long shot. Chances are good that they will take home multiple individual league awards as well, which is only going to further raise expectations. Every other team has a ready-made rationale for being less than the best—the Cavs aren't experienced enough, the Bulls, Blazers and Rockets all have been banged up, the Spurs' old legs couldn't manage a third straight trip to the Finals—but the Warriors seemingly have none.
Ding: Clippers. They've done a lot of contending and posturing and talking and even whining—and what an opportunity to back it up in the first round against the defending champion Spurs. And then to take advantage of that momentum as the playoffs go on and resume what Steve Ballmer started in the offseason...or not.
Skolnick: This is easy because since LeBron James played in his first playoff game in 2005, it has always been the same. Last season, I asked him when Kevin Durant would feel more pressure to win his first championship. "When I retire," James said. "When I retire. They're still talking about, am I going to win my third?" That doesn't change just because he changed primary addresses. After some early stumbles, James has his health and a quality, largely-connected cast of complementary parts. Now all he needs to do is end a city's half-century jinx.
Zwerling: Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. It's their first time in the playoffs. Will they step up to the challenge as LeBron's main sidekicks, like Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade did in Miami?
2. Who Will Emerge as an Unexpected Star in the Playoffs?
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Beck: Jeff Teague, Hawks. I know, he made the All-Star team this year, but true stardom comes in the playoffs, and this is Teague's first real chance to shine on the biggest stage. He's quick with the ball, an efficient scorer and smart playmaker, and unafraid of the big moments.
Bucher: Klay Thompson has done star-like things all season long, including that memorable 37-point quarter. He can make difficult shots, he seems blissfully unaware of the pressure in big moments and his game has become so layered that forcing him to attack the rim is no longer the panacea it once was. I'm also curious to see the role Nikola Mirotic plays for the Bulls. If Joakim Noah is in any way compromised by health, that will open up minutes sure to be shared by Taj Gibson and Mirotic. And if Derrick Rose plays like an MVP again could we, at this point, label it as "unexpected"? A case can be made.
Ding: Anybody that doesn't know how good Draymond Green is will know—and fall in love with his tenacious game (unless you're watching him for the first time because you're rooting for the team opposing Golden State). People should also come to appreciate Kyrie Irving more, and Dwight Howard will have a huge opportunity to redeem himself. And who wouldn't be surprised to see Paul Pierce dominate some games in that Wizards-Raptors series.
Skolnick: If you eliminate the 24 players who were named to the All-Star Game—including the alternates —and others who were up for major postseason awards (such as Green or DeAndre Jordan), there still are a few compelling possible characters. Terrence Jones is a breakout candidate, especially with Donatas Motiejunas done for the season for Houston. So is Mirotic, though it's hard to see how Tom Thibodeau finds him enough time for Chicago. But the choice here is DeMarre Carroll, the one Hawk who didn't make the All-Star game, but who has been as dynamic as any of his teammates since. The pending free agent will draw extra playoff duty now with backup Thabo Sefolosha out.
Zwerling: While Rookie of the Year candidates Nerlens Noel, Elfrid Payton and Andrew Wiggins will be sitting at home watching the playoffs, fellow standout rookie Mirotic, who's more seasoned at 24 years old, will be a difference-maker for the Bulls. He's a Sixth Man Award nominee who's averaged nearly 18 points in 28 minutes per game since March 1, while leading the team in steals (22) in the last 23 games.
3. Who Will Be the Biggest Disappointment?
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Beck: The Grizzlies. For a time, they looked like the greatest challenger to the Warriors' supremacy in the West. But the Grizzlies went 13-11 over the final seven weeks of the season, with an offense that ranked in the bottom third of the league. Mike Conley (foot) and Tony Allen (hamstring) missed the season finale, and their status for Game 1 of the playoffs is in doubt. If they can't play, or are hampered at all, the Grizzlies are in serious trouble.
Bucher: If the Atlanta Hawks struggle to get out of the first round and are summarily bounced in the second—which is a very real possibility—then it would certainly put a damper on one of the feel-good (albeit odd, what with their GM-in-absentia) stories of the year. With Thabo Sefolosha out and Paul Millsap dealing with a sprained shoulder, an early demise also wouldn't fully answer if a balanced team without a core of superstars can flourish outside of San Antonio. Better that they succeed and prove their regular-season success translates to the postseason in spite of their recent setbacks, than leave us wondering if, without those setbacks, the script would've been different.
Runner-up: the Clippers. They were deemed a $2 billion team. They were untethered from Donald Sterling. Shouldn't they somehow be better as a result?
Ding: After all the hype about a potentially fantastic 1-vs.-8 West series between the Warriors and the Thunder, it'll be unfortunate how lame the series between the Warriors and Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans will be. The Pelicans are the ultimate happy-to-be-there team, and it's not going to be competitive.
Skolnick: Several Bulls have this potential, but let's look to Washington, where the Wizards backcourt has backslid in the second half of the season, particularly Bradley Beal. The third-year guard's three-point shooting slipped from 43.6 percent prior to the All-Star break to 35.6 percent after it. Now Beal draws a difficult matchup in DeMar DeRozan. The Raptors guard, not known for his outside touch, is at 36.4 percent from deep since the All-Star break, while averaging 22.3 points per game. Beal may take the next step soon, but probably not in this series.
Zwerling: J.R. Smith. Will it be Good J.R. in each playoff series, or more Bad J.R.? That's the reputation he earned in New York for his inconsistency. Smith could emerge as the unexpected star, or he could be the biggest disappointment. The Cavaliers are going to need him to hit some of the biggest three-pointers in the playoffs and, of course, defend. So far, he's been better than advertised in Cleveland, but he's also a liability who can shoot himself out of the gym.
4. Whose Reputation Will Suffer the Most Damage?
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Beck: Chris Paul of the Clippers. Widely regarded as the best point guard in the game—during a golden age of point guards, no less—Paul nevertheless has little postseason success to show for his brilliance. He's never played in a conference finals and has been to the second round just three times in 10 years. Superstars carry an unfair burden when it comes to playoff failures; this is a team game, after all. But Paul has star help in Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, and a championship coach in Doc Rivers. At some point, he has to lead a team deeper into the spring to validate his career.
Bucher: Whether it's Mark Cuban or Rick Carlisle or Rajon Rondo, if the Mavericks make a quick exit—and everything right now points to that—a lot of reputations for being ahead of the curve in Big D will take a hit. I said from the start of the season that my belief that the disparate pieces the Mavericks assembled could be a dark-horse contender rested largely on Carlisle's ability to take a mixed bag of talent and get the most out of it. As of now, it feels as if he's still rooting through that bag trying to find the pieces that fit, and his fingers keep banging up against this rock-hard, sharp-edged object known as a Rondo.
Ding: Rondo is in put-up-or-shut-up time right off the bat with Dallas, which has the horses to beat Houston in the first round. Rondo has been living off the accomplishments of his more proven Boston teammates and playoff successes for a long time. Now, he has to be able to hit some jumpers and not be afraid to be fouled for free-throw shooting. After the season he just had, don't count on it.
Skolnick: Since his horrific 2012 NBA Finals with Oklahoma City, James Harden has elevated himself to elite status in Houston…in the regular season. In the postseason, he's scored plenty (26.3 and 26.8 the past two postseasons), but shot inefficiently (39.1 and 37.6 percent) and defended indifferently. If it happens again, he'll start getting tagged as the guy who doesn't show up when it matters.
Zwerling: Chris Paul. He's the leader of the Clippers who's been criticized for not coming through in the playoffs. And his team has not made it to the conference finals the past three years. Anything less this season will be a bigger disappointment for the talented Clippers, and it will start with Paul.
5. What's the Likeliest First-Round Upset?
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Beck: As tightly packed as the Western Conference teams were, it's hard to call anything an upset. But I do expect the sixth-seeded Spurs (who won 55 games) to upset the third-seeded Clippers (who won 56). The Spurs' depth and versatility will be too much for the Clippers, who are overly reliant on their two stars and still lack a respectable bench.
Bucher: Spurs-Clippers: They split the season series, but all four games took place in February or earlier, well before the Spurs got their ideal starting lineup healthy and collectively kicked into gear. The Clippers, of course, played better down the stretch as well, but I just don't see the offensive matchup that they can exploit to offset the Spurs' advantage in overall depth. It's far easier to see Big Baby, Spencer Hawes, Jamal Crawford or Austin Rivers making a back-breaking decision that costs the Clippers than Boris Diaw, Patty Mills, Manu Ginobili, Matt Bonner or Marco Belinelli doing the same to the Spurs, and on such things do playoff series turn.
Ding: Even though it is the higher seed (because of the archaic divisional system), Portland will surprise Memphis, which is more dependent on Conley's health than people realize. Even though the Blazers have injuries too, Conley won't be able to run the show the way the Grizzlies need to back up their home-court advantage.
Skolnick: This is a strange postseason, in that no series in the West—short of the Pelicans beating the Warriors—would be deemed a monumental upset (who's the favorite in Clippers vs. Spurs?), and neither of the two lower seeds in the East (Celtics or Nets) has any chance to advance. So that leaves either the Bucks over the Bulls or the Mavericks over the Rockets. Dallas could do it, with the chance that Dirk Nowitzki goes retro, Monta Ellis is electric and Chandler Parsons gets payback.
Zwerling: Mavericks over the Rockets. While the Rockets have James Harden and an improved defense this season, especially with Dwight Howard back recently, they have key injury-related absences in hard-nosed point guard Patrick Beverley and two-way power forward Donatas Motiejunas. On the flip side, the Mavericks have an experienced supporting cast and floor leader Rajon Rondo, who could help decide the series. And if we're going by history, he's had significant playoff success. Rondo is a triple-double threat alongside one of the best starting fives in basketball and a bench that ranks in the top 11 in points per game.
6. What Team Matchup Do You Most Want to See?
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Beck: Warriors-Spurs. The most fascinating moments in NBA history often come with the changing of the guard, and this feels like we may be poised for one of those moments, with the young and boisterous Warriors gunning to usurp the Spurs as the power of the West.
Bucher: Bulls-Cavs, with Derrick Rose presumably ready to unleash what he only gave us glimpses of during the regular season. How much vintage Rose will we see and for how long? A case could be made that no player looms larger in determining who wins the championship this year. On the other side: Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. How ready are they for the big stage and the kind of grinding series the Bulls are known for inspiring?
Ding: Killer second-round series setup: Bulls-Cavaliers. Will Rose be healthy and confident enough to win some of those games for the Bulls? Will Cleveland's defense be decent enough on key late-game plays when Chicago's swarming half-court defense creates close games by making it tough for LeBron James and Irving to get into the paint?
Skolnick: While the East's two likely second-round series have potential—LeBron trying to end another Bulls season, and Toronto trying to prove its 3-1 regular-season record against Atlanta wasn't an aberration—nothing would quite compare to a possible Western Conference finals between the Warriors and the Spurs. Two teams, coached by master and protege, that play beautiful basketball. Two teams battling to show they're not just the team of the past (Spurs) or future (Warriors), but the present.
Zwerling: LeBron vs. the Spurs, Part III. Vengeance on one side, or vindication on the other?
7. What Player Matchup Are You Most Anticipating?
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Beck: Steph Curry vs. James Harden. It's a near certainty that these two will finish 1-2 in the MVP race, so it's only right that we get to see them duel in a best-of-seven series (which would come in the conference finals, if both make it). Each guard is explosive in his own way—Curry with his rainbow shooting and his sneaky drives in and out of traffic, Harden with his step-back shots and the bold forays into the paint. (And yes, I realize that if the Warriors and Rockets meet, it means the Warriors and Spurs will not. Hey, you can't have everything.)
Bucher: I'll never tire of watching the State Farm face-off between Cliff Paul and Sebastian Curry, but Draymond Green versus Blake Griffin followed by Andrew Bogut and DeAndre Jordan are close seconds and thirds. So why isn't Clippers-Warriors my team matchup? Not as much intrigue. One, we've seen it, and two, the Clippers just don't seem quite as up for the fight this year.
Ding: Whoever is in Curry's path to the NBA Finals against Curry. Could be Paul, who was the runner-up on my official NBA MVP ballot to Curry—and embraces the opportunity to guard Curry. Paul's defense helped the Clippers eliminate the Warriors last season. If it's not the Clippers emerging to face Golden State, it could be Tony Parker and San Antonio—or in a less head-to-head sense, Harden and Houston.
Skolnick: It won't happen at the start, but the prospect of Kawhi Leonard checking Curry down the stretch is one of many reasons why Spurs-Warriors would be so mesmerizing. But, actually, Curry against anyone (Paul? Mike Conley? Damian Lillard? Kyrie Irving?) will do. It's a point guard league, and while Curry's the one currently breaking the most ankles and crushing the most dreams, plenty of guys want their turn.
Zwerling: LeBron James vs. Kawhi Leonard in potentially another Finals matchup—the NBA's most versatile scorer vs. arguably the league's best perimeter defender. Enough said.
8. What Coach Will Have the Biggest Impact on a Series?
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Beck: Mike Budenholzer, Atlanta. He's one of the NBA's better tacticians, and scouts rave about his after-timeout play-calling.
Bucher: It has to be David Blatt at some point, right? He's the biggest postseason neophyte with the highest expectations and, let's face it, a superstar who knows more than he does and isn't afraid to let the world know it.
Ding: Tom Thibodeau, even though no one even knows if Bulls management will bring him back next season, has to come up with schemes to flummox LeBron and Kyrie in the second round to make this a special season in Chicago.
Skolnick: The marquee coaching matchup in the first round is in the Clippers-Spurs series, with Doc Rivers versus Gregg Popovich, but it's also worth watching the first-time playoff coaches in this tournament— Brad Stevens, Steve Kerr and especially Blatt, whose every tactical decision and facial expression will be over-analyzed. Blatt has bristled of characterizations of him as a "rookie coach," but the playoffs are as different from the regular season as the regular season was from his European experience. How will he handle the adjustments and the pressure?
Zwerling: Popovich. There's not a coach who better prepares, orchestrates, manages and adjusts in a playoff series than Pop. He's coming off back-to-back Finals appearances and has five rings. As long as his core players are healthy, which they all are right now except for Tiago Splitter, Popovich can do his magic.
9. Who'll Win the East?
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Beck: Last fall, I firmly believed the Chicago Bulls were the best team in the East. They had the most top-to-bottom talent and the best collection of big men, plus the continuity and the dominant defense required to contend for titles. The Cavaliers were too unsettled, too new to each other. The Hawks, an afterthought. It's a three-team race now, with the Hawks dominating the regular season and the Cavs dominating the last three months. But I'm sticking with the Bulls, who are healthy again at last and back to defending at an elite level—posting the fourth-best defensive rating since March 15.
Bucher: Prevailing wisdom says the Cavaliers, and I have no other wisdom to draw upon at the moment. There are plenty of reasons to believe they could be stopped short by either the Hawks or Bulls, but those reasons haven't been apparent for more than a month. Will LeBron's lack of faith in David Blatt raise its head under postseason pressure? Will Kyrie and Love's lack of postseason experience show itself? Will the heavy usage and attempt to reach a fifth consecutive Finals finally do in LeBron? All possibilities, but every other team in the East has just as many question marks. The difference is that none of them have been on the roll the Cavs have for nearly three months now.
Ding: Given how unclear it is if the Cavaliers and Hawks are ready for greatness, the Bulls have a great opportunity. Detractors question Cleveland's defense, chemistry and the playoff experience of its stars. Doubters ask if the Hawks have another gear of excellence that superstars shift into. Chicago's style fits well with what playoff games usually turn into, and the Bulls are healthy enough to perform and improve as the playoffs go on.
Skolnick: LeBron James. Oh, and the Cavaliers, too. But this is really about James, who is 16-2 in his past four first rounds (and now gets to go against a green team in Boston), has bounced the Bulls in two of those seasons (and will likely get them in the second round) and will likely be too much for Atlanta, especially because he'll be fresher than he's been for previous Eastern Conference finals, having played 384 fewer minutes than in any non-lockout season of his career. It's been said that the Eastern Conference goes through him, but that's not true. He goes through it, to the Finals.
Zwerling: The Cavaliers. I think Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving will step up, and I believe in the Cavaliers' improved defense entering the playoffs, anchored by James on the perimeter and Timofey Mozgov manning the middle. While the Hawks' offense is unique, like the Spurs', James' teams have been to the Finals the past four years—and even when he got there in 2007, his main sidekicks were simply Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. It's James and Co.'s to lose once again.
10. Who'll Win the West?
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Beck: Warriors. This was once a six- or seven-team race, but it feels like it's coming down to two: the old guard (Spurs) and the rising young power (Warriors). I'll never underestimate the Spurs. And I do wonder about the Warriors making the leap from first-round losers to conference champs in one year. It's rare. But the Warriors have the talent, the depth, the chemistry and the experience to make a title run. They have "team of destiny" written all over them. (Also, I'd like a week in the Bay Area in June.)
Bucher: I may not be giving enough weight to the Warriors gearing down after clinching the best record, but their defense has slipped considerably the last couple of weeks, especially on after-timeout plays, so I'm going to go with the Spurs. If there's any team that remains in Golden State's collective head, it is San Antonio, and being the only team to beat the Warriors twice this season only enforces it.
Ding: The Warriors are the only team that you know can and will win games multiple ways. If their three-pointers aren't falling one night, they can have Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala make tide-turning defensive plays. That's why they so rarely were challenged all season long.
Skolnick: The team that's been the best all season—and has no obvious holes. The Warriors have three exceptional defenders in their starting lineup, another coming off the bench, the two most lethal shooters in the league (with apologies to the lower-volume Kyle Korver), a coach who masterfully managed their minutes (Stephen Curry, if named regular-season MVP, would do so on fewer minutes per game than any other MVP in history) and a building that was loud even when the team was bad. Even for those of us who picked the Spurs at season's start, it's hard to choose anyone else.
Zwerling: The Spurs, who are 21-4 since the end of February. I envision Spurs-Warriors in the conference finals, with the defending champs winning. They have a ton more experience, the most unique offense in the game today with versatility at different positions, and they defend. Kawhi Leonard will be key guarding Curry and/or Klay Thompson. I'm wary of not only the Warriors' over-reliance on three-pointers and their sloppy turnovers at times, but also Steve Kerr's first time coaching in the playoffs. Erik Spoelstra, even with his Finals experience, had no answers for Gregg Popovich's creative game-planning and clever adjustments last year.
11. Who'll Win the Title and Who Will Be Named Finals MVP?
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Beck: The Warriors, with Stephen Curry (duh) as the Finals MVP. Did I mention the team of destiny thing? But let's be clear: This is the most wide-open race we've had in years, even if most pundits are projecting a Warriors-Cavs Finals. This Warriors team has never been to the conference finals. It's untested. (The same goes for the Cavs and Hawks.) The Spurs could absolutely repeat. The Clippers and Rockets are strong enough to make a run, if the Warriors falter. In the East, any of the three top teams could emerge, though I fully expect the champion to again come from the West.
Bucher: Certain storylines write themselves after a certain point. If it's a LeBron-Spurs Finals—er, Cavs-Spurs Finals—it's hard to see a result different than last year's LeBron-Spurs—errr, Heat-Spurs Finals. Spurs win and Kawhi Leonard is the one who gives LeBron fits and thereby exposes what he doesn't have around him. I can't help but think the Spurs would have an easier time with the Cavs than they did with the Heat, but the formula is the same: Their depth and versatility win out, and while Tim Duncan has been, is and always will be the most important player San Antonio has until he hangs it up, Leonard plays the most visible role in their success.
Ding: One underreported element to the playoff picture is that the Warriors (easily) earned home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, and their home-court advantage at Oracle Arena in Oakland is possibly the best in the league. It's uniquely intense in there, almost raw, from Warriors fans. It'll be a huge part of the NBA Finals.
Skolnick: Klay Thompson has a chance to pull a Tony Parker, taking an NBA Finals MVP away from his more heralded teammate. But the odds are that Curry holds him off, while also outlasting James and the Cavaliers. Cleveland is nearly equal to Golden State offensively, but not on the other end. And while the Cavaliers controlled Thompson and Curry in late February (10-of-30 shooting), it's harder to see that happening four times, and especially not in a seventh game in Oakland. The Warriors have a few more good options (Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston) to throw at James than the Cavaliers have to try to corral Curry. Or Thompson, for that matter.
Zwerling: The Spurs and Leonard, once again. It's easy to say because the East is weak, but the Cavaliers, if they should make it, will have a smoother ride to the Finals than any team in the West. And it's easy to say the Spurs, with their older age, won't be able to last through June. But they have the past two years. The Spurs, always finding a way, will get back to the Finals and teach the Cavaliers, most of whom are in their first season together, what it will take to win on the biggest stage—just like James' Heat team experienced in 2011.
12. We'll Remember the 2015 Playoffs as the Year of ______ ?
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Beck: We stopped tolerating a flawed playoff system. There seems to be some momentum for addressing the longstanding imbalance between East and West, and for adopting a playoff structure that ensures the best teams make the postseason. Let's at least hope this is the last time we see two losing teams (Brooklyn and Boston) make the playoffs in the East, while a winning team with an MVP candidate (Oklahoma City) is shut out and sent to the draft lottery.
Bucher: Proving that scoring big men still matter. Yes, three-point shooting is a vital part of the equation; no, this isn't a screed on live-by-the-three, die-by-the-three. But winning 16 postseason games still requires being able to score in the paint as well, and while dribble penetration is one way, having a big man or two who can get points simply with a move or two remains the most reliable way over the course of a grinding series.
Ding: The Warriors are scheduled to move to San Francisco in 2018, with the idea of being a true large-market power like the Knicks and Lakers. But their fans will all look back to this season, when the crazies in Oakland, who suffered through so much losing, were rewarded and things really turned around for the franchise.
Skolnick: The end of the current playoff structure. Hopefully, anyway. The division designations have long been obsolete, and the conference imbalance can no longer be called cyclical, not when the eighth seed in the West has had a better record than the eighth seed in the East for 16 straight seasons. (And this season, the Thunder missed the playoffs in the West with a record that would have earned them the sixth spot in the East.) It's time to either kill the conference format entirely, or at least disqualify any team that finishes below .500.
Zwerling: Stephen Curry has created the biggest buzz this season with his ridiculous behind-the-back moves and flick-of-the-wrist three-pointers. He's dominated social media and Vine videos—like one recent clip of him hitting 77 threes in a row during practice—and that should continue deep in the playoffs.
13. What Non-Playoff Story Will Divert Our Attention?
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Beck: The palace intrigue in Chicago. The divide between Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau and the Bulls' front office is well documented, and there's been a strong sense around the league that these parties are heading inevitably toward a breakup. The deeper the Bulls go in the postseason, the more scrutiny there will be on their interpersonal dynamics. The moment they stumble, the speculation will ramp up. And if they're eliminated anytime before the Finals, expect fireworks to follow.
Bucher: The easiest answer is the coaching carousel involving teams such as Denver and Orlando and how candidates on current staffs (Bulls head coach Thibodeau and Warriors assistant coach Alvin Gentry) could factor into what they do and when they do it. The next is the sale of the Atlanta Hawks.
The one that could send the biggest shock waves, though, would be a PED scandal. In the wake of the rash (again) of positive PED tests in Major League Baseball, it's striking how the NBA has evaded a similar rash; after all, every other major sport has had its faction of players who decided to see if they could get away with it. Is the NBA policy that discouraging? Are NBA players more honest than their baseball and football counterparts? If a whistleblower or a disgruntled associate is going to pull back the covers, history shows it generally happens when a sport is enjoying its greatest visibility—which, for the NBA, is now.
Ding: Free agency is going to be omnipresent. If the Clippers don't get past the first round after so many years with him, will DeAndre Jordan leave? Same for Memphis and Marc Gasol and Portland and LaMarcus Aldridge to a lesser extent. If the Cavaliers don't win the championship, will Kevin Love leave?
Skolnick: The same one that always does: pending free agency. The list of premium players who can become available—Gasol, Love, Aldridge—isn't as long as in past seasons, and many of the top talents are likely to sign one-year deals in advance of the flood of television money in the summer of 2016. Still, the futures of those three players in particular will be primary topics of conversation, especially if the Grizzlies or Trail Blazers are eliminated early or, in the Cavaliers' case, earlier than expected.
Zwerling: For now, the ongoing Chris Copeland and Thabo Sefolosha investigation. Other notables: the Knicks and Lakers' offseasons and the lead-up to the NBA draft.
14. What Dominoes Are There to Watch After Playoff Exits?
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Beck: We could certainly see coaching changes in Chicago and Washington. But the real intrigue will come later, in free agency. If the Grizzlies are bounced early, will Marc Gasol consider other options in July? Just how far do the Cavs have to go to convince Kevin Love to stay? Do Rajon Rondo and Rick Carlisle really want to stay together in Dallas?
Bucher: Specific dominoes? Randy Wittman is not expected to remain as Wizards coach if they don't make a deep run; I'd think the same applies to David Blatt with the Cavs. If the Spurs get their coveted back-to-back titles, do Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan ride off into the sunset? Rumors persist that Love could leave Cleveland regardless of how far the Cavs go. And knowing the impatience of the Warriors' ownership, don't be surprised if they make a change or two should they not make it at least to the conference finals.
Ding: What will Love, entering his first NBA playoffs, do if the Cavaliers exit early? Even before that, how are things going for Love as Blatt develops his playoff attack? Is he just being used as an offensive weapon in the opening minutes of the game and then just a floor spacer after that?
Skolnick: There won't be anything as significant on the player side as LeBron James, after losing to the Spurs in the 2014 NBA Finals, leaving the Miami Heat behind. But there are certain to be some changes in the coaching ranks, particularly if Houston (Kevin McHale) or Washington (Randy Wittman) gets eliminated in the first round. Also, watch Chicago, where anything short of a championship may not keep Tom Thibodeau coaching for Gar Forman and John Paxson…and even that might not repair their fractured relationship.
Zwerling: Will Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Popovich retire? Will Love bounce from Cleveland? Will Rondo be destined for the Lakers? Will Thibodeau look for another job? Will Wittman get fired? Will Gasol feel compelled to start anew in New York? Those are just some of the burning questions.
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