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As the NBA season tips off on Tuesday, The Post’s lead hoops writers — Stefan Bondy, Brian Lewis and Mike Vaccaro — ask and answer the key questions.
1. The biggest storyline of the NBA season is going to be ______
BONDY: The fate of Giannis Antetokounmpo. If the Bucks struggle — I’d say that’s likely — the league will be on the Giannis Watch until the Feb. 5 trade deadline. And if Antetokounmpo sticks with the Bucks, we’ll restart the watch in the summer.
LEWIS: Giannis Antetokounmpo. Again. Stop us if you’ve heard this before. Yes, he’ll open the season in Milwaukee, but if the Bucks start slowly (very possible, even in the weak East), then what? This story crops back up, and — barring a LeBron James retirement — is the biggest in the league right through the deadline, or even all the way into the summer.
VACCARO: How the Lakers transition from being LeBron’s team to being Luka’s team.
2. This team will be better than expected
BONDY: The Spurs. Victor Wembanyama is back and ready to resume his ascension to megastardom. De’Aaron Fox is expected to return from his hamstring injury. Stephon Castle looks legit. If they’re healthy, the Spurs are returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
LEWIS: Golden State is expected to be solid, with an over/under wins total of 47.5 by FanDuel and 45.5 by BetMGM. But few seem to realize just how good they were with Jimmy Butler last season, winning at a 76.7 percent clip with him in the lineup. That equates to 63-19.
VACCARO: The Celtics. They aren’t elite without Jayson Tatum. But there’s still enough there to be much better than people think.
3. This team will be worse than expected
BONDY: The Rockets. They weren’t title contenders — despite the hype — even before Fred VanVleet’s season-ending injury. Now they have no point guard and will miss Dillon Brooks’ defensive presence. Kevin Durant is 37 and won a grand total of two playoff series since leaving the Warriors.
LEWIS: The 76ers. While the Kings are more likely to underachieve, the 76ers are more likely to utterly implode compared to expectations. Ten percent of the league GMs picked them for fourth in the East and BetMGM set their over/under win total at 42.5, but with Joel Embiid having played just 19 games last season and 39 the year before, this could go sideways.
VACCARO: The Rockets. And yes, losing Fred VanVleet hurts to start. But at some point Kevin Durant is going to decline, too. Maybe this year.
4. This player is going to emerge this season
BONDY: Zion Williamson. He finally legitimately slimmed down, looking svelte and is still just 25 years old. He’s been earmarked for greatness and he achieves it this season, even though the Pelicans still have a terrible roster.
LEWIS: Amen Thompson. Fred VanVleet’s injury will hurt Houston, but the uberathletic Thompson is the odds-on favorite for most improved player and favored by league GMs as well.
VACCARO: Ausar Thompson, Pistons. What we saw in the playoffs last year was enticing. Is he ready to make a huge step up for Detroit?
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5. If I were this coach, I’d be worried about my job security
BONDY: There are several clear candidates for the chopping block, including Milwaukee’s Doc Rivers, Philadelphia’s Nick Nurse, Washington’s Brian Keefe, Toronto’s Darko Rajakovic and New Orleans’ Willie Green. But this league is full of surprise firings — nobody thought Mike Malone, Mike Brown and Taylor Jenkins would be canned in the middle of last season — so let’s go with the less obvious Orlando’s Jamahl Mosley, who is burdened with high expectations for an unproven roster.
LEWIS: Doc Rivers doesn’t have much room for error in Milwaukee. He couldn’t get the Bucks right back when he had Damian Lillard, and now has to win enough to please both his brass and Antetokounmpo.
VACCARO: Nick Nurse, 76ers. Man, he looked miserable every day last year. Could he survive — and would he even want to survive — a slow start?
6. The biggest name who will be moved by the trade deadline will be ______
BONDY: The easy answer is Giannis Antetokounmpo, who will be the subject of rumors until Feb. 5. But I’d bet against him being traded during the season, so let’s go with Lauri Markkanen, the Finnish former All-Star who is wasting away in Utah.
LEWIS: Lauri Markkanen. Utah rejected a summer 2024 offer from the Warriors, expecting better ones. They never got them. Rest assured if they get a haul for the 28-year-old star this time around, they’ll jump at it.
VACCARO: Lauri Markkanen because it doesn’t seem like his timeline and the Jazz’s will ever match up.
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7. Word association for these players this season — one word each to describe what this player’s season will be like:
LeBron James
BONDY: Elderly; LEWIS: King; VACCARO: Stubborn
Victor Wembanyama
BONDY: Incomparable; LEWIS: Problem; VACCARO: Resplendent
Kevin Durant
BONDY: Unhappy; LEWIS: Bargain(?); VACCARO: Sad
Luka Doncic
BONDY: Buckets; LEWIS: Motivated; VACCARO: Ascendant
Cooper Flagg
BONDY: Justified; LEWIS: Consistent; VACCARO: Spectacular
8. This season’s MVP will be ______
BONDY: Nikola Jokic. He’s still the best player in the NBA and the Nuggets will improve from last season, paving the way for Jokic’s fourth MVP.
LEWIS: Nikola Jokic. He takes his crown back from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
VACCARO: Nikola Jokic. He has a team good enough to win it all again. He’ll be terrific every game.
9. The NBA Finals matchup and winner will be ______
BONDY: Oklahoma City over Cleveland. Not exactly going out on a limb with the two best records from last season, but the age of the rosters suggest both teams are just getting started.
LEWIS: Oklahoma City over Orlando. As good as the loaded Western Conference is, the rolling Thunder cruise through to the Finals and defend their title to start a 1990s Bulls-like run.
VACCARO: Nuggets over the Knicks The Knicks will have no answers for Nikola Jokic, falling in six games, and neither will the rest of the year as one of the leagues great careers reaches its true apex.
10. My one bold prediction for the season is ______
BONDY: The Warriors miss the playoffs. Father Time catches up with everybody, and this is when it hits Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green.
LEWIS: This is the year the Magic take a huge step forward and win the Eastern Conference. The Knicks have growing pains with a new coach and the Cavs struggle with injuries, while Orlando simply grinds through the conference with defense that is dominant and offense that’s finally just good enough.
VACCARO: Joel Embiid will play well enough to win Comeback Player of the Year.
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