2009-2010 NBA Preview; 10 Storylines To Watch

The NBA season gets underway tonight. On TNT, we have Boston @ Cleveland and LA @ …LA. Beyond tonight, we have a long season of storylines ahead of us. Here are the first ten that have come to my mind.

Of course we want to know who will walk drive away with the Finals trophy but there is more to it than that.

1. Kobe and company: Will Kobe and the Lakers have the drive that they had last season to take it directly to everyone? More than just drive, that killer instinct that is always brought up after Kobe is mentioned.
2. ‘Sheed in Boston: What will the dynamic be between Rasheed and the rest of the Celtics? He has already been a proven winner. He is clutch and should be an important addition to the team. Once again, same as last year health could be the only thing stopping ‘Sheed and the C’s from becoming Eastern conference champs.
3. Rookie of the year: It could be Blake Griffin. He looks great. There are some serious sleeper picks though. How about; Tyreke Evans, James Harden, Jordan Hill, DeMar Derozen or my ultimate pick Sam Young.
4. Magic, disappearing act: The Magic could fall back. Maybe, even a good deal. Hedo Turkoglu is not walking through that doors folks. Courtney Lee is not walking through that door. And if they do they are going to the visitors locker room.
5. The Shaq-LeBron experiment: It’s going to be fun. I can’t wait to see their pregame introductions–going to be classic. As far as once the ball tips… who knows.
6. Minnesota’s PG consortium: Rubio is a no go. So the log-jam has been cut down to size, and they are left with rookie Jonny Flynn.
7. Europes own Brandon Jennings: He’s a trailblazer. Well he’s actually a Buck but the whole going overseas thing was unprecedented. Now it’s time to see how quickly he can translate into the NBA game.
8. Sixers new, old uniforms: They should be sweet. I have only seen them in pictures not actually on the team.
9. Trailblazers, still the sexy pick: SI has them 3rd in the West. I’m a big fan of Roy and Oden. I want Greg to come around. I still think if he stays healthy he will. Andre Miller might be the one of the best acquisitions of the year.
10. 2010: Yeah, I have to. How next summer plays out will be greatly determined by this season. Will Wade’s head explode if Miami starts off 3-7? Is there even a shot LeBron bails on Cleveland? Chris Bosh looks like he is getting some help north of the border. Will that make him happy enough to stay? What is the worth of T-Mac at this point?

In short, it’s going to be a slobberknocker this season.