10 Bold Predictions for the First Week of the 2014-15 NBA Season

With the 2014-15 NBA season rapidly approaching, there's never been a better time to be bold.

And, really, "bold" is the best type of prediction, isn't it? No one is going to claim Prognosticator of the Year honors by foreshadowing good things ahead for the reigning champion San Antonio Spurs or putting a team featuring LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving on a pedestal.

In this business, it pays to take risks.

Not outlandish ones, of course. There has to be some substance behind the sizzle, a line of reasoning leading to these bold, yet realistic, forecasts.

So, with both eyes on the first week of the upcoming season—which we'll define here as extending from opening night on October 28 through the 12-game slate on Saturday, November 1—let's look ahead at what's in store for the glorious return of the world's greatest game.

This might seem like a curious place to start. While greatness was once predicted for Golden State Warriors swingman Harrison Barnes, two years of frustratingly forgettable NBA returns have certainly dampened that enthusiasm.

In other words, don't discredit the boldness level we're approaching.

Over 159 career regular-season games, Barnes has connected on just 41.9 percent of his field-goal attempts. During his sophomore campaign, when only 24 of his 78 appearances came with the starting lineup, that number was only 39.9.

Obviously, he would need a pretty serious spike to crack the 50 percent barrier.

The biggest source of confidence here comes not from Barnes himself, but rather from his first-year head coach Steve Kerr. Not only has Kerr entertained the idea of putting Barnes back in the starting lineup, per BayAreaSportsGuy.com, but he has also installed an offense that emphasizes movement of the ball and the players on the court.

This setup is perfectly suited for a player with Barnes' elite athleticism and skill set.

"He's a tremendous cutter because he's so fast and strong," Kerr said of Barnes, per Bay Area News Group's Diamond Leung. "He gets a head of steam going to the rim, and if our scheme is right and we've got an angle with our passers, he's gotten a lot of layups at the rim."

Through seven preseason games, Barnes has converted 48.0 percent of his attempts from the field. With the lowly Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers awaiting him in the opening week, that number should have some upward mobility.

Everywhere Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Andrew Wiggins goes, he leaves a trail of superstar potential behind him. The 6'8" phenom can't help it—it oozes out of his pores.

His future looks blindingly bright. Protective eyewear is required for viewing.

All of that said, it could take a while for that talent to surface on a regular basis.

For starters, his skill set is paleo-diet raw. While lauding Wiggins' upside, Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman cautioned that the No. 1 pick is "just not polished enough to put up consistent offensive results in the half court."

Tapping into Wiggins' potential could be a timely endeavor. The Wolves are heavy on the wings, and head coach Flip Saunders hasn't committed to deploying Wiggins with Minnesota's starting five, per Andy Greder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Wiggins' preseason has been a bit rocky. He's shooting just 41.0 percent from the field and has been bothered by a lower back contusion.

The start of the real campaign might not be any smoother. The Wolves' first three games will come against the Memphis Grizzlies, Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls. Two of those teams finished with top-eight defensive efficiency ranks last season. The other has the menacing Andre Drummond patrolling the paint.

Wiggins might find his way to the highlight reel, but consistency could prove to be elusive through the early portion of the schedule.

Jabari Parker isn't going to like hearing this, but his rookie campaign will likely be held under the same microscope as Wiggins'. Of course, considering that's how both players spent their lone season of college ball, maybe they'll get used to it eventually.

Parker may even grow to like the comparisons, as they figure to hold him in a more favorable light early on. He has always been seen as the more NBA-ready prospect of the two, a sentiment reflected by the overwhelming support he received in NBA.com's annual general manager survey. Of those executives, 75.0 percent picked Parker as the Rookie of the Year, while Wiggins drew 17.9 percent of the vote.

Not only does Parker bring a more polished set of skills inside the lines, but his biggest strength just so happens to address the Milwaukee Bucks' biggest weakness: scoring. The Bucks finished last season ranked 26th in offensive efficiency and had only one player average more than 16 points (Brandon Knight, 17.9).

As good as the fit between Parker and the Bucks looked on paper, it has appeared even better in action.

"Parker was the only Bucks player to score in double figures in all seven preseason games and averaged 15.1 points and 6.3 rebounds while playing 31.1 minutes per game," wrote Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "His scoring average and minutes rank first among all league rookies in the preseason."

During the first week, Parker will see a pair of formidable foes in the Charlotte Hornets (sixth in defensive efficiency) and the Washington Wizards (ninth). But he's talented enough to put up numbers against any team, and his stat sheet should see a nice boost against Milwaukee's other opponent: the Philadelphia 76ers.

Credit Phoenix Suns coach Jeff Hornacek for unlocking a ridiculously effective—and wildly entertaining—offensive setup by deploying both Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic in the same backcourt last season.

And don't be surprised to see a number of teams follow Hornacek's lead.

Few things are harder to defend than today's athletic, versatile NBA point guards. Trying to stop a pair of playmakers has a spot on that short list.

Not everyone is equipped to run such an offense, but more teams are suited for it than you might think. Imagine the offensive potential of Damian Lillard and a healthy C.J. McCollum powering a potent Portland Trail Blazers offense. Or the previously perimeter-deficient Detroit Pistons letting both Brandon Jennings and D.J. Augustin fire at will from the outside.

The Chicago Bulls can pair former MVP Derrick Rose with the defensive-minded Kirk Hinrich or the offensively explosive Aaron Brooks. The Miami Heat have Shabazz Napier, Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers to throw at opposing defenses. The Utah Jazz could trot out this year's drool-worthy rookie, Dante Exum, with last year's, Trey Burke.

Shaun Livingston will help the Warriors move Stephen Curry off the ball once the former fully recovers from offseason toe surgery. The Minnesota Timberwolves may find themselves in need of rookie Zach LaVine's athleticism or veteran Mo Williams' shooting stroke to complement Ricky Rubio's court vision.

If imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery, Hornacek should feel extremely flattered early and often this season.

On the surface, it's hard to say just how bold this one sounds. After all, 10 teams would represent one-third of the league, so anything close to that number might seem a bit low.

But think about the sample size we're using. That five-day span covers only 38 total games. All but one team will play fewer than four games. Some will only have two contests under their belt. The exception, the Los Angeles Lakers, will suit up a total of four times.

With such little action, that's quite a lot of blemished records.

Getting more specific, I have a total of eight teams skating to a perfect week. Three of them probably come as no surprise—the San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder—but even those juggernauts will have some stiff tests.

The Spurs will need to knock off the pesky Dallas Mavericks and the run-and-gun Suns. The Cavs need to get past the fully loaded Chicago Bulls. And the Thunder need to slay two Western Conference dragons in the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers.

Two other teams can thank the schedule-setters for their strong starts. Both the Houston Rockets (Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics) and Warriors (Sacramento Kings, Lakers) should feast on bottom-feeders to start the year.

As for the other three on my list, I have the Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards. The biggest hurdles for each will be the Hornets, Atlanta Hawks and Heat, respectively.

In other words, it might take some luck just to have eight undefeated teams after five days of action.

I wish this wasn't as bold as it unfortunately is.

I wish the basketball gods hadn't forced Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal under the knife. I wish Rajon Rondo would have never broken his hand or that Paul George wouldn't have suffered a violently broken leg. I wish Victor Oladipo could have avoided a facial fracture.

I wish I never hear the term "facial fracture" again.

Is that being greedy? Have I exhausted my imaginary supply of wishes? I certainly hope not.

Look, injuries are an unavoidable part of this industry. I get it.

But why does every one have to hit like a punch to the gut? Why can't Steve Nash give us one more season of great memories? Why did the nerve damage in his back have to force him out of action for this season—and maybe for good?

I don't have the answers to those questions, other than to say it's simply a part of life.

However, that doesn't mean I'll stop wishing. This one, hopefully, is simple. Can we just make it through five days of competition without needing to consult a medical dictionary?

Admittedly, this prediction is far more hopeful than bold. But if nine of these guesses are wrong, I wish this is the one that's right.

Does anyone know where we left Dwight Howard's Superman cape? We're going to need it this season.

Statistically, Howard hasn't been the same player since he left the Orlando Magic in 2012. After posting per-game marks of 20.6 points, 13.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks over his final five seasons in Orlando, he has seen those figures fall to 17.6, 12.3 and 2.1, respectively, in the two years since.

The three-time Defensive Player of the Year could take an early step toward reclaiming that award. A full two years removed from back surgery, Howard says the stars are aligning for him to have a monstrous season.

"I'm a lot healthier than I've been, and I just have a great spirit," he said, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (subscription required). "I'm in a great place mentally and spiritually. That's why this season for myself is going to be a lot different from last season."

Last season, it should be noted, was hardly a disappointment. He went for 18.3 points, 12.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks a night. No one else even had an 18/12/1.5 stat line. In fact, the only player to have cleared those numbers in any of the past five seasons is Howard himself.

As previously mentioned, the Rockets start the 2013-14 campaign with three very winnable games against the Lakers, Jazz and Celtics. Both Utah and Boston finished in the bottom seven of team field-goal percentage last season. Los Angeles finished tied for 14th, but it won't have Nash, Nick Young (thumb surgery) or Jodie Meeks (left in free agency) to help tickle the twine.

That means Howard should have no shortage of rebounding opportunities, and these teams are not particularly strong on the glass (the Celtics were the best, ranking 16th in rebounding percentage).

Chicago Bulls superstar Derrick Rose took home the league's MVP award in 2011. In a lot of ways, it's been that long since fans were able to see the full extent of his abilities.

That season, he averaged 25.0 points and 7.7 assists per game. While he nearly maintained that production the following year (21.8 and 7.9), injuries limited him to only 39 appearances over the 66-game campaign.

During that past two seasons, he has played only 10 games. He lost the entire 2012-13 campaign to a torn ACL in his left knee. A torn meniscus in the right one cost him the majority of last year.

Skeptics will keep medical red flags flying around him for the time being, but he has dropped hints that it might be time to bring them down. The most recent one was hardly subtle, a 30-point barrage (featuring 12-of-18 shooting, 4 of 5 from distance) against the All-Star-laden Cavaliers.

"You're talking about a MVP-caliber player," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters after the game. "It makes the game easy for everybody. He's getting easy buckets in transition. He's attacking in the pick-and-roll. He's in the paint making plays."

Rose should have the chance to do all that and then some over Chicago's first week. The Bulls start their season with the New York Knicks, a team light on both perimeter defense and rim protection. Then, Chicago gets another crack at Cleveland, a defense with similar deficiencies.

Rose might not have another 30-point outing in him just yet—given the Bulls' depth, they might need it, anyway—but he'll look like a former MVP for the first time in a long time.

We've all heard the criticisms of Kobe Bryant this offseason.

From his 40th overall ranking on ESPN.com to the shots taken at him in a piece by ESPN The Magazine's Henry Abbott, which insinuated that front-line free agents have avoided the Lakers because of Bryant's looming presence, the less-than-flattering evaluations have been hard to miss.

Of course, if we have seen the scathing reviews, then so has Bryant. And his best recourse to quiet those critics will be his nightly assaults on the box score.

Held to only six games last season by injuries to his Achilles and knee, he's looking to make up for lost time. The 36-year-old also knows he's doing so with a finite amount of sand left in his hoops hourglass.

For so many reasons, he is playing with a purpose. Look no further than his last three preseason outings for evidence of that fact: 26.7 points in 31.3 minutes.

Bryant didn't have a ton of offensive help before Nash was taken out of the picture. With former teammate Byron Scott in charge, Bryant should be looking at as many touches as his body can handle.

That could plague his stats in terms of efficiency, but scoring races depend only on volume. And Bryant's could reach a near-deafening level.

There is also one more reason to buy Bryant's offensive quantity. His Lakers will be the only team to have four games under their belt by week's end, all four of which pit them against uptempo teams: Rockets, Suns, Clippers and Warriors.

Blake Griffin has been an All-Star in each of his four NBA seasons, but only last year did he really start knocking on the MVP door.

Well, knocking isn't quite the right word. He pounded it on so hard he nearly ripped it off the hinges.

He set career marks in points (24.1), assists (3.9), free-throw percentage (71.5), player efficiency rating (239), true shooting percentage (58.3) and total win shares (12.2). And he posted those personal bests while seeing only 35.8 minutes of action a night, the second-lowest amount of his career.

For his effort, he garnered the third-most support in the MVP voting. That standing could improve this time around.

Durant, the league's reigning MVP, is expected to miss at least six weeks. That absence alone could be enough to take him out of the running.

James was the only other player to finish ahead of Griffin, but the four-time MVP could struggle to add a fifth to his mantle this season. Even if James' production isn't negatively impacted by sharing the floor with Irving and Love, having that level of assistance might hurt him depending on the voters' definition of "value."

Armed with an improved shooting form and perhaps more offensive freedom based on what he did last season, Griffin could compile a mountain of stats this year. If the Clippers find their way into a top-two seed in the Western Conference, his combination of personal and team success could be strong enough to secure the most-coveted individual award in the game.

And his campaign should start under the right spotlight. The Clippers start their season with the Thunder, before squaring off with the Lakers in the latest Battle for Los Angeles. Both games should receive major media coverage, giving him the right platform to get his MVP trek going.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.

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