That time of year is here again, with leaves changing color, a chill in the air, and hoops fans everywhere ready to go for another exciting year of NBA action. 

Let’s start off with a quick rundown of our hometown teams. The New York Knicks had some big moves during the offseason and look like serious contenders in the Eastern Conference. The biggest news gives them All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns in a blockbuster three-team trade. It’s just one of those moves, like the one earlier that got Mikal Bridges to town, which shook things up for the Knicks.

Their projected starting lineup is pretty promising:

1. Jalen Brunson at the point guard position
2. Mikal Bridges at shooting guard
3. OG Anunoby at small forward
4. Josh Hart at power forward
5. Karl-Anthony Towns at center

This lineup gives the Knicks an incredibly good mix of scoring, defense, and spacing. Of course, they have decent depth in the likes of Precious Achiuwa, Miles McBride, Cameron Payne, Mitchell Robinson (once healthy), and Landry Shamet off the bench.

There’s little doubt that NBA general managers have taken notice of what the Knicks have done so far this offseason. In fact, 27% of GMs polled in the recent nba gm quiz called the addition of Karl-Anthony Towns the “most surprising” move of the offseason. Towns and Bridges also tied for second when GMs were asked which player moving to a new team would have the biggest impact.

All these changes put the Knicks from a ‘make the playoffs’ team to ‘championship contender.’ They can match depth, defense, and flexibility with anyone, perhaps except for the Boston Celtics, for Eastern Conference supremacy.

It’s not all positives for the Knicks, though, as a few challenges have already piled up against them out of the gate: their starting center Mitchell Robinson is likely to miss all or almost all of two months of the season, and OG Anunoby has a reputation for missing several weeks of each season to one type of injury or another. How the team responds to this will likely be crucial if they can fill expectations of that championship contending team. 

Across the East River, matters are a little different for the Brooklyn Nets. They are in full rebuild mode after trading away their remaining stars. As poor as they may be on the court this season, they’re looking at building toward the future. Keep an eye on young talents like Cam Thomas, who will have plenty of chances to show what they can do. Expect Cam Thomas to keep chucking up shots from weird angles and they somehow go in. I think the Nets will be one of the worst teams if not the worst team in the league but don’t be surprised if Cam Thomas is averaging 25 per night on 20 percent shooting splits. The draft picks the Nets have gotten back in recent trades will go a long way in defining their long-term plans.

Now, looking at more of the NBA this season, the Eastern Conference is setting up for a real fight at the top. The Boston Celtics, with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown leading, are still strong contenders. The Milwaukee Bucks are, of course, always a threat with Giannis Antetokounmpo, and don’t count out the Miami Heat either; Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo have shown they can make deep playoff runs. I think Giannis will have a historic season carrying the Bucks offensively and defensively. Middleton is not healthy and Lillard is starting to show some age. Millawke has to figure it out soon before one of the best players of our generation reaches the end of his prime.  

In the Western Conference, the defending champion Denver Nuggets are looking to repeat with probable MVP Nikola Jokic. The Golden State Warriors are still dangerous, even with their aging core of Steph Curry and Draymond Green. I think the Warriors will be one of the worst teams in the league this season as Curry has proven in olympics this summer he can still be the man, but I don’t believe the warriors will be with limited options around curry. Now, for my finals team, the OKC Thunder. Of course they have shai gilgeous-alexander, one of the league’s best players under 27. With Chet Homgren hoping to take the next step into becoming one of the league’s best players. 

Speaking of rising stars, this year’s rookie class is getting a lot of hype. I got my eye on Stephen Castle, a do-it-all guard out of UConn hoping to make an immediate impact for the Spurs. His all-around game makes him my early favorite for Rookie of the Year. But don’t sleep on other rookies like Zach Edey, a 7 foot 1 monster out of Purdue, Reed Sheppard a small but effective guard out of Kentucky, and Jared Mcain a catch and shoot 3 ball threat and a straight up winner out of Duke, these guys could make some noise too.

This might indeed actually be one of the closest MVP races we’ve had in a while. I predict that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is going to win this year’s MVP after a great all round season, just because his balance of scoring and playmaking and then going into defense is just too good. He is going to get really great competition from guys like Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Luka Doncic. And don’t also count out last year’s MVP, Joel Embiid, or young stars, Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton.

Now,  I’m predicting an NBA Finals matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New York Knicks. The Thunder have taken that leap from promising young team to legitimate contenders, and the Knicks’ offseason moves have set them up for a deep playoff run. Brunson will end up being him again but will the Knicks be able to stay healthy?

But the news off the court isn’t so bad either. The Los Angeles Clippers are finally getting their own home with the opening of the Intuit Dome in Inglewood-a state-of-the-art arena that’s going to give the Clippers a fresh start and a real identity of their own.

Opening night through the last game of the Finals, this is going to be a wild season in the NBA.