Top 5 storylines in NBA 2015
The Spurs are looking to be a formidable foil to the Warriors’ supposed dominance of the league.With the calendar year winding down, it’s time to look back at what the biggest story lines of the early seaon have been. There are many juicy storylines that has once again made this NBA season compelling for all viewers.There are two perennial playoffs teams, the Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder, who both fired long time coaches and replaced them with college coaches, Fred Hoiberg and Billy Donovan respectively, and ar hoping the new blood can get them into the NBA Finals.So far the experiment has had mixed results, with the Bulls definitely looking like a second tier playoff team while Thunder are hoping to find the right mix of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook’s takeover, motion offense, and tight defense to be a part of the title contender talk.You have two small forwards, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, seemingly making the leap to superstars, playing outstanding two-way basketball and making the small forward the best position of elite talent along with Kevin Durant and LeBron James.And of course, you have Stephen Curry, who is capturing the nation’s attention even more than last year with his dazzling shooting and Kristaps Porzingas, who has proven to be a gigantic sensation in New York, taking the city by storm by way of putback dunks, blocks, and rebounds.
#5 Philadelphia 76ers
Everyone who watches the NBA has an opinion on the 76ers and GM Sam Hinkie’s grand plan of tanking. And not just tanking, but tanking shame and complete disregard if the team on the court truly fits together. They currently sit at 1-28, losing games at close to record pace as they are defeated by bigger and bigger margins with each passing game.
They can’t score, mainly because they do not have any NBA ball handlers on their team, and their defense has regressed after being close to a league average outfit over the last two years.
They recently hired NBA lifer Jerry Colangelo to potenially serve as a boss to Hinkie and potentially get the team on a faster track to winning. They have also brought on board Mike D’Antoni to be their offensive coordinator of sorts, bringing in two big NBA names to fix a situation that is now in year three of massive losing.
It is said that other owners are not happy with how the 76ers have gone about on a streak of losses, and commissioner Adam Silver has gone on record saying he doesn’t love the plan the Sixers have in place, but that he will ‘not interfere.’
Will Hinkie fold and succumb to the pressure of tanking a more traditional way? Will the NBA eventually shake up the lottery to prevent future teams of tanking like the 76ers? Will the NBA lifers help start to pull the team from the basement or will they try and make the move to fast and continue losing? It is all a fascinating storyline, both this year and beyond.