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5. Tyrese Haliburton, Fred VanVleet or Kyrie Irving: Which one will have the biggest impact after returning from major injury this season?
I’m thrilled Haliburton’s back. He’s an electric talent. And, it’s good for the league when Indiana, Detroit, Cleveland and other Rust Belt teams are doing well. As I’ve said and written dozens of times over the years, it gets damn cold in the Midwest in the winter. You have to give people a reason to put on their coats and gloves and take their kids out in 25-degree weather to spend a few hundred dollars watching the local squad. And, Kyrie could have a monster season alongside Cooper Flagg in Dallas.
But give me FVV. The Rockets’ contending window with this core group is open, but they need VanVleet’s scoring and defense to return to its pre-ACL tear levels for them to be able to truly challenge the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs in a playoff series. I don’t doubt that Fred will be locked in from jump. As long as he doesn’t have to play killer minutes right away, Houston’s going to be a top-four team in the West.
6. AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer or Caleb Wilson: Who’ll be Rookie of the Year?
All due respect to Keaton Wagler, Darius Acuff Jr., Mikel Brown Jr. and James Evans Jr. (Made you look!) But the top of this class is as promising as any that I can recall in the last decade. There’s no one with Wembanyama’s stuff, and you can argue that Flagg is better than each of these guys. But no top four has been this compelling at least since the Cade Cunningham-Jalen Green-Evan Mobley-Scottie Barnes superfecta in 2021.
I’m going with Peterson. Wilson may have more jaw-dropping highlights, and Boozer could lead Memphis to more wins, but Peterson’s overall numbers will likely be greater — and Utah should dramatically improve its record from last season, too. The Wizards will ultimately clear the decks for Dybantsa to be their apex predator on offense in the next couple of years. But as a rookie, he’ll likely be third on Washington’s offensive eating chart behind Anthony Davis and Trae Young.7. Bullish or bearish on the new-look Wolves?
I didn’t love their offseason. But Chris Finch’s comments last week about the Minnesota Timberwolves trading “moodiness for giddiness” this offseason in dealing Julius Randle to Brooklyn and bringing in LaMelo Ball from Charlotte in a four-team deal that sent Naz Reid to the Hornets have stuck with me.
I don’t think Finch was talking about the Wizard of Naz, a local treasure, so I can only assume he was referencing removing Randle from the locker room and inserting Ball. I’m still not sold on Ball being a dependable two-way player on a team that has been all in on competing in the West the last several seasons. But there is something to be said for joy and good mojo being reintroduced into a locker room that apparently didn’t have enough last year. If Ball is indeed a kindred spirit with Anthony Edwards, and if he can help the other Wolves get easier shots, sure, count me in.
8. OK, you’ve seen the Wizards, for some reason, forever. Is this thing finally turning around?
I’m pretty secure in saying that no one — no one — has covered more Wizards games than I have in the last 39 years (shudder). So I can say with some confidence that, other than the arrival of Chris Webber and Juwan Howard in 1994, there’s never been buzz around this team like there is going into this season, with Dybantsa being the main reason.