Story by Alex Garcia
We are just days away from the start of the highly anticipated NBA season, and here’s some of the things that you should know.
Over 40 percent of the players in the league were free agents this offseason. Many of them were expected to leave their teams, and they did just that.
Many big name superstars such as Anthony Davis, Kawaii Leonard, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving have decided to leave their teams and go and join a new one.
For years now, the league was filled with two super teams known as the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, who dominated their respective conferences and battled it out in the NBA championship for four straight years.
Now there is more parody in the league. Most teams in the league now have two superstar names like the Brooklyn Nets, who are led by Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, and the Los Angeles Lakers who are led by Lebron James and Anthony Davis, instead of few of the teams having all the star players.
It is the first year in a long time that the Golden State Warriors are not predicted to win the NBA championship. Especially after they lost the NBA championship to the Toronto Raptors led by the leadership of their newly acquired superstar Kawaii Leonard last year.
After previously winning the two years before, they will be coming with a vengeance to capture the title.
The new champions, however, lost superstar Kawaii Leonard to free agency after he decided to leave the team after helping them capture a championship and defeat the superteam of the Warriors, following the devastating injury to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, and join the Los Angeles Clippers.
But he did not go alone, he got fellow friend and teammate Paul George to join him to create a powerful duo.
There was also the electrifying draft class of rookies who had decided to leave college and move on to the NBA.
One of those big names was Zion Willamson.
When Williamson declared for the draft, it was expected that every team was going to be fighting for that number one pick so that they could be the ones to draft him. The New Orleans Pelicans were the lucky ones who got the first pick and took him number one in the 2019 NBA draft.
Other big names include Ja Morant, who went to the Memphis Grizzlies, R.J. Barret who went to the New York Knicks, De’andre Hunter who went to the Atlanta Hawks, and Cam Reddish who also joined the Hawks.
Las Vegas currently has the Los Angeles Clippers as the favorites with a 3-1 chance to win the NBA championship. Second, is the Milwaukee Bucks who have the odds of 4-1, and finally the third is the Los Angeles Lakers whose odds are 6-1.
The NBA offseason was one to remember with all the superstar shake ups and teams receiving their newly acquired draft picks.
How will the new superstar duos and new draftees play? Will they be what everyone was expecting or will they be a let down? Make sure to tune in.