By Myles Salley-Holland

The countdown to the 2019-2020 NBA season is officially underway. The dramatic, paradigm-shifting offseason is finally over, the quest for an NBA championship is up for grabs, leaving the championship race wide open. For the first time in recent seasons, and to many fans’ approval, there is no clear-cut championship favorite.  

After the Toronto Raptors completed their playoff run with a surprising NBA Finals series win over a depleted Golden State Warriors unit, the summer got off to a blazing hot start with NBA free agency and roster moves.

The summer began with all-star Anthony Davis being traded from the New Orleans Pelicans to the historic Los Angeles Lakers. Through free agency, the Lakers added and retained a solid group of veterans including Rajon Rondo, Danny Green, Dwight Howard, along with a few other key signings to assist the elite dynamic duo of LeBron James and Davis. Although the Lakers made power moves to revamp their roster back into championship conversations, their roommates had a response nobody saw coming.

The Los Angeles Clippers arguably had the most unexpected offseason by adding Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and trading for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s two-way star, Paul George. Not only did the Thunder trade George, OKC also traded superstar Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets.

For Houston, former MVP James Harden reunites with former teammate and friend Russell Westbrook, creating the most high-powered backcourt in the league, and maybe one of the most dominant backcourts in league history. The acquisition certainly placed the Rockets in championship conversations despite their recent playoff failures. Those failures, of course, coming by way of the Golden State Warriors.

For the first time in recent years, many basketball fans do not have the Warriors in the championship picture, in large part due to Klay Thompson’s ACL tear he suffered in the Finals series. Thompson is expecting to miss most of the season, with most optimistic forecasts having him returning around the All-Star break. Although Thompson’s play will be extremely missed, Golden State signed all-star D’Angelo Russell from the Brooklyn Nets to carry some of the backcourt load with sniper Steph Curry.

As the Western Conference continues to look loaded with stars, a couple of Eastern Conference teams made some unexpected roster changes as well.

Perhaps the biggest move by the Brooklyn Nets. Through free agency, the Nets acquired all-star guard Kyrie Irving, an elite big man in DeAndre Jordan, and superstar Kevin Durant. Due to an Achilles tear suffered in the Finals, Durant will most likely miss the entire 2019-2020 season, but fans are eager to see him back on the court. The Nets aren’t expected to do much damage this year, but a possible dynasty is on the horizon.

Another team that made drastic roster changes was the Philadelphia 76ers. Although the Sixers lost two-way star Jimmy Butler by trade to the Miami Heat, Philadelphia retained Tobias Harris, acquired young guard Josh Richardson from the Heat and signed veteran big man Al Horford from the Boston Celtics.

With all of the offseason changes, I went around campus to ask students some of their predictions coming into the upcoming season.

When asking about an NBA Finals matchup, the two recurring teams students replied with were the Lakers and the Sixers. Not only would that be an entertaining series but being from Philadelphia, I would love to go to a championship parade after missing out on the Eagles Super Bowl victory.

When asked about season awards, the two players students responded with winning MVP were LeBron James and James Harden. For Rookie of the Year, mostly everyone answered with New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson. A recurring name that came up when asked about Most Improved Player was the Orlando Magic guard Markelle Fultz.

For NBA fans around campus and frankly around the world, it is safe to say that everyone is very excited for the upcoming season. With the balance of players in both conferences this year, the unpredictability is something fans have not seen in a while. October 22 cannot come soon enough.