The 2016-17 NBA season kicks off at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday night, as the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the New York Knicks.
The Cavs enter the new season as the odds-on favorite to once again emerge as the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Boasting a larger payroll than any other team in the league, Cleveland will be led by 31-year-old LeBron James (fresh off a three-year, $100 million deal inked in August), who finished last season’s historical championship campaign averaging 25.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists per outing. James won’t have to endure the tall task of a repeat alone, as the club re-signed J.R. Smith to a four-year contract, reported to be worth $57 million, earlier this month. Cavs faithful will be looking to Smith, part of the most expensive starting five in NBA history, to pay similar dividends to last season, when he dropped 12.4 points, took in 2.8 boards and had 1.7 assists through 77 starts. The streaky Smith has proven that he has the ability to change the course of any game when it counts the most, precisely the type of contributor that sophomore head coach Tyronn Lue will be relying upon to represent the conference next June. Look for Cleveland’s potent offense to come out fast and strong in the home opener against a New York team trying to find their identity.
The Knicks head to the road with a starting roster that bears nearly no resemblance to the squad that finished 2015-16 with a record of 32-50. The team spent the off-season shoring up an offense that ranked fourth-worst in the league last year, when they collectively posted 98.4 points per contest. Gone are Robin Lopez, Jose Calderon and Jerian Grant, replaced in a June deal with Chicago for Derrick Rose and Justin Holiday. Joining Rose in New York will be former Bulls teammate Joakim Noah, and the tandem will be looking to re-define their careers with a franchise that has struggled to ignite an adequate rebuild in the Phil Jackson era. The snakebitten, injury-prone Rose managed to start 66 games for his former team last season, averaging 16.4 points, 3.4 boards and 4.7 assists. Rose can still contribute when healthy, as aside from a decline in points remained relatively consistent in production with Chicago last year. Noah returns to regular season action on Tuesday following an injury-marred campaign that saw him knocked out of commission in January with season-ending surgery to repair a separated left shoulder. Through 29 games played, Noah averaged only 4.3 points with the only team he has ever competed for. New Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek hopes he has all of the (healthy) pieces in play for a Playoff push, as team brass will be looking to parry the injury bug and move on from Rose’s recent off-court battles.
