NBA 2020–21 season roundtable: Which L.A. team will reign supreme?

Though it’s only been 72 days since the Los Angeles Lakers were crowned 2020 NBA champions, the 2020–21 NBA season tips off Tuesday night with a pair of matchups, including a marquee affair between the defending champion Lakers and the cross-hall rival Los Angeles Clippers on Sportsnet at 10:00 p.m. ET.

With the season upon us, Sportsnet assembled a group of its basketball experts to answer five big league-wide questions.

Q: Will James Harden be traded this season?

Donnovan Bennett, Staff writer and digital host: No. Harden won’t be traded because there are no suitors who 1) can match that contract, 2) have the assets to satisfy Houston, and 3) are motivated to get the deal done. With at least one more year remaining on his deal, the Rockets have no reason to trade Harden, and Harden doesn’t have any leverage to get the deal done no matter how many parties he attends in Houston, Atlanta or Las Vegas.

JD Bunkis, Good Show and Free Association host: He’s gone. It feels dirty, and it would’ve been fun to have Harden buy into John Wall as his third running mate in three seasons, but the Rockets will trade him before the deadline. Houston won’t force him to play one checked-out season then walk him into the final year of his deal, where he has even more leverage and less trade value. Some Antetokounmpo dreams have shattered, a couple of teams will get off to unsatisfying starts and Houston will eventually get a haul appropriate for a scorer of Harden’s calibre.

Brad Fay, Host of Sportsnet’s Raptors television broadcasts: I think he’ll be traded because he’s forced the Rockets into a corner, but I wonder if the list of suitors has been significantly reduced because of the attitude he’s shown. Buyer (or trader) beware.

Michael Grange, Senior basketball insider: Yes, to Philadelphia.

Steven Loung, NBA editor: Unfortunately, despite Harden coming into camp clearly not prepared to work, we’re in an era where superstar players have such power that they can hold teams hostage lest they get their way. As such, I think Harden will be traded at or around the trade deadline, probably to the 76ers, where the great Ben Simmons-Joel Embiid experiment will, at last, come to an end.

Eric Smith, Raptors play-by-play announcer on Sportsnet 590 the FAN: He will be dealt before the trade deadline — and likely sooner than later. I don’t know the team, but the Philly rumblings seem to make a lot of sense. I can’t see it being Brooklyn.

Q: How good do you think the Brooklyn Nets will be this season? Will Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving be able to co-exist on the same team?

Bennett: The Nets will be a top five offensive team and a bottom five defensive team. They have outstanding offensive talent, but most of it is at its best in isolation. Defensively, Kevin Durant is their only rotation player that is an elite defender. They’ll play some beautiful basketball, but I’m not convinced it’ll be winning basketball. Bet the over when Brooklyn is on the floor.

Bunkis: They’ll be fine. We’ll overblow whatever morsels of turbulence they display, but KD and Kyrie are close friends, DeAndre Jordan is there as a glue guy, and Steve Nash was also a Hall of Famer in the locker room. With all that went into the Irving-Durant partnership, it’s hard to imagine KD doesn’t have a good idea what he’s getting into. There’s too much top-end talent, if they’re healthy, for this team not to contend.

Fay: Clearly the Nets are the most intriguing story heading into the season, but they could easily be undone by two things: An injury to either star takes them right out of the upper echelon of the East, or some kind of upheaval at the hands of Irving, who will always be on the edge of destroying a team until he proves otherwise.

Grange: Yes, I think they will be very good. They will co-exist well as long as the going is easy — the team is winning and healthy.

Loung: Durant is a fabulous talent and he alone, combined with all the offensive firepower this team has at its disposal, will make the Nets a top-three seed in the East. However, as weith every team he’s been on since he won a title with the Cavaliers in 2016, Kyrie Irving is looming in the background, always a threat to screw up a team’s chemistry, and no amount of sage burning will ever be enough to deny this fact.

Smith: I think they’ll hover around the 48-52 win territory, and they’ll be very good. I think Durant and Irving can absolutely co-exist, but the larger question remains if either one of them can stay healthy? I’m not convinced (yet) that the Nets are that much better than the Bucks, Celtics, Heat, Raptors, etc. I think there’s a ton of balance in the East.

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Q: Now that Giannis Antetokounmpo has signed a contract extension, what do you make of the off-season the Milwaukee Bucks just had? How do you feel about the team’s future?

Bennett: The Bucks mortgaged their future-draft-pick capital and their current depth for a one-year rental of Jrue Holiday. If they re-sign Holiday, they’ll be a consistent title threat, but with no real avenues to improve the ceiling of their team. If Holiday walks they’ll be an average team with an above-average payroll in a small market.

Bunkis: They deserve a grade of A+. The goal was to retain the MVP in a small market that hasn’t won. They did it — nothing else matters now.

Fay: For some reason, I believe we’ve seen the best of the Bucks already. I have them falling from the top of the East, even with Antetokounmpo locked up.

Grange: The pressure remains. They need to win, or at least win the East, or else things will start spinning and won’t stop. They will be very good this year and likely next, but if they fail to deliver, there’s no way Antetokounmpo is finished.

Loung: The Bogdan Bogdanovic mess notwithstanding, the Bucks definitely got better in the short term with the addition of Holiday. Having Antetokounmpo signed long term also means Milwaukee will remain competitive for as long as he’s there. But the pressure is still on this team to at least reach the Finals this season as, in order to acquire Holiday, the club’s future was heavily sacrificed.

Smith: They had a great off-season before they re-signed Antetokounmpo. He’s just icing on the cake now. However, they’ve got to win. A conference final, minimum, is a must. But they’ve got to get to an NBA Finals and/or win a championship with the money they’re now spending.

Q: Which Los Angeles team will end up having a better season?

Bennett: Well, the Lakers had a better season last year and only improved in the off-season. The gap between the two teams got wider. L.A. is still a Lakers town.

Bunkis: Clippers. I still think they beat the Lakers without the choke in the bubble. Serge Ibaka is a better fit than Montrezl Harrell, Luke Kennard was a nice pickup, and they’ve had an off-season of people throwing dirt on them, which should help galvanize what is ultimately a better group.

Fay: The Lakers are the champs and got better in the off-season. They may cruise a little in the regular season, but they’re better than the Clippers and are the team to beat in the NBA.

Grange: The Lakers. Better depth, better IQ and the two best players.

Loung: In terms of the regular season, I think the Clippers may end up with a better record because they’ll be more motivated to course correct after the massive choke job we just saw them succumb to. And let’s be honest, it’s not like LeBron James and Anthony Davis necessarily need the No. 1 seed. If it becomes a toss-up between that superstar pairing and the duo of Leonard and Paul George in a best-of-seven series, you take the Lakers every single time — no matter what court they’re playing on.

Smith: To be the champ you’ve got to beat the champs. The Lakers are still the top dogs. Plus, they got better while the Clippers may have regressed a little.

Q: Beyond the L.A. teams, which Western Conference contender do you think has a chance to make the Finals this season?

Bennett: None. But If I had to choose one, it’s the other powerhouse in the state of California. The Golden State Warriors boast a best-case-scenario ceiling that’s higher than any other non-L.A. Western title contender. It would require a healthy, and MVP-level, performance from Steph Curry, a Rookie of the Year performance from James Wiseman, a return to Defensive Player of the Year form for Draymond Green, and the Kansas alumni wing duo of Kelly Oubre and Andrew Wiggins reaching their potential as efficient 20-point scorers on offence and disruptive on defence. If all that aligns and they have good health, they have a chance. But that’s a lot to ask for.

Bunkis: No one. A healthy Warriors team had a shot, but no one took a big enough step to knock off either of those teams. Denver gets the most respect, but look what it took for the Nuggets to get by the Clippers last season, and how things looked against James and Davis after they did.

Fay: The obvious choice is the Nuggets, but they were also perilously close to a very early exit last season — twice. In my mind there are a lot of good teams from Seeds 3-5 in the West, but no great ones outside of L.A.

Grange: I think the Nuggets will make a push. Nikola Jokic is a legit MVP candidate and Jamal Murray made a huge step as a Curry-like scorer in the bubble. They need Michael Porter Jr. to keep improving and to unleash Facundo Campazzo, the Argentinean point guard they brought over from Europe and one of the best passers in the sport.

Loung: I’m a massive believer in Luka Doncic this season. So much so that I believe he’ll take the next step to win MVP. If all breaks right, he could go even farther by leading an underdog Dallas Mavericks team to the Finals and, perhaps, even taking the whole damn thing. Doncic is just that good.

Smith: I’ll give you two teams — one somewhat obvious or at least a popular choice, and the other not as much. Dallas. I think Doncic could push that team even further and they’re going to be a problem for years to come. The other? Sorry, but the Warriors are back! Yes, I know Klay Thompson is out for the year, but with Curry, Green, Wiggins, Wiseman and more, I think Golden State is being slept on by a lot of folks.

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