Warriors not picked to repeat

Despite a glowing performance in the last NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors weren’t picked to repeat in early predictions made by two leading basketball publications for the next season which starts Oct. 27.

Lindy’s Pro Basketball 2015-16 senior editor Roland Lazenby chose the Cleveland Cavaliers to win it all but picked the Warriors’ Steve Kerr to take Coach of the Year honors and Andre Iguodala for the Sixth Man award. Last season, Iguodala came off the bench for the Warriors until the Finals where he was voted the MVP. Lazenby also named LeBron James as MVP, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant as Comeback Player of the Year, Memphis’ Tony Allen as Defensive Player of the Year and New York’s Jerian Grant as Rookie of the Year.

Editor Scott Gramling of 2015-16 Pro Basketball Preview and Fantasy Guide Magazine said San Antonio will capture the NBA title this season, beating the Cavaliers, 4-1, in the Finals. Gramling agreed with Lazenby in choosing James as MVP. His other picks were Utah’s Quin Snyder as Coach of the Year, the Los Angeles Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell as Rookie of the Year, Utah’s Rudy Gobert as Defensive Player of the Year, Boston’s Isaiah Thomas as Sixth Man of the Year and Portland’s C. J. McCollum as Most Improved Player.

Gramling went as far as predicting how each team would finish in the regular season. He selected Golden State to post a league-best record of 62-20, followed by Houston at 58-24, San Antonio at 56-26, the Los Angeles Clippers at 55-27 and Cleveland at 54-28. In the Conference Finals, Gramling chose Cleveland over Chicago, 4-3, in the East and San Antonio over Golden State, 4-2, in the West.

There will be five new coaches on the job this season – Chicago’s Fred Hoiberg, Denver’s Mike Malone, New Orleans’ Alvin Gentry, Oklahoma City’s Billy Donovan and Orlando’s Scott Skiles. Head coaches fired to make room for the new faces were Malone in Sacramento (George Karl was appointed last season and is held over), Jacque Vaughn in Orlando, Brian Shaw in Denver, Monty Williams in New Orleans and Tom Thibodeaux in Chicago.

Golden State’s coaching staff took a hit when Gentry left to join the Pelicans. But Kerr is back along with assistant Luke Walton and defensive specialist Ron Adams on the bench. David Lee was the major offseason casualty as he has moved to Boston. But Lee, who averaged 7.9 points in 49 games in the regular season, will hardly be missed. Three additions to the Warriors cast are 6-11 Jason Thompson of Rider University, 6-5 Chris Babb of Penn State and Iowa State and 6-9 rookie Kevin Looney of UCLA.

Thompson, 29, has played seven campaigns with Sacramento and is a tested off-the-bench veteran. He averaged 6.1 points and 6.5 rebounds last season. Thompson is one of only 109 players in US basketball history to finish his collegiate career with at least 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, joining an elite cast with former PBA import Arizona Reid, Tim Duncan, David Robinson and Larry Bird. Babb, 25, was never drafted but got to play for Boston in 2013-14. He’s a three-point bomber who’s perfect for Kerr’s pace and space style.

Curry and Klay Thompson averaged a combined 45.5 points last season and their ability to play with a high level of energy is key to the Warriors’ success story. Kerr said the intangibles carried Golden State over the top. “To come in with this group, this amount of talent, this kind of chemistry,” he said, “guys who work hard every day and who enjoy being in the gym.”

The Spurs were bundled out of the playoffs in the first round last season but are expected to rebound in a big way. Coach Gregg Popovich organized a minor overhaul to strike out Marco Belinelli, Cory Joseph, Tiago Splitter, Aron Baynes and Jeff Ayres but kept Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Matt Bonner, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Patty Mills and Tony Parker while welcoming LaMarcus Aldridge, David West, Jimmer Fredette and Ray McCallum.

San Antonio has won five titles in 20 years with Popovich calling the shots. Lazenby said the Spurs are favored to win a sixth largely because of Aldridge’s arrival. The 6-11 former Portland All-Star was signed to a four-year $84 million contract and Popovich gave up four veterans to bring him over.

“In the Big Three, they have pedigree,” said Lazenby, referring to Duncan, Ginobili and Parker. “With Popovich, they have stability. In Leonard, youthful brilliance. With Aldridge, who has averaged more than 20 points and eight rebounds in each of the last five seasons, the Spurs have a gifted offensive player. And in 2015-16, they have an excellent chance of winning title No. 6.”

Cleveland could’ve conceivably beaten Golden State in the Finals if James had his supporting cast intact. But with Kevin Love, Anderson Varejao and Kyrie Irving out of commission, there was no way the King could do it all by himself. This season, coach David Blatt did a bit of reshuffling, taking out Kendrick Perkins, Mike Miller, Shawn Marion and Brendan Haywood and bringing in veterans Mo Williams and Richard Jefferson for stability. But Blatt isn’t pinning his hopes on the newcomers. All he’s praying for is a healthy lineup.

“Last season made it clear how important health is to the championship hopes of any team but it also demonstrated that with James, many things are possible,” said Lazenby. “He’s a star who wants to share. He has a coach who wants to help him share even a bit more. How their relationship plays out will be interesting but this group has the opportunity to do something extraordinary in 2016 and end the city of Cleveland’s long dry spell in pro sports championships.”

Take your pick. San Antonio or Cleveland or Golden State. One of those teams will become the NBA champion next season.