PARIS (George Eddy's International Show) - The upcoming NBA season marks the end of the Tim Duncan-Kobe Bryant-Kevin Garnett era. An era of long careers with the same teams, fabulous individual and collective results and forging the future for the stars who will carry forward the NBA flame. How many of today's players will have 19-20 year careers? Not many if any!

Let's take a look at the teams and players who should really mark this new season starting with, of course, everyone's "super-team", the Golden State Warriors. Never have the experts and bookmakers been so sure that an NBA franchise will dominate a season. Don't forget they were also pretty sure that the Warriors would be champions last season and that didn't happen! Though I'm convinced that it's not going to be that easy, I too put the Warriors at the top of my list of the five teams most likely to finish ahead of the pack this season.

Golden State literally have four All-Stars who could all be considered legitimate candidates for MVP! Their Big Four reminds me of the Boston Celtics in the 1960s who won 9 of 10 titles building different Big Fours around the mythical winning machine that was Bill Russell or the 1980s "showtime" Los Angeles Lakers built around Magic Johnson. Here, the key cog is the double MVP, playmaker Stephen Curry, who will have to accept to shoot less and pass more, intelligently dividing the touches between two voracious scorers, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. Curry is such a smart player that this transition should go somewhat smoothly.

Things will be much more complicated, however, for Draymond Green. If he plays like he did in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, there's going to be some problems. If he plays like he did in Game 7, everything will be hunky-dory. He's got to get his emotions under control, limit the high kicks, selfies and trashtalk while at the same time assuming a completely new role. He won't have the ball in his hands as much and he'll have to compensate for the departure of Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli on the defensive end. He's by far the Warrior who will have to make the biggest adjustment to Durant's arrival.

The adroit management of egos by head coach Steve Kerr will be the key and since he reminds me of a young Gregg Popovich without the orneriness, he should do just fine. He's going to make sure that the Warriors don't waste any energy chasing too many records this time and his Big Four should be in top form for the Playoffs after winning fewer games than last season. Kerr will also be careful to not use his famous new, small ball "death five" too long or too often!

So who are the other contenders who could make all the bookmakers and experts look stupid? In order of importance, the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics.

After the re-signing of J.R. Smith, the Cavs core is intact around a confident coach with a long-term contract which looks like a formula for success in the East. LeBron James will not overdo it in the regular season letting the younger Kyrie Irving have a breakout season. Cleveland could very well beat Golden State in the NBA Finals again this season if the refs let the game get as physical as the last three of the last NBA Finals!

With the arrival of Al Horford, Boston will be stronger even though Isaiah Thomas is right to say they lack a three-point shooter. Coach Brad Stevens is another young Popovich and I see the Celtics moving ahead of the Toronto Raptors in the hierarchy.

Maybe the two biggest dangers for the Warriors are in the Western Conference. Pau Gasol will fit in great with Pop's system and the San Antonio starting five is impressive. On the other hand, the Spurs' bench will lack experience with the departures of Boris Diaw and David West and no successor to Tony Parker is on the horizon. I wonder if LaMarcus Aldridge's attitude might not be the key to a great season for the Spurs.

For the Clippers, it's now or never because this will be the last chance for this roster to make some noise in the Playoffs and if their Big Three stays healthy, anything is possible.

Avoiding injuries is always the key for contenders and from this point of view, once again, Golden State seems to be the best-armed franchise to deal with this type of adversity.

Let the games begin!

George Eddy

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