Ahead of the regular season tipping off on Tuesday night, TSN.ca looks at a burning question facing every NBA team.

In the Central, the Cleveland Cavaliers look geared up to take one more run at an NBA title before LeBron exits stage left, while Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Milwaukee Bucks seek to take another step forward and the Indiana Pacers deal with life without Paul George.

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Just how bad will it be for the Bulls?

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Kris Dunn

Don’t blame Chicago Bulls fans for salivating at the prospects of a Marvin Bagley, Mohamed Bamba or Michael Porter in their team’s uniform next year because the 2018 NBA Draft is likely where Fred Hoiberg’s Bulls pull off their biggest win this campaign.

The Bulls are in transition. Their 2-0 lead over the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs seems like it was six years ago and not six months ago at this point. That team is gone. People who were critical of Gar Forman’s attempt to build a Big 3 with Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo were proven right when it didn’t work out nearly the way the Bulls hoped. Rondo and Wade were waived, while Butler – the team’s best player and its heart and soul – was shipped off the Minnesota Timberwolves in a blockbuster just before the draft in June. In moving Butler, the team turned the page on this incarnation of the Bulls and, even in a weak East, the Bulls will be hard-pressed to compete.

The Butler trade accrued a pair of young assets in Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine, as well as the ability to move up in the draft to select Lauri Markkanen. Bulls fans weren’t exactly enamoured with the Markkanen pick and will probably get angrier when the kid pick right after him at #9, Dennis Smith Jr., ends up winning Rookie of the Year, but there’s reason to like the selection of Markkanen.

A legit seven-footer, Markkanen isn’t explosive, but makes up for that with fluidity of movement and coordination. He starred for Finland at this past summer’s Eurobasket, putting his sweet jump shot on display and his ability to attack the rim. Better offensively than he is on the other side of the ball, Markkanen is not a long seven-footer which limits him as a shot blocker and rebounder. Like most kids coming into the league, the former Arizona Wildcat is going to need to put on weight to handle much bigger athletes at the pro level.

As for Dunn and LaVine, the Bulls need both to bounce back – Dunn from a slow start to his NBA career and LaVine from an ACL injury. A standout at Providence, Dunn found playing time limited (17.1 minutes a night) with the T-Wovles behind Ricky Rubio, but that won’t be an issue with the Bulls. They’ve made it clear that Dunn is their point guard of the future and will allow him to grow into the role. On a team with limited offensive abilities, Dunn is likely the team’s best playmaker.

A healthy LaVine will be the team’s top offensive threat. Right now, the expectation is that 22-year-old UCLA product, who was in the midst of a career year before going down to injury (18.9 PPG), will be ready to go before December. LaVine’s improved deep shot means he’s probably the Bulls their best three-point option, too. Elsewhere, more playing time for Bobby Portis comes with the expectations of better numbers – averaging a double-double might be too much to ask from the third-year power forward out of Arkansas, but the team would like for him to trend in that direction.

Simply put, the Bulls will struggle mightily this year and hope that increased game time for its young players will result in gains down the road as this rebuild continues on in the coming seasons. If this youthful core can be supplemented with high-upside lottery picks in the next couple of years, the Bulls hope today’s setbacks will be forgotten with tomorrow’s success.

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 Is this LeBron’s last hurrah in Cleveland?

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LeBron James

LeBron James did what he set out to do.

When he returned to Cleveland as the prodigal son in 2014, he vowed to bring an NBA title to (the city adjacent to) his hometown and he did just that in 2016. In fact, in all three seasons of his second act with the Cavs, James has taken the team to the NBA Finals where they met the Golden State Warriors. And even in the two instances that they were unsuccessful there, including this past June, LBJ did his damnedest.

To wit, his numbers in the 2017 NBA Finals were beyond gaudy: 33.6 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 10.0 APG and .564 shooting. He became the first player to ever average a triple-double in the Finals. Simply put, James gave it his all.

Right now, LeBron James owes the Cleveland Cavaliers absolutely nothing, so it shouldn’t come as a shock - and certainly not as an affront - to anybody if this is his final year with the team. LeBron’s relationship with owner Dan Gilbert wasn’t good to begin with – James never forgot about the comic sans open letter from when he took his talents to South Beach back in 2010 - and the dismissal of general manager David Griffin, with whom James was close, only exacerbated that situation.

Then, of course, there was flat earth becoming scorched earth when the relationship between Kyrie Irving and the team became untenable – Kyrie wanted to be the man, rather than a second fiddle - and the point guard was, eventually, sent packing to the Boston Celtics for a very injured Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and Ante Zizic.

With the turnover in Cleveland and LeBron being a free agent this summer, it’s become obvious in the past months that the 32-year-old James’s future lies elsewhere…and likely westward.

But until then, there’s the matter of this season where the Cavs find themselves yet again the cream of the East’s crop. That might be faint praise when you consider the general dearth of quality in the East, yet this is still a very talented team. Questions remain, though, when it comes to injuries, age and fit.

In moving Kyrie, there is now a hole at point guard. Isaiah Thomas is a warrior, plain and simple, who wears his heart on his sleeve, but the Cavs won’t get a look at him in uniform until, perhaps, the All-Star break.

Until then, what’s left of Derrick Rose and Jose Calderon will run the one. While it’s easy to discount Rose because of his lengthy injury history, when he does play, he’s still eminently capable. He missed 18 games a season ago for the New York Knicks, but posted respectable numbers (18.0 PPG and 4.4 APG on .471 shooting) on a bad team. The fact that he’ll be asked to do much less in Cleveland bodes well for his success.

Rose’s partner in the backcourt will be Dwyane Wade, who comes over to play with good buddy LBJ after his return home with the Chicago Bulls didn’t pan out as expected. Now 35, Wade is in the same boat as Rose in that he won’t be asked to do the heavy lifting he once was accustomed to and needs to contribute only secondary (maybe even tertiary) scoring. And in another similarity with Rose, it would be foolish to bank on Wade playing a full season (he’s played more than 70 games once in the last six years), so J.R. Smith, relegated to bench duty with Wade’s arrival, is likely to still get a lot of game time.

With the acquisition of Crowder, Ty Lue is switching up his frontcourt. Starting centre Tristan Thompson, who regressed a season ago, heads to the bench with Crowder moving into the four and Kevin Love slotting into the middle. Crowder is one of the league’s premier defensive forwards and too valuable a commodity to waste on the bench. With the East generally playing smaller than the West, there isn’t too much risk in playing Love at centre as long as he can handle the physical rigours. Love hasn’t played in the middle since his rookie year with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2008-09, so this could be a work in progress.

Once again, the real test for the Cavs won’t come until the postseason and while they’ll likely be pushed by the Boston Celtics and maybe the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors, they remain the best the East has on offer. But there is greater impetus to win this season with full knowledge that contention is fleeting and this window is slamming shut in a hurry.

If this is LeBron’s last hurrah with the Cavs, Gilbert and Cleveland management owes it to the fans to make sure he goes out in a blaze of glory before the California dreaming begins in earnest for the franchise’s all-time greatest player.

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Are the Pistons better after sticking with the status quo?

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Andre Drummond

When the Detroit Pistons won 37 games a season ago and missed the playoffs, it was enough to make Stan Van Gundy angry. Van Gundy was angry enough that he and general manager Jeff Bower made virtually every player on the roster expendable and opened up the floor to the rest of the NBA for trade proposals. While the team didn’t end up making any earthshattering deals, the Pistons let it be known to their roster that the status quo was unacceptable.

But other than the trade that brought in Avery Bradley and the loss of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency to the Los Angeles Lakers, this team is almost identical to last season’s version. If the Pistons are to challenge for a playoff spot in the wide-open bottom half of the Eastern Conference, it’s going to be on the backs of incumbent players stepping up their games.

While Andre Drummond is a consistent double-double every night (he averaged 13.6 PPG and 13.8 RPG last season), more is expected from the 24-year-old pivot. He regressed a bit from his All-Star season the previous year and his propensity to be drawn in to bad fouls early left Van Gundy unable to use him in late parts of games last year. For Drummond to get the most out of his skills, he’s going to need to settle down more in the opening stages of games, be smarter about when to engage and work on his touch around the rim.

Of course, Drummond is also a notoriously poor foul shooter and has been working on that part of his game for years, but the improvement has yet to really stick. Though Drummond remains a liability at the line, it’s not like the rest of the team was lights out from there. Their team 71.9 FT% was second worst in the entire NBA. Depending on how his season and the team’s year goes, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Pistons explore moving Drummond again during the season.

Reggie Jackson is still the team’s top playmaker, but his season was limited to just 52 games last year with a knee injury. Without Jackson, the Pistons’ offence cratered and fell to 24th in the NBA in offensive efficiency. It’s unlikely that the Pistons will ever shake Jackson’s shoot-first tendency as a point guard, but the team suffered with a paucity of assists with Jackson out of the lineup, averaging a seventh-worst 21.1 dimes a night as a club. With Jackson back running the offence, the Pistons expect their ball movement to take a step forward.

The addition of Bradley offsets the loss of Caldwell-Pope and brings to the Motor City one of the league’s premier defensive guards with an underrated offensive flair. Bradley will be counted on to help shut down wing scoring and act as a threat from outside on this Pistons team that was woeful from deep last year (shooting .330 as a team, the third-worst mark in the league). There are high hopes for first-round pick Luke Kennard to also assist in that regard, but it remains unknown how much time the Duke product will get under SVG behind Bradley and Langston Galloway.

The Pistons missed the playoffs by four games a season ago. Considering the big steps taken backward by the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers in their own division, as well as the Atlanta Hawks in the Southeast, Detroit will feel as if the postseason is within their reach, provided that Jackson and Drummond can replicate their performances from two seasons ago. If this team struggles early, though, look for Bower to get an itchy trigger finger when it comes to making a deal to shake up the look of this team.

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Can the Pacers stay competitive without PG13?

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Myles Turner

You can grumble about the return the Indiana Pacers received in the Paul George trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder (when there were reportedly more attractive packages on offer), but you can’t fault the team for making the move.

The trade of the Pacers’ franchise player with only one year remaining on his contract was a case of smart asset management. An L.A. boy, George made no secret of his desire to play for his boyhood Lakers one day and the tampering feeling still appears to be mutual. In moving George, the Pacers made sure they wouldn’t lose him for nothing come July 1 when he would have undoubtedly walked away in free agency. Though, it’s a bitter pill to swallow for Pacers fans, it’s a completely understandable choice.

But back to that return – yeah, they should have gotten more for George. Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo aren’t enough. In the latter, the Pacers get the guy who will control their offence this season. On top of George, let’s not forget that C.J. Miles, Jeff Teague and Monta Ellis are also gone. That’s 58 points a night.

Oladipo did well as Russell Westbrook’s sidekick a year ago, but this is his time to shine and he’ll be given every opportunity to grow his offensive game. Oladipo’s best scoring year came in his sophomore season with the Orlando Magic when he averaged 17.9 points a night. He might not average 20 points a game this season, but it won’t be because of lack of effort. The Pacers will be perfectly fine with him becoming a much higher volume shooter than the 13.9 field goals a night he attempted a season ago.

Help offensively for Oladipo will come in the form of Myles Turner. Heading into his third season, Turner has shown flashes of brilliance over his first two campaigns, including an impressive performance in the 2015 playoffs against the Toronto Raptors, and highlight-reel blocks seem to come on the regular for him. Like Oladipo, Turner will the chance to succeed and grow. But also like with Oladipo, the jury remains out on what exactly his ceiling. Fairly or unfairly, as Oladipo and Turner go, so do the Pacers.

With the likes of Darren Collison, Cory Joseph and Bojan Bogdanovic coming over to offset the other departures from the team, the Pacers are likely good enough to not get blown away on most nights. Still, the mix of a dearth of offensive talent and spotty defence (they were 19th in defensive efficiency last year) portends a struggle to keep buoyant in the lower half of the East where playing .500 basketball is a virtual lock for the playoffs.

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Are the Bucks more than a Freak Show?

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Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to be the best player in the NBA.

He’s not yet and he won’t be this season, but it’s coming and it’s coming soon. The Greek Freak can do it all and almost willed the Bucks to a first-round series victory against the Toronto Raptors last spring. A point forward, he’s a nightmare matchup for anybody on him. How do you defend against a man with that length and athleticism? He still has work to do, though. His outside shot isn’t great and when you try to take away the lane and force him to settle for one, you greatly limit his effectiveness. Still, Giannis has improved in leaps and bounds every single season during his short career, so it only makes sense to believe he will do so again this season.

So what about his supporting cast? If the Bucks are more than a one-man show, they have every chance to rise into the East’s upper echelon this season. And there’s reason to be optimistic.

While Jabari Parker is out until the All-Star break with another ACL tear, Khris Middleton comes into the season healthy. One of the NBA’s most unheralded wing threats with a deadly outside shot (he was a preposterous .433 from three last year), the Bucks hit another gear when he returned from injury midway through last season. After a recurring hamstring problem kept Middleton out of the Milwaukee lineup until February, the Bucks went 20-9 upon his return, including 14-4 in March.

Thought to be a big reach when taken with the 10th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Thon Maker announced his presence as an NBA-calibre talent with a strong showing against the Raptors in the playoffs. Wresting the start centre spot away from Greg Monroe, Maker’s smothering interior defence did well to keep the Raptors frustrated and reliant on settling for bad shots. Whether he’s capable of producing that kind of a performance over the course of a full season remains to be seen, but Jason Kidd has a nice problem on his hands when it comes to meting out playing time for Maker and Monroe.

Maker’s fellow freshman last season, Malcolm Brogdon, emerged as the NBA’s best, capturing the Rookie of the Year Award. Taken in the second round out of Virginia, Brogdon stole the starter’s role from high-priced free agent acquisition Matthew Dellavedova and played a mature-beyond-his-years game at point with fluid ball movement. His form appeared to dip a bit in the playoffs, so a return to the confidence level shown in the regular season is the expectation for Brogdon.

For the Bucks to move from playoff team to Eastern contender, they’re going to need more from their bench. In the playoffs, the Raptors feasted on their second unit and it didn’t really change that much over the summer. While Milwaukee is solid in frontcourt depth, problems could arise should Middleton miss any time and Brogdon regress.

But this remains a team on the rise. A modest, but achievable, goal for the Bucks this season should be winning a playoff round. Anything after that will be gravy.