Ahead of Tuesday night's kick-off of the NBA season, TSN.ca looks at the big question facing each of the 30 clubs.

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Will the Bulls’ big names co-exist?

Okay, it’s late in the fourth. The Chicago Bulls are down one with 24 seconds left on the clock. Who’s taking the ball up court and who’s getting the last shot? I’ll give you a minute. Jimmy Butler, Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade all want to be that guy and expect to be that guy, but only can and how this trio shakes out with Fred Hoiberg’s Bulls this season will be fascinating to watch. The potential for trouble is a real one.

With Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose in Knicks jerseys this season and Pau Gasol trying to do his best Tim Duncan impression in San Antonio, it appeared that the Bulls were going to be Butler’s team with frontcourt help from the sharpshooting Nikola Mirotic, who was lights out down the stretch last season, and the energetic Robin Lopez (over from the Knicks in the Rose trade). So the Wade and Rondo additions are puzzling ones. Now, Wade is a future Hall of Famer and this past spring’s playoffs showed he still has a lot left in the tank even at soon-to-be 35. And Rondo – though maddeningly inconsistent – can still turn a game on its ear. But these are guys who like the ball as much as Butler does and neither is particularly defensively sound. It’s difficult to imagining this set-up working unless compromise is made on a number of ends.

And there’s also the matter of replacing Gasol’s defensive contribution in the frontcourt. While Gasol is slowing down at 36, he was still a capable shot blocker and dependable on the glass. Cristiano Felicio might be asked to do more than he’s able to at this point in his young career because Doug McDermott and Bobby Portis aren’t going to carry that load.

The bottom half of the Eastern Conference playoff picture is wide open and the Bulls have enough scoring punch (well, not from three) to keep them alive in games. This team is probably capable of making the playoffs, but if everything were to bottom out here, it will be spectacular. Keep an eye on these guys.

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Can the Cavaliers repeat as NBA top dogs?

Not only did the Cavaliers win the city of Cleveland’s first sporting championship in 52 years, they might have kicked off a winning streak for the once-moribund Rust Belt city with the Cleveland baseball team playing in the World Series for the first time since 1997. With Cleveland a city of title contenders, we are surely approaching the end of days. But before the earth is swallowed up in fire, the Cavaliers have an excellent chance at repeating as champions.

The Cavs’ biggest competition in the East this season is likely once again themselves. Matthew Dellavedova and Timofey Mozgov have moved on, but the team that won the NBA title after overturning a 3-1 deficit in the Finals against the Warriors returns almost whole. The Cavs hope that the turmoil that plagued the team early on last year and saw the dismissal of David Blatt is a thing of the past and Ty Lue will have smooth sailing until the playoffs. In a best-case scenario, Lue will have the opportunity to rest the otherworldly LeBron James and Kyrie Irving – a monster in his own right during the title run – in order to preserve his elite talent for the playoffs.

That’s not to say that no adversity is to be expected or that the team won’t look to improve. An NBA Championship went a long way to gloss over another disappointing season for Kevin Love. Though the team got its title, the Love-for-Andrew Wiggins trade hasn’t worked out the way either party has hoped and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if general manager David Griffin sought a change of scenery for him at some juncture in the near future.

There’s also the issue of Kyrie’s defending or lack thereof. The previous shutdown mode version of the Cavs utilized the dogged defensive acumen of uber-pest Dellavedova. Who takes over in that role remains to be seen. Second-round pick Kay Felder out of Oakland will start the year as the back-up point guard, but it would be a shock if Griffin didn’t make a move to shore up the position. The need would be exacerbated should anything happen to Irving.

Still, this is the beast of the East and you get the distinct feeling that this team won’t be tested until late in the spring. A lot can change between now and then, but anything less than another Finals appearance would be a surprise…and a disappointment.

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How do the Pistons build on a return to the postseason?

Stan Van Gundy brought the Detroit Pistons to the postseason for the first time in six years this past spring where they were promptly curb-stomped by the soon-to-be champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite that, a playoff return was a testament to the work Van Gundy did with his young team and they’ll look to build on that this season, but must do so with some trepidation. With the Washington Wizards from a year ago a perfect example of it, the Pistons must avoid a letdown after reestablishing their intent in what should be an open bottom half of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

While the Pistons are filled with good (not great) young talent, they will have to survive the early tests of the season without quarterback Reggie Jackson. The point guard underwent knee and thumb procedures last week that likely will shelve him until mid-November to early December. Ish Smith did yeoman’s work with a terrible Sixers team late last season in a stab at respectability and he’ll be asked to guide the ship in Jackson’s absence. Having a full season of Tobias Harris will also be of great help offensively.

The team will be led by once again Andre Drummond, who broke out last season with an all-star appearance and leading the league in boards at a clip of 14.8 a night. It’s easy to make the comparisons to another emerging frontcourt force who worked under SVG’s tutelage in Dwight Howard, but they’re not the same player. While Howard might be more naturally gifted than Drummond, the latter’s work ethic appears to be superior. The biggest issue for Drummond a season ago was his well-documented inability to hit free throws. He was comically, Shaquilley (that’s an adverb now) inept, shooting at .355. To his credit, Drummond has been putting in work to ameliorate the problem, but this looks like something that will stick with him for his entire career – just ask DeAndre Jordan. At 23, Drummond’s game is still evolving and he can’t allow himself to get bogged down in struggles at the line. Bigger problems can arise if he were to dwell on that.

This is a better-than-average team and should find itself in the postseason again, but will have its resolve assessed early on. Van Gundy is one of the league’s top coaches and should keep his club motivated. Second place in the Central should be the aim for the Pistons come spring 2017.

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 Can the offence-first Pacers become a contender?

If you want to be cynical, there’s a particular light in which you can view the Pacers’ remodeling in the off-season: Paul George is a free agent in two years. In moving away from a more defensively responsible lineup – and letting go of coach Frank Vogel – and turning to one that’s up-tempo offence-first, Larry Bird has made a direct appeal to his superstar. This is a team that will be geared towards your strengths and be molded to fit you. Please stick around.

Still, from an on-paper perspective, it’s difficult to say that the Pacers aren’t better going into this season than the team that came within a hair of taking out the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs. Nate McMillan takes over a reloaded team that has a chance to put some pressure on the Cavs in the Central.

Gone are Ian Mahinmi, Solomon Hill and George Hill. In their place comes Al Jefferson, Thad Young and Jeff Teague, a trio of proven scorers who can ease that burden from George, who was a one-man wrecking crew in the playoffs. Jefferson – at three years and $30 million – comes in at a particularly attractive clip. Add this three to incumbents Monta Ellis and star-in-the making Myles Turner and this is one of the East’s most potent attacks.

So what’s the downside here? This team is significantly worse defensively. Vogel – it’s hard not to argue he got a raw deal in his departure – preached D first and that’s what players like Mahinmi and George Hill were able to do. This group – George, a fine defender, aside – might not be capable of posting the same top-10 defence numbers the Pacers did last season. This will be all moot if the Pacers can manage to outscore the opposition on more nights than they don’t, but it seems strange to seemingly abandon your strength to improve your weakness. Also, there has to be some concern about a too-many-cooks scenario with George, Teague and Ellis went it comes to running offence.

The other weird thing about the coaching change is that the team promoted McMillan. McMillan is a fine and well-respected coach, but if you’re going to change philosophies when it comes to coaching like the Pacers have done, wouldn’t you turn outside of the organization to facilitate that? Perhaps the thinking is that McMillan can retain some of the defensive mindset of the Vogel era, yet on the surface, this seems like a half-measure departure rather than the clean break necessary.

The Pacers are certainly a playoff team and will probably post more wins than they did a season ago, but whether or not that will translate into winning a playoff round – what should be the team’s priority this year – remains to be seen.

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Does the loss of Middleton cripple the Bucks’ playoff hopes?

The Central Division will be shockingly tough this season and a playoff spot was by no means a lock for Jason Kidd’s team, but reaching the postseason becomes even more difficult with the loss of Khris Middleton. Middleton tore a hamstring in practice earlier this month and will be back after the all-star break at the earliest. While the 25-year-old Texas A&M product might not be the Bucks’ most talented player, he could be their most important when it comes to cohesion. He led the team in scoring last season at 18.2 PPG (to be honest, he probably wouldn’t have this year) and has the Bucks’ most consistent shot. He also shoots well above .400 from beyond the arc, something that nobody else on the team does.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though, especially with the presence of young studs Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker. The Greek Freak can play anywhere on the court and is an absolute pleasure to watch. There a few other players in the entire Association capable of producing as many highlight-reel plays as he can. What’s especially intriguing about Giannis, though, is his play at the point. When Kidd put him there last February, he averaged 18.8 PPG, 8.6 boards, 7.2 dimes and 1.9 blocks a night. The number of other point guards to put up an equivalent slash line in NBA history? Nada. Granted, we’re looking at a small sample size, but it’s still incredible to think that a near-seven-footer is capable of running the point like that.

Now, #PointGiannis isn’t likely to be a permanent thing. The team’s starting point guard will be everybody’s favourite pot-stirring Aussie, Matthew Dellavedova. Say what you will about the $38 million and four years given to a guy who’s never averaged more than 25 minutes a night, but the newly minted NBA champion can hit a three and brings some sandpaper to a team that can use it.

As for Parker, this could be a breakout year. With his first campaign completely erased with an ACL tear, last season was effectively his rookie year and he tore it up post-All Star break, scoring 18.9 points a night. There’s a reason this kid was the second overall pick in 2014 and he’s starting to show it.

And a note on Thon Maker – it was perhaps a reach to take the Toronto-area (via Australia via Sudan) product at #10 in this past June’s NBA Draft, but he was excellent in the Summer League, averaging a near double-double. The selection was not one for today, but for down the line. Maker needs to bulk up to compete at the pro level and shouldn’t expect a lot of playing time at all this season. Kidd and the Bucks must be cautious in their development.

The building blocks are here for a very good team in the near future, but the Bucks can expect to take at least one more year of lumps before being ready to contend in the East.