The 10 Storylines That Will Define the 2020-21 NBA Season

The 2020-21 NBA season will be a journey like none before it.

The schedule has changed. The arenas have changed. The turnaround time alone is a major departure from the norms; when the campaign tips off Tuesday night, some teams will be nine months removed from their last games while others were locking horns just two months back.

In an unpredictable environment like this, every twist and turn will feel significant even though we won't appreciate the full significance of each development until the dust settles next summer.

For now, though, a handful of storylines already have our attention as potential points of direction for the entire season to follow.

Full-powered Stephen Curry is nothing short of a basketball magician. But no sleight of hand or sorcery can help him cover up the absence of his sibling in splash, Klay Thompson.

With Curry repurposed as a one-man army, the Golden State Warriors have almost assuredly lost their shot at championship contention. Saying that, it's not like they're punting the season. And if everything breaks right for Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, Kelly Oubre Jr. and James Wiseman, maybe Steve Kerr's squad can still emerge as a pesky playoff matchup.

But it all comes back to Curry, a two-time MVP who made just five appearances in an injury-riddled 2019-20. He'll make the shortlist of viable candidates for the scoring title while setting up the bulk of his teammates' scoring chances, too.

Golden State has the personnel to be solid or better on defense. An epic Curry comeback might be required to get this group there on the offensive end.

The more things change, the more they stay the same for the Philadelphia 76ers, a team that wouldn't shock the world by winning a title, being bounced in the opening round or anything in between.

The Sixers tasked new president of basketball operations Daryl Morey with their newest design, and he delivered the kind of floor-spacing threats the roster desperately needed (particularly, Seth Curry and Danny Green). They challenged new head coach Doc Rivers to make sense of it all and repair a roster that's been less than the sum of its parts for a few years running.

All the reshuffling in the world wouldn't change the ultimate question, though: Can Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons co-exist at a championship level? That felt easy to buy in 2017-18 when they authored a plus-15.5 net rating across 1,306 minutes together. But by 2019-20, the notion bordered on preposterous as that figure fell to just plus-0.6.

The retooled supporting cast should better position the pair for success, but the stars will decide how far the group can go.

"I think Jo and I both realize how unique and special this moment is for two guys like us to be on the same team at such a young age," Simmons told reporters. "Everybody wanted it to be in the first couple of years, but it obviously didn't happen and it doesn't work like that. Now we have a new opportunity, we have new guys on the team, new leadership, and I think we can go all the way."

Time seems in endless supply until it isn't.

The Los Angeles Clippers were the talk of the town ahead of the 2019-20 season, somehow stealing the Hollywood spotlight from LeBron James and Anthony Davis with their shiny new, ultra-contemporary combo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Just one year later, James and Davis are the defending champs, and the Clippers are suddenly staring down the barrel of a possible make-or-break campaign.

Leonard can reach free agency after this season. Even if the L.A. native likes the idea of hooping in his hometown, he'll need basketball reasons to stick around. The 2019-20 Clippers never delivered on their promise, ultimately blowing a 3-1 lead in the conference semis.

George at least still committed to a four-year extension this offseason. But he's second in command, and the gap between him and Leonard is significant. Plus, let's not forget how quickly Blake Griffin went from being a "Clipper for life" to being moved to the Motor City.

This roster still runs rich with talent, and maybe the newcomers (Serge Ibaka, Luke Kennard, Nicolas Batum) can help squeeze more out of it. But the Clippers are no longer the championship favorites, and their timeline to maximize their potential could be running short.

For the past few seasons, budgets were painstakingly balanced by those who wanted in on the Giannis Antetokounmpo 2021 free-agency sweepstakes. Teams like the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors had been careful not to extend any contracts that could spoil that dream.

But the sweepstakes aren't happening. Rather than wait for free agency, the two-time MVP cashed in early with a five-year, $228 million supermax extension to stay with the Milwaukee Bucks.

So, what comes next for the Heat and Raptors? Are the self-imposed financial restraints fully lifted? Will these clubs rush to the trade market for the impact additions they perhaps shied away from in free agency? Are there Plan B, C and D stars on the wish list who now get the bulk of their attention?

Few teams felt Antetokounmpo's domino drop more than Miami and Toronto, but their reactionary moves could have league-wide ramifications. The Raptors were last season's second seed in the East. The Heat became the conference's representative in the Finals.

They constructed themselves to be one major move away. Even if it's not the move they initially had in mind, they still have the flexibility to get something done.

The Association's arms race never stops, and the next big prize up for grabs is a bearded bomber with mind-boggling statistics.

James Harden is ready to split from the Houston Rockets, and if he has his way, he'll be sent to the Brooklyn Nets or Philadelphia 76ers. But the Rockets haven't limited their trade talks to those teams and are instead fielding offers from "several playoff-caliber teams" in both conferences, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne.

It might be impossible to overstate the importance of a Harden trade. He's been bingeing on buckets at rates even few elites have matched, and before he started his three-year run of scoring titles, he took home an assists crown. He's a top-10 offense by himself and a possible ticket to full-fledged title contention.

If he changes jerseys, it'll change the basketball landscape.

The Los Angeles Lakers don't quite have the unbeatable air about them some dynasties have possessed. But if the 2020-21 campaign were a video game, the final boss would clearly be rocking purple and gold—and probably a unibrow, too.

The Lakers already followed the cheat-code combination of LeBron James and Anthony Davis to the championship podium. They were bulldozers during the regular season (plus-8.0 across 1,455 minutes), and once the playoffs came around, they became military-grade weaponry (plus-14.8 in 566 minutes).

Then both inked extensions this offseason because Lakers Exceptionalism is alive and well.

The club crushed the offseason in ways beyond the new deals for James and Davis. It scratched the itch for another playmaker by trading for Dennis Schroder and then crushed the role-player portion of free agency by landing Montrezl Harrell, Marc Gasol and Wesley Matthews. Oh, and Talen Horton-Tucker might be making a massive leap, too, because why not.

NBA.com just compiled its 19th annual general manager survey. The Lakers were the championship pick of 81 percent of respondents, the third-highest rate in the survey's history.

This is the team to beat until proven otherwise, and the legacy implications for James and Davis only add to its appeal.

Buckle up.

The Brooklyn Nets' superteam-in-waiting is finally ready to take the big stage. Kevin Durant is back from a torn Achilles. Kyrie Irving has returned from shoulder surgery. There's a non-zero chance this will be 2020-21's most explosive offense, and that's true regardless of whether the team makes a major move for James Harden or retains depth around its stars.

"Even without assuming good health, Brooklyn tops the league in projected offensive rating," ESPN's Kevin Pelton wrote.

Still, there are myriad question marks with this club. Will the stars stay healthy and satisfied with the setup? Will anyone defend? How will Steve Nash fare in his first go-round as an NBA head coach? Should Brooklyn trade for a third star? Does it have one already?

If the Nets receive encouraging answers on enough fronts, they could deliver the organization's first NBA title.

The Milwaukee Bucks have been the best team in basketball the past two seasons. Or rather, they've looked the part during the regular season by setting the high marks in wins and net rating. But once the playoffs have hit, this group has looked problematically light on star power, support and flexibility.

The Bucks scored the offseason's biggest win with Giannis' supermax, which puts the attention on the activity that happened around him. They paid a heavy premium to get Jrue Holiday, and after a sign-and-trade for Bogdan Bogdanovic fell through, they snatched up D.J. Augustin, Bobby Portis and Bryn Forbes.

If those are enough to move the second-season needle, then the Bucks will be laughing last in 2020-21. The problem is they won't know whether the moves actually worked until they're well into the postseason. They're the likeliest team to post the highest wins total, and they'll surely devour whichever first-round sacrifice the basketball gods put in front of them.

But after that, Milwaukee will learn—along with everyone else—whether Antetokounmpo is finally in a championship situation.

The NBA usually has a substantial divide between its haves and have-nots, so it's always interesting to see which clubs can jump a rung or more on the hierarchical hoops ladder.

Health can be all that's needed for some to right to the ship. Kevin Durant and a full season of Kyrie Irving will make the Brooklyn Nets better. Go figure. The same goes for Stephen Curry on the Golden State Warriors.

But those who orchestrated offseason changes that elevated their existence are among the most compelling clubs to track.

The Phoenix Suns should see instant returns on their investments in Chris Paul and Jae Crowder. The Atlanta Hawks might take flight after adding Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari and Rajon Rondo. The Charlotte Hornets saw LaMelo Ball fall in their laps and spent a fortune on Gordon Hayward. The Portland Trail Blazers pumped up their supporting cast with Robert Covington, Derrick Jones Jr., Enes Kanter and Harry Giles III.

Each earned its share of offseason attention, but the real challenge is translating that to the league standings.

One glance at the NBA season's award recipients won't capture the full story of that campaign, but it often provides a decent summary.

This year could prove more revealing than most.

If voter fatigue works against back-to-back MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the next recipient could be the biggest story of that season.

Might that be Luka Doncic working miracles for the Dallas Mavericks? Stephen Curry getting his groove back in Golden State? Damian Lillard skyrocketing the Portland Trail Blazers? Anthony Davis, LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard deciding the Battle for L.A.? Nikola Jokic powering the Denver Nuggets atop the Western Conference? Jayson Tatum elevating the Boston Celtics to Eastern Conference supremacy?

The possibilities seem endless, and that feels true of most awards. Track each race over the season and you'll surely have a good grasp of virtually everything that has transpired.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball Reference unless otherwise noted.

Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @ZachBuckleyNBA.