NBA ‘07-‘08 Preview: Top 10 Storylines

Every year, there's a new list of headlines that the newspapers and media seem to be obsessed over. This is a short list of what you can expect to read about way too much about in the upcoming NBA season.

1. Boston Celtics: All eyes are on the Celtics this year. It doesn't matter whether they have a great season or a decent playoffs — anything less than a trip to the Finals will be considered a disappointment for this squad. Trading for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen makes the Celtics, as you've heard a thousand times before, relevant again. Good for them — relevancy doesn't mean a thing — championships do. While it will still be entertaining to watch this team regardless of their success, they've traded away some very talented young players in Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, and Ryan Gomes (sorry, Sebastian Telfair, you've still got to prove yourself before you make the cut). Was it a good trade? Yeah, they needed it. Was it worth it? Only if they make some serious, serious noise.

2. Kobe Bryant: I don't know if he'll stay with L.A. or be traded. Quite frankly, nobody does. Whatever happens, KB24 is going to be a storyline all year long. The storyline may be "Kobe Wants Out," "Kobe Traded," or "Kobe Leads Bulls to Finals". Whatever the headline reads, it's always a big one when it has Bryant's name in it.

3. Kevin Durant: Without Oden, the pressure of success has lifted from Durant's shoulders. He won't have to be compared to his much-hyped counterpart all season long. Nonetheless, big things are expected from this lanky SuperSonic. With Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis out, the Sonics will be relying on Durant as their number one option — something that is bound to grab some attention league-wide, regardless of Durant playing on the West Coast.

4. The Texas Three-Step: The Spurs are aiming for their second-consecutive title, the Mavericks are coming off a 67-win season with the reigning MVP, and the Rockets are going to be playing with a much improved team from the one that was still able to win 52 games last season. All three Texas teams are built for a title run and all three are capable of winning it. It'll be interesting to see how all of the minor storylines unfold with these three teams (Tim Duncan versus refs, Dirk Nowitzki versus "overrated" comments, and the Rockets' chemistry issues). Whatever happens, the Texas Trio should be near the top of power rankings everywhere all season long.

5. Fastbreak Galore: It's the hottest trend in the NBA: fastbreak offense. While it hasn't led to any major success (when considering the playoffs), it has still caught on and caused many teams to try and duplicate the Phoenix Suns' offense. Phoenix alumni Bryan Colangelo and Marc Iavaroni have brought the offense-based system to their respective clubs (Toronto and Memphis) and numerous others are testing it out, as well. If nobody is able to win a championship in the next three years, this system should fold. We've always heard that "defense wins championships," but these teams also realize that "offense sells tickets." If the fastbreak system is able to do both, it'll be here to stay.

6. Microfracture: Never before has a medical term become such a big deal in one particular sport. Sure, many medical terms have seen attention in the past, but microfracture surgery is taking it to a new level. When Greg Oden had surgery on his knee, the whole basketball world stood still — not that's it's a hard thing to do in the summer, but it happened nonetheless. Amare Stoudemire is still struggling with his knees and other players are hitting the headlines any time a knee surgery is considered an option.

7. Referees: Even though the referee gambling scandal has calmed down over the past few months, this will become a headline again any time there is a questionable call made in an important situation. Tim Donaghy may be the scapegoat for the referee scandal (so what if six others were caught for minor infractions), but every referee will feel the heat for their missed (or made) calls all season long.

8. New York, New York: The Knicks are a mess. They can't manage to win on the court or in the courts. It doesn't matter what's going on with this franchise, they simply continue to make horrible moves all over. They have a very talented team, but talent doesn't matter when you manage to bring together some of the worst personalities in all of sports: Stephon Marbury, Zach Randolph, and Isiah Thomas. Oh, and they have a starting center with heart problems, Eddy Curry, who manages less assists, steals, and blocks combined than the turnovers he gives away.

9. Yi Jianlian: I personally could care less, but that doesn't mean it won't be big news. Yi Jianlian be watched all season long thanks to the fact that he comes from a place with a population in the billions. Will he live up to the hype? Probably not. Will he be voted to the All-Star Game? Probably. Nobody knows his age, he sent thousands into uproar by trying to boycott Milwaukee, and he hasn't proven a whole lot in the preseason. Still, Yi is a storyline-maker that we'll have to get used to seeing.

10. Whiners: While "whiners" might be a strong title — it's exactly what they are. By publicly whining for a trade instead of doing so behind closed doors, certain players tend to demand more media attention than they probably deserve. Regardless of whether or not Shawn Marion gets traded, the whining headlines that he makes are quite a shame. The guy is a fantastic player that deserves to be making the papers for his play, not his disgruntled talk. Ditto for Andrei Kirilenko and whoever else whines this year.

Chad Kettner runs HoopsBlogging.com, a basketball site dedicated to hoops analysis and fantasy tips.