With the NBA season tipping off this evening, three DI staff members debate which team will win the NBA Finals and be crowned champion.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls have been an elite, yet undeniably flawed team, for close to five years now. However, first-year head coach Fred Hoiberg will bring with him an ideological shift that could finally put the Bulls over the top.

Former coach Tom Thibodeau single-handedly turned Chicago into the most suffocating defense in the league during his tenure, which was the driving force behind the Bulls’ success. But his emphasis on defense and corresponding neglect of the offense proved to be the both his, and the team’s, undoing.

He enjoyed the presence of Derrick Rose, who, particularly in his MVP season, alone gave the Bulls enough offensive firepower to be a contender. But in the end, it was Rose and defense, and that was it.

Last year the Bulls saw the ascension of Jimmy Butler to full-fledged NBA stardom and also the arrival of Pau Gasol, among the most gifted offensive big men of this generation. Another injury to Rose aside, the offense was much less effective than expected under Thibodeau, thus creating another title contender with a first-year head coach, similar to last year’s eventual champion Warriors.

Hoiberg ran an up-tempo style at Iowa State and relied heavily on spacing and outside shooting, two areas in which the Bulls have lacked. However, by announcing that he will start Nikola Mirotic and Gasol rather than Joakim Noah and/or Taj Gibson, a shift toward offense is evident.

With a roster largely unchanged from the Thibodeau-regime, there should be a leftover understanding of how to play strong defense. Now, with Hoiberg to more effectively use the talents of Butler, Rose, Gasol, and Most Improved Player darkhorse Mirotic, the Bulls should have the two-way capabilities to challenge anybody — even LeBron James — come playoff time.

— by Kyle Mann

Cleveland Cavaliers

Golden State repeating as back-to-back champion is a sexy pick, but only five teams have done that. So odds are a new champion will be crowned.

That team will be Cleveland. Led by LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving, the Cavs are positioned to get back to the NBA Finals, and this time they will take home the championship.

At the moment, the Cavs are dealing with the injury bug, Irving and Iman Shumpert will both be out for the season-opener, with no timetable for return. With the injuries, look for head coach David Blatt to be cautious early in the season.

But injuries shouldn’t be a problem at the start of the season, as the Eastern Conference is weak once again this year. Even without Shumpert and Irving, the Cavs should manage to cost through the regular season with the current roster.

As long as the Irving and Shumpert are healthy going into the playoffs,  the Cavs will be the heavy favorites to win the Eastern Conference.

James is still the best player in the NBA. Add complementary play from All-Stars Love and Irivng and a second year of experience for coach Blatt, look for the Cavs offense to operate much smoother in year two of the “Big Three” experiment.

Remember the second year of the 2010-2014 Miami Heat “Big Three” era? The Heat ended up winning the 2011 championship in the second year. Expect this Cavs team to do the same in their second year together.

— by Connor Sindberg

Oklahoma City Thunder

A year after injuries derailed a once promising season, Oklahoma City is healthy once again, and that means everything to its title odds.

In star forward Kevin Durant’s absence last season, do-everything guard Russell Westbrook averaged 28.1 points, 8.6 assists, and 7.3 rebounds per game. These numbers will surely go down this season with Durant and newly signed Enes Kanter racking up the stats, but everyone is well aware of what Westbrook can do.

Interestingly, it came after Durant won 2014 MVP honors. During that season, Westbrook definitely got less attention than Durant, and perhaps his performance last year reflected a bit of a need to prove himself with everyone watching. In any event, the Thunder are better off for it as a competitive atmosphere is needed on any good team.

It helps that the Thunder are deep with role players willing to defer to Durant and Westbrook. Guard Reggie Jackson was traded to the Pistons in a three-team trade last season that brought Kanter and reliable backups Kyle Singler and D.J. Augustin to Oklahoma.

These, along with an earlier trade that brought in Dion Waiters, give the Thunder plenty of opportunity for first-year NBA coach Billy Donovan, who replaced longtime Thunder coach Scott Brooks earlier this year.