With the NBA regular season tipping off Tuesday night, Daily Iowan staffers debate who will hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy next summer.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Give LeBron some credit, when literally everyone but his own teammates doubted him, he came up with one of the best performances of his career.

Winning a championship for Cleveland was nothing short of incredible. Coming back after being down 3-1 was incredible. Some of the stat lines he put up in the finals — incredible.

Now he gets an even tougher challenge. And, I’d like to note, I say “he” here in reference to LeBron, because at its most basic, as he goes, his team goes. James has made Kyrie Irving a better player and has managed to keep the peace with Kevin Love.

He’s gotten J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson paid, ousted a coach he didn’t like for an assistant he trusted, and somehow made the chemistry in that locker room better than ever.

To be fair, being on a finals-caliber team will do that.

Which, again, comes back to LeBron, who has a new challenge: taking down the Kevin Durant and Steph Curry-led Golden State Warriors. They are the NBA’s new “super team” in a similar model to what Cleveland and Miami have tried to do. You can argue all you want what exactly constitutes a super team, but there’s no denying the Warriors are now one.

They were already a historically great team, winning a record 73 games last season and hardly needed to add another superstar. But blowing a 3-1 lead apparently freaked out the team to the point where they felt they needed to add another star.

So, in order to beat LeBron, the Warriors got Durant from the Thunder. It certainly makes them the Vegas favorite, but there’s just something about the Cavaliers.

They lost very little during the off-season and brought in a couple interesting pieces. Yes, the Warriors might again be the better regular-season team. But when it comes playoff time, never, ever count out LeBron.

I think he grabs them another trophy.

— Jordan Hansen

Golden State Warriors

Golden State will win the 2017 NBA Finals. Book it.

The only question this team faces is whether it’ll break the record for regular-season wins (again). Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson — four members of the All-NBA Team — lead this team in what most call the biggest “super team” of all time.

Adding to this, Durant will be a man on a mission this season. He’s been labeled a villain by many. Expect him to come out guns blazing this year. I’ll take an angry Durant any day of the season.

Let’s not forget that the reigning MVP is on this team, too.

Thompson, one of the purest spot-up shooters in history, will get the most looks in his career. Teams can’t leave Curry or Durant with one-on-one defense, double-teams are needed, freeing up the sharpshooter.

This team is a shooter’s dream. Expect the triples to be going down in record fashion.

The bench, what some call Golden State’s Achilles’ heel, is underrated. Andre Iguodala (the 2015 NBA Finals MVP), Shaun Livingston, Patrick McCaw, JaVale McGee, and David West headline the second unit. Livingston is instant offense, and McCaw turned into a preseason hero. Yes, McGee has the potential for a Shaqtin’ a Fool nomination, but he’s one of the most athletic big men in the league.

This is the year he gets into a rhythm because he won’t be expected to do too much. West is a proven, versatile veteran who still has just enough gas in the tank for a title run,

This team will go down in the history books as one of the best (if not the best) of all time. Put your money on the Warriors.

— Adam Hensley