NBA: 30 reasons to be excited for 2019-20 season

1. The unpredictability of a championship up for grabs

Kevin Durant lit flames to the NBA’s competitive balance when he signed with the Golden State Warriors in July 2016. Sure, the unexpected could — and did — derail Golden State’s inevitable victories. Barring injury, the Dubs were a team whose overall talent couldn’t be contained by any single opponent, rendering each following season useless in the grand scheme of the league.

With KD now in Brooklyn and the era of Big Threes no longer present, that inevitability is no more. In its place is the parity the NBA has desperately coveted ever since that explosive July 4 three years ago, where a handful of teams are desperate to take advantage of the most limitless playing field in recent memory.

One could make a legitimate argument for at least eight alternate NBA timelines, each of which produces a different champion, and none would be too far fetched. It’s why fringe contenders like the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets went all-in with their summer acquisitions, looking to seize an opportunity no other team has had over the last few years.

Anyone who follows the NBA has dreamed of a storybook season whose ending remains unknown until the Larry O’Brien Trophy is hoisted.

Not all 30 teams have the ceiling to make that a complete reality, but just as Durant altered the NBA landscape before, his latest free agency decision has helped generate a thrilling upcoming season where it’s not hyperbole to suggest anything is possible.