#theyre WARRIORS. theyre going to get injuries is it really so bad for a lot of them to be disabled??? why is that a problem???

[sylas-dove]

it was weird as hell that old warriors rps made you use forum currency to have a disabled character, right?

[lu-fic-recommendation-of-the-day]

(author doesn't have a tumblr but its by alternatemind on ao3)

Series Summary:

An AU where Twilight loses his Twilight Shard and meets the Chain stuck as Wolfie with no way to transform back.

It will consist of a lot of oneshots/multichap fics of the Chain traveling around with Wolfie, having no clue that he’s really just a guy who’s stuck as a wolf. Will include an unhealthy amount of found family bonding and Time being the Chain’s collective dad (or dog dad, in Twilight’s unfortunate case).

Series Tags:

Flora/Wild

Midna/Twilight

Sky/Sun

Malon/Time

Tetra/Wind

Linked Universe Links As Family

Twilight-centric

Misunderstandings

Linked Universe Link(s) and Wild First Meet

its mostly a twilight meets the chain fic though wild does too

Wolves

Time is a Good Parent

Parental Time

midna is mentioned multiple times because I love her and want an excuse to write her

Good Sibling Wind

Protective Sky

I’ll add more tags when I think of them

Flora Needs a Hug

Wild uses Sign Language

sometimes

50/50 he’ll get more comfortable when time goes on

Legend Has a Bad Time

Wolf Twilight

Wild is a Little Shit

Curses

Alternate Universe

sky and sun are very in love and it’s SICKENING

Pranks and Practical Jokes

Twilight Angst

MILD - Freeform

he’s kind of going through something right now

Fluff

Family Bonding

Snowball Fight

Family Fluff

Groose Being an Idiot

groose will always get a cameo in every fic I write on skyloft even if it’s tiny

Wind is a Little Shit

Sky Has a Bad Time

as in I targeted legend last fic and now it’s sky’s turn (affectionate)

Light Angst

Twilight Has a Bad Time

that tag is alternate title for this series honestly

Wild Needs a Hug

Wild Gets a Hug

fi midna ravio and mask mentions

Party

Linkle & Warriors Are Twins

he actually has a good time he’s just in a constant state of suffering in this series so

Bonding

Brotherly Bonding

Parental Malon

Bathing/Washing

Warriors is a Little Shit

Twilight & Warriors Friendship

Twilight is a Little Shit

Time is a Little Shit

theyre all little shits it comes with being a hero

Sign Language

Domestic Fluff

No Plot/Plotless

Four Splits into the Colors

Cave-In

Four Has a Bad Time

THIS SOUNDS BAD but i promise it’s not they’re still vibing

just in a Situation this time

Sickfic

Sick Character

and then he has a fantastic time

briefly

Fever

Dreams

midna’s mentioned enough that i gave her a tag

Hyrule Gets a Hug

why is that not a tag

we need to make that a tag asap

Hurt/Comfort

Mentioned Marin

Mentioned Koholint Island

Blood and Injury

Fluff and Angst

Fights

Legend is a Little Shit

Choking

Fairy Hyrule

Plot

Pirates

Reunions

Major Character Injury

Sky is a Little Shit

Twilight is So Done

Drawing

the plot in this one is so small a minish could hold it in one hand but it’s there - Freeform

Word count: 136,325

Finished: No

[the-whispers-of-death]

desperate for any stone and mārīe interactions, so like any good writer, im just gonna. force it into existence.

maybe she has a break from school and is on the ranch a lot more with stone while sylvester's at work getting that bread

imagining her being super super hyped to spend time with her 2nd favorite dad in the whole world.... only to go to bed the previous day and sleep until noon

i really wanna say that they have both horses *and* ponies there. cuz she *begged* for them and theyre all named after MLP characters, sorry but my heart says its true

maybe shes not really allowed around the horses cause theyre still new and getting used to their new home and scared/nervous horses dont discriminate when bucking

imagining her being really really eager though and being a little nuisance and going "if you dont let me see the horsies it means you dont love me :(((" to stone

anyways she gets to go see said horsies. and feed them.

i feel like she'd be the type to try and help with like cleaning and transporting the hay and whatnot, only to be utterly useless but very, very enthusiastic about "helping" anyways

type of girl who'd befriend all of the farm cats. theyre all named after warrior cat cats. sorry. probably keeps bringing them inside, despite sylvester being mildly allergic and always scolding her afterwards

... imagining her getting horse riding lessons and. oh fuck. you know what happens at riding lessons... anyways stone looks away for a *second* and. oh f u c k

anyways imagine sylvester coming home after his 9-5, only to *not* be met with his bumbling daughter running up and yapping his ear off. first major red flag

second flag being... *why the fuck is stone so nervous and sweaty all of a sudden,,, hmmm*

"... love, whats---" "she fell off a horse, okay?????" "WHAT"

no idea how much this mischaracterizes him, but my hear says hes an awful medic for kids. too aware of his size, too aware he can make things worse, and worst of all, *scare* the kids

i wanna say mārīte is fine and only got a few bruises and just hit her head a little, but still got sentenced to the bed by stone. but still, sylvester aint happy. who would be? now poor guy's just stressing out over potential brain injury

"i leave you two alone for ONE day-- stone. look at me. *look at me*. bad boy. ugh. >:( unbelievable"

imagining him just going to the kitchen to make dinner afterwards, mood ruined and. oh.... *its... already made*

*cough* later its just... "baby.. dya wanna make up f'r me fully? wanna be a good boy f'r daddy again? 'm sorry for yellin' lovely... c'mon, come to me.. good.. thats a good boy" *cough*

~ rusty

Stone needs to be fucked real good to even think he can be forgiven for the grave mistake he made.

Stone's only a good medic for kid if he's Girl Dad!Stone (because of course he's not going to let a random stranger doctor his kid). But he's not Girl Dad!Stone here, he's Canon!Stone. And Canon!Stone has only ever patched up adult soldiers in his life until he met Sylvester and Mārīte.

All this to say, he's never going to look away ever again. But also, he probably most likely would've never looked away in the first place (can we say thank you to his paranoia??) but for this scenario, we'll just pretend he somehow doesn't have the insane amount of paranoia that would've led to him not taking his eyes off of Mārīte on a horse.

[antpelts]

🌧️🛠️🏡💡 gotta go with the og mossmask

naturally!! ty dawnnn :] <33 and of course were going frostclan version of mossmask.. True og

🌧️: What’s their favorite weather?

something dreary but not really raining or snowing.. nice cloudy day for them

🛠️: How do they best contribute to their clan?

oooh.. i wanna say theyre really good with young cats and are like.. a good mentor because they have been a mentor at least twice once before becoming dep of course and then duskpaw. besides that.. patrolling i bet. theyre super observant

🏡: How do they view their own clan?

depends on the time.. :eye: like initially theyre all starry eyed at dawnstar because she brought them into the clan and then mentored them. initially super positive but they get moodier and a lil stormy as they grow up, still feeling pretty positive until things start to kick off including disagreements with dawnstar as they become a warrior. after ghostspirits injury and them being named deputy they get a lot more.. hmmm a way. they trust less because everything seems so off and it leads to bad things and issues with clanmates. they never hate frostclan but things get dodgy

💡: Give a random fact about them?

their lil white patch on their chin was because once i was being dramatic in some other thread and they like.. were bleeding from something klfjgkldfg?? i dont recall but there was a white spot on their chin that you could see blood on since most of their pelt is dark.. to this day i kept that detail ldkjgkdfljg

warrior cat oc ask meme

[spectrumscribe]

so here’s my conversation with my friend, @guide-to-the-galaxy, as i and a sibling of mine watched the Lone Rat and Cubs episode.

spoilers: i didn’t like it, this is pretty short, and basically just a lot of dissatisfaction with canon.

 onthespectrumwriting:

so. me and my lil sis are watching the lone rat and cubs thing rn

 onthespectrumwriting:

already i am dragging it hardcore

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

Ive been so out of the loop i honestly forgot to watch it😂😂 my bro did but i was asleep

 onthespectrumwriting:

I’m only 3 mins in. I’ll tell you what quality it is as I go

 onthespectrumwriting:

okay so splinter /knew/ there were weirdo inhuman guys looking for them above ground all these years, but didn't think to mention that to his kids even once???

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

Not very responsible:////

 onthespectrumwriting:

not liking the designs for the turtles at all

they are Bad

very bad

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

Ugly alien boys

 onthespectrumwriting:

extremely so

 onthespectrumwriting:

jeeeez master splinter used to be hardcore

what happened to that????

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

He got lazy and depended on his sons to fight his battles

 onthespectrumwriting:

fffffff

yeah basically

great parenting skills dude, shove all the babies inside a cardboard box

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

I heard he thought they were pets like bruh theyre making baby noises they aint turtles

Not the pet kind anyways

 onthespectrumwriting:

also: do the people who make this show know anything about fucking kids???

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

Nope

 onthespectrumwriting:

i helped raise three of them, this ain't how kids act

at all

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

Omg is it that bad😂😂 i have to see this misinterpreted version of bbys

 onthespectrumwriting:

i'm screaming

this is terrible

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

Ohhh noo😭😭😭

 onthespectrumwriting:

I HATE

THE DIALOGUE

WITH MY ENTIRE SOUL

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

Splinters dialogue or the weird noises these kids make?

 onthespectrumwriting:

the kid noises AND kid dialogue

and would it have really killed them to get child actors to play the kid versions of the turtles?? are they /really/ that low on funds?

this isn't A) how kids talk and B) how kids SOUND

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

Yeah it just sounded awkward in the previews I hated it

 onthespectrumwriting:

i can't even enjoy the growing fatherness to splinter

its overshadowed by the horribleness of the turtle tots

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

😂😂😂 i neeed to watch this

 onthespectrumwriting:

*kill bill sirens*

splinter's kid gets hurt and he LOSES IT

that’s at least something to his new parenthood

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

Aw well thats nice

 onthespectrumwriting:

"still full of fury, i see" - splinter @ his month old son, raph

but like

no???

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

He's a baby

Babys cant...

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

Have...fury???

Idk like i know thats just supposed to try and characterize but

 onthespectrumwriting:

jfc none of these people know ANYTHING about children

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

No

 onthespectrumwriting:

yeah and he just recieved a lifelong scar injury to his chest- the crack- right after getting run over by a fucking shopping cart and falling down at least twenty steps-

and raph just laughs??

this

this is not how babies work, my dude

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

They cry if they trip

Let alone get hit by a cart

 onthespectrumwriting:

i hate this so much

also: splinter has exactly no legs to stand on about lecturing raph on his temper, seeing as every time he's fought in this ep he's had like

Severe Angry Eyes

 onthespectrumwriting:

and goes overkill p much each fight

yes splinter let your babies play with your deadly ninja weaponry as you run full tilt mid battle

good dad behavior

and then he has an internal monologue moment WHILE THEY'RE STILL BEING PURSUED to think about how he wants to be a master and a dad

and how he might get a second chance now

but like

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

Oh no writers what are you doing???

 onthespectrumwriting:

its sticks out to me that he says "master" before he says "father"??

its kind of telling about his character tbh

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

He just wanted kids to fight his battles

 onthespectrumwriting:

sensei before father is pretty much the gist of this series' splinter and i hate it

now he's lost his kids in the sewer nice

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

He had one job

 onthespectrumwriting:

splinter why is it suddenly so hard to lift One shopping cart UNDERWATER??

physics are fake as it turns out

nice to know

OH NOW THE TURTLES CAN SWIM?

okay, sure.

why does the sewer connect directly into a train station exactly?

that's...  not supposed to happen

i would not want a sewer thing to connect into my subway

 onthespectrumwriting:

oh god

*sighs*

he assigned them all weapons based on what they played with as fucking babies

not on how their individual skillsets work as actual students as they got older

OH AND HE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE SOMETHING GOOD TO SAY TO MIKEY ARE YOU KIDDING ME

to leo he says: “The katana. A royal samurai weapon for those with courage and keen skill.”

to raph he says: “The sai. For a fierce and fearless warrior, who will always fight the hardest for his family.”

to donnie he says: “The bo staff. For a thoughtful soul, and a peaceful heart.” (idk about that last comment but okay)

and to mikey he says: “The nunchaku. Because…. uh….. *audibly sweats* they are perfect for you!”

everyone else gets something spiritual blah blah blah and mikey's told that??

?????

fuck this. they can’t even give him this, when the family situation wasn’t utter shit.

and.... that's it. that's the episode.

so. mutual agreement between me and my sib.

this sucked.

 guide-to-the-galaxy:

Its just

It could be so good

But its just not

 onthespectrumwriting:

no it is not. :///

 onthespectrumwriting:

and all this, after we had such solid eps with usagi??

*deepest sigh of all*

well. here's to hoping the vampire arc soothes the hives this episode gave me.

one last thing:

i hate the turtle tots so much

they look like fucking muppet puppets.

i’ll probably see them in my dreams tonight. taunting me with my sins and telling me how i’ll die.

onethespectrumwriting:

these are good boys i’d protect with my life.

these are gremlins i’d run over with my nonexistant car.

thanks nick.

really.

excuse me while i go grab a drink. i have to wash this whole disaster out of my system by force.

[cerealmonster15]

but u are stronger than me by far i just watched conquest online bc i couldnt deal l o l... ;~; Do It For Him w odin though i presume? but yeah same lmao… it really is [playing and enjoying any other FE game] "i miss awakening"… i kept taking breaks from fe7 and fe14 to listen to the fe13 drama cds or read the 4komas or watch warriors intros (OWAINS IS SO GOOD) despite loving those games lol. but YEAH anyway ur cosplay rules sorry this was long and rambly ack

it’s pain in every sense of the word bc a. IT’S REALLY HARD so i play casual and easy mode bc im a baby , ,, sometimes i come out of maps with literally 4 units still standing jklfdslfjksldfj. and b. it’s EMOTIONALLY SO UPSETTING like birthright upset me bc i loved the nohrian sibs and felt bad betraying the family corrin grew up with, but conqeust so far hurts bc not only did i just play birthright and bond with everyone in hoshido first LOL, but also in birthright at least we were revolting against a shitty old man??? and in conquest u still are but it’s like,,, secret and also hoshido has to suffer A Lot for u to succeed and it SUCKS IM UPSET (i just played chapter sakura a few days ago and im still UPSET). also i was kindasorta spoiled on a few things that have yet to happen and idk when or how they happen i just know theyre gonna happen and i am extremely not wanting them to happen. im. sad. dsfjkldsfl. i miss takumi. he doesnt miss me but that’s ok lmao

OH BUT ACTUALLY im saving odin as best for last ;3c bc i intend to play revelations once i finish conquest !!!! i played birthright and married silas :”) gotta love that best friends to lovers trope jfksdljfdsj,,, and then conquest i played a boy and married effie. revelations is 100000% going to be odin. i get so excited every time he pops up on screen fjlsjf i love him and everything he says so much hes so GOOD WHAT A LAD 

oh damn i keep FORGETTING i gotta look up the drama CDs !!!!!!!!!!! i want that good good lore !!!!! 

oh my god dont even get me started on the 4komas i have so many screenshots saved in my drafts of my faves THEYRE SO FUCKING FUNNY FFSFJSLDK and the warriors cutscenes,,,,, the supports in warriors,, theyre s o f u nn y oh my god i still cry thinking about like. all of leo’s. all of frederick’s. leo in a full panic bc frederick is like you have worn ur collar inside out 458734347 times and also went into battle w/ur nightcap on and leos like AND U DIDNT TELL ME???? camilla saying she wants to bathe corrin by hand and frederick immediately, very seriously going “i have failed,,,, it did not occur to me to wash the small of chrom’s back. i must correct this oversight at once!” and then the two planning wild banner support schemes together. niles being a menace to frederick. leo telling that girl whose name i forgot (i dont have warriors fkjlsdjlfs) “you can have xander if you want :D” when she says she wants an older brother. leo asking owain if he sustained in injury in battle and wants to take him to a healer and owain very casually going “why would you think that? i’m fine :D”. takumi not knowing how to function around the chaos that is owain. owain and chrom in general. “UNCLE CHROM!!!?!????!?!?!?!?” “uNCLE????????????” “my phantasmagorical uncle!” “phantasmaHUH”. oh my god. i’m gonna cry just thinking about all of them. 

as u can see u dont ever need to apologize for rambling bc i can and will out ramble you when i am excited, which is always. 

[writingguide003-blog]

NBA 2016-17 predictions: our writers forecast the playoffs and award winners

New Post has been published on https://writingguideto.com/must-see/nba-2016-17-predictions-our-writers-forecast-the-playoffs-and-award-winners/

NBA 2016-17 predictions: our writers forecast the playoffs and award winners

Will anyone stop the Warriors? Who will be named Most Valuable Player? Guardian writers give their takes on whats coming up this season

Im most looking forward to watching …

How teams deal with the Warriors. Or how the Warriors deal with themselves. Ill go with both. Seeing teams try to defend a lineup that has Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green will be fascinating. As will seeing how the Warriors keep everyone happy in an offense that features Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. DG

Last year injuries kept the Utah Jazz from making the playoffs but by January they should be completely healthy. Utah might not be the most exciting team but they are deep, good defensively and well coached. LC

How the Golden State Warriors are going to integrate Kevin Durant into their already historic offense. If anyone answers this differently theyre lying. HF

The most significant move of the NBA off-season is about to become the biggest story of the regular season. Just how might free agent signing Kevin Durant change the dynamic at Golden State? If he gels as quickly as pre-season suggests, the Warriors could push for 70 wins again. If not, theres the potential for the drama of disharmony. CS

Im least looking forward to watching …

The inevitable demise of Russell Westbrook. The (lone remaining) Thunder star plays with an edge and tenacity like no other athlete in sports and this season hell be more motivated than ever. But without Durant around anymore to help, the Thunder dont have a real shot no matter how well or angry Westbrook plays. And thats pretty depressing. DG

While most people will be excited to see how Golden State will fit all their stars into one lineup, there are enough players without big egos to make this work seamlessly. Perfection might actually make the Warriors more boring than people expect. LC

The New York Knicks, on and off the court. Its almost depressing to realize that Kristaps Porzingis is tied to this horrifically dysfunctional franchise. HF

The Houston Rockets. The NBAs most uninspiring team undermined my efforts to stay awake for last seasons midweek west coast games. Beyond the strange fascination with James Hardens beard, Ive no idea why theyre on TV so much. CS

The biggest surprise will be …

The Timberwolves grabbing a playoff spot in the West. A team featuring Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine (reportedly now armed with an NBA-quality jumper) nabbing a playoff spot in the West with 40-45 wins may not shock avid NBA watchers. But the Timberwolves have missed the postseason 12 years in a row. Basketball being played in Minnesota in late April would be news. DG

The Minnesota Timberwolves showed signs of growth last year with the growth of Karl-Anthony Townes and Andrew Wiggins. Now they have added the promising Kris Dunn to a backcourt with Zach LaVine. By seasons end they should be playing excellent defense. LC

The Eastern Conference will be more competitive and more entertaining than the Western Conference (Warriors excluded obviously). HF

Will this be the year the Clippers finally put it all together? Nope. Rather, itll finally sink that in Griffin, Jordan and Paul wont bring a Championship to LA. The Clips will lose in the first round of the play-offs and Paul will take a giant deal elsewhere next July. CS

The biggest disappointment will be

Will the Nets fail again this year? Yes, they probably will. Photograph: Noah K Murray/USA Today Sports

The Brooklyn Nets. The Nets are expected to be awful and will likely have the worst record in the NBA. So where does the disappointment come in, you ask? Its because the franchise and their fans will get almost nothing out of suffering through this season. Thanks to the Paul Pierce-Kevin Garnett trade with the Celtics in 2013, Boston has the right to swap their first-round pick with Brooklyns in the 2017 draft. So the Nets are going to lose most of their games AND lose out on the opportunity to bring in a franchise savior. Lets hope that 2014 trip to the Eastern Conference semis was worth it. DG

New Orleans tumbled last year, but really should be a better team than their record showed. They have the talent to be a playoff team just as they were two seasons ago but it seems like the mix still isnt there in a deep Western Conference. LC

The Chicago Bulls are going to drop off despite the addition-by-subtraction of losing Derrick Rose and bringing in a motivated Dwyane Wade. The pieces wont fit. HF

Having offloaded injury-prone Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, the Chicago Bulls snubbed a refresh and a chance to hand the reins to Jimmy Butler. Instead it signed Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade, who have beef going back to the Celtics-Heat wars and will both want the limelight. On the Chicago sports scale, the Bulls will be far more Bears than Cubs. CS

LeBron James is

Durable. James has now played 1,186 NBA games in his career between the regular season and playoffs. Thats already 77 more than Michael Jordan logged in his career (not including his two forgettable seasons in a Wizards jersey). Theres a lot of mileage on LeBrons legs, but other than a slight reduction in minutes from his early twenties, there are no signs of slowing down. We are all witnesses to a man who has only aged along his hairline. DG

Not going to be able to pull the Cavs over the Warriors this time. LC

Already, at the very least, the second greatest basketball player who has ever lived. And hes not close to finished. HF

The man. Regardless of who performs miracles during regular season play, can we please refrain from proclaiming Curry or Westbrook or Durant has usurped him as the games best player? They wont have. Games 5-7 of the Finals where it James played-out the longest con in the history of sports – put that debate to bed until the post-season. CS

Steph Curry is

Now a full-on villain. If Kevin Durant is a bad guy for joining Golden State, Curry looks even worse for needing another superstar to get back on top. A fresh-faced NBA superstar everyone was rooting for two years ago today is today the face of a team many want to see crash and burn. Every behind-the-back pass Curry chucks out of bounds this season will be a moment of viral glee. DG

A player too unselfish for his own good. His need to please others sometimes destroys his focus. LC

The most embattled reigning MVP for two years running in NBA history, or at least among those whove won a ring. HF

A man with something to prove once again. Although an ill-timed knee injury may be mitigating, the undisputed league MVP had a Finals series to forget. LeBron made him look like a pretender again, now well see what Currys really made of. CS

One change to improve the NBA …

This will never happen because it would be a significant change to the entire sport of basketball but, hey, if the floor is mine: get rid of the free throw and penalize players who commit a foul by removing them from the floor for 30 seconds, hockey-style. This ends the awful free throw-fests that mar the end of so many basketball games and we also get some fun 5-on-4 action. I await your call, Adam Silver. DG

Revive the draft lottery reform that owners rejected two years ago that would havegiven all seven of the worst teams a better shot at the No1 pick thus reducing the incentive to tank. LC

Theres no reason that the NBA season should be 82 games long other than money. Unfortunately, thats more than reason enough for owners to continue with it. HF

Two free throws plus the ball if deliberate Hack-A fouls are committed more than three times a game on poor FT shooters like DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard. Theres no channel-turner in basketball like a Hackathon. CS

One bold prediction …

Joel Embiid will win rookie of the year. Picking a 7ft 0in center who can do this and this might not seem incredibly bold, but injuries have kept Embiid from playing in a single NBA game since he was drafted No3 overall in 2014. Predicting he stays healthy and plays well and that something good happens for the Sixers is as bold as bold can be. DG

Luke Waltons Lakers will have surpassed his entire 2015-16 loss total (four) by the time they face the Warriors for the first time (in their sixth game). LC

LeBron James will have a tough time leading the Cavaliers to another title. Photograph: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

Im going to keep predicting that the Minnesota Timberwolves to end the season over .500 every single season until it actually happens. HF

Miamis resigned center Hassan Whiteside will win Defensive Player of the Year. The $98 million man, who finished third in voting last season becomes the focal point of a Heat team minus superstars. If pre-season is anything to go by, he looks ready for the responsibility. Hes also a triple double machine in the making and, as he likes to say; aint nobody doin it with blocks either. CS

Which rookie will impress the most?

When Ben Simmons returns from injury – hopefully by mid-season – hell quickly add footage to his passing highlight reel. (And many of those passes will go to Embiid, my bold Rookie of the Year pick. Hey, great choice!) DG

Kris Dunn, the Timberwolves point guard from Providence, looked fantastic in the Summer League and might be the most polished rookie in the league. LC

If Joel Embiid, who finally will be making his NBA debut with the Philadelphia 76ers, counts as a rookie, then it will be him. The 76ers will still be awful, though. HF

With Ben Simmons out until January, this is more open. Bostons Jaylen Brown drafted third out of Berkeley will have plenty of opportunities to shine in a big market team thats primed to contend. While the short forward might struggle for ROTY-worthy minutes/numbers behind Jae Crowder, he could be the most impressive. CS

Wholl win the MVP award?

Russell Westbrooks consolation prize in losing Kevin Durant might just be the MVP. If he can keep the Thunder above .500 and reach the playoffs, hell win the award and he surely wont thank Kevin Durant or Kevin Durants mother. DG

While I would be tempted to pick Russell Westbrook who could run free to as many points as he wants in the Thunders offense, the smart pick here is LeBron James. LC

Russell Westbrook. If he remains healthy, the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard is going to have a monster year now that he doesnt have to share his the ball with Durant. HF

Steph Curry will split the limelight with Kevin Durant, while LeBron James saves his absolute best for the postseason and hasnt won the award since 2013. Russell Westbrooks numbers will explode without Durant and theres a legit chance he can smash last years tally of 18 triple doubles. CS

Atlantic winner

Toronto Raptors. DG

Boston Celtics. LC

Boston Celtics. HF

Im going with the Cs. CS

Central winner

Cleveland Cavaliers. DG

Cleveland. LC

Cleveland Cavaliers. HF

The Cavs will take this. CS

Southeast winner

Atlanta Hawks. DG

Atlanta Hawks. LC

Orlando Magic. HF

Close. Atlanta is the favourite, but Charlotte or Washington could easily take this one. CS

Northwest winner

Portland Trail Blazers. DG

Utah Jazz. LC

Oklahoma City. HF

Utah and Portland look strong, but OKC will win it. CS

Pacific winner

Golden State Warriors. DG

Golden State Warriors. LC

Cant see anyone but Golden State. HF

Although last years regular season dominance could be beyond the Warriors, theyll win this division by at least 10 games. CS

Southwest winner

San Antonio Spurs. DG

San Antonio. LC

San Antonio. HF

Business as usual for the Spurs. CS

Eastern Conference Finals prediction

Cleveland over Indiana. DG

Cleveland over Boston. LC

Cleveland Cavaliers over literally any opponent they could face. Lets say the Boston Celtics. HF

A comfortable series for the Cavs, wholl win in five. CS

Western Conference Finals prediction

Golden State over LA Clippers. DG

Golden State over Utah. LC

Go for the Golden State Warriors over the San Antonio Spurs. HF

Warriors in seven in an all-time classic. CS

NBA championship winner

Everyone knows the classic scene in Gullivers Travels where the resting giant is overrun by tiny Lilliputians and secured to the ground by strings. Thats kind of how I see this NBA season. LeBron is the giant of the sport and no other player is close to matching him, but in adding Kevin Durant the Warriors now have enough to take down even the biggest star in all the game. Now I should probably note that Gulliver broke out of those strings in the story and that LeBron never rests. But Ill still give the Warriors 3-1 odds. DG

Last spring Golden State appeared certain to win their second-straight NBA title against Cleveland. But Draymond Green was suspended for a game, Steph Curry lost his focus and the Warriors were outplayed by the Cavs and LeBron James. They signed Kevin Durant to make sure that doesnt happen again. The same two teams are destined to meet once more but this time Golden State will have too many elite players to slump again. Expect a more locked-in Curry, a motivated Durant and enough contributions from Green and Klay Thompson to go the distance next June. LC

The Golden State Warriors, taking out the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yes, I know, this would be the third straight Warriors-Cavaliers finals, but its hard to imagine this season going any other way barring injuries that are too depressing to contemplate. The funniest possible result would be for the Cavaliers to take a 3-1 series lead this time around, only to lose to the Warriors. Call them the meme busters. HF

The Dubs will have learned a lot from last summers humbling loss to Cleveland and its all the motivation theyll need to put it right. Should the NBA Finals be a three-peat, Im picking Golden State to take a 2-1 lead over the Cavs in Finals match-ups. Warriors in six. CS

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