Barnes: Parity of NBA will make this season fun to watch

If there were ever a time to start following the NBA, it’s now.

The 2012-2013 season began Tuesday night with six teams in action, including the defending-champion Miami Heat and the reloaded Los Angeles Lakers, who acquired future hall of famers Dwight Howard and Steve Nash in the offseason.

The NBA is certainly a star-driven league, and team play is crucial to championship-caliber teams. But with only five players on the floor, basketball lends more talented players a greater chance to single-handedly impact the game’s proceedings than any other team sport.

And this year, with the stars aligned in Miami and Los Angeles, sports fans are in for what could likely be the most exciting season ever played in the league.

But the load of talented teams involved — the Heat, Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs among them — aren’t what will make this season one of the Association’s best ever.

There are great teams every year, but that doesn’t necessarily make a great season for fans. Take the 2006-2007 season: The Spurs team that beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the finals will go down as one of the best in league history, but the overall quality of the league that season was very poor.

As the 2012-2013 season begins, the league resides at the opposite end of the spectrum, with a high level of parity — and that’s what will make the NBA great this year.

Granted, the Lakers and Heat will probably meet in the finals this season. But with this depth of talent, there are very few teams one can eliminate from postseason contention at the outset as in years past. Of the 30 teams in the league, the only two teams that certifiably have no chance of making the postseason are the Charlotte Bobcats and Orlando Magic.

Better yet, there are a number of teams with the potential to break out this season. Here are three to watch as the year progresses.

Golden State Warriors

2011-2012 record: 23-43, 13th in West

The one thing Golden State was good at last season was shooting 3-pointers, which they made at a league-leading rate of 38.8 percent. Beyond that, there was no reason to pay attention to the Warriors.

Defensively, they were one of the worst overall units, allowing 101.2 points per game while their opposition shot 49.6 percent from the field. The Warriors ended the year with a point differential of -3.4 points per game.

The bay area squad’s season was derailed very early on because of player injuries, most notably that of their star guard Stephen Curry, who played in only 23 games.

But this season they have the chance to develop into a playoff team as a part of the hyper-competitive Western Conference. Curry is healthy, and the team is deeper overall than it has been in recent memory. Golden State’s likely starting lineup of Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, David Lee and Andrew Bogut can go toe-to-toe with just about any other unit in the league.

Sacramento Kings

2011-2012 record: 22-44, 14th in West

The Kings, another team from northern California, were nothing to write home about last season. But they have stockpiled young talent for a few years now, and their efforts should start to pay dividends this season.

Sacramento is led by Tyreke Evans, one of the league’s most dynamic young perimeter players. Flanking Evans on the perimeter will be Marcus Thornton — Sacramento’s leading scorer from last year at 16.5 points per game — and Isaiah Thomas, who garnered some Rookie of the Year discussion with his averages of 11.5 points and 4.1 assists per game.

At the post, DeMarcus Cousins established himself as one of the league’s top players in his position by averaging a double-double of 18.1 points and 11 rebounds per game last season. At power forward, the super-athletic Jason Thompson put up 9.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while shooting at 53.5 percent — the best rate of his career.

Joining Sacramento’s established post players will be first-round draft choice Thomas Robinson, and no one should be surprised if he pushes for playing time at the small and power forward spots.

Detroit Pistons

2011 record: 25-41, 10th in East

Like the Kings, the Pistons have built up a lot of young talent for the past three years. Last year, the league saw some flashes of this potential in the performances of then-rookie guard Brandon Knight and 26-year-old Rodney Stuckey. Stuckey, who scored 14.8 points per contest last season, and Knight — 12.8 points, 3.8 assists per game — will return to lead the Pistons in the backcourt.

The main story of the 2011-2012 season for Detroit was break-out star Greg Monroe, who put up a double-double on a near-nightly basis. Monroe posted 15.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, and he should play even better this season as he continues to develop into an elite power forward.

Flanking Monroe at center this season will be the Pistons’ No. 9 overall draft selection, Andre Drummond. The starting center position is wide open, so Drummond should contribute immediately while anchoring the paint. Fellow rookies Khris Middleton, Kim English and Kyle Singler should also see time on the floor and add scoring punch off the bench.