Questions about NBA’s return answered

After several secret meetings between players and owners, both sides finally reached an agreement to end the NBA lockout that dragged on for over four months. Since so much time has already been missed, the NBA is speeding up the process of exhibition games and free agency so that a shortened 66-game season can begin on Christmas Day. With so much going on in such a short time, here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about teams, players and personnel.

Can the Dallas Mavericks repeat as NBA Champions this season? As long as Dirk Nowitzki stays healthy, the Mavericks are always at the very least a solid playoff team. The major thing to look out for over the next four weeks is the landing spot of Tyson Chandler, who after starting at center for Dallas last year is now a free agent. Chandler and Jason Terry were Nowitzki's most important sidekicks last year, and it should be imperative that Dallas does everything it can to lock up Chandler going forward. Otherwise, we are likely looking at yet another Dallas playoff exit of which we had become so familiar.

Who will be released under the new Amnesty Provision? One major result of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is an "Amnesty Provision," which allows each team to release one player over the next two years and not have it count against its salary cap. While there are numerous ill-advised contracts that teams would love to get rid of, don't expect each NBA team to cut someone, especially not right away. Some teams want to wait to use the Amnesty Provision to see if one contract becomes particularly onerous or to shed salary cap space during the 2012 free agency class, which is significantly more impressive than this year's group. One player who will almost certainly be released at once, however, is Washington Wizards forward Rashard Lewis, who is set to earn almost $44 million over the next two years even though, at this point in his career, he is merely a role player. Also keep in mind that even though the salaries of the released players do not count against the salary cap, the teams still need to buy out the contracts, so don't expect Gilbert Arenas and his horrible contract to be bought out just yet, since the Orlando Magic would be spending so much money for dead weight (yes, you and I know that Arenas is dead weight even when he plays, but they didn't trade for him for just this past season).

Will LeBron James continue to be the most polarizing player in the NBA this season? Unless James sings a heartfelt apology song to Cleveland while curing cancer and kissing 10,000 orphans, yes. Even then, he would be no lower than the third most polarizing player.

Where will free-agents-to-be Dwight Howard and Chris Paul play this year and next? While Howard and Paul are under contract to play with the Orlando Magic and New Orleans Hornets, respectively, for the next season, it is clear that both players want to change scenery sooner rather than later. This is particularly true for Paul, whose Hornets are currently owned and operated by the NBA because of the team's financial problems. Paul's best teammate, David West, is a free agent and unlikely to re-sign with New Orleans this year, leaving Paul with a rather depleted team with little money in a smaller market. Due to the Hornets' unique ownership situation, it is not as likely that Paul will be able to "pull a Carmelo Anthony" and force a trade to a larger market in the middle of this season. However, if the New York Knicks can create enough salary cap flexibility, they would almost certainly be Paul's first choice as a free agent next season.

As for Howard, his situation is more similar to James' when he still played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Magic has been willing to spend money in an attempt to convince Howard to stay, but has not done so efficiently, and now have the worst salary cap situation in the NBA. Howard, who is one of the biggest personalities in professional sports, will almost certainly look at either of the Los Angeles franchises and the Brooklyn Nets as soon as he is a free agent, to expand his popularity and his marketability.

How will Kobe Bryant handle more back-to-back games? While Bryant continues to be a top player in the NBA, it is no secret that he has a ton of mileage on his body, as he has essentially played 100-game seasons for the past decade without much rest. Even though there are fewer games this season than usual, there will be more games played on back-to-back nights, where Bryant will not have the recovery time that his knees are used to. Since the Lakers are so talented, new Head Coach Mike Brown should be able to limit Bryant's minutes in the regular season and still make the playoffs rather easily. However, Commissioner David Stern has announced that, unlike in previous seasons, there will be back-to-back games once for each series in the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Lakers clearly need Bryant healthy and ready to go come playoff time, but can his legs continue to hold on?

Will the rookies make any impact this season? There are two primary reasons to argue that this rookie class will not be particularly successful this season: The class has been considered weak since leading up to the draft, and a shortened training camp could mean that coaches are more willing to put their trust in more veteran players. However, coaches may also have little choice but to play many of these rookies, since some players signed in Europe or Asia this season and do not necessarily have a buyout planned.

Am I ready for some basketball? I couldn't be more ready.