NBA season primer: We make our 2016-17 picks for MVP, champion and more

We missed you, basketball.

The 2016-17 NBA season begins Tuesday night with a primetime double-header. While the Phoenix Suns have a unique combination of anticipation and tame expectations heading into the year — that we’ve been previewing here — the rest of the league comes with immense intrigue as well.

To prep for the year, our Empire of the Suns crew of Kevin Zimmerman, Kellan Olson and Bryan Gibberman makes picks for the NBA’s end-of-the-year awards, the favorites to win it all and even a bold prediction.

Pick your NBA champions and a runner-up. Why?

Kellan Olson: Warriors over Cavaliers in 6. This matchup seems inevitable unless major injuries occur and I think Golden State learned a lot blowing the 3-1 lead last year. That’s not going to happen again because now they have two of the three best players in the NBA with an incredible supporting cast for a superstar duo.

Bryan Gibberman: Warriors beat Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Pretty self-explanatory so I won’t bore you.

Kevin Zimmerman: The Warriors blew a 3-1 lead. It’s a meme Cavs fans enjoy throwing around. But the Warriors remember that and they’ll take the title back from Cleveland in the finals.

Who is the MVP?

Olson: James Harden. I like Steve Kerr’s theory on the MVP voting, so I’ve got Harden. With Patrick Beverley out and surrounded by shooters and scorers like Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon, he’s going to average crazy numbers.

Gibberman: James Harden. Harden seems to be on the same page with new head coach Mike D’Antoni. He’s going to average over 25 points and 10 assists in the best offense in the league. I think the Rockets will push toward 50 wins and surprise the NBA.

Zimmerman: LeBron James is an easy answer based off the expected lack of competition with Steph Curry and Kevin Durant on the same team, but for because of above reasons about Harden, I’d expect the Thunder having a surprising finish (like top-4 finish in the Western Conference) could mean Russell Westbrook pushes a triple-double average.

Who is most improved?

Olson: While I don’t believe he’s going to be that much better, Devin Booker having a full season as the starting two-guard will show a big stats bump and winning that league-wide vote shows that everyone is bracing for a “breakout season,” even though that was sort of last year already.

Gibberman: There’s a lot of good options for this award this season. I’m gonna go with D’Angelo Russell. Russell had to deal with the shackles put on him by head coach Byron Scott last season and will explode in the more fluid offensive system put in by new head man Luke Walton.

Zimmerman: I believe in Dennis Schröder. The new starting point guard for the Hawks is still only 23 and did enough last year to warrant the team’s faith in moving on from Jeff Teague, who isn’t too shabby himself. He’ll get a 16-ish minute per game bump on last year, and put out the same production.

Who wins Rookie of the Year?

Olson: There isn’t a clear-cut player in the right situation for this award with Ben Simmons out. Brandon Ingram and Dario Saric won’t have the numbers and Joel Embiid won’t play over 60 games, even if he stays fully healthy. I’m going with Kris Dunn slightly over Buddy Hield, because Dunn will be on the far better team and he reportedly will have the starting job, and a rookie PG leading an improving team with buzz is a winner over Hield putting up points in New Orleans.

Gibberman: Joel Embiid even in limited minutes. I believe he’ll be the clear-cut best rookie and people will be smart enough to see that even if he doesn’t have the best counting stats.

Zimmerman: Sorry Georgios Papagiannis. For the sake of hoping Joel Embiid is healthy enough to become one of the most-liked NBA players, I’m picking the Shirley Temple-obsessed Sixer.

Who takes home Defensive Player of the Year?

Olson: Rudy Gobert has been putting up the absurd rim protection numbers for a while, but now his team might win 50 games and be a top-3 defense in the NBA, something that will give Gobert the attention he deserves.

Gibberman: Rudy Gobert lives up to the expectations he had last year and dominated on the defensive end. He anchors a Jazz defense that finished with a top-three defensive rating.

Zimmerman: Two-thirds of NBA general managers believe Kawhi Leonard wins this. I’m leaning that way because I’d rather bet on the Spurs having a great defense with a Gasol-Aldridge frontline than the Jazz being a top-4 Western Conference team AND Gobert remaining healthy.

Give one bold prediction for the year.

Olson: The Boston Celtics get the No. 1 seed in the East but don’t make it to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Gibberman: I’m giving two — Rockets forward Ryan Anderson leads the NBA in three-pointers made and the Celtics take the Cavaliers to seven games in the Eastern Conference finals before losing at Cleveland.

Zimmerman: The Clippers get tired of the same ol’ story and either make a blockbuster involving one of their big three or fire head coach and front office leader Doc Rivers.