What to Watch: LeBron James, Steph Curry highlight NBA opening night

The 2015-16 NBA season begins Tuesday night. We've got three games on the schedule, including the ring and banner raising ceremony in the Bay Area, as 30 teams begin their quest to be the next recipient of the Larry O'Brien trophy.

Here's what to watch in the NBA on opening night:

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Is Stan Van Gundy's squad ready to make the next step?

The Atlanta Hawks will have questions to answer with the departure of DeMarre Carroll in the offseason, but for the most part we have a good idea of what we're getting out of them. They have a system, and more importantly a team-wide commitment to that system, that is nearly impossible to deal with on random nights in the NBA. Whether they're ready for a deep postseason run remains to be seen.

Probably the most important measuring stick in this game comes from the Pistons' side of the ball. Last year, Stan Van Gundy's starting lineup following the suspension of Greg Monroe was Brandon Jennings, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Josh Smith, Monroe and Andre Drummond. There was nothing about it that screamed "Stan Van Gundy basketball," which was so successful in Orlando. In a little over a year, we've seen a complete makeover for this Pistons squad and it looks a lot more like something SVG would concoct.

Jackson and Drummond will run the pick-and-roll-heavy offense while Caldwell-Pope, Marcus Morris, and Ersan Ilyasova spread the floor. Jackson killed over the last 19 games running this style for SVG. Drummond benefited big time from the floor spacing. The Pistons don't have a ton of depth and they're going to need a lot of health to go their way. Van Gundy saw a seven-win increase from Year 1 to Year 2 in Orlando. If he gets that in Detroit, the Pistons can start thinking playoffs in the East.

The Bulls will finally start competing with the math you need to take down a giant like LeBron. Granted, they don't have a Stephen Curry and we don't know how good their defense can be in a post Tom Thibodeau era, but Fred Hoiberg wants his team playing fast, shooting a lot more 3s and trying to get those extra points. He's trying weird lineups by starting Nikola Mirotic and Pau Gasol together with Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah buy NBA 2K16 MT coming off the bench. He's looking to shake up the East with his Western Conference style.

We're unlikely to know after one game whether or not the Bulls can finally challenge LeBron and the Cavaliers. Regular-season success means nothing when we get to the postseason because it's a different way of preparation involved. At least we get to see what the Bulls look like against a battered Cavs team, and see if they can build from there.

Can anybody beat the champs this year?

Banner night has a pretty good success rate over the last 20 years. Since the Houston Rockets won the 1995 NBA championship, the ring ceremony home game the following season has seen the defending champs win 15 of the last 20 seasons. buy NBA 2K16 MT Two of those losses came from dismantled champions (2011 Mavs, 1999 Bulls), while the most famous ring ceremony loss came in 2006 when the Miami Heat lost by 42 points to the Chicago Bulls.

The New Orleans Pelicans would be lucky to get that kind of outcome or any successful outcome opening night after the Warriors receive their jewelry and raise their banner. The Warriors have demolished just about everybody in the NBA over the past year. We know all about the historic differential and the 67 wins and the feelings from less successful teams that a good luck charm was on the side of the Bay Area.

In reality, this team was just better than everybody. They're so good that they get away with celebrating plays before they're completed because it would actually be a shock for them not to come out on top. Most any other team would get crucified for this kind of behavior. The Warriors are celebrated for celebrating because it's basketball art in the process. We want to watch Anthony Davis be great and there will be an extra sparkle with Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry receiving a ring pre-game after serving as Steve Kerr's assistant last season.