It all tips off tonight. As the season unfolds, here are ten stories I'll be keeping my eye on:

• Is Toronto leaps and bounds better than last year? The Raptors, under Bryan Colangelo, made several bold international moves, bringing in a top Italian executive and several players from the Euroleague. If the Raptors are a force--and they showed some very promising signs in the preseason--brace yourself. Everything you thought you knew about the NBA is about to change, and the floodgates will be opening for European players, European coaches, European front office executives, European training techniques, European development systems, and European trash talk.
• Is Orlando's Dwight Howard the new dominant big man of the NBA? It's really only a question of when. Could be now, which would change a lot of stuff. He's as agile, strong, and talented as guys close to seven feet ever get.
• Can Miami stay healthy enough to get back to the NBA Finals? Fearless slasher Dwyane Wade gets knocked around more than anyone else in the league. Gary Payton is 35 and banged up. Jason Williams just had surgery. Alonzo Mourning is 36 and will always have health concerns after his kidney transplant. Shaquille O'Neal hasn't been 100% in a long time. And Coach Pat Riley is debilitated and needs hip surgery. Attention Eastern teams: these champions are vulnerable.
• LeBron James or Kobe Bryant? Neither will lead a great team this season, but one of them will be MVP.
• Will there really be meaningful reform of basketball development in the U.S.? From the shoe companies to the NCAA, everyone is talking a good game about cleaning up one of the dirtiest acts in sports. Wonder if anything will really happen.
• When's William Wesley going to speak? Last season, he was a curio. This season, plenty of big media people are working on Wesley stories. I predict he'll be a household name to NBA fans by the end of the season, and once his name is well-known there's not much reason for him to keep to himself.
  
• Is "Moneyball" the new norm in the NBA? An evolving and new breed of basketball statistics is taking root at most teams in the NBA in some way or another. Now plenty of teams have ensconced statistical experts and advisers. Now it's time for them to produce.
• Will Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and Jeff Van Gundy ever achieve greatness together? Without some great results pretty soon, Houston's going to have to rejigger the formula--I would imagine this season is the last chance for all three to be together. That's a lot of star power with a very mediocre track record. Only Yao Ming is sure to be in red for the long haul.
• Can Ron Artest and Carmelo Anthony learn how to make their teammates better? All the skill to be MVP, but plenty of room for improvement when it comes to getting the most out of the squad. I'm hoping they'll both figure it out, and if they do, the West will be impossibly tough for years to come. If they don't, they'll remain second-tier superstars.
  
• How is NBA media going to change? As the tough economics of the newspaper industry loom, many beat writers and columnists are facing poorer and poorer treatment from teams, the league, their own employers, and newly empowered fans. Meanwhile, every major media outlet out there is trying to figure out ways to jump on the internet bandwagon with that straight-talking bloggy voice that everyone seems to love (perfect timing: a few moments ago a freelance blog-style piece I wrote for ESPN.com went live). Are bloggers going to get credentials? That's the first of a million questions. NBA coverage is going to look very different in five years.
• Is the Phoenix model replicable? The shift toward inside/out speedsters and creative point guards is upon us. Teams are adjusting to the reality that perimeter defenders now really have to keep their hands to themselves. But will that trend to smaller, quicker players work for everyone as well as it has for Steve Nash and company? Or will it play into the hands of contrarian teams like Utah, who are counting on big bruising lineups being more useful than ever now that so many teams are betting against size?