ANDREW Bogut is expecting one of the closest and most unpredictable regular seasons in NBA history.

From whether LeBron James can bring Showtime back to the LA Lakers to how the cast of Aussies stars headlined by Ben Simmons will fair there is no shortage of intriguing storylines going 2018-19 NBA season.

Bogut will be following the NBA as a fan this year after deciding to call time on his 13-season career in “The Show” and join the Sydney Kings.

While King James’ move from Cleveland to Tinseltown has significantly raised the expectations of a Lakers title, Bogut says there is a clear favourite for the championship.

“Golden State and then everyone else,” Bogut said of his former franchise, where he won a title in 2015.

“Maybe Houston finish second in the West and I don’t think the Lakers will win a championship with LeBron this year.”

Bogut may have Golden State as overwhelming favourites to replicate the Chicago Bulls from the 90s and claim a third straight championship but that is not to say he doesn’t rate their rivals Houston.

The Rockets pushed the Warriors during last year’s Western Conference Finals, taking the series to seven games.

Houston’s star guard Chris Paul didn’t play in the final game due to a hamstring strain, opening the door for the Warriors to claim a nine-point win.

Paul is fit and firing heading into the new season while the Rockets have also signed All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony.

After mixed results in his previous stints at Denver, New York and Oklahoma City, many experts believe Anthony will excel in a loaded Houston side.

But Bogut isn’t so sure.

“I’m kind of sceptical on the Melo (Carmelo Anthony) move,” he said.

“I’m not sure how that will work.

“I still feel like Melo has a lot more to give but I feel like they needed more a bruising big guy.

“Nene was that guy but then he didn’t play many minutes. Then there is a four man that can shoot it and provide some muscle. I think PJ Tucker was really good for them last year in the four spot.

“But now Melo takes those minutes, so it will be interesting to see how that goes.”

Over in the Eastern Conference, Bogut believes it is a two-horse race between the Celtics and Sixers with the boys from Boston the favourites to progress through to the NBA Finals.

“I think Philly will be up there, but the Celtics are ahead of the field at the moment,” he said.

“I love Brad Stevens. I think he is probably the best coach in the league.

“They’ll get a healthy Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving back. They’ve also got Terry Rozier, Aron Baynes and Al Horford – so they’ll be pretty tough to beat.”

Bogut can’t wait to watch the Aussies excel in the NBA again this season.

There will be 11 Australians in the world’s best league in 2018-19, including former Adelaide 36ers star Mitch Creek at Brooklyn.

Bogut has high hopes for his fellow Boomers.

“I think Baynes will continue to do what he has done at Boston,” he said.

“Patty (Mills) has a lot more pressure now with Tony Parker gone and a few more tweaks to their roster, but he’ll be OK.

“I’m interested to see how Dante (Exum) goes at Utah.

“Because he was hurt so much last season, you could see he was thinking about his deal a little bit.

“But now he has got that I think it settles him down and that is when he plays is best basketball.

“And Joe (Inglis) will be Joe.”

Then there is Ben Simmons, the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year coming off a record-breaking season with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Simmons has worked tirelessly over the off-season to hone his skills and Bogut is expecting the Melbourne-born point guard to star again this year.

“Ben took the league by surprise, so he is going to have a lot more eyes and focus on him in scouting reports but I think he’ll be fine,” he said.

“I mean, would you put your starting point guard on him? Probably not if he is little and not strong.

“Do you put a three or a four on him, maybe not if they are too slow.

“So even though Ben isn’t shooting the ball as well as people would like, he has still got that X-factor because who do you start on him?

“A lot of teams that have smaller guards you are kind of in a bind and that is what I’m interested to see.

“When I came in as the No.1 pick in 2005 I didn’t set the world on fire but I wasn’t horrible.

“For me it slowly went up, whereas Ben has already started at that point of my fourth or fifth year.

“I think he likes the hype and all the pressure, so he’ll be fine.”