Canadians will play key roles in the upcoming NBA season

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There's rarely a dull moment in the NBA, where the off-court drama often surpasses the incredible athleticism showcased nightly on the hardwood. This year's training camps were overshadowed by three provocative non-basketball stories that fuelled the hot-take-industrial complex for weeks: Suns owner Robert Sarver's one-year suspension for making inappropriate comments toward employees; Celtics coach Ime Udoka's own one-year ban for reportedly having a sexual relationship with a team staffer; and Draymond Green's caught-on-video punching of Warriors teammate Jordan Poole. Earlier in the off-season, one of the league's signature players, Kevin Durant, demanded a trade from Brooklyn, only to rescind his request after the Nets refused to move him. The fact that Draymond's Warriors and Udoka's Celtics were the NBA finalists last spring while Sarver's Suns and Durant's Nets are title contenders shows that even the top teams can't escape the chaos.

Here's a look at some of the most interesting Canadian players in the NBA this season:

Andrew Wiggins (Golden State Warriors): The 27-year-old wing played the best all-around basketball of his career last season, earning his first all-star selection before playing an instrumental role in the Warriors' NBA Finals victory over Boston to capture his first championship ring. Golden State rewarded Wiggins with a four-year, $109-million US contract extension that will push his lifetime earnings well past a quarter of a billion dollars. Not bad for a guy who'd been labelled a bust after going No. 1 overall in the 2014 draft.

Jamal Murray