National Basketball Association

Starting Five: 30 years of LeBron, the book on faces and more

Published Dec. 30, 2014 12:55 p.m. ET

foxsports

While NBA watchers of all stripes continue to be held hostage by the indecisiveness of Ray Allen, here is this week's examination of five burning issues around the league.

If you've been feeling a bit flummoxed by the incorporation of video tracking how much players run or jump during a game and other forms of sport-altering technology, you'll love the Milwaukee Bucks.

According to a recent report in the New York Times, the team's new owners have hired a facial coding expert to assist in player evaluation.

Using a method called the Facial Action Coding System, Dan Hill believes he's able to judge a respondent's reactions -- anger, fear, contempt, rampaging indifference, etc. -- to certain character-defining stimuli.

Armed with this new weapon, the Bucks should be equipped to counter scouting recommendations regarding (for example) the rim-protecting potential of Larry Sanders with facial clues that might suggest that Sanders is a bit grumpier than he's letting on.

If more teams are able to use this technology and prospects' true feelings are betrayed by certain "micro-expressions," a new form of pre-draft training may be required.

Agents of draft-eligible players could choose to hire one expert to show their clients how to catch and shoot off the curl, and another to teach the Strasberg Method of acting.

Happy birthday to you, LeBron James.

In case you hadn't sent an e-card, please note the Chosen One was born 30 years ago today.

And now that he's getting older and spent the summer passing on the carbohydrate cart, NBA observers who have been busy wishing or hoping to witness LeBron's decline are claiming to have evidence.

Although even the greatest combination athletic gifts (size, strength, explosiveness, balance and stamina -- unless the A/C doesn't work) we've ever seen is not immune to the damnation of time, we'll credit his middling slippage to the adjustment of having new teammates.

But the finger-waggers will remind us that through 30 games, the re-Cavaliered James has dropped in efficiency from 29.3 last season to 25.6 (per basketball-reference.com) at post time.

The most gawked-at number is LeBron's diminished success rate when attacking the rim. Last season, James finished 79.2 percent of the time. Now he's converting at only 67.8 percent; the first season he's dipped below 70 percent since 2005-2006.

While beginning to look a bit less super-human is no disgrace, please note that James will quickly overcome another slice of birthday cake.

In a category normally reserved for the next big thing (high school prospects, foreign hotshots, college stars or coaching candidates), Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler looks like this season's early already-in-league revelation.

Butler, the 30th selection in the 2011 draft, has vaulted from role player to budding star through the first 30 games of this season. The 6-foot-7 former Marquette swingman has upgraded his scoring average from 13.1 last season to 22 and knocked in 30 or more points three times in a recent six-game stretch.

Although his per-game averages are enhanced by leading the league in minutes, Butler happens to be the league's most improved player (statistically, per hoopsstats.com) with a whopping efficiency increase of 9.4.

Overall, he's ranked 10th in efficiency at 23.5.

While we're waiting to find out if he can sustain these levels, Butler is evidence of what can be accomplished individually through hard work and organizationally through astute evaluation.

For NBA trackers outside Phoenix, the dots certainly seem easy to connect.

The Suns, in the opinion of many, have too many point guards for any logical chemistry to maintained, and Goran Dragic is expected to opt out of his contract this summer.

So any NBA city in need of a point-guard upgrade will be the province of a Dragic trade or coming-soon-in-free-agency rumor.

Sure, anything can happen, but please note the Suns and The Dragon are fans of each other. It also should be pointed out that Phoenix's commitment to blurring the lines between positions is starting to work.

With 50 more games to reconcile, a lot can happen either way. Dragic could choose to go somewhere where he might have the ball in his mitts more frequently. Or the current roll (six consecutive triumphs) could push the Suns into the playoffs and coax Dragic into reenlistment.

On a side note, even though the Suns are pretty pleased with how bargain-priced Isaiah Thomas has worked out, it should be pointed out that he could be the odd PG out . . . if such a decision is reached in Phoenix.

Although Rajon Rondo's quick return to Boston this week should be compelling, it doesn't eclipse a matchup of teams sitting atop their respective conferences.

For philosophical contrast, we have the Warriors -- the NBA's No. 1 team, in term of pace (possessions per 48 minutes) -- in a potential battle for tempo against the more methodical Raptors (23rd in pace).

The Raptors do lead the league in offensive efficiency (per basketball-reference.com), while the Warriors (ranked ninth in that category) are first in defensive efficiency.

The most intriguing individual battle should happen at point guard, where Golden State's flashy Steph Curry (ranked second among PGs for efficiency) goes against Toronto bulldog Kyle Lowry (he checks in sixth).

A possible two-guard war co-starring Klay Thompson of the Warriors and Toronto's DeMar DeRozan went kaput when DeRozan was injured back in November. Don't discount the Warriors using Thompson's length to defend Lowry from time to time.

Follow Randy Hill on Twitter