NBA Monthly: Who's started well and who's started off Skidding?

Dude…

We’re just over a month into the NBA season and we’ve already seen some VERY unexpected happenings with young stars seemingly taking over the league early on. Teams like the Grizzlies and Warriors are trending downward both with and without their stars while the Timberwolves and the Magic are amongst the top teams in the league (you read that correctly). If you’ve missed out on the NBA action or still have no clue how the In-Season Tournament works keep reading below as PC and How6rd have a lot to uncover in what could be a huge turning point of a season in professional basketball.

How6rd’s Takeaways

The Orlando Magic are…good?!: We are far from the days when Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson were paired together on a team going to the Finals and even further from the Shaq and Penny Hardaway days, but after more than a decade this Magic team has found themselves some really good young talent. With years of constantly being in the lotto the Magic were completely due for some sort of success and their leader in all statistical categories, outside of what’s strictly defense, Paolo Banchero is already looking like a first-overall draft pick that has come to fruition. My favorite part of this squad personally is the energy Jalen Suggs brings to this roster as it was up in the air what his role was the first two seasons of his career, but this man isn’t the pure scorer he was in college. Suggs is actually a very valuable “grit n’ grind” type of guy who is a monster on-ball defender as he can shift the momentum of a game at any time which has accelerated guys like Banchero or Franz Wagner to get on a roll just from the former Gonzaga star’s hustle. The fact that many people were questioning the direction they were taking after the draft and their 41-41 record in their last 82 games as I type this says a lot about how far this team has come, and it’s only just getting started with the youth this squad has in the city where dreams come true.

The In-Season Tournament is actually fun…but many are still confused: Now if you have watched any of these games where the courts are the color blue, green, red, etc., and a big trophy is behind the half-court logo then you most likely realize how crazy this tournament has gotten. From fights breaking out such as Draymond Green putting a rear naked choke on Gobert to crazy finished all the way down to the buzzer these tournament games are a completely different atmosphere from what many were expecting, yet the players and a good portion of the fans still have no clue what is going on. From where it stands now the top team in each group advances into the next round, as well as one team with the best record who finished second in their group from each conference. If you have never watched the Champions League tournament in soccer then the games in the middle of the week and “group stage play” are a lot to take in, but slowly as teams are clinching their groups and becoming victorious in these games this crazy idea by Adam Silver is actually going well. There have been a lot of crazy game endings this season and many have come from these standout games and a lot of effort being put into the regular season early on which is what the league has been missing for a while. Although the viewership hasn’t gone up dramatically as Silver may have been hoping for these games have been a lot more enjoyable and once the knockout stages start in the future it should really be interesting to see how those elimination games turn out.

Former “top dogs” starting off slow: As teams with young talent are starting off the season in a huge way, the squads who have been on top for a couple of seasons or even longer than that such as the Warriors, Clippers and ESPECIALLY the Grizzlies have looked rough early on in the season. It has been a huge surprise to many seeing how bad the Grizzlies have played even without their star in Ja Morant as they’ve won some big games in the past without him before, but the truth is their squad is severely banged up and the depth they have right now has been nowhere near a unit that can produce on a nightly basis most importantly aside from Jaren Jackson Jr and Desmond Bane. The Clippers actually looked solid before James Harden was traded and came into the team which caused a lot more confusion in players understanding their roles than just strictly poor performances, but recently the veteran-filled Los Angeles squad has found a decent rhythm winning four of their last five games as Russell Westbrook gives this team a huge spark and fresh legs from the bench in a talented former MVP. A team that has been the opposite of the recent Clippers are the Golden State Warriors who had a great start to the season 9-2 before a tough road loss to the Cavaliers early November, but since then they’ve only won three of their last 10 games and had five straight losses in that span. Safe to say that age has not been on their side this year and the youth on their bench has still had a tough time finding their role on a nightly basis on the team. The struggle between these three teams has not all been because of age as the Grizzlies squad is very young, but it’s also safe to say that all of these teams needs some big changes fast (or even just the return of Ja for the Grizzlies) as it hasn’t been sunshine and rainbows for these teams projected to be in playoff contention at the very least this season.

The NBA is in HUGE need of expansion: This league has a talent problem, that problem being that there is too much talent where many high draft picks from the past draft and role players having a very solid season just a year ago are already going down into the G-league or bouncing from team to team. First-round picks such as Jarace Walker, Taylor Hendricks, Jett Howard, Gradey Dick, and Cam Whitmore have all been called down to the G-league already after not being able to get much of any playing time for their teams having little to no room for error early in their careers. As much as this being a rare occasion in NBA history we’ve also seen so many player who have had a shot at being in the league like Oscar Tshiebwe, Mac McClung, JD Davison, and even Jaylen Nowell who was a solid role player for the Timberwolves just last season now grinding just to get a 10-day contract on an NBA roster. It’s been a while since the NBA has had an expansion team and I believe the level of talent that so many players have is too much for how many players are allowed in these teams’ rotations, especially for just the 30 teams there are currently. The Charlotte Bobcats were the last expansion team for the NBA back in 2004 after the Hornets moved to New Orleans for a decade, and since then there’s been nothing noting that such a team will be coming soon. Multiple leagues in America have gone quite some time without an expansion team and in a sport where there’s very limited spots on a professional roster this team is in need of it most as a lot of young talent and even veterans are having their playing days wasted in remaining and dominating the G-league or stuck on the bench not being able to play.

PC’S Takeaways

ANT is him- In the midst of one the wildest starts to the NBA season that we have seen, the Timberwolves have been playing outstanding basketball. Anthony Edwards (known as ANT to many) is evolving into a top 5 SG in the league. He has taken the number 1 option title away from Karl Anthony Towns. Now, KAT has been playing well, but for the majority of his career he’s felt like he’s been the only option. Now that ANT has taken over, it allows KAT to be their second option, which is where he is thriving. The twin tower scheme in KAT and Rudy Gobert seems to be working unlike last year. Gobert has seemed to have found that lockdown defensive style that he had in Utah. The T-Wolves are apart of a loaded Western Conference, but have been running with the big boys and keeping a solid pace. If ANT and KAT continue to be the dominant force for the T-Wolves, we might be seeing a King's style run to the playoffs this year for Minnesota.

Outpacing them all- The brand new In-Season Tournament has been rocking and rolling. There have been some teams who dominated their group stage such as the Lakers. However, a team out east is out scoring all of the other teams. The Indiana Pacers have seemed to find their star in Tyrese Haliburton. Yes, he plays no defense. However, when you drop a 157 piece to secure your spot in the second round, you don’t need defense. Haliburton is wheeling and dealing out there. Dropping dimes and putting the ball in the hoop on a continual basis. Myles Turner is a big threat on the inside as he’s blocking shots at a high rate this season. Haliburton also has weapons outside the three point arc in Bennedict Mathurin and Buddy Hield. Obbi Toppin is playing well in his role of being the third or fourth option on this squad. If this team could learn how to play defense, they’re a legit threat to make a run this postseason.

Phoenix is figuring it out- The Suns had started their first 10 games without all of their big three playing together. Bradley Beal was hurt for the first three or four games this season. Devin Booker, had a hamstring injury that sidelined him for almost eight games. Kevin Durant had to put his team on his back. He played well, but without a second option, the Suns struggled and found themselves at the bottom of the West. Now, all three are healthy and are playing well. They’ve won their last seven games in a row and continue to roll through the league. The Suns are coming for everyone, I think they’ll end up being a top three seed in the West.