We’re officially one week in the NBA season as of tonight, as there’s already a lot to talk about! We saw the debut of Harden and Westbrook, the Clippers look unstoppable (until they faced the more unstoppable Suns), the Kings are real bad, and JA Morant basically has the Rookie of the Year Award locked up three games into the season.
So with the season officially underway, I want to throw out some takeaways I have to start the year and some narratives that I think are beginning to develop and could continue through much of this season.
1. Trae Young is a beast!
2. Luka Doncic is also a beast!
It looks like the Hawks and the Mavericks both won the Luka trade from last year. Trae Young is averaging 34 points per game to start the year on 52% shooting from deep and Luka Doncic has made about 10,000 step back threes this season. He’s certainly made more than James Harden (more on him coming up). Luka is also dominating games offensively with his passing and rebounding. His shooting could be better though (he’s averaging 31% on 29 attempts so far). I’d also like to see more action involving him and Porzingis. Trae Young does such a good job of playmaking from the pick n’ roll with John Collins as the screener that I’d like to see Luka do that more as well with his big man.
I know we didn’t need a blog post to remind everyone that these guys are good, but it is a positive sign to see that two players who ended on such high notes last year carried this momentum into even better starts this year. Both of these young players have led their teams to 2-1 records to begin the season and have done so efficiently.
3. The Suns are good!
Despite the fact that they lost their franchise center to a 25-game suspension, the Suns have been an early surprise of the NBA season so far! The two keys to their success early on are defensive intensity and the improvement of Kelly Oubre Jr. Just watch their games and you can see how hard they compete on defense compared to last year. While it’s certainly possible that this three-game stretch is just a quick start by a team that has caught a bunch of better teams off guard, this team’s early success is worth noting and appreciating.
4. The Kings are not good!
Their offense looks disjointed and Marvin Bagley is out for a month. Also, they’ve given up an average of 115 points per game and have only scored 95.5 points per game. That margin is a real big minus sign. Luke Walton has had a really bad start to his tenure with the Kings and they certainly look like a team on the outside looking in come playoff time. I don’t think they’ll be this bad defensively all year long, but their offense is alarming and could be a trend. Last year the Kings led the league in PACE and caught teams off guard as they efficiently created scoring opportunities for themselves in transition. Now they are 25th out of 30th and they aren’t catching anyone off guard.
5. Is Karl-Anthony Towns the best center in the NBA today?
Probably. He’s averaging 32 and 13 with a 40.86 PER (for those of you keeping track at home that would be the greatest of all time if he averaged it for a season). Also if the season ended today the T-Wolves would have the best record in the NBA, would be in the playoffs, and KAT would be MVP. It makes you think…
6. Who’s in more of a historic slump? James Harden or Mike Conley?
Both of these guys are adjusting to new backcourt teammates and both are struggling from the field – though the two aren’t correlated (most likely). James Harden is averaging a staggering 29.3 points per game on 15% from three and 28% overall from the field. He’s actually averaging almost as many made field goals per game as free throws. He’s shooting 95% from the stripe so that’s the most redeeming quality about his start.
Mike Conley Jr. is also struggling from the field at a rough 9/45 from the field and is matching Harden with misses of his own. Like Harden, I am certain that he’ll break out of this stretch, but I do feel bad for Conley. He’s been so good and so under the radar for 10 years now that I want him to succeed in the spotlight now that he’s got it.
7. Ja Morant is good
How could any pick another player but him to win Rookie of the Year? Certainly not I!
Cover Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images