Although it may have been overshadowed by the NFL so far, the 2019-2020 NBA season has not disappointed in serving up headlines and star performances. Today, we’ll be looking at four of the most positive developments this season and three teams who have failed to live up to the hype to this point.
2019-2020 NBA Positives
Los Angeles Supremacy
Before the season started, the center of the NBA universe was clear. While the NBA was de facto centered around LA for most of the last decade, the moves that the Lakers and Clippers made in the offseason promised to make the two LA franchises some of both the best and most exciting squads this year. Neither has disappointed – Kawhi and the Clippers took it to the Lakers in the season opener, but the Lakers have lost once since, with an NBA-best record of 16-2. The Clippers have had Paul George come back from injury without missing a beat, and have a record of 14-5. The two teams are ranked 3rd and 5th respectively in net rating, displaying that their success should be sustainable. With LeBron looking refreshed fully playing point guard, Anthony Davis bringing his defense and versatility, and wings Leonard and George dominating on both sides of the ball, 4 of the best 10 players in the league play on the two LA teams. We can only hope for an insane 7 game series in the playoffs, as it would involve no travel and therefore potentially even more impressive performances.
Giannis’s Encore
Giannis won the MVP last season after absolutely dominant performances all year (as you can read about here), then mentioned that he has only been operating at 60-70% of his potential. People around the league questioned this because his stats were already Shaq-like – the efficiency, rebounding, and dominance at the rim hadn’t been seen since the Big Aristotle. He averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists last year – and has somehow increased those to 31.1 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 6.2 assists a game, without meaningfully increased playing time. In all, his defense of his MVP will leave him as a contender to grab his second straight trophy. Just as importantly, despite the loss of Malcolm Brogdon and an injury to Khris Middleton, the Bucks are 15-3, winners of 9 straight, and look likely to repeat as the #1 seed in the East. Perhaps Giannis will have the chance to add a championship trophy to a growing list of hardware.
The Rise of the East’s Second Tier
Before the season, the East was predicted to be extremely shallow, with contenders in the Bucks and the Sixers, horrible teams in New York, Cleveland, and Charlotte, and a large middle-tier. At this point in the season, three Eastern Conference teams have jumped out of that tier to become legitimate contenders in the title race. Boston and Toronto are 13-4 and tied for second in the conference, with Miami a game back at 12-5. Boston has exceeded expectations that were lowered after the loss of Kyrie Irving and Al Horford. People failed to see how the change from Kyrie (currently in the middle of ruining the Nets and posting confused screeds on Twitter) to Kemba Walker would improve the chemistry (from maybe the worst teammate in the league to one of the best) and allow Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to assume their roles as the future stars of the franchise. Toronto also had diminished expectations after their championship run last season because of the loss of Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, and many expected Masai Ujiri to trade veterans like Serge Ibaka, Kyle Lowry, and Marc Gasol to jump-start a rebuild. Instead, Pascal Siakam has completed one of the greatest developmental jumps in NBA history, as a legitimate all-NBA candidate. Despite injuries to Ibaka and Lowry, and an offensive power outage from Gasol, Siakam and the ever-clutch Fred Van Vleet have managed to keep the Raptors contending. Down in South Beach, Heat president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra seethed after missing the playoffs and made plans to try to get a superstar. While many argue that Jimmy Butler is not that, he’s also clearly the best player to put on a Heat jersey since Dwayne Wade. Alongside Butler, who is passing more than ever, the Heat are stocked with shooters like Tyler Herro, Kendrick Nunn, and D-III legend Duncan Robinson, all of whom have been buckets from outside. However, the most important player on the team is Bam Adebayo, the do-it-all big who anchors the Miami defense. All three of these teams will not go quietly into the expected night.
Lukamania
Luka Doncic, thicc prince of Eastern Europe, and the best 20 year-old player in league history? MVP candidate? I was and remain one of Luka’s biggest fanboys, and I expected great things (as you can see here), but even I didn’t think Luka could be this good in the NBA this quickly. The stats have been repeated ad nauseam, but for the sake of everyone, here goes. Luka’s averaged 30.1 points, 10 rebounds, and 9.5 assists a game. The list of people who have done that are Oscar Robertson twice and Russell Westbrook during his MVP season. That’s the list. Another stat to note – Dallas’ current offensive rating would be the highest of all time, a direct result of the offense that Luka himself has created. Even though Kristaps Porzingis has not performed to potential, Dallas has jumped to 5th in the West, above the preseason projections. Their net rating indicates they are unlikely to be a fluke, too. When looking for the next NBA superstar, your eyes don’t have to gaze far past Dallas.
2019-2020 NBA Negatives
Portland Problems
You can read some of what I wrote last week in the Carmelo Anthony section of Worst of the Week. That is an appetizer for this main course of disappointment that the Trailblazers have given their fans so far this season. While Damian Lillard has nominally kept up his All-Pro reputation, and CJ McCollum continues to be a great second banana, the rest of the team is lacking. With the injury to Zach Collins, their front-court is so lacking in depth that, again, they signed someone who hasn’t been in the league for a year. With the West weaker than expected, it’s very possible that Portland could contend, but in Hassan Whiteside, Mario Hezonja, and the aforementioned Anthony, the Blazers have three of the worst rotation players in the league. At the end of the day, this team still has 63 games to right the ship, but a playoff miss after last year’s run would definitely be a step backwards.
Warriors: Dynasty to Lottery
With the loss of Kevin Durant in free agency and Klay Thompson’s injury, it was unclear how the Warriors would play this year. Were they less talented than at any point over the past 5 or 6 years? Absolutely. However, with Draymond Green, Steph Curry, and Kevon Looney retaining the championship DNA that led to one of the great basketball dynasties ever, there was a thought that they could remain quasi-contenders. That thought was clearly proven false. Thompson was ruled out for the season before it even began, Kevon Looney is suffering from neuropathy and only played on opening night, and Curry broke his hand in the fourth game of the season. Additionally, Green and addition DeAngelo Russell have suffered through their own injuries and have each missed a number of games. All in all, this is a disapointment, but it’s more about who’s away from the floor rather than who is on it. Also, Golden State has a second round draft pick in ROY contention (Eric Paschall), so as always, it’s never all bad in the Bay.
Philly Fails to Ascend
As discussed before the season, the Sixers were supposed to be dominating the East alongside the Bucks, with one of the biggest starting lineups in NBA history. Embiid and Simmons were supposed to take another step forward (as seen here). Instead, the Sixers are scuffling along at 5th in the East. Embiid just had zero points in a game against the Raptors, a first for him as nemesis Marc Gasol shut him down again. Embiid is hardly the biggest problem on the team – Simmons is averaging fewer points than in his first two seasons as well as fewer rebounds – his aggression seems to be neutered. He finally made a three in a regular season game, causing the city of Philadelphia to spontaneously combust in joy. However, he has still only taken two on the season, so teams aren’t at all worried about him providing spacing off-ball. Philadelphia should be fine – Joel Embiid is still likely the second best player in the East (though look out for Siakam), and they are not at all likely to miss the playoffs – as its more likely for them to be hosting a first round series. That being said, with the Bucks looking threatening and the threesome of Toronto, Boston, and Miami better than expected, Philly’s path out of the East looks tougher than in October.
