By: William Burns
With lots of movement in the offseason, super teams becoming even more stacked and dynasties looking to rebuild to their former glory, the NBA has played around nine games, and team dynamics are starting to show. Here are some high (or low) profile players or franchises and how they are doing, compared to how they should be doing.
Carmelo Anthony is starting this season with the Houston Rockets after leaving supposed super team Oklahoma City Thunder. There were high hopes when the trio of Westbrook, George and Anthony got together last year, but that was all hype; new year, new Melo. At 34 years old Anthony has embraced his new team and put up an O.K. stat line too. The seasoned veteran is averaging just over 31 minutes per game, and that includes 15.5 points per game to go along with 5.5 rebounds. Now his field goal percentage is even with his career average, and Anthony is shooting the ball better behind the arc. Anthony has been a solid player off the bench, but the Rockets are just 4-5 with him. The Rockets had the best record in basketball last season, so let’s see if Anthony can use his experience and get the team in a groove.
Kawhi Leonard left the team he played with his whole career in the offseason for the Toronto Raptors. Leonard, who played nine games last season due to injuries, has already played in seven games this year, and with an average of 34 minutes per game, he has fully recovered. Leonard is averaging just over 26 points per game while adding 7.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists. Leonard is also shooting slightly over 50 percent from the floor, a tiny increase from his career. The Raptors and Leonard have meshed quite well, as their 9-1 records show, but is this a fluke? How long will they be able to keep it up? Give them a few weeks, and they will fall back down to a .500 pace. And don’t expect Leonard to be around next year. He is actively being pursued by several teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers and getting to play alongside superstar and future Hall of Famer, LeBron James.
Giannis Antetokounkpo, or more commonly known as, “The Greek Freak,” has already made quite the highlight reel with some thunderous dunks this season. The 6’11” power forward is only 23 years old and has made back to back All-Star game starts already in his career. While averaging only 31 minutes per game, Giannis is averaging a double-double with 26 points and nearly 14 rebounds per game. Giannis’ guard-like handles and long frame make him a lethal threat from anywhere on the court. Giannis has propelled the Milwaukee Bucks to 8-1 on the season and also helped the team rank second in points per game with 121.9, and first in rebounding, with 54.4 rebounds per game. There is never a dull moment watching the Greek Freak play. Whether it’s a fast break dunk or a chase down block off the backboard, this man can do it all. He is no doubt a future Hall of Famer, and great things will happen for him in his career. The Bucks will be a formidable team this year as well.
Lebron James, the greatest player of this era, and perhaps in all of basketball history, left his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio to join the Los Angeles Lakers. Last season James held together a hodgepodge of players which were the Cleveland Cavaliers, and basically willed them to the playoffs, and eventually an NBA Finals appearance. He then joined a team of talented young players with the likes of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma. James has yet to find the rhythm with these young studs, and finds himself with a losing record of 4-6, and fourth in the Pacific conference. James has played in all 10 games this season and has gotten around 35 minutes per game in each of those contests. His stats so far have been very average for him. Of course, his stats are phenomenal, but nothing out of the ordinary for James. He’s averaging over 26 points per game, to go along with at least seven rebounds and seven assists, all very much in line with his career averages. Don’t worry though Lebron fans, he always manages to make the playoffs and go deep no matter what team he has around him. After he gets to play with all the young talent, he has, that Lakers’ team will be a force to be reckoned with. Come the second half of the season the Lakers will be unstoppable, with Lebron at the helm.
Now the NBA season is still very young, as some teams have played only 10 games, and records now do not necessarily predict the future. There was a lot of shakeup this offseason, so this season should be exciting to watch.
