By: William Burns
Here are another handful of surprises in the early part of the NBA regular season.
The Golden State Warriors. There isn’t much to talk about here, other than that a super team became even more of a super team in the offseason. However, Demarcus Cousins, their biggest addition tore his achilleas last season and is not currently playing. No worries fans, the team won the NBA finals without him last year, and they can win without him this year as well. The Warriors are on fast pace already, starting the season 9-1 and they are already breaking records and blowing out opponents. This includes a 149-point effort against the Chicago Bulls when Klay Thompson broke the record for most three-point makes in a game with 14. Ironically enough, the record was previously held by the other splash brother and teammate, Steph Curry. The three main players on the team, Curry, Thompson and Kevin Durant account for 80 of the team’s points every game; that doesn’t leave much left over to go around. What’s scary is the fact that the Warriors aren’t even scoring as effectively as they could be. The Warriors love shooting deep two-pointers, which is the worst shot in basketball. This team, known for shooting 40-foot threes, ranks fourth in the league in midrange jump shots attempted. Even with this, the team is still scoring 120 points a game; now imagine if they optimize their shots. The Warriors will be in the playoffs this year and make it to the finals like they always do; they would need two major injuries to keep them out of the final’s pictures.
The Oklahoma City Thunder had an impressive lineup last season, comprising of Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, along with some solid role players. Many people thought this could be the team that knocked off the Warriors, but they fell short in the playoffs. This year the Thunder are 5-4 which is respectable, for only having nine games down. With still a lot of time left to smooth out the wrinkles, the Thunder have superstar Russell Westbrook, who has averaged a triple-double the past two seasons, to go along with some promising talent and other seasoned veterans such as Raymond Felton. The team is headed by Westbrook, who is averaging 24 points per game, at least eight rebounds and eight assists, Paul George, who is averaging 22 points and over six rebounds per game and Steven Adams, the Pirate-like center who averages a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Right now, the Thunder are ranked third in the Northwest Conference, and with Westbrook just spraining his ankle, the season could be in jeopardy. If Westbrook manages to shake off this injury quickly, then the Thunder have a chance to make the playoffs. If he is out for more than 15 games, then there is no hope.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are experiencing firsthand what happens when you build a team around one player and have that player leave. The Cavaliers are off to an abysmal 1-9 start because their whole team left. Now when I say team, I mean Lebron James. Lebron James is a team in himself and can make any group of guys a playoff contender. Lebron however, gave the Cavaliers a false sense of security. They didn’t realize how much Lebron did for them. When Lebron is on your team, he runs the offense, the huddles, the practices, the subs, the games, all of it. The Cavaliers’ head coach Tyronn Lue was the coach of the team, but it wasn’t his team, it was Lebron’s team. Looking back, it was good while it lasted, but you could see subtle hints that Lue was not in control of his own team. In huddles during timeouts, Lue was not even there. Lebron was running the show, and now that he is gone, the show is too. Lue never regained his ability to coach, and as a result, he was fired after losing his first six games. The Cavaliers will not come back from this and will most likely trade away any talent left for draft pics. Watch this team to see a record for losses in a single season.
The Los Angeles Lakers are perhaps the most popular franchise in the NBA second only to the legendary Chicago Bulls dynasty built by Michael Jordan. The Lakers drew a lot of publicity from Lonzo Ball and his outspoken father, Lavar. Lavar made many outrageous claims about himself and his sons, who have their own apparel brand. Ball didn’t partake in the same talk that his father did, but he has walked the walk. With 62 games played in his career, he has averaged a respectable 10 points, six assists and six boards. The Lakers have a ton of rookie talent on the team, and they brought in Lebron James, who wanted to play for the franchise, to mentor and train this raw rookie talent into a strong, hard-hitting team capable of a shot at the NBA title. This may take more time than expected, as the Lakers have started the season 4-6. There have been many questions raised about Lebron’s stamina this late in his career. How will the Lakers use LeBron’s minutes in the regular season to make sure he’s ready to go hard in the playoffs? Look for the Lakers to keep Lebron as fresh as possible while still making the playoffs.
There are three rookies that you need to watch. These are not the only rookies that will be good, but they are important to their franchises. The first being Deandre Ayton, the No. 1 pick overall by the Phoenix Suns. The Suns have long needed a player to go along with all-star guard Devin Booker, and now they have a true seven-footer with good footwork and a nice jump shot. Ayton is predicted to win the rookie of the year award.
Jaren Jackson was drafted fourth overall by Memphis and is also a big man. At 6’11” with a 7’ 5” wingspan, this man can play some defense. He was an elite rim defender in college and could stretch the floor with his three-point shot. He needs to get his post game worked out, but under the tutelage of Marc Gasol, he should develop into a star player.
Trae Young was perhaps the most exciting player to watch during the college season last year, dropping at least 40-foot three-pointers, breaking ankles and finishing creatively at the rim. This young stud brought on comparisons to Steph Curry with his shooting and finishing abilities. While he needs to learn how to run an NBA team as point guard, he has good court vision and passing ability. He was drafted fifth overall by the Dallas Mavericks and traded to Atlanta.
The whole rookie class was amazingly talented, and many people expect these players to be stars right away, but there is a certain amount of maturing that must happen between college and pro, becoming hardened to the physical play of the NBA. Many rookies can appear as busts in their first few games, but sometimes all it takes is one breakout game to get comfortable in the pros and really find their role on a team.
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.
