NBA efficiency sometimes begins to stabilize after the primary 12-15 video games of the common season. While the primary few weeks of any new marketing campaign are fraught with small pattern measurement theater, you don’t have to attend till Christmas for the NBA season to essentially begin to matter the best way informal sports activities followers prefer to imagine. What we see in the beginning of the yr actually might be significant.
The 2022-2023 season feels extra chaotic than normal one week into play. So far, we’ve seen title contenders knocked off by tanking groups, a few of the league’s finest organizations wanting misplaced and dysfunctional, and new MVP front-runners emerge earlier than our eyes. Only two groups will finish the primary week undefeated, and that’s the Milwaukee Bucks … and the Portland Trail Blazers. Just like everybody anticipated, proper?
Let’s take a look at the NBA’s greatest surprises after one week of play. If these are nonetheless sustaining after one other week or two, they is perhaps for actual.
The Spurs and Jazz are aggressive
We parsed the tank race for Victor Wembanyama initially of the season and named the San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz as the 2 more than likely groups to have most lottery odds heading into the draft. Well, after one week, the Spurs and Jazz are a mixed 6-2 general. So a lot for tanking.
The Spurs already knocked off a title contender within the 76ers, and one other supposed playoff lock within the Timberwolves. San Antonio’s roster is younger and devoid of star-power, however they’re profitable proper now with a balanced lineup that may compete on each ends of the ground. Devin Vassell’s growth is the most important particular person story for the Spurs to date. The former lottery decide is totally coming into his personal in his third season, making an enormous leap in each scoring and playmaking whereas nonetheless offering his typical 3-and-D qualities. He needs to be within the combine for the Most Improved Player race.
The Jazz additionally don’t appear to be crew that may correctly tank proper now. Utah begins three gamers of their 30s (Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson, and Kelly Olynyk) to present the crew a excessive ground. Lauri Markkanen is probably placing collectively a career-year, posting big-time scoring numbers regardless of a chilly begin as a three-point shooter. Jarred Vanderbilt has been one of many league’s finest rebounders and entrance court docket defenders to date, whereas Collin Sexton ought to solely get higher because the yr goes on coming off knee surgical procedure. The Jazz must make some trades in the event that they actually need to tank, as a result of this crew isn’t that unhealthy.
The Trail Blazers are the most well liked crew within the NBA
The Trail Blazers may have traded Damian Lillard and began a full-scale rebuild. Instead, the inked Lillard to a different large contract extension over the offseason, and tried to reload the roster round their franchise star. Lillard has been electrical initially of this season, and now he lastly has some assist. For the primary time in years, the Blazers have some official ahead depth. Jerami Grant has been a constant scorer and lively defender. Josh Hart hits the glass exhausting, flies round defensively, and excels in transition. Even rookie Shaedon Sharpe has appeared nice in his first actual motion since highschool.
Lillard additionally has some holdovers in Jusuf Nurkic and Anfernee Simons who proceed to be dependable. Nurkic remains to be a significant bodily presence on the within regardless of a sluggish begin offensively, whereas Simons is a microwave scorer who can take over a sport at any time. The fourth quarter remains to be Dame Time. As lengthy as Lillard retains taking part in like a top-10 general participant, the Blazers may truly make some noise within the West this yr.
The Lakers have the worst offense within the NBA by an enormous margin
There weren’t numerous Lakers optimists heading into the season, but it surely’s in some way even uglier than most imagined. The crew with LeBron James and Anthony Davis presently has the worst offense within the league — and it’s not shut. LA’s lack of taking pictures round James is nicely detailed at this level: the Lakers are taking practically 40 three-pointers per sport (top-10 within the NBA), and so they’re making simply 21 p.c of their makes an attempt. There’s just one different crew (the Wolves) presently beneath 30 p.c from three. There’s nonetheless no resolution for LA’s Russell Westbrook drawback, and at this level his unhealthy vibes are hanging over all the pieces they do.
The excellent news for the Lakers? They’re presently No. 2 in defensive effectivity. The soar photographs have to start out falling ultimately … proper? If not, it’s on LeBron and AD to hold this crew to offensive competency as a substitute of settling for unhealthy appears to be like from three themselves. Did we point out the Pelicans can swap draft picks with the Lakers this yr? It’s going to be a protracted season in Los Angeles.
The Nets have the worst protection
The Nets are a piece in progress initially of the season, and that’s placing it kindly. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are lighting it up as scorers, however Brooklyn is totally unable to persistently drive stops on the different finish. Ben Simmons was supposed to repair Brooklyn’s defensive issues, however he’s clearly nonetheless rusty on that finish of the ground after a one-year layoff. Simmons has fouled out in two of Brooklyn’s first three video games. He doesn’t play with sufficient drive to carry his personal at heart, and his obtrusive offensive deficiencies kill the crew when he’s subsequent to a different non-shooter within the entrance court docket.
There’s simply not numerous two-way expertise on this roster. Irving is a defensive legal responsibility, Simmons is a scoring legal responsibility, Nic Claxton can’t make a free throw, Patty Mills and Seth Curry aren’t an important match for a crew that wants extra huge wings. The Nets both must inject Joe Harris and T.J. Warren with some tremendous soldier serum, or make a commerce. Brooklyn is fortunate the Lakers exist, or they may have the worst vibes within the league.
Ja Morant appears to be like just like the MVP front-runner
Ja Morant minted his superstardom final season, however it seems that he has one other leap in his this yr. Morant has been otherworldly to start out the season, making absurd spotlight reel performs that solely he could make each time he takes the ground. He’s placing up practically 35 factors per sport to date with an improved three-point shot and fixed assaults on the rim that result in the foul line. How do you cease this man?
If the NBA needed to hand out MVP after the primary week, my vote goes to Morant in a detailed name over Damian Lillard. Morant was No. 6 within the preseason MVP odds, so possibly this isn’t an enormous shock, however Ja nonetheless deserves his flowers for this superb begin.
The Nuggets are beginning sluggish
The Nuggets have been a classy title decide coming into the season. I predicted they’d have probably the most common season wins within the NBA. Maybe we must always have listened to two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who mentioned earlier than the season that he knew Jamal Murray could be actually unhealthy for the primary 20 video games as he returns from a torn ACL. Murray is basically struggling to start out the season, averaging solely 12 factors per sport on about 38 p.c taking pictures. The Nuggets’ different star getting back from damage, Michael Porter Jr., appears to be like wholesome offensively at the very least however stays on eye sore on protection.
The Nuggets have the worst net-rating within the NBA to start the season. Denver goes to be simply high-quality ultimately, however they’ve been a tough watch to date.
The Clippers look nothing like a title contender to date
The Clippers have been my preseason championship decide. That prediction is wanting extraordinarily formidable to date. Kawhi Leonard was at all times going to be take a while to return to kind as he comes again off a torn ACL, and that’s been true to date: Leonard is coming off the bench for now and hasn’t appeared as quick or highly effective as he was earlier than the damage. The larger difficulty for the Clippers is perhaps their depth. Reggie Jackson, Norman Powell, and Nic Batum are all counted on to be huge items this yr, and every has gotten off to a sluggish begin.
Ultimately, the Clippers are taking part in for the playoffs. They need to be one of the best model of themselves on the finish of the season, not initially of it. It simply looks like they’ve a protracted, lengthy solution to go.
The Pelicans appear to be a title contender
No Zion Williamson, no Brandon Ingram, no Herb Jones … and the Pelicans nonetheless beat the Dallas Mavericks on the street on Tuesday evening. This crew has a ton of nice function gamers, a implausible teaching employees led by Willie Greene (and Teresa Weatherspoon and Fred Vinson), and tons of future picks to proceed including to the roster. We know that Ingram is the kind of robust halfcourt shot-maker you want within the playoffs. We assume Williamson is nice sufficient to be the first offensive choice of a championship crew. The Pelicans have wing stoppers, shooters, point-of-attack defenders, and beef up entrance with Jonas Valanciunas.
This crew isn’t simply rising, they may have already arrived.