With the NBA season approaching the one-month mark, our writers weigh in on the biggest surprises and disappointments so far, plus rank the top title contenders early on.
1. Most pleasant surprise of the season so far?
Ben Rohrbach: The Cleveland Cavaliers. I figured last season, when they lost to the Boston Celtics in a five-game, second-round playoff series, there were too many redundancies on the roster. Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland couldn’t share a backcourt; neither Evan Mobley nor Jarrett Allen could share a front yard. Turns out, all they needed was Kenny Atkinson, a head coach who reconfigured the offense in ways that maximize everyone — and shape a true contender.
And Titus: The Golden State Warriors. The Cavs and Lakers deserve votes, but the Warriors’ hot start is at the top of my list because they weren’t expected to be among the best teams in the West, let alone the entire league. Their uniquely deep rotation thrives a lot ball movement3s and a revived commitment to defense. As a top-five unit on both endsthe Dubs are a legitimate title contender — even in the twilight of Steph Curry and Draymond Green’s careers.
Dan Devine: What about the Nets — a team almost universally projected to be intentionally terrible this season — instead to be downright competitive? Despite facing one of the hardest opening slates in the NBA, Brooklyn sits at 6-9, with two of those losses coming in overtime to the champion Celtics on the road and in the night Nikola Jokić went nuclearand a third on a dagger by Jalen Brunson. The Networks are bound for seventh in offensive efficiencyrubbing shoulders with All-Star loaded teams thanks to the dribble penetration of Dennis Schröder and Cam Thomas, the scorching shooting of Cam Johnson, and a bomb-away approach from beyond the arc implemented by new head coach Jordi Fernandez.
It probably won’t last, especially if the noise that each Network is available in trade negotiations result in major, Capture-the-Flagg-inspired deconstruction surgery before the February trade deadline. These days, though, Brooklyn is a pretty decent watch, and I’m not sure how many of us have called that a month ago
Vincent Goodwill: It sure is Cleveland. Continuity as opposed to wholesale change at work in today’s NBA? Who knew? Despite the loss against the Celtics, the Cavaliers acquitted themselves well on Tuesday. Everything is sped up, Evan Mobley and Darius Garland growing without taking away from the others, and Donovan Mitchell keeping his powder dry until the fourth quarter? i like it
2. Biggest disappointment of the season so far?
Title: The Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers can chalk up their terrible start to a lack of organizational responsibility, leadership and being a flawed team with zero chemistry. The trio of Joel Embiid-Paul George-Tyrese Maxey is expected to play together for the first time later this week, but as the worst shooting team in the leagueit will be tough to dig out of a 2-11 hole – even in a weak Eastern Conference. What a mess. At least Jared McCain looks cool.
Divinely: Let’s stipulate that the correct answers are Philly and Milwaukee, as Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports cleverly laid out on Tuesday. As the worst thinker on our staff, though: let’s go with a Pacers team that lit up scoreboards at historic levels last season ranking only 16th in points scored per possession. A lot of pain comes from injuries. It is hard to run when you drop half a rotation: Indiana went from first in average time to shot last season to 14 this seasonof second to 14th in rhythm, and from seven to twenty in how often they play in transitionundermining what was an enormous strength for Rick Carlisle’s club last season.
The blows to the supporting cast, along with constantly facing kitchen sink defensive coverage, combined for a brutal start for Tyrese Haliburton, who is dealing with some. injury things of his own. Haliburton is averaging four fewer points and about two and a half fewer assists per game, shooting 38% from the field and 29% from 3-point range, and struggling mightily. on the road. Without him playing at the superstar level he reached last season, Indiana will be stuck in neutral.
Goodwill: You can say the Philadelphia 76ers, for the team drama and lack of availability of Joel Embiid and Paul George. Shocker. The record, which is Wizards-esque, seems like a shootable offense, but missing your three best players gives some grace. The Milwaukee Bucks, some of us expected them to have some level of continuity after last year’s rocky ride. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard have been healthy except for Lillard’s concussion, and while Khris Middleton hasn’t made his debut yet, they still have enough to be better than 5-9. Winning three out of four gives some bail, but overall, title contenders can’t look like that.
Rohrbach: The Philadelphia 76ers. It might be too obvious, but they are 2-11. They need to win two-thirds of their remaining games to match their record from last season, when they needed a win in the play-in game to secure a play-off spot. They dished out a combined $609 million to Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George over the summer — not to mention the millions they spent surrounding them with a capable supporting cast — and they’re terrific.
3. The most interesting development of the season so far?
Goodwill: The Houston Rockets being competent. We could kind of see this coming with Ime Udoka working his magic and making this team passable last year. Now, they’re top four in the West, albeit early, with a deep team, a point differential (+7.9) that would have them as a top three team in the conference most years, and plenty of assets to put themselves into. position to trade for the next disgruntled star, because there always is one. Seven guys are scoring in double figures, and there’s a good mix of youth and vets to make them more than nice in the interim.
Rohrbach: Giannis Antetokounmpo. Does he become available? It felt like there was a zero percent chance of that before the season. One month into it? There is a chance, even if it is slim. Even the slightest possibility that a perennial MVP candidate could be a trade possibility is a big deal — the kind of development that has teams scrambling to get him. They are not contenders as currently constituted, and no amount of tinkering around the edges can change that. Speaking of which, how happy will Damian Lillard be in Milwaukee if more hope is lost?
Title: Dyson Daniels. The Big Barrier Stealer has become one of the league’s most versatile and disruptive defenders, averaging 3.4 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. He is on track to earn his first All-Defensive team nod. Daniels’ growth isn’t limited to the defensive end though, as he’s setting career highs in scoring, points, rebounds, assists and 3s made per game in his third NBA season. If his teammate wasn’t Jalen Johnson, he would be even higher on the MIP list.
Divinely: This may be nothing, but: a lot more defenses seem to be stepping up their full-court pressure early this season.
Miami Heat defense to start the 4th
Full court press into zone. No one gets a single deep drive. Ball broke the 3pt line once until Donte
Forcing the ball to go with nothing happening. Force shot clock TOV pic.twitter.com/TIkJN9gUB4
– John Jablonka (@JohnJablonka_) November 12, 2024
Two seasons ago, no team broke the press on more than five defensive possessions per game, according to Synergy Sports Technology. Last season, two did: the Trail Blazers and Pacers. So far this season, seven has, led by Brooklyn and Indiana by more than 12 possessions per game, followed by Portland, Toronto, Memphis, Miami and New Orleans. Three more – Washington, Oklahoma City and Golden State – took a full-court shot at least four times a night, a rate that would have ranked at or near the top of the NBA for most of the past decade and a half.
Maybe the pressure is producing a theft in the back yard. Perhaps it delays the significant performance of an offensive possession by a few ticks – valuable in itself, considering the degree to which offensive efficiency. falls later in the shot clock. Maybe it’s like body blows in boxing — make your deposits early in the hopes of reaping the dividends of an opponent’s legs weakening late. Whatever the case: That’s about a third of the league, running the gamut from elite defenses to bottom-eaters, all making a determined and concerted effort to harass ball-handlers in the backcourt. They probably do it for a reason, and it’s probably worth keeping an eye on.
4. Rank the top 5 NBA title contenders right now.
Divinely: Celtics, Thunder, Warriors, Cavaliers and…hell, let’s go with the Nuggets. Right outside the top 10 on both ends despite Aaron Gordon missing the past two weeks and Nikola Jokić missing the last three games, 8-3 since dropping two ugly ones early, some signs of life from Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. – staying afloat. That’s good enough to keep me on board for now.
Title: 1. Celts; 2. Thunder; 3. Knights; 4. Warriors; 5. Lakers.
Goodwill: 1. Celts; 2. Thunder; 3. Warriors; 4. Knights; 5. Nuggets.
Rohrbach: 1. Celts (reigning champions); 2. Thunder (the best of the West); 3. Knights (15-1); 4. Warriors (top five offense and defense); 5. Nuggets (Nikola Jokić).
