NBA: Dyson Daniels turned towards his former teammates on the bench for New Orleans in the Hawks win over the Pelicans
While we may only be a couple of weeks into the new season, there’s enough data points to make takeaways from what we’ve seen so far.has below dived into some bold predictions, hot takes and general overreactions for the marathon season ahead.
There’s almost a sense of inevitability about OKC and Boston being the last two teams standing, much like when the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers met in four-straight NBA finals from 2015 to 2018. It’s not like last year was fail though, for the Suns won 49 games and finished sixth in the west — just two games behind the fourth-seeded Clippers.
Well, through seven games the Suns are 6-1 and have a top six defensive rating — an area they’ve long struggled in the Durant era.Spurs coach out with undisclosed illness | 00:40Outside of Anthony Edwards’ superstar rise, Minnesota’s point of difference last season was its size. The hope would’ve been to improve their offence, which was middle-of-the-road last season, provide more flexibility with line-ups and perhaps give reigning Sixth Man of the Year Reid more court time.
But for all of Towns’ detractors, he’s still one of the best bigs in the league and a top 20 or so player when fully firing. And you’d have to say the team he moved to has a better chance of winning a championship than his last stop.Staying in the west, another team that was a genuine contender last season — and championship winner some 17 months ago — is now a shadow of its former self.
Additions Russell Westbrook and Dario Saric have struggled including Saric falling out of the rotation six games in, while young players like Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther haven’t yet taken the leap the team would be hoping for. Even in their 114-113 loss to the undefeated Cavs, most concerning was the fact the Bucks got 75 points from Antetokounmpo and Lillard — and yet that still wasn’t enough.
It all begs the question: not even four years removed from winning their first title, could the Bucks be forced to trade away the beloved superstar who delivered that championship to Milwaukee? But those are running out too with Paul George returning to the line-up and Joel Embiid on his way back too.
Add in other new additions in Andre Drummond, who is being leaned on heavily with Embiid sidelined, along with Eric Gordon and Caleb Martin and it isn’t necessarily surprising that the 76ers have started the season slow. In New Orleans Daniels was largely seeing playing time for his elite defence and even still his minutes fluctuated, largely because an at times inconsistent role meant he was unable to get into much of a rhythm on the offensive end.It has been a natural progression following his breakout Boomers campaign, with Daniels looking a far more confident version of himself on offence — whether he is cutting, setting screens or shooting the ball.
It isn’t as if he is attempting less 3-pointers either, averaging 3.6 this season compared to 3.0 in his final season with the Thunder. There is also the potential for Giddey to see even more on-ball usage given the Bulls shape as a potential seller at the trade deadline, although they have been solid to start the season.
He leads the league in scoring with 32.6 points per game to go with 11.6 rebounds and while the knock on Davis has always been whether he can consistently produce at a high level, it seems like he has been empowered under new coach JJ Redick. As long as the Lakers keep winning and as long as Davis stays healthy, which admittedly has been an issue in previous seasons, there is no reason why he can’t put himself right in the conversation for the league’s greatest individual honour.JAZZ TO CHALLENGE FOR THE NBA’S WORST RECORD
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