The National Basketball Association and my capacity for creative sportswriting have simultaneously resumed. I am still a Utah Jazz fan, but maybe with the least interest I’ve had in several years. They might actually be good at being bad this year. Cooper Flagg is worth it.
A series of random mid-semester adventures has prevented me from viewing live most of the early season action, although one of those adventures did allow me to watch the Nuggets botch their home opener from several hundred feet up and away in Ball Arena. One of my takeaways from that night was that I won’t watch much Denver this year. Half of their roster seems to have regressed while most of the Western conference has improved. It’s hard to know how many wins Jokic can will this team to, but it is easy to guess that that number will be a lot smaller than that of Oklahoma City.
The Thunder may have regressed offensively, but they are monstrous defensively. Chet Holmgren has opened his sophomore campaign with an extraordinary blend of two-way dominance, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is doing the same (remarkable for a lead guard!). Alex Caruso is doing a funny thing where he hops in for 20 minutes a game, wins those minutes by 20, and has twice as many steals and blocks as he does points. As of the time of writing he is averaging two points a contest. He is way better than Josh Giddey.
The most eye-catching performance so far belongs to Paolo Banchero, who dumped 37 first half points on Indiana before tapering his scoring output to land at an even 50. More than the big time box stats, I liked the variety of ways Banchero beat the defense. His jumper looks quicker, higher, more fluid — it looks a lot more like the type of high-volume weapon Banchero has tried to cultivate from the midrange, and points to a more efficient avenue of offense for a team that on paper may struggle with spacing and playmaking. If they can shed last season’s stagnant style of play I would love to catch some extra Orlando games this year.
Can Ivica Zubac make an All-Star appearance this season? He has found his way into being a key component of the bizarre eighth act of James Harden’s career, and is probably more talented than the seven previous centers Harden brought into relevance. I want the Clippers to win because it is embarrassing for their opponents to lose. They are the purposeless relic of a failed era with no path toward even a distant recalibration. A very fitting home for a 35-year-old Harden, who may be at this stage too exhausted to try the forced holdout-trade process he trademarked.
No, Ivica Zubac will not make an All-Star appearance. I wish.
The East made enough moves over the offseason that a legitimate contest to the Celtics seemed feasible, whether from the Sixers, Knicks, or Bucks. One week in and Boston has done a lot more to reinforce their standing than almost any other team in their conference has done to challenge them. Cleveland is the main exception. I do believe in Cleveland, and wrote positively about them several times last season, when they put together stretches of extremely good basketball with half their starting lineup missing. Right now, they are healthy and finding an offensive rhythm that matches their talent. Garland can score again! I’d still bet on Boston beating them in five games. Mazulla ball (a lot of three point shots from everywhere) runs the conference until further notice.
The current sample size mostly does not exceed four games. If I were putting money on anything I’d still lean toward trusting priors from last year, but one more week and some of these ideas might be real!