Around the NBA: Week 2

AROUND THE NBA:

The second week of the NBA has been a little more exciting with the rust wearing off & more games on the schedule. There are still quite a few surprises with teams that should be winning but aren’t, while teams that should be losing, aren’t. The ROTY race looks like it might be a runaway, but this year's draft class is looking very solid. The MVP race is looking kind of slow as of right now but hopefully can get more exciting. Let’s get to my thoughts about week 2.

The defending champs do not look like the defending champs. The Warriors are 3-4 and don’t look like the team that just one a championship. I could sit here & stir up that it can be a product of Green’s sucker punch this summer, but the team just doesn’t look like themselves. If I were a Warriors fan though, I would not be worried. They always tend to figure it out & you do have one of the best players on the planet on your team. They’ll be fine.

The Cleveland Cavaliers. Donovan Mitchell is playing exceptional basketball on both ends of the floor & looks way more comfortable with that team than I would’ve imagined. This is without Darius Garland on the floor right now, so we have to wait & see what they look like together. Mitchell is another of the top three MVP candidates in my eyes.

The Lakers finally won their first game of the season. I will be honest, I thought they’d be 0-6 but bringing Russ off the bench might be the catalyst to their win. He looked comfortable & his +/- rating was the best it’s been so far. AD is playing well, even though his jump shooting numbers are atrocious & LeBron is just LeBron. Trade rumors are already flying this early into the season so the Lakers will have another season full of rumors & drama.

The Nets. They look bad. I don’t want to sit here & bash on Ben Simmons since he is returning to the floor after not playing for two years but he still has been passing up open layups & simply doesn’t look like himself. The Nets have the worst defensive rating in the NBA despite having good defenders in Simmons, KD & Claxton. What’s the most surprising is their shooting splits even with two elite offensive weapons in KD & Kyrie. I said this last year & I’ll say it again, Brooklyn needs to can Steve Nash.

Ja is him. He’s arguably the best athlete in the NBA & looks like a top three MVP candidate. The Grizzlies are the best scoring team in the league & one of the most exciting. I have no doubts that they’ll continue to play well & that Ja’s performance is sustainable.

Paolo Banchero is a stud. He reminds me of a young Carmelo Anthony with his three-level scoring. The Magic won’t be good, but they’ll be fun to watch. They mess around with their lineups & recently have ran Bol Bol at point—something he was surprisingly good at. If they end up with another number one pick, Wembenyama will end up on the Magic & they’ll have a starting lineup of only 6’10 & up players. Sheesh.

Benedict Mathurin may not win ROTY but he might end up cashing in on 6MOTY as a rookie. Just a pure & polished scorer who is slowly building a lot of chemistry with Haliburton. Keep an eye on him.

The Suns look good as they usually do. Top five in both offense & defense. Devin Booker is playing tremendous basketball even with Chris Paul experiencing a slump. They are the Suns though after all, so can’t really expect too much or too little out of them.

Luka looks like the early MVP even though his team is struggling. Luka & Wood look amazing together at the expense of defense but Jason Kidd needs to figure out a lineup with those two involved.

Keldon Johnson is ruining the tanking that the Spurs were expected to do. He’s putting up very efficient numbers & looks like a product of the great coaching of Popovich. I don’t really see it continuing at this level & they’ll start losing eventually but the Spurs are kind of fun to watch.

If the Pelicans can stay healthy, they will be a team to watch. Young talent & a lot of energy. Just what they needed coming off last year's strong finish.