12 NBA Takes: Reasons for Optimism
NBA Substack on what keeps us looking forward
We asked 12 leading NBA voices on Substack:
What gives you hope this NBA season?
Check out their answers and subscribe!
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As a Standings Guy β which is a kind way of saying Old Newspaper Nerd β I will always find hope and intrigue in a morning scan through the East and West ladders.
The formerly 2-8 Bucks, all of a sudden, are 9-9. The Cavaliers might have lost their first game recently but remain on a tidy 77-5 pace. (Seriously! How long can they keep this up?) Is the East really so soft that it's not too late for 3-13 Philadelphia?
Are Wemby and his 10-8 Spurs actually destined for a winning record in Year 2? How long until Denver (9-7), Dallas (10-8) and Minnesota (9-10) start resembling the contenders we expected? These are the sorts of questions that the voices in my head pose all day.
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Victor Wembanyama gives me hope as the centerpiece star for the next era of NBA basketball. The Spurs already look average at worst in his second season, and the growth of his perimeter game is evident β¦ even as he continues to dominate inside. He's everything we dreamt of, and I'm so glad to see his career unfold.
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If we're talking about hope as optimism for the next generation of the sport, it's nice to see young teams doing well this year.
Including the Houston Rockets, whose kids are helping to lead the way to a No. 4 ranking in net rating, four teams among the 10 youngest in average age (weighted by WAR) are also among the 10 best this season by net rating: the Thunder, Rockets, Grizzlies and Magic. (The Cavaliers, who are No. 1 in net rating, are just outside the 10 youngest teams at No. 13 in average age.)
Compare that with the 10 oldest teams, a group that only contains two of the 10 best by net rating (the Celtics and Warriors), and we see that youth is more than holding its own to begin the season.
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Iβm fully in on the NBA Cup. People on the internet lazily complaining about the courts will fade (unlike the brightness of the courts β¦ See what I did there???).
Itβs going to age well! Itβs fun! Itβs perfect for fans that donβt tune in until after football season! Most important β the players get up for it!
Hear me out: I think it should be made the premiere β and only β midseason event.
I! Said! It!
Scrap the All-Star Game completely and have the 3-point and dunk contest on a Saturday and the NBA Cup final on Sunday and call it a day.
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Young players taking massive steps forward. Jalen Johnson is just a star now. Jalen Williams is, too. Jaden Ivey looks like he did in college. Amen Thompson cannot be shaken. LaMelo Ball and Franz Wagner have been the best versions of themselves.
You can even look at someone like Payton Pritchard, and how much better he is this year. Ty Jerome is still only 27. We can count him as young, right? Either way, this stuff is fun. We should celebrate it.
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Hope is a funny thing. The need for it is proportional to the seriousness of the situation β the more dire the circumstances, the more desperate the hope.
But I donβt feelβ like the NBA fan is in trouble. Watching Nikola JokiΔ threaten history, LaMelo Ball invent new shots, Ausar Thompson return to the court, LeBron do LeBron stuff, Wemby drop jaws, and everyone else do everything in between? Those arenβt just reasons for hope; theyβre generators of joy.
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I'm excited about the progress of several franchises this season. Contenders, (Cavs, Thunder), aspiring contenders (Warriors, Lakers), basketball projects accelerating their growth (Rockets, Magic, Spurs), and teams providing more resistance than expected (Nets, Blazers).
Also, I am buying this NBA Cup thing! Tuesdays and Fridays are days that I look forward to. I love to see that the courts are clearly different from the usual ones, and I feel that there will be a real fight until the end of each game. Letβs hope that Adam Silver will continue to boost and improve this tournament in the coming seasons.
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At the risk of alienating every member of my Knicks Film School audience, can I say the Brooklyn Nets?
Forget being picked to finish dead last by many (though not me, says the guy who had them 14th in the East). This team is the sports equivalent of the boxes of free books that Cobble Hill families routinely leave on their stoop. Take me, Iβm free! We need room on our shelf! Enjoy!!
Every one of these players know they probably wonβt be around on the next contending version of the Nets, but theyβre playing an unselfish and unrelenting style of ball regardless, lotto odds be damned.
In an era of pre-planned tank jobs, winning for winningβs sake is the most hopeful thing I can imagine.
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For me, it's players proving themselves after being tossed to the proverbial wayside.
Dalton Knecht: too old to be drafted, and has been one of the best rookies.
Ty Jerome and Jalen Smith: both disappointing Phoenix picks from years ago, and are making important impacts on their respective teams.
Elfrid Payton: doesn't start in over 900 days, and gives us a 21-assist game!
It's always a joy to see guys prove the consensus wrong and accomplish their goals.
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In the spirit of the holiday, Iβll show my optimism through thanks for the NBAβs bountiful cornucopia of talent. (Okay, the Thanksgiving schtick is done now.)
But seriously, the league has never been deeper. Over the last two full seasons, an average of 54 players posted 20 or more points per game. This season, that number is down a bit to 44 players due to a spate of unfortunate early injuries. Yet even those very injuries have served as a conduit for showcasing the immense depth on NBA rosters.
All this talent has led to a vastly improved product, which I think is far too often criticized for what it isnβt, rather than appreciated for what it is β and that is the greatest collection of athletic talent and skill in professional sports.
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Iβm trying to pick a super tiny needle out of an injury-filled haystack here, but the fact that teams are having to turn to their last-resort signings this early is β¦ quite fun?
After being out of the league for two years, Elfrid Payton was asked to step in for the ailing Pelicans and swiftly put up a whopping 21 assists! Andrew Nembhardβs injury for the Pacers has forced G Leaguer Quenton Jackson into a 17-minute-per-game role, and heβs shooting above 38% from 3! From JT Thor (shooting 5-for-5 for the Cavs) to Talen Horton-Tucker (back in business as a Bull), NBA sickos are feasting this season!
Jeremias Engelmann |
Looking far out to April, I'm hopeful that these could be some of the most entertaining playoffs in some time.
The East's first round might not be super exciting, but the West should be an absolute dogfight all the way through: Two of the current top-3 seeds, OKC and Houston, barely have playoff experience, but are reasonable bets to have home-court advantage in the first round. Meanwhile, teams with truly playoff-tested superstars β JokiΔ, DonΔiΔ, LeBron β will have to claw their way through unfavorable brackets.
It's tough to envision a setup more entertaining than this.
Elfrid Payton is prodigal son to many former fantasy basketball players