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The young NBA season has been fairly exciting. There are a lot of teams and players that have exploded onto the scene, without much hype prior to the season. Additionally, there have also been teams and players that we had a ton of expectations for, and they really did not get out on a great note. That is all completely normal for any NBA season, but it is still exciting to see what has surprised us the most in a positive manner. Thus, here are three early surprises of the young NBA season!
Early NBA surprises
While the Warriors are not any kind of major surprise, it is still impressive what they were able to do. In their first 12 games, the Warriors have 11 wins and they have dominated the opposition. It seems like the San Francisco-based franchise is resembling the old Warriors which steamrolled other teams entering their arena. While much of it has been powered by the incomparable Stephen Curry, it is a disservice to the rest of the squad not to dig a bit deeper into their NBA season.
First of all, their defensive play has been something else. First in defensive rating, not much is being said about how the Warriors lock down opponents. All of that, of course, with Curry, who is not a good defender, playing 33.8 minutes per game and without Klay Thompson, their best guard defender. Right now, their opponents are shooting 31.3% from three and just 42.1% from the field, categories in which the Warriors are third and first in the league, respectively.
Second of all, major parts of their roster stepped up. While the spotlight is on Curry, Jordan Poole is averaging 17.5 points per game and filling the role of Thompson somewhat. Andrew Wiggins is adding 17.2 points, which is not ideal, but great for a presumed third offensive option. Damion Lee is adding a solid 11.9 points from the bench, with an elite 43.6% shooting from behind the arc. If this can continue as the Warriors play better opposition and away from home, they will be prime title favorites.
The Chicago Bulls
A team that had issues ever since Jimmy Butler left in 2017, the Bulls seem focused this year. Additions of DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and Alex Caruso reinvigorated the squad that was ten games under .500 last NBA season. Having two 25-per-game scorers in DeRozan and Zach LaVine is clearly beneficial for the team, but it is beyond that as well.
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Firstly, the team simply looks better on the field. One of the biggest issues of past Bulls teams was the lack of a real playmaker, a distributor of the ball. With Ball there, it is clear that he has taken the reigns of the offense. Now, that does not mean that he takes the most shots or is the focal point of the offense, rather it means that he is stepping up to be the play-caller. It does not convert to assist numbers as much, but it is visible that he runs everything in the offense.
Secondly, it is the defense. The Bulls were thought of as doomed before the season, due to the fact that out of their five starters, at least three play little to no defense. LaVine, DeRozan, and Vucevic do not get the best defensive reputation. However, the Bulls are ninth in defensive rating and sixth in points allowed from opponents. Alex Caruso, Derrick Jones, and Ball clearly brought a lot of defensive stability to the Bulls and it will be interesting to see whether they can keep this tempo up. The start is looking incredibly promising.
The Wizards were a 50/50 team before the NBA season. When a team rebuilds itself completely, the results can be incredibly different based on many factors. They lost Russell Westbrook but added the likes of Spencer Dinwiddie, Motrezl Harrell, Kyle Kuzma, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope among others. Paired up with stalwart star Bradley Beal, it was a completely different set of players from last year. Many analysts were scratching their heads trying to figure out how this will turn out on the court.
Turns out, the Wizards are truly great. The team from the capital is currently 9-3 which is enough for the first seed in the Eastern Conference. First-time coach Wes Unseld was able to get this team running from the get-go, and he reset the two players that most needed the reset – Kuzma and Harrell. Kuzma received his share of criticism for the poor season of the Lakers last year, but completely bounced back and is averaging 15 points and 9.2 rebounds. Harrell also had a poor season for the Lakers but is now back on his quest for another Sixth Man of the Year award, averaging 18.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per contest from the bench.
These reinventions of two players do not mean that this NBA season is good only because of them. Beal continued his bonkers play from last season with a smaller usage rate and generally lesser numbers, but a firm position as the first option. Dinwiddie bounced back from a major injury to be the prime facilitator and third option of the squad, while Caldwell-Pope is giving his share of three-point shooting and defense from the guard spot. The interesting thing is that Davis Bertans is still fairly silent, just like Deni Avdija, and that Rui Hachimura is yet to feature in a game. If all cylinders start running, the Wizards will be scary opposition for anyone in the league.
