We are a month into the NBA season and it’s clear to see who the contenders and pretenders are.
Boston and Milwaukee are exactly where we thought they’d be in the East (as well are our smokey Cleveland Cavaliers).
Out West Portland, Denver and Utah are exactly where we thought they’d be….wait what?!
Utah are currently sitting in 3rd place in the Western Conference and have won 10 from 16 games, with most predicting they’d battle to win 10 games all season!
Utah traded away Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert in the off-season in what most saw as a “Tank for Victor the Inflictor”.
Instead, they’ve been one of the best and most entertaining teams to watch in the league!
Portland meanwhile, have flown under the radar to start the season 10-4.
The addition of Jerami Grant, paired with the brilliance of Damian Lillard, has taken this team to the top of a very tough conference after the first month of play.
It’s time to overreact (or for some lay down some cold heart facts) on what we’ve seen to start the season.
Brooklyn Nets a play-in team at best!
Brooklyn will once again have to go through the play-in tournament for a shot at the playoffs, as the disfunction within this team is far too toxic to slot them into a top 6 spot.
Yes, the Nets have plenty of talent, but putting it all together has seemingly been an improbable task.
They’ve already had the Kyrie issue to start the season, sacked their coach less than a month into the season, and it’s clear Ben Simmons isn’t the Ben Simmons they thought he’d be trading away James Harden for him.
It would be no surprise if the Nets were to pull the trigger on a Kyrie trade in the coming months if this team doesn’t show any signs of life.
LA Clippers a Play-In Team at best!
Continuing the theme of star studded teams that have been less than appealing to start the season, the LA Clippers are a head-scratcher.
Coming into the season we heard how much of Kawhi Leonard being back to full fitness and ready to torch the league.
He’s played 2 of 14 games to start the season.
What on earth is going on??
This Clippers team only goes as far as Kawhi and PG can take them, and in a stacked conference, PG cannot do this on his own without his other superstar.
LA Lakers to finish with a bottom 5 record!
This may not even be an overreaction. This team is flat out awful!
The Lakers have started the season 3-10 and things don’t look to be getting any better any time soon.
There’s been plenty of talks of a Westbrook trade, but funnily enough, he’s the only one that’s given this team any life in their wins!
Looking at the conference standings, it’s hard to take out any of the teams ahead of them (inside the top 10) to give them any hope of making the play-in.
It wouldn’t be crazy to think they make a deal for Anthony Davis to have some kind of future going forward.
Sacramento Kings are a Playoff Team
Laugh all you want, but this Sacramento team look different this year.
De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis have led this team to a +.500 start to the season, and have their home arena in a frenzy every time they play.
Keegan Murray has proven to be a solid draft pick this season, and their other pieces like Monk, Davis and Huerter have given them plenty.
Sacramento basketball may be on the way back after all, and are far better than the purple and gold in the state of California!
An important finish to this post.
I’ve been blogging for many years with Throwback, and it’s amazing to see how far Mike and the team have come!
The Throwback x Wilson launch was a huge success and it’s great to see the team rewarded for all their hard work!
Bauky