The NBA is back and the first week has been downright awesome. The Warriors are a great talking point because they're not just destroying everything in their path. The Spurs are undefeated and look again like a superpower. LeBron looks better than ever. Russell Westbrook put up the first 50-point triple-double since 1975. Anthony Davis has 95 points and no wins in two games. Damian Lillard is flying around like a super hero.
The quality of play has also been high. Teams like the Bulls, who we thought would be bad, are playing great out of the gate. The Clippers are firing on all cylinders for once. Meanwhile, Toronto shows no signs of taking a step back.
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Biggest Movers
16
Bulls
9
Mavericks
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | If you're LeBron James, how much time do you take off this season? I'm saying two months. I think he genuinely misses two months of action, total, because this team has nothing left to prove. We've never seen a LeBron James without the weight on his shoulders. Everything from here is gravy, what does he do with that? | 1 | 48-34 | |
2 | I have a world of concerns about them going into the season, but they have built up so much credit I'm starting them here. Tim Duncan's gone, Danny Green is hurt, Pau Gasol and Tony Parker are going to have to guard pick and rolls. But they are the Spurs, and they deserve the right to have to lose their standing. | 1 | 22-60 | |
3 | You start to remember, the more you think about it, how much went wrong for this team last year. Injuries, dysfunction, bad stretches, bad big games. What if this team is due for some love from the basketball gods? | 1 | 51-31 | |
4 | Rajon Rondo injured Nikola Mirotic's back trying to shove him through a screen on defense. There is not a better metaphor for the Bulls going into the season than that. They're going to have to woo us to their side. | 16 | 39-43 | |
5 | Boston vs. Toronto is a fascinating debate. I'm giving the Raptors a small edge based on some promising signs in preseason and trust for their season last year. Topping the best year in franchise history will be tough, though. | -- | 25-57 | |
6 | Hey, I just found this out the other day. Did you guys know that Kevin Durant signed with them? That's crazy! I wonder if they'll be good? | 5 | 46-36 | |
7 | Well, Evan Turner's already talking about a struggle to fit in, and how they're going to get everything to line up the way it did in January and February last year remains to be seen. But, on the bright side, it seems like everyone likes Damian Lillard's rap album | 7 | 21-61 | |
8 | The Celtics' specific struggle last season offensively was shots from big men out of the pick and roll and on spot-up shots. Jared Sullinger's performance in those areas was terrible, and Amir Johnson's wasn't great. Al Horford specifically fixes that while making a great defense better. There's a good chance this team is awesome. | 2 | 64-18 | |
9 | If they come down with injuries, they'll tumble, but the roster makes sense, they're stocked with talent and everyone seems to be ignoring that every year this team is a top-four seed when not hampered by hurt players. | 2 | 27-55 | |
10 | I was down on the Hornets this summer after they lost so much depth, but after watching them and remembering how Steve Clifford coaches up guys, I started to remember how good their balance is. So they jump four spots because of my trust in the coach. | 1 | 21-61 | |
11 | I cover the league in as much detail as I can, pouring over video and stats and profiles. I have no idea who their backup point guards are, and Dwight Howard still looks like post-2011 Dwight Howard. They are balancing on a plank, trying to stay upright headed into the season. | 4 | 36-46 | |
12 | It's put-up or shut-up time for Goran Dragic. The Heat are either going to be a really solid team like they were before the Triad era in 2010, or a complete mess. They need a lot from a second-year, incomplete player in Justise Winslow. | 11 | 46-36 | |
13 | My stock in Houston has gone way up over the course of preseason, based on how much they all seem to be investing in Mike D'Antoni's system. That hasn't happened since Phoenix. They are going to light the nets on fire, even if the defense is atrocious -- which it may not completely be. | 3 | 41-41 | |
14 | The Reggie Jackson injury bumps them down a few spots. Andre Drummond is going to have to make "The Leap" this season if they're going to go where they feel they should. | 2 | 14-68 | |
15 | Russell Westbrook will be the most interesting individual story in the NBA this season, but preseason has been a nice reminder that they have guys like Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. There's a real team here -- if they can recover from the heart ache. | 2 | 57-25 | |
16 | The hype train is rolling so fast that I'm scared for the passengers, but there really is no discernible weakness for this team. The Gordon Hayward injury isn't great; they could stumble out of the gate a bit and will need to get footing quickly to avoid a slide. | 8 | 31-51 | |
17 | I always have a bad feeling about the Kings because they're the Kings, but I have a really bad feeling this year. The roster is imbalanced, Cousins seems to be tiring of keeping up optimism and the Rudy Gay trade needs to be handled well. This could get bad. | 10 | 46-36 | |
18 | Brandon Jennings looks really good, but the overall depth is a huge concern. It still seems like they're held together on questionable foundations, from a roster perspective. | 4 | 50-32 | |
19 | Like "Ocean's Eleven," you're either in or you're out on the Pacers. Some have them missing the playoffs. I'm way higher, with their combination of legit veteran talent and confidence in Nate McMillan as coach. They have a superstar, they have size and they have capable guards. The spacing is a concern, but McMillan has done more with less. Paul George is legitimately the difference in about 10 spots for them. | 8 | 47-35 | |
20 | Karl-Anthony Towns is the monster that lives in the closets of NBA GMs worrying about the next 10 years. This team will be fun, and good, but will they be consistent? | 2 | 56-26 | |
21 | D'Angelo Russell playing like a firenado is starting to raise some eyebrows, but there's just so much inexperience and league-borderline talent. There will be some fun nights, at least, which is more than could be said last year. Or the year before. Or the year before that. | 7 | 47-35 | |
22 | I've liked their preseason quite a bit. There are destabilizing elements but there's also a lot of talent. I'm tentatively buying into them as one of the better teams in the middle of the messy East. | 6 | 15-67 | |
23 | That Khris Middleton injury was the one they could not withstand. Their spacing is going to look like a big rubber block. They need Giannis Antetokounmpo to become a top-10 player out of the gate to avoid sad mediocrity, though Jabari Parker's preseason has been fantastic | 2 | 49-33 | |
24 | The Nuggets' two biggest issues last year were guarding the 3-pointer and making them. They've been bad on both ends of that in preseason. The individual talent is strong, but it has to come together, and in a hurry with a tough opening month of the schedule. | -- | 57-25 | |
25 | I keep having pangs of "What if the Nets aren't bad?" because I think about Brook Lopez and Jeremy Lin being legit NBA players. But they're just so unproven. I will say this: the Nets being forgettable is an overstatement. There's something interesting percolating here, if far from a good team. | 4 | 32-50 | |
26 | Harrison Barnes' preseason shot chart is the scariest thing you'll see before Halloween. | 9 | 50-32 | |
27 | You can find a lot of things to feel good about with this team, it's just hard to find things you would legit trust to bring consistent success. Oh, and they have a backcourt logjam again, which has worked out great for them in the past few years. | 2 | 49-33 | |
28 | Remember when we told you that E'Twaun Moore was one of the biggest steals of free agency? He's playing like it, and if he has a big show-up campaign for New Orleans, it could change the course of their season. | 9 | 49-33 | |
29 | Well, Simmons is out, Nerlens Noel is out, Jerryd Bayless is out. If Joel Embiid makes this team anything resembling dangerous, it's going to be an amazing rookie season. Their bad fortune continues. | 1 | 47-35 | |
30 | This is that moment where those of us that who invested in Frank Vogel as a startup finally see the company go public. We're about to find out a lot about just how much he can raise a mess of a roster. | 4 | 47-35 |