Maine's Early Season Takeaways

The NBA season has been ongoing for about three weeks now, and just about every team are only eight-nine games into the season. While it’s only a small portion and we certainly don’t know how all of the teams will finish out the year. One thing for certain, there are plenty of takeaways from the first three weeks of the season that have stood out to me. There are teams and players that has been impressive, and there are teams that has been disappointing. Therefore; I want to provide my takeaways on this season so far. The question is which of my early season takeaways will last and which will prove to be wrong by the end of the year? Let’s get right into it:

The Phoenix Suns Are A Legitimate Playoff Contending Team

The surprise team of the year so far! The Phoenix Suns are a pretty good basketball team! Especially compared to their teams over this past decade. There is clear improvement in Phoenix. Nobody predicted this leap from the Phoenix Suns due to the assertion and impact of Ricky Rubio, Aron Baynes, and Dario Saric into their rotations. Devin Booker really seems to be buying into the Monty Williams culture. Also, Devin Booker seems to have accepted a lesser role in the ball-handling duties due to Ricky Rubio and the offense has really benefitted from letting Ricky Rubio run the point-guard duties and the offense. Let’s not forget the impact and foundation that Monty Williams is creating in Phoenix. With the Warriors falling out of the playoff picture, this is really beneficial for the Phoenix Suns playoff chances, but it will be very tough due to how deep and competitive the West is. However; I do believe that Phoenix will be in the lower 40s in wins this year and among one of the most improved teams this year as well. The Phoenix Suns are showing the entire league that there no longer a laughing stock in the NBA and that you can no longer just show up and get an easy win in Phoenix. Even if Phoenix doesn’t make the playoffs, with the way they are playing, this is the first step in becoming a true playoff team.

Boston And Miami Are The Biggest Threats to Milwaukee And Philly

I have previously questioned whether or not there was a team in the Eastern Conference that could beat Milwaukee or Philly this year in the playoffs. Will Toronto championship pedigree cause a stir to either Milwaukee or Philly, even with the departure of Kawhi Leonard? Will Kyrie and the Brooklyn Nets make some noise this year?

As it turns out, the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat has been two of the most impressive teams in the Eastern Conference so far this year. Since the opening night lost to Philly, Boston has won eight in a row. Kemba Walker has fitted in seamlessly and has look as good as expected when surrounded by a talented roster and is playing like one of the best players in basketball. The other core players such as Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, and Marcus Smart are all scoring, defending, and the chemistry among one another is much better than a season ago. The Boston Celtics are currently allowing the second fewest points in the Eastern Conference.

Also, the Miami Heat has been one of the most impressive teams in the Eastern Conference. The surprise is that Miami has been led by a pair of rookies in Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro. The rookies Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro have been huge in their balance scoring attack, along with Goran Dragic playing as one of the top six man’s in the league and Bam Adebayo looking improved has been a huge impact in Miami’s quick start. Jimmy Butler who has been easing his way in during his first couple of games with his new teammates, is starting to pick it up.

Certainly, I believe that both of these teams will be a top four seed in the East this year. The Eastern Conference is currently very weak and only has a handful of good teams, however; both Boston and Miami are led by star perimeter guards, has good amount of depth, and both have proven coaches. The biggest questions I have for both teams are whether or not these teams could match and potentially beat Milwaukee or Philly in a playoff series.

LeBron James And Anthony Davis Are The Best Duo In The NBA

Anthony Davis has been able to take away some of the burden off of LeBron James to produce all the time, which has led to LeBron deferring to AD at times. One of the most noticeable things so far this season, is in fact, LeBron has looked more active and engaged on the defensive end, with AD being an elite two-way player, so far, the Lakers are one of the league’s best defensive teams over the first three weeks of the season.

The defense that LeBron James is currently playing so far in the season won’t las for the entire season but LeBron James is certainly sending a message and setting the tone to the league early in the season. I do believe that this is the intensity and level of defense that LeBron will bring come playoff time, when it matters most. The offensive chemistry between LeBron James and Anthony Davis is still a working progress before they reach their full potential. To give my respect to the other great duos in the league as I believe highly in Kawhi and Paul George, James Harden and Russell Westbrook, Dame and CJ, Steph and Klay, and Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Overall, I believe that the Lebron and AD duo is the best offensive and defensive package in the NBA. The question I have for the Lakers is whether or not their supporting cast can sustain their level of play around LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The Warriors Season Is Over

Replacing a superstar like Kevin Durant is tough. Having to replace irreplaceable and unsung heroes such as Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston is tough. Severe injuries to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are tough. Dealing with all of that is the misfortunate situation the Golden State Warriors are currently in. The Warriors are currently 2-9 which is the worst in the league. The Warriors are currently the worst defensive team in the league and average offense, not surprising due to the devastating injuries and departure of their core players over their five-year championship run.

The positive outlook from all of this, is a chance to develop some of their young players. If everything goes the way as planned, then some of these young players will potentially be a good bench piece a year from now. Giving these young players thirty plus minutes a night will be very beneficial for the young players such as Willie Cauley-Stein, Kevon Looney, Eric Paschall, Jordan Poole, and Omari Spellman, which will allow them to grow, improve, build chemistry with one another. This would be such a huge boost for a team that will still have depth problems next year when Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and D’Angelo Russell are all fully healthy. With no cap space for the next few years, the Warriors will desperately need to find a few players off this team who can be key rotation players. This season may be over for them, but the Warriors could potentially land the number one pick in a similar fashion as to how the San Antonio Spurs landed Tim Duncan.