NBA Surprises & Disappointments

Is Giannis now the best player in NBA?

As we have come to an end of a decade and into a new one, this has certainly been a strange NBA season. Coming into the season, everyone expected both of the LA teams to be among the best in the league. However; nobody expected Milwaukee to be this good right off the gate (30-5 record) and an eighteen-game winning streak before January. Also, nobody expected the Warriors to be one of the worst teams in the league. While we are getting close to the halfway point of the season, we have seen surprising teams emerge into conference contenders. One thing I can say, is that we can kind of see the contenders separating themselves from the rest of the pack. Another exciting thing, is seeing the next generation of rising stars emerge into super-stars. Here are some of the biggest surprising teams & players along with the biggest disappointing teams & players so far this NBA season.

Most Surprising Team: The Miami Heat

While I predicted that Miami would be a top four seed (pre-season), I didn’t expect that Miami would be this good to start the season. When Philly decided to give Tobias Harris the give over Jimmy Butler, Jimmy Butler decided to go to Miami in order to have his own team. Jimmy Butler obviously has made a huge impact on this the team especially their young core.

No one expected that Miami would have a top four record in league, let alone have a top four record in the East. The ascension of Bam Adebayo and the raise of Kendrick Nunn & Tyler Herro has played a key role in Miami quick start so far this season. Once again, the Miami organization has done a great job of putting together a very compelling roster. During this off-season with the acquisitions of Jimmy Butler in free agency, drafting a young stud in Tyler Herro, and pulling together one of the best undrafted signings in recent memory in Kendrick Nunn who has been nothing less than incredible so far this season and whose also in the running for Rookie of the Year. Combine all of this with Jimmy Butler leading the way, and you have a team who can make a lot of noise this postseason and potentially make it to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Biggest Disappointing Team: The Utah Jazz

While we haven’t even hit the midway point of the season yet. With the additions of Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic joining Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and Joe Ingles in the starting lineup, this created one of best starting five’s in the league. I predicted that the Utah Jazz would finish top four in the West and a potential contender. However; the Utah Jazz are not looking like contenders as they’re currently sixth in the West (21-12). In fact, Utah are looking more like pretenders than contenders so far this season.

This is mainly due to the fact that Mike Conley hasn’t been anything near to what I expected. Utah seems to have some issues with their style of play due to their personnel that is currently on the roster. As their offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency has noticeably dropped from last year. If Utah wants to maximize their potential this season than Mike Conley Jr. has to be better and more involved in the Utah system. Despite the early season struggles, there’s still a lot of the season left, but appears that Utah has taken a step back even with off-season additions.

Most Surprising Player: Devonte' Graham

While the Charlotte Hornets aren’t certainly contenders, nobody seen this type of breakout from Devonte' Graham. With the departure of Kemba Walker, Devonte' Graham has been their biggest bright spot. Devonte' Graham has already scored more at this point of the season than he did all of last year, with multiple 30-point games and a 40-point game so far this season. Devonte' Graham is currently leading the team in scoring & assists at 19.1 points a game and 7.7 assists per game while shooting 39.2% from the three. While Charlotte probably won’t be much of a threat, the play of Devonte' Graham who is most definitely in the running for Most Improved Player, certainly has Charlotte looming around the eight seed in the East.

Most Disappointing Player: Mike Conley Jr.

As I mentioned already in this article, the Utah Jazz are my most disappointing team at this point of the season and a big part of that is due to the horrible start from Mike Conley Jr. Mike Conley Jr was supposed to be an significant upgrade from Ricky Rubio, in lessen the playmaking load on Donovan Mitchell. Through the first part of the season, Mike Conley Jr has struggled to put his in-print on this Utah team. Mike Conley Jr is shooting a career worst 36.5% from the field, ranking near the bottom of the league. Part of his struggles are due to the style of offense that Utah are running along with the way Utah is utilizing him. Utah has taken a step back, however; there’s still a lot of time for Mike Conley Jr and for Utah to turn this around.

Overall, I still believe that this NBA season has been very interesting with many more surprises to come. With the way things are shaping up, we can expect the playoffs to be very chaotic and epic as well.