The NBA season is a quarter of the way in and a lot has gone on. The Suns are unbeatable, the Warriors are back, the Cavaliers are hanging around at .500, and there have been a bunch of surprises so far into this season. So let us dive in and see where a few teams are as we approach the December 15th date that most players who signed a contract in the offseason can be traded.
How about we start in Houston. The Rockets have a situation where John Wall wants to play, they need a point guard, and they are on a 4 game win streak. However, Wall is not playing. There are reasons for this, Wall wants to start and Houston wants him to come off the bench, there is also the side that Wall has not played all season and the Rockets are trying to lose. I think Wall should play, I mean he is likely to be bought out at some point anyways so the Rockets could try and show his contract is worth a team taking, though that is very unlikely because of how hard it is to match a salary of $44 million. The Rockets have also been bad when Daniel Theis is on the court. This season the duo of Daniel Theis and Christan Wood have had a net rating of -21.5. It is an unplayable duo and as ever since Theis has gone out of the lineup Wood has averaged 24.3 points per game and 15.7 rebounds and has been a plus 38 in games that he has played at least 10 minutes. He has dominated especially over the past 2 games (where he played at least 10 minutes) terrorizing the Hornets and Thunder. They also have Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. as young building blocks. One idea that is being brought up is Houston trading Christan Wood, and personally if I ran the Rockets and was offered 2 first round picks, I would do it. Wood is a good player who is hard for other centers to guard but the Rockets are rebuilding and moving Wood could help that cause.
The Phoenix Suns never lose, they went 16-0 (!) in November and have dominated everyone they have played along the way. On Tuesday, they beat the Warriors (who were 18-2 entering the game) in a game they held Steph Curry to 4/21 shooting. They have dominated teams. Chris Paul and Devin Booker have combined for arguably the best backcourt in the NBA, Deandre Ayton is having a monster season, their bench is awesome, Mikal Bridges is having yet another breakout, and Monty Williams should have won Coach of the Year last year. Everything is clicking the way it did in the playoffs last year as they went onto the NBA Finals. This roster is upgraded around the edges, JaVale McGee gives them more toughness, Landry Shamet provides more shooting, and Elfrid Payton provides the team with a 3rd point guard who can provide good NBA minutes. This is a really good team who is proving last year's run to the Finals was no fluke.
The Chicago Bulls are really good. DeMar DeRozan is having an All-NBA caliber season and to this point has been the Bulls best player. Zach LaVine is doing Zach LaVine things and proving he was a legit All-Star last season. Their defense, led by Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, has exceeded expectations, as they are 6th in the league in defense which is much better than we expected coming into the season. The bench has been good to this point, though they need to acquire a wing or two to really take them to the next level. The question becomes can Chicago sustain their success throughout the whole season and into the playoffs and make a sneaky run in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. It will be interesting to watch the Bulls for the remainder of the season.
The bottom of the West is bad. The Rockets and Thunder have no shot at the play-in, the Spurs are playing better but it seems unlikely, and the Pelicans are waiting to get Zion Williamson back but it may be too late for them to make a run at the 10th seed. That leaves teams like the Kings, Nuggets (who are crippled by injuries), Timberwolves, and Grizzlies hovering around the 10th spot. Right now Sacramento is the odd team out and that makes sense leading to it likely staying that way. The Kings are a mess, a complete mess. They are 28th in defense (only in front of the Pelicans and Grizzlies), they have fired their coach, the roster is not good, and their best players are not playing well at all. For all the injuries the Nuggets have including 2 max players (Jamal Murray and Micheal Porter Jr.) who are going to be out for a long time, Sacramento has to beat the Nuggets out for that tenth seed even with the Nuggets having the reigning MVP but Denver is better. They are better coached, have a better team, and have better players. The Kings are a never ending mess in a never ending rebuild.
The Toronto Raptors have a good team, with Fred VanVleet, Scottie Barnes, and OG Anunoby leading the charge. However, their depth is shaky. So I believe the team should trade forward Pascal Siakam before the trade deadline. Siakam, the 2018-19 Most Improved Player and an All-Star starter in 2020, is still a very good player who just does not fit Toronto’s roster. He is a very skilled player who a lot of teams would be very lucky to have. A team like the Kings would make a lot of sense as he could pair up with De’Aaron Fox. The Washington Wizards could make an intriguing offer to the Raptors. Siakam is a really good player, who does not fit what the Raptors have on their roster anymore and a bunch of teams should make an offer to Toronto because Siakam has 2 years left on his contract after this season.
We are about a quarter of the way through the NBA’s regular season and some teams have disappointed while others have been great successes. There seems to be a lot of parody early in this season so we will look to see if that can continue the rest of the way. As we approach the holiday season there is still a lot of time for some teams to turn their season around, while others are running out of it.
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