Early NBA Storylines
We are three weeks into the NBA season. Each team has played at least ten games. Sample sizes are still small, but there are quite a few trends that have caught my attention. Here are three developments that could dramatically alter the landscape of this NBA season.
1. Andre Drummond is shooting 75% from the free throw line. Entering this season, the Pistons center had shot better than 40% from the charity stripe just once in his first five NBA seasons. Drummond has noticeably changed his form, but can he ultimately sustain roughly a 35% improvement from the line? Time will tell, but even if he can finish in the neighborhood of 60% on freebies that would be monumental for Stan Van Gundy and the Pistons. Opposing teams would no longer be able to intentionally foul Drummond which stagnates their offense. The Pistons are currently 7-3 and in second place in the Eastern Conference. I am not saying that Drummond’s improved touch and Detroit’s early success this season are directly linked, but there has to be a strong correlation. I’m not sure the Pistons are legit, but I sure hope Andre Drummond’s free throw shooting is.
2. Kristaps Porzingis is one of the NBA’s ten best players. In just his third season, the 22-year old is averaging 30 points per game to go along with 8 boards and nearly 2.5 blocks. Maybe Porzingis was living in Carmelo’s shadow or perhaps he was going to improve by leaps and bounds this season regardless, but the Unicorn has been utterly dominant in the early portion of the season. In three of his past five games he has scored 37 or more points and has the Knicks above .500 for what seems like the first time in eternity. Surrounded by turmoil and dysfunction his first two seasons in the Big Apple, Porzingis is playing loose and letting it fly this year. It has been really fun to watch!
3. Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins are toying with opposing big men. I am not sure we have ever seen two teammates put up the type of numbers that Davis and Cousins are posting thus far this season. Davis is averaging 28 points and 12 rebounds, while his front court mate is putting up 29 points, 14 boards, and 6 assists per contest. If there has ever been a more imposing front court in the history of the NBA let me know. As of now, the Pelicans would be in the playoffs, but obviously there are still a ton of games yet to be played. To think that it is even a possibility that this team led by these two monsters could fail to reach the postseason is mind-boggling, but it speaks to two things: 1) the state of the Western Conference and 2) the incompetence of not only their teammates, but those running the organization. You have two top ten NBA talents, yet cannot surround them with adequate complementary pieces? I don’t even know what to say in response to that.
