What's your thoughts on the season so far?

[slamtheking]

We’re approximately 2/3 of the way through the season and was curious about people’s takes on the season so far.  Which teams have exceeded your expectation?  Which ones have underwhelmed/underperformed from your perspective? 

Personally, my thoughts on the season so far are:
Exceeded Expectations:
- Celtics.  Thought the Ime issue would be a bigger distraction and while I expected them to be good with the addition of Brogdon, I thought the loss of Gallinari would really hurt them.  Didn’t see them as being good enough to have the best record at the break but happy to see they’ve gelled for the most part and leading the league.
- Cleveland.  Thought they’d be good but not top 4 in the East good even with the Mitchell trade.   with the mix of young talent they have, they should be good for several years to come if not longer.
- Sacramento.  I thought the Sabonis deal was basically shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic but they’re doing fantastic.   Still think they’re playing above their heads but 3rd in the West is a serious improvement.
- Knicks.  Thought they’d be fighting for a play in spot but somehow they’re keeping just above that tier.  not sure if they’ll fall back but they’re doing better than I thought they could with that roster.
- Memphis.  Thought they’d be good but not 2nd in the West good but I guess that’s relative since they’re 13 games over .500 to achieve that slot (which would be good for just 5th in the East)
- OKC.  1 game under .500 without Holmgren.  Having a really good year with what they have on the roster. 
- Denver. Challenging for the best record in the league having had injury issues this season is far better than I expected.  Being in a very weak West (so far) has certainly helped (29-11 in the conference) but they’ve opened up a sizable gap for the top seed. 

Underwhelming
- Brooklyn.  Big Bad Brooklyn was underperforming except for a good hot streak and then they had to blow it up due to Kyrie and Durant being the malcontents they are.  No sympathy for that franchise.   Curious how cutting those 2 loose will work out with the players they acquired and possible cap flexibility with now have those 2 off the books going forward.
- Lakers.  Bron’s hand-picked roster has failed miserably and I’m delighted.  didn’t think that a team with Bron, AD and Westbrook could wind up out of even the play-in tier but they are.  they got a gift of trade for Westbrook but I’m not sure if that’ll be enough to get them to the play in.
- Miami.  Even with an aging team and a thinner roster, I thought they’d be having a better season where they’d avoid the play-in.  they still might avoid it but I thought that’d be more of a sure thing.
- Atlanta. A team with that much talent should not be under 500. 
- Toronto.  Huge disappointment based on the talent.  They should be top 4 in the East with that talent but are struggling from what seems an imbalanced roster.  the talent alone should enable them to beat the lower half of the league consistently as well as some of the better teams that would have issues covering all of their top wings and Van Fleet.
- Dallas. The great Luka only 2 games over .500.  The Brunson and Porzingis departures seem to have been major hits to that team and Kyrie isn’t going to solve anything for them.
- Chicago.  Thought they’d be better even with Ball injured.  There’s enough talent there to be better than they have been. 
- GSW.  .500 ball with Klay back in action is truly underwhelming.  They basically punted on Wiseman and Draymond’s skills seem to be declining quickly.  Wouldn’t mind seeing them miss the play-in just because I can’t stand how they won the finals last year.
- Clippers.  5 games over .500 with that roster is poor results even though that gets them to the 4th seed in the West.  Kawhi playing 34 out of 61 games won’t get them anywhere.  PG at 44 games played won’t either.  Westbrook’s addition to the roster isn’t likely to make things any better. 
- Phx.  They continue to fall further away from contention each year since getting to the finals and made a desperate move to get Durant.  They should be able to put out a good starting 5 if the team is healthy but that roster is thin. 

Thoughts or opinions?

[slamtheking]

apparently Atlanta's front office shares my opinion.  Cut Nate McMillan.

[Kernewek]

Outside of the Celtics, Brooklyn being a smouldering crater with Ben Simmons standing in the center, gazing off into the distance hopelessly, has been fantastic.

(Except for Patty Mills. He doesn't deserve that).

[Birdman]

Atlanta been most disappointed..Sacramento most surprise

[Moranis]

Atlanta been most disappointed..Sacramento most surprise

Atlanta and not Golden State.  For me, Golden State has easily been the biggest disappointment.  I don't think another team is even close to them.  They are 29-29 and in 9th.  They've had some injuries of course, but they should be better and the fact that they just gave up on Wiseman is an epic failure.  He was supposed to be the anchor of their next team and they sold him off for a guy that they let go in free agency over the summer.

I think Dallas has been a bigger disappointment then the Hawks as well.

Sacramento is pretty easily the most surprising in the positive way.  I thought they'd be better than last year, but by just a bit, yet they already have more wins they had last year.  Way better than I thought.

[slamtheking]

Outside of the Celtics, Brooklyn being a smouldering crater with Ben Simmons standing in the center, gazing off into the distance hopelessly, has been fantastic.

(Except for Patty Mills. He doesn't deserve that).

funny how out of all the talent brought into Brooklyn, Simmons is the last one standing and he's an absolute train wreck at this point.   I agree that Mills deserves better. 

[slamtheking]

Atlanta been most disappointed..Sacramento most surprise

Atlanta and not Golden State.  For me, Golden State has easily been the biggest disappointment.  I don't think another team is even close to them.  They are 29-29 and in 9th.  They've had some injuries of course, but they should be better and the fact that they just gave up on Wiseman is an epic failure.  He was supposed to be the anchor of their next team and they sold him off for a guy that they let go in free agency over the summer.

I think Dallas has been a bigger disappointment then the Hawks as well.

Sacramento is pretty easily the most surprising in the positive way.  I thought they'd be better than last year, but by just a bit, yet they already have more wins they had last year.  Way better than I thought.

agree that GSW is a huge disappointment.  unfathomable how they've dropped off a cliff like they have -- especially considering the fits they've given the C's in the finals last year and this year.  Klay's back full time and looking good.  they should be better than they are.

Dallas hasn't figured out who needs to be added to Luka to maximize his offensive skills while covering his defensive deficiencies.  Kyrie is not the answer.

[Who]

GSW have been a shocker. Very disappointed in them.

Sacramento has a been a pleasant surprise but them being 3rd says more about the top teams in the West underachieving this year than it does about Sacramento. They are only the 7th or 8th best team in the West. A lot of fool's gold here that Sacramento will have to avoid falling victim to. They are not where they think they are if this is where they believe their team truly is. This is how teams make bad long term decisions. We'll see if they prey victim to this in the offseason or not.

Indiana has been a nice surprise. I thought they would be a lot worse. OKC has also been a lot better than I expected.

Teams like PHO and LAC have been worse. CP3 took a big step back this year. Kawhi's injury issues continue to cause problems. They have looked a title contender when he is playing but being in-and-out of the team has hurt them badly.

[Moranis]

Outside of the Celtics, Brooklyn being a smouldering crater with Ben Simmons standing in the center, gazing off into the distance hopelessly, has been fantastic.

(Except for Patty Mills. He doesn't deserve that).

funny how out of all the talent brought into Brooklyn, Simmons is the last one standing and he's an absolute train wreck at this point.   I agree that Mills deserves better.

Simmons is a mess, but the Nets are an incredibly deep team.  Will probably have a pretty solid regular season record because of the depth.  Won't do anything in the playoffs because they lack top end talent, but I'd be pretty surprised if they don't play above .500 ball the rest of the way. 

[Who]

Why is Dallas a disappointment?

They were 50-32 last year and swapped out Brunson for C Wood. They played pretty well while Luka was healthy but bombed when he was injured for a few games. They were what 28 wins and 19 losses with Luka (49 win pace) but 0-7 without him or something like that prior to Kyrie joining the game. That looks pretty solid to me.

What were the expectations for Dallas? Why were they higher than that? Were people expecting Christian Wood to make them a title contender?

[Moranis]

Why is Dallas a disappointment?

They were 50-32 last year and swapped out Brunson for C Wood. They played pretty well while Luka was healthy but bombed when he was injured for a few games. They were what 28 wins and 19 losses with Luka (49 win pace) but 0-7 without him or something like that prior to Kyrie joining the game. That looks pretty solid to me.

What were the expectations for Dallas? Why were they higher than that? Were people expecting Christian Wood to make them a title contender?

I absolutely expected them to be better than they were last year.  Luka alone should do that, but they also got Hardaway back and added Wood (I know they lost Brunson, but he wasn't used correctly there anyway).  They were in the WCF with a 23 year old mega star entering his 5th year. This should be Luka's prime.  He should be good enough to carry a weak team to 50+ wins and I don't think they are a weak team.  2 games over .500 60 games in, is a big disappointment.  That is only slightly over a 42 win pace. 

[Csfan1984]

I have been surprised by how up and down teams are this year. Feels injuries and load management are out of control with how much time guys are missing. Not a lot of pretty basketball. Most teams seem to barely get up. The West is a crapshoot while the East just lost a top 3 team (talent wise for the conference) in the Nets. This year's title may go to the healthiest team standing. A lot more of players are falling out of shape during the season as well which is an issue so there may be a travel problem for players.

Players and NBA need to rethink off-season inclusion of it's players in things like Fiba or Olympics. Guys are just breaking down too much. Any Player that gets to an CF series should probably sit out any summer games. They need to find a better way to manage health in regular season.

I think they probably need to do away with ASG entirely for trimester breaks of at least five days off for player recovery during the season. At half way point the league can just do a award/highlights show on ESPN or TNT. Adding another two weeks to the season for better player health is a good thing. Breaks would be after games #28, #56 and before playoffs.

[Kernewek]

Outside of the Celtics, Brooklyn being a smouldering crater with Ben Simmons standing in the center, gazing off into the distance hopelessly, has been fantastic.

(Except for Patty Mills. He doesn't deserve that).

funny how out of all the talent brought into Brooklyn, Simmons is the last one standing and he's an absolute train wreck at this point.   I agree that Mills deserves better.

Simmons is a mess, but the Nets are an incredibly deep team.  Will probably have a pretty solid regular season record because of the depth.  Won't do anything in the playoffs because they lack top end talent, but I'd be pretty surprised if they don't play above .500 ball the rest of the way.

Maybe, but this is the second time they've gone all in on creating a championship squad and watched it crumble to dust in the last decade - and the sequel has been better than the original, to be honest.

On the flip side, as has been said, Sacramento's success has been a really pleasant surprise.

[slamtheking]

Outside of the Celtics, Brooklyn being a smouldering crater with Ben Simmons standing in the center, gazing off into the distance hopelessly, has been fantastic.

(Except for Patty Mills. He doesn't deserve that).

funny how out of all the talent brought into Brooklyn, Simmons is the last one standing and he's an absolute train wreck at this point.   I agree that Mills deserves better.

Simmons is a mess, but the Nets are an incredibly deep team.  Will probably have a pretty solid regular season record because of the depth.  Won't do anything in the playoffs because they lack top end talent, but I'd be pretty surprised if they don't play above .500 ball the rest of the way.

Maybe, but this is the second time they've gone all in on creating a championship squad and watched it crumble to dust in the last decade - and the sequel has been better than the original, to be honest.

On the flip side, as has been said, Sacramento's success has been a really pleasant surprise.

I have more respect for the first attempt -- doing it via trades -- rather than the second time which was based on player collusion (like Miami's Cheatles phase).