Biggest surprises for me:

- I thought the Pelicans might struggle but not this badly.

- Like everyone else, I expected the Warriors to be good, but not this good.  They're way better than last year and last year they were one of the best teams ever.  Unreal.

- I did not expect Porzingis and Towns to look this good this soon.

- Smart has had a disappointing start to the season between injuries and mostly poor offensive showings.  I did not expect that.

- Paul George has turned into prime T-Mac plus elite defense.  He's phenomenal.

- The Hornets have a well above average offense.

- Coming into the season, I was unsure about how to feel about the Bucks.  Loved the Monroe signing for them, but also felt they might struggle even if the ceiling is high long term.  I did not expect them to struggle this much.

- Ty Lawson and the Rockets are just plain bad.

- The Timberwolves might be a .500 team this year.

- Jared Sullinger is on track to earn himself an eight figure contract

- Amir Johnson has been just OK; my hopes were a bit higher for him after a nice pre-season and some early signs of chemistry with Isaiah Thomas.

Also want to add --


Jae Crowder, in 30 mpg, is averaging approximately 12 points, 2 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals on 42 / 33 / 85 shooting.  He's attempting 4 three pointers a game and getting to the line 3 times a game.

That is better than I ever hoped he could be as a starting small forward.  I doubted he could perform this well as a starter, and I was wrong.  Those are Demarre Carroll numbers.  If he can sustain this, Crowder gives us Carroll production at half the price, and we locked him up for five years.  That's stupendous.

Biggest surprise: Avery Bradley.  Playing at an all star level.  More quiet on the "trade Avery Bradley" front these days.

Second biggest:  Sully. He has played far better than I thought he would.  Has terminated any trade proposals where we say "take kelly or sully, it doesn't really matter".  It does.

For the Celtics:
-Bradley's emergence. That jumper's looking silky smooth and his elite D has come back. He'll be in the running for MIP this year no question if he continues to play like this.
-Sully's effort. He's actually trying on defense and diving for loose balls. I figured the acquisitions of Johnson and Lee would bury him, but they've set him off. It's not the numbers that are impressive. It's the body language.
-IT's transition from 6th man to starter. I still think he's best used off the bench but he's been great. Top-15 scorer in the league who Danny has locked up for the next 3 years at $6.5 million. Thank you Phoenix!
-Celtics top-notch defense. I figured the Celtics would be pretty darn good with Smart, Bradley, Crowder, and Johnson, but I didn't expect Turner, Olynyk, Sully, and even IT to play this well defensively.
-The Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde season it's been so far. Some nights they look elite. Other nights they look awful. It's like Oprah's body weight. Sometimes she's fat. Sometimes she's thin. Go with a route and stick with it guys!
-Turner's transition from starter to 6th man. Am I the only one who thinks he looks better this year?
-Crowder being a capable starter. I also think he's best used off the bench but he's been fine. They should try to get another wing who can score at a higher rate though.

For the rest of the league:
-The Warriors being literally unstoppable this year. I don't know when they're going to lose.
-The east being very competitive this year. I expected an improvement but not this vast of an improvement.
-The Rockets and the Pelicans being bad this year (Though both look like they're starting to get it together)
-The Timberwolves and Magic's youth movement going better than expected. I could see both making the playoffs this season
-The Knicks looking somewhat competent and Porzingis looking like a franchise player.
-The Bucks have been disappointing this year. I thought Jabari + Monroe made them a sleeper team in the east. It might take more time than I thought for them to gel.
-The Pacers look like a great team because of Paul George and George alone.
-The Mavericks look better than expected but like the Pistons, they are coming back to earth.

He's slowed down a little since the start of the season, but Andre Drummond averaging close to 20/20 for a little while there, and still doing 19/17 is pretty impressive and unexpected.

I only watch box scores and standings for teams other than the C's so my only observation is that the TWolves and Mavs look better than expected.  The C's could be looking at something like the 5th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 31st picks.   Yikes.  A potential bevy of rotation players to add to our bunch of decent rotation players.

For the C's, Avery's consistency of late and Sully's effort/performance throughout have the best surprises.  I think AB needs to keep shooting even when he gets a little cold -- he needs to shoot through it -- that's what reliable shooters do (actually, IT does this in a rather unabashed way).  Sully is giving it every night.  I look forward to him reaching a double-double average soon.

The biggest disappointment is KO -- last night notwithstanding.  He came out of the gate this season looking like a ball of fire, and subequently has metled into oblivion.   

I got League Pass this season.