Some of what we’ve seen a few games into the NBA season is merely a mirage. Clearly, the defending champion Nuggets are not that. Through Sunday’s games, here are five things we’ve learned after nearly a week of the season.
The Nuggets are still the team to beat out West
Phoenix, both L.A. teams, Golden State, New Orleans and Sacramento can make cases for winning the West this season. At the moment, however, the defending NBA champions look the part of a team aiming for a repeat. Denver is 3-0, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are already in peak form, and the young guys — namely Christian Braun and Peyton Watson — look ready to contribute. Denver deserves to be feared.
The rookies are human, but they’ll be fine
San Antonio Spurs center/power forward Victor Wembanyama and Portland Trail Blazers point guard Scoot Henderson are going to be just fine, and their (relatively) slow starts are going to be forgotten in about three months.
In his past two games, Wemby is 0-for-8 from deep, 11-for-29 overall from the field and averaging 4.7 turnovers. While sloppy at times, he still has about a half-dozen highlight reel plays a game and already looked like a Defensive Player of the Year. His shot, meanwhile, was always going to be a work in progress. By December, the turnovers will stabilize, he’ll start getting more post touches and he’ll fully look like the freakish prospect that he is.
Henderson’s first three games have been rough. He’s shooting 33 percent from the field and 1-of-12 from deep and has more turnovers (13) than assists (nine). Now everybody take a deep breath. Henderson has struggled, but he’s on an extremely young team that’s still learning how to play together. Point guard is the hardest position to adapt to for a rookie NBA player. Darius Garland was potentially the worst player in the NBA his rookie season. Henderson will be fine.
Orlando’s rebuild is further along than we thought
Orlando (2-0) already looks competitive even though Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner haven’t found their rhythm yet. Cole Anthony is continuing his solid play from the end of last season, Markelle Fultz can run the offense, Jalen Suggs is an elite on-ball defender and Jonathan Isaac looks to be healthy, which is a huge boost to Orlando’s defensive versatility.
This team went 29-28 after an abysmal 5-20 start last season. Orlando has carried that positive momentum into 2023-24. If Banchero has a huge breakout season, Orlando’s rebuild might be just about finished.
Dallas is better than expected
Luka Doncic is locked in and dominating. Kyrie Irving hasn’t caused an off-court stir in a while and Dereck Lively II is already a real rim-stopper and lob-catcher. Once Grant Williams — the former Celtic — gets fully acclimated, Dallas could make noise in the West. While its bench might not be deep enough to compete with top-tier teams, the Mavs must be watched.
Memphis needs Ja Morant
Well, duh. The past few seasons, Memphis (0-3) has been relatively successful with Morant out of the lineup for short periods. However, with the star PG serving a 25-game suspension to start the season, the Grizz are learning quickly how bleak things can get when their superstar is sidelined for an extended stretch. Memphis’ most recent loss came against Washington, a team at the onset of a rebuild.
Marcus Smart — another former Celtic — has looked solid in his first few outings with Memphis, and Jaren Jackson Jr is still an elite rim protector, but the lack of consistent creation and volume shot making is already biting the Grizz, who are also without Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke. Memphis must stay above water until Morant returns.
