NBA 2018-19: 4 Burning questions from the first week of the new season

Don’t you like the smell of it? The new basketball season is underway and there is so much us hoops fans have to be excited about.

Superstars have changed teams such as LeBron James (he is a Laker now if you live under a rock). Kawhi Leonard and DeMar DeRozan swapped franchises and we can say that Boston got a new player in Gordon Hayward as he did not play in all but five minutes of the previous season.

This season also brings new challenges with ‘pre-agency’ (term coined by Bill Simmons of The Ringer fame) as players have started taking more advantage of the impending free agency by refusing to re-sign with their current team, a prime example of this would be the Kawhi Leonard.

The 2019 free agent class is also really promising, which would mean that various teams would be trying to create as much cap space as they can in order to land the big fish. Therefore, this was always going to be a very interesting season, now let’s see how the first week fared.

#1 LeBron’s Laker Journey: ‘Trainwreck’ of a start?

Lebron James after his team's loss against the Spurs

The Lakers started the season with a 0-3 start, dropping their season opener against Portland, then falling to the Rockets in LeBron’s home debut, and losing to San Antonio in dramatic fashion, through some missed free-throws by LeBron near the end of the game.

Although, there is light at the end of the tunnel for Laker fans, as most of the LeBron’s teams take some time to get going and both LeBron and their coach Luke Walton said that it would take some time for them to get their feet wet.

There is one thing though, this young core of the Lakers team is going to run and James is all for that (for now). The pace can be seen in the transition play of this team, where they are averaging 32.3 points per game, which ranks at the top of the league. This, by no means, signals the return of Showtime but it is a step in the right direction.

Their defense has been in shambles and there is little to no shooting on this team. But Los Angeles Lakers basketball is relevant again and I’m sure we’ll be talking about the Lakers a whole lot this season.

#2 Rookie of the Year Race: One for the Ages?

Will Trae Young and DeAndre Ayton have the opportunity to put up some gaudy stats on the board?

Luka Doncic is my pick for the Rookie of the year, but I would not be surprised if I’m proven to be completely wrong here.

There are a lot of interesting storylines here but this is probably the most stat-driven award in the league and boy, will Trae Young and DeAndre Ayton have the opportunity to put up some gaudy stats on the board.

The former has already shown his amazing long-range touch and passing skills by torching the Cavs for 35 points and 11 assists, hitting six threes along the way.

Ayton also had a solid opening game against Doncic’s Mavs, where he put up a solid 18 points and 10 boards, but then he got killed by Jokic in the second game.

Similar to Young and Ayton, Marvin Bagley will have plenty of opportunities to put up some numbers, but he has failed to live up to the hype in either the summer league or the preseason.

Jaren Jackson Jr. is also a solid pick up by the Grizzlies and a good dark horse candidate, but as long as Marc Gasol and Mike Conley are still in Memphis, his action on the court would be limited.

Kevin Knox cooled down in the preseason after scorching the summer league, and he will have plenty opportunity to showcase his skill at MSG and I expect him to put up some numbers but he is already injured and not as far along with his skill set as the other players in his draft class.

All in all, this will be a very interesting Rookie of the Year race, something we’re not used to seeing in the recent past.

#3 Nikola Jokic: Dark Horse MVP Candidate?

Jokic, who is the anchor for this defense, is by no means the most athletic player in the league but he is incredibly crafty, with his ability to create turnovers and block shots

Nikola Jokic is probably my favourite player to watch in the league, with his mindboggling passing ability, silky smooth three-point stroke and ability to score in the post.

The ‘Joker’ just seems to float through a game, hitting a three-pointer here and there, setting a teammate up for a basket through some weird behind his head pass through two opposition players and that bulky frame which helps him score in the post with ease.

The biggest knock against Jokic has always been his defense and that’s also been the issue with this supremely talented Nuggets team as well.

But through the first week of the season, the Nuggets possess the best defense in the league. This points to be a step in the right direction for this young team.

Jokic, who is the anchor for this defense, is by no means the most athletic player in the league but he is incredibly crafty, with his ability to create turnovers and block shots.

He has been more aggressive in pick and roll situations, instead of just dropping back into the paint. Jokic, this season has also been able to stay in front of guards to much greater effect.

Nuggets coach Mike Malone has been very impressed with the Nuggets defence after their victory against the defending champs; “this is the defense I’ve dreamed of” he said after the game. If the Nuggets can keep this up and Jokic can lead them to a 50-win season, he is sure to garner some MVP consideration.

#4 Bucks and Pistons: Rejuvenated?

Both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Detroit Pistons are unbeaten this season, with both teams starting the season 3-0.

Both the teams are under the guidance of new coaches, with former Hawks Head Coach Mike Budenholzer leading the bucks and former Toronto Head Coach Dwayne Casey coaching the Pistons.

The Bucks have the best player in the eastern conference outside of a healthy Kawhi Leonard in Giannis Antetokuonmpo and he has been a revelation at the start of this season, with a lot of media expecting him to have an MVP season.

The Bucks have benefited a lot from Budenholzer’s motion offence where no player stays stagnant.

The Pistons, on the other hand, are finally under the leadership of a Player’s coach, who will grant the players enough freedom to make use of their talents and hold them responsible in the right situations, this is FAR from how things worked under Stan Van Gundy, whose coaching strategy included dictating every aspect of the game.

The Pistons team has a talented roster of players

The Pistons team is talented, that was never in doubt; but the team has always underachieved, as they have only made the Playoffs once in the past nine seasons.

The quality of the opposition has not been great through the first few games and the Pistons have barely scraped through, winning each game by less than three points.

There have been some positive signs for the forgotten Pistons team and hopefully, they can make some noise this season.

Edited by Alan John