Five of the Most Surprising Things of the 2018–19 NBA Season So Far
Hopefully, you have been enjoying yourself and have been having a nice holiday season. I wondered to myself, what were the biggest surprises of this NBA season so far? Right now in the NBA, many different things have been going on. Here are some of the things that have surprised me over the past couple of months.
- The Sacramento Kings are a good basketball team and could make the playoffs.
The Kings do have a lot of young talent, but they had not had a winning season in over a decade since the 2005–06 season. They have won 19 out of 35 games to date and are in the driver’s seat to earn a playoff bid if the season were to end today, though I didn’t even have them winning 30 games when making my predictions, but credit Dave Joerger and the rapid development of the young talent on their roster. They did pass on Luka Doncic, which was surely a mistake, but with the rise of De’Aaron Fox and Willie Cauley-Stein, the Kings have far exceeded expectations this year.
2. The Denver Nuggets have the best record in the West, not the Golden State Warriors.
To be fair, the Nuggets were picked as the sleeper team by numerous people, but it was thought that the Warriors would be running the table out in the West throughout this season. Sure enough, that hasn’t been the case. Despite being dealt with numerous injuries to players such as Will Barton, Gary Harris, Paul Millsap, and Isaiah Thomas, the Nuggets have relied on their talent and depth to place atop the West, as they have won 23 out of 34 games to date. Jamal Murray has continued to play well and Juan Hernangomez has significantly improved this year, but Nikola Jokic has been terrific for the Nuggets, as he is averaging nearly a triple-double per game. Mike Malone may be in contention for head coach of the year, and Nikola Jokic should make his first All-Star trip in 2019.
3. The Utah Jazz have been kind of well, bad this year. They are 18–19, and have the 11th best record among all Western Conference teams.
To be fair, it was quite a surprise that the Jazz snagged the 5th seed last year, and Donovan Mitchell had a tremendous rookie season as he was the leading scorer on the Jazz, while Joe Ingles shot the ball really well, Rudy Gobert took home Defensive Player of the Year honors, and head coach Quin Snyder appeared to be one of the best coaches in the league.
However, this year, it seems that the Jazz don’t have enough offensive firepower. This was the concern of them heading into the 2018 season when Hayward left, but Mitchell filled in quite nicely then. This time around, Mitchell has not shot the ball nearly as well as his shooting percentages are down across the board, and the Jazz seem to be devoid of players that can take on a significant scoring load elsewhere. Joe Ingles has had some really stellar games, but his shooting percentages are slightly down as well, and he can’t seem to increase his ability to score more in games. In the very competitive West, they did manage to trade for Kyle Korver, but if Utah doesn’t make any significant moves to improve their roster, the Jazz could be a likely bet to miss the playoffs.
4. Contrary to the belief of many, the Boston Celtics did not end up starting off very well right out of the gate, and have had their struggles this season. They are still 21–14, and are the 5th best team in the East though.
Though Kyrie Irving came back healthy and playing well as usual, they have had unexpected drops in performances from several important players; Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown, and Terry Rozier. Some of the people have attributed blame to Brad Stevens. He’s been known to do more with less, but the Celtics were supposed to be a super team this year with all of their players healthy to start the year. They have been pretty good, but they could be better.
5. The Los Angeles Clippers and the Memphis Grizzlies are actually pretty good this year.
The Clippers lost Blake Griffin, lost DeAndre Jordan, and have been without Chris Paul, but somehow, they are one of the best teams in the West. The Clippers have a lot of good players as they have depth up and down their roster, which has kept them afloat. Moreover, Tobias Harris has been an integral reason why they have succeeded so far this season, and they have experienced unexpected gains from their supporting cast such as Boban Marjanovic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
For the Memphis Grizzlies, Gasol and Conley missed considerable time last year due to injuries, and Gasol’s perceived run-ins with Mike Fizdale led some to believe that the Grizzlies would be heading on a downward spiral. Instead, the Grizzlies are a rejuvenated team as both Gasol and Conley are playing very well again, Kyle Anderson has proved to be a very solid acquisition via free agency, and Jaren Jackson Jr. has excelled in his role as a rookie this season.
