By: Nick LaPorte, 10/22/2019
Finally, after 4+ months, the NBA is officially back tonight. TNT will show the first 2 games of the season, in which the defending champion Raptors host the upstart Pelicans at 8PM EST, then Kawhi Leonard’s Clippers host Lebron James’ Lakers at 10:30PM EST in the first Battle of LA of the 2019-2020 season. Preseason was a drag, but we’ve bided our time enjoying the MLB playoffs and a crazy NFL season, as well as the first week and a half of hockey. Now, the NBA is here, and it figures to be perhaps the wildest season in a decade.
Unfortunately for the Pelicans, and the viewing public, #1 overall pick Zion Williamson will not play tonight. In fact, he’s out 6-8 weeks recovering from a torn meniscus , an injury that leaves us upset and hungry to watch the Duke superstar take the floor. Zion barely played in Summer league, and an injury in preseason will delay his debut. As Zion is the most hyped prospect since Lebron James in 2003, it’s easy to say the fans are already being robbed of what surely would have been an incredible performance. The Pelicans aren’t dead in the water though, their off-season moves made sure of that.
The Lakers landed Anthony Davis in a blockbuster trade, but the Pelicans got a lot of good value. Young forward Brandon Ingram was the #2 pick a few years ago, and showed plenty of potential before his season ended with a blood-clot issue. Ingram, who has long drawn comparisons to a young Kevin Durant, showed great progress last year. While his scoring is nowhere close to Durant at that age, Ingram actually rates pretty well in comparison per 100 possessions. Durant’s offensive rating of 110 beats Ingram’s 101, but Ingram’s close. Also, Ingram’s defensive rating is 5 points higher. It’s not a great comparison, but Ingram has potential. As the #2 in LA last year, he scored 18 PPG on 14 shots, and an eFG% of .518. In other words, he has clear All-Star potential.
The other big piece the Pelicans received was Lonzo Ball, another former #2 pick that has incredible talent as a passer. The only thing stopping Ball from becoming a star is his poor shooting. Ball improved his 3-point shot to 33%, which is bad, but the Pelicans have been buzzing about his new shooting form. It remains to be seen how good Ball can be, but the Pelicans liked him enough to ask for him over Kyle Kuzma in the trade. Ball’s vision is his strength, and he’s already an above-average defender. If he can knock down 37-40% of his threes consistently, all of a sudden he’s a very enticing piece on this team.
Perhaps the team that’s being under hyped, on the other hand, is the Raptors. Usually, the defending champions enter the season as the favorites to win it again, if not one of the top-5 favorites. The Raptors lost Kawhi Leonard though, but Vegas has decided that they still should be a good team, with an over/under of 46.5 wins. I see no reason why their collection of veterans can’t be a top-4 seed in the East. Kyle Lowry, playing for a new contract, will be motivated. Former All-Star Marc Gasol is always a good 2-way player, and coach Nick Nurse became one of the few ever to win a ring in his first year. Having said that, their season will fall on the shoulders of Pascal Siakam, who they just signed to an extension.
Siakam inked a 4-year, $130 million extension days ago, and the Raptors are confident he is their franchise cornerstone. Siakam has improved every year, jumping from 4.2 PPG in 2016-2017 to 16.9 PPG this past season. His eFG% is .591, and be shot 37% from three on 2.7 attempts per game. But 17 and 7 isn’t what he got the extension for; the Raptors are betting Siakam has another level he can reach. Take a look at how Siakam compares to reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in their 3rd career seasons:
- Giannis: 16.9 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 4.3 APG, 2.6 combined steals/blocks per game, eFG% of .520, ORtg 109, DRtg 106
- Siakam: 16.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.6 combined steals/blocks per game, eFG% of .591, ORtg 120, DRtg 107
So, yeah, that’s pretty good company to be in for Siakam. Yes, Giannis is called the “Greek Freak” for a reason; most guys don’t jump from solid player to MVP in the span of a couple seasons. Granted, they are the same age now, so Giannis showed this potential years ago. But Siakam’s career has followed a similar trajectory. Giannis put up 23 PPG, 9 RPG, and 5 APG in the season following that one. So if Siakam is going to take the leap, expect similar numbers from him this year. The Raptors smartly held on to Siakam when they dealt for Leonard last year, and they’re hoping it pays off.
As for the Lakers and Clippers, the stakes seem to be higher for these two teams. Both added a lot during the off-season:
- Lakers added: Anthony Davis, Danny Green, DeMarcus Cousins (out for season), Dwight Howard, Avery Bradley, and coach Frank Vogel
- Clippers added: Kawhi Leonard and Paul George
That’s 3 impact players, and Davis, Leonard, and George make up 3 of the top 11-12 players in the entire NBA. Not to mention the Lakers already employ Lebron James, who may be one of the 2-3 best players to ever step on an NBA court. The star power in LA this year is a powder keg, and the city is ready to explode. The Lakers have their history, the rabid fanbase, and the championship pedigree. But the Clippers offer a taste of fresh air, and the ability for fans to get in on the ground floor. In their history, the Clippers have never sniffed an NBA Finals; however, they just added Leonard, the reigning Finals MVP with the Raptors, a 2-time champion. This is the best squad the Clippers have had since Lob City, and the potential for Leonard/George is sky-high.
Maybe the most underrated aspect of this Clippers team is their bench, which features a deadly pick-and-roll combo between Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell. George and Leonard both have an extensive injury history, and Leonard made waves last year with his popularization of “load management.” The Clippers have the personnel to survive that though; Williams and Harrell will bring it every night, and as long as one of Leonard or George are playing most nights they’ll cruise to 50+ wins and a top seed in the West. While they haven’t played together yet, they have the makings of a Finals front-runner, and in most projections are the top-rated team in the NBA.
The Lakers are trickier to figure out, which is silly to say because they have Lebron James and Anthony Davis. 2 top-6 players healthy should mean a WCF at the very least. But there are concerns in Laker-land, and those are mostly roster-related. The Lakers failed to land a 3rd star, and chose to spend the money on ancillary pieces like Danny Green, Avery Bradley, and DeMarcus Cousins, who is since injured. Their depth will be a concern, because outside their top 5-6 players, there’s little to like about the roster. It would help if young scorer Kyle Kuzma goes up a level, but his propensity to shoot too much instead of pass makes me think he’s little more than a good 6th man. It’s up to James and Davis to carry this team, something that Lebron is well used to. After Kyrie Irving was traded before the 2017-2018 season, Lebron took control in Cleveland, and turned in a monster season. The Cavaliers made it to the Finals on Lebron’s shoulders, but it wasn’t enough. Now, with Davis, Lebron May once again be able to thrive.
Davis is an unbelievable player, someone who has averaged 24 and 11 in his career so far. Prior to last year, when Davis kind of sort of quit on his team, he averaged 28 PPG and 11.5 RPG, and his career averages of 31 PPG and 13 RPG in the playoffs are downright stupid. Davis is a once-in-a-lifetime player, and pairing him with Lebron is bad news for the NBA. Lebron has never had a teammate this good; Irving in Cleveland and Dwyane Wade in Miami weren’t close to this level. Now, for once, Lebron can take a back seat sometimes. Instead of plowing through the league for 82 games, Lebron can take it easy. When the time comes, and the Lakers are in the playoffs, he can turn it on. In the meantime, watch Davis play his way into MVP consideration day in and day out.
George will miss at least the first 10 games, and the Lakers haven’t reported yet whether Davis is good to go, but this game is a milestone. Will it begin a changing of the guard, wherein the Clippers become LA’s favorite team? Or will the Lakers assert their dominance, as they have for 50 years? The first game won’t tell us much, and it’s foolish to overreact to one month of play, let alone one game. Having said that, let’s get the hot takes ready and let’s have a fun, injury-free season!
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