Random notes and overreactions, there have only been a few games and player tendencies/stats probably won't settle in for another 20 games. Some of these are going to look stupid as soon as tomorrow.
*DETROIT BASKETBALL. I don't even think they're playing particularly well. They're shooting like crap, but the shots they're getting aren't bad and within the flow of the offense and they're defending really well. All the teams they've beaten have been playoff-caliber teams, so at the very least they can be competitive this year. Marcus Morris is playing like what they wanted Josh Smith to be like, and he has the attitude of Rasheed Wallace (one dumb theory is that the Suns kept Marcus and the Pistons have Markieff). Reggie Jackson and Drummond have insanely good pick and roll chemistry and Jackson knows that if you throw anything in his vicinity, Drummond will destroy someone. If they can continue to play like this, they're a top six team in the East, and this is without Meeks or Jennings for a long time. Depth is a question but Stanley Johnson should start stepping up and they need to stop playing Steve Blake.
*Orlando doesn't make a ton of sense but they are quite talented and scrappy. Oladipo is shooting a little too much but he's been really active and may be seen as management as more of a go to guy. I don't think that's necessary since the team has Vucevic and Harris who are probably better options as of now, but the main thing I like is his confidence. Payton and Oladipo are both unafraid to take huge shots and the fact that they went toe to toe with the Thunder is really impressive. Elfrid Payton (best hair) is also a really annoying perimeter defender who was able to hold his own with Westbrook for 3 quarters. This team is really competitive and even though they haven't won yet, I can easily see them making a playoff run just through sheer activity and chaos, which is a weird thing to say about a Skiles team. Hezonja isn't quite ready to contribute meaningfully but I think he'll look better later in the year.
*The Thunder are ridiculous and we should feel lucky to watch two MVPs on the same team play. They were down 18 and had no business coming back, but they did a great job using guys like Kanter, Waiters, and Augustin in crunchtime, which never would have happened with Brooks. I like the new offense even though since it includes more off-ball movement and extra passes, which makes complete sense. The team also has pretty good depth now which they have never had in past years. Defense is a bit of a problem so far, though.
*Houston looks to be in a lot of disarray, with a bunch of guys begging for shots and the spacing is all wrong. Defensively they're not there at all. Lawson and Harden are a disaster on defense and don't look like they mesh as well as you'd think on offense since both need the ball. The Warriors are kind of a bad team to gauge against, but the Rockets didn't look like they belonged in the same league. I don't think they have a reliable non-Harden shooter, which is an issue. Harden is also playing like trash (LilB/Kardashian curse?). Of course they look better tonight after I write this.
*Spencer Hawes:
https://streamable.com/c7dv*Indiana doesn't look very good. Monta isn't shooting very well, and I question the utility of his signing since they already had Stuckey, who provides a lot of the same things at a cheaper price. More importantly, he's taking away shots from better players. George at the 4 is a disaster against big teams like Utah and they don't have any reliable offense from their bigs. If they go small, they can't defend at all, so it's a bit of a lose lose.
*Cleveland will be fine. I was looking at their schedule and it looks really easy for the first few months. After that, Kyrie and Shumpert come back. They can weather the storm until then on a soft schedule and if they aren't too far behind, they should make a pretty major run for the first seed after that even as the schedule gets harder. No one else in the east seems to be threatening them seriously. Love is being used more which is nice and probably best for the team in the long run.
*Derrick Rose Superstar isn't a thing any more. I think he can get hot and show occasional glimpses of that player, but it's becoming very infrequent. I don't know what this does for their ceiling since they're a Butler-led team now (last year wasn't a fluke) and Mirotic is taking a bigger role. They may look into trading one of their excess bigs or something. McDermott is impossible to play against any wing with ball handling skills, but he does seem to be a knockdown shooter which they haven't had in a while. I think they'll be quite good, especially once Dunleavy comes back.
*I don't know if I believe in Andrew Wiggins but I do believe in Towns. That dude looks awesome already. Also, Rubio can shoot? It may be a fluky streak, but if it's close to being for real, he's already all-star caliber.
*Don't know what to make of Boston yet. They can overwhelm people using depth or their overall lack of star talent will make it so that they're constantly playing catchup (Spurs game). If Thomas has a bad shooting night then they will be in trouble since they don't have any other reliable creators. It's a weird team since each dude has pretty stark weaknesses that need to be covered up by other players, so they may never be able to field a complete team all at once. I think they'll still be good, but there are some problems. I do like Smart in particular, who is a maniac on defense.
*Toronto looks pretty solid. Carroll provides something that they sorely needed, balancing the roster and putting players in their best positions. They have a pretty strong starting five now.
*Atlanta on the other hand does miss Carroll. He made things work on defense and was versatile enough to play several positions. The starting five doesn't seem nearly as good without him, since I don't think Bazemore or Thabo are good enough replacements. It's still a good team but won't come close their success last year.
*Milwaukee strangely looks terrible defensively. Part of this is Monroe, part of it is lacking Henson. The Brandon Knight trade looks bad right now. I certainly would be willing to pay Knight. MCW is cheaper but I'm not convinced that he's any good. Giannis looks awesome but his defense doesn't look the same so far. It'll be interesting to see what happens when Jabari comes back, but he's basically a rookie and his defense is also terrible.
*The Lakers are looking like they're tanking the year, and you can tell because Kobe and Nick Young are shooting 30 times a game. Ultimately this is bad for Russell and Randle's development since they're not playing in a coherent offensive system. This is bad on two fronts since if they don't develop well, they won't have trade value and other stars won't look to them as legitimate building blocks.
*Mudiay's not ready yet, but I do think that Sacramento is really going to regret not taking him. He does point guard stuff already and has vision that some veterans never develop. The main thing is shooting and turnovers, which should improve.
*DeMarcus Cousins can hit 3s now.
*New Orleans is in trouble. Five of their players are out for a while, and they don't have enough NBA quality players to be very competitive right now. This gives opponents to triple team, front, or mug Anthony Davis, and this is one of the problems with superstar big men who aren't post players. He doesn't even have anybody who can get him the ball reliably, and Jrue Holiday is on a minutes restriction. Having to play Golden State twice in the first three games is just mean, but those were games they likely lose anyway and they were actually fairly competitive with them despite being supremely undermanned. They need to find a way to get Davis going since it's harder for him to be a one man team vs someone like Westbrook. They can still probably make the playoffs since the 8th in the west probably isn't that strong this year, but they can't afford to fall very far behind.
*Spurs fit with LaMarcus will be interesting. He doesn't have the telepathy that everyone else on the team has but he's been really active and should fit right in towards the end of the year. Kawhi looks monstrous, and they're getting good contributions from Patty Mills which will be important because Tony Parker looks limited now.
*Good God I don't think anyone is going to beat the Warriors.
