Post#882 » by OldSchoolNoBull » Sat Jan 18, 2025 3:42 am
Since we're about halfway through, I was thinking about the most surprising teams - in both a good way and a bad way - of the season so far.
Most Surprising(In A Good Way)
1. Cleveland
Cleveland has been a good team the last couple of years since Mitchell was acquired, but if anyone says they thought they'd be THIS good this season, I don't believe them.
2. Houston
Two years ago, they were bad. Last year, they made the jump from bad to mediocre. But now they're the #2 seed in the West with the fourth best record in the NBA despite not really having any elite players.
3. Los Angeles Clippers
They lost PG and Westbrook over the summer and were starting the season with Kawhi listed as "out indefinitely", so I started the season thinking that I wouldn't be surprised at all if they missed the playoffs entirely if Kawhi missed significant time. Kawhi has played just four games so far(and hasn't exactly set on the world on fire in those four games - only in the most recent one did he look like Kawhi), yet the Clippers are are the #5 seed with the eighth best record in the NBA, with Harden(who many thought was washed not so long ago), Powell, and Zubac leading the way. Their SRS right now is actually a hair better than last season. Like, really? Maybe Lue's most impressive coaching performance.
4. Detroit
The Pistons, by most metrics, were legitimately one of the worst teams of all time last season, and they didn't even get a top three pick for their troubles. Now, they are in play-in territory, one game over .500. Their SRS is still -1.64, but it was -9.06 last season. That is a big improvement. I didn't really expect the vet additions of Harris, Hardaway, and Beasley to have much impact, but I guess they have
5. OKC
You probably expected them to be higher, but honestly, they were one of the best teams in the NBA led by one of the best players in the NBA last season, and they are again this season, but with a better bench. It's not really that surprising. They're here mainly for the "without Chet" factor.
HM: Memphis
It's not surprising to me that Memphis is good again - given how good they were before, you didn't have to be nostrodamus to think that getting Morant back and adding a top 10 pick to the mix would put them in the thick of things again. What is somewhat surprising is the way they're doing it. It's a very depth-based approach, where the starters are playing 25-29mpg and that's it. It's like the opposite of the Knicks this season. It's also a bit surprising that their record is as good as it is with Morant only having played just over half the games.
Most Surprising(In A Bad Way)
1. Philly
What a disaster of a season so far. It's mainly health, and mainly Embiid's health at that, but still. You pay Paul George all that money, you expect him to be able to keep the team treading water at least in Embiid's absence, and that hasn't happened.
2. Minnesota
They were one of the best teams in the league last season, defeating the champs and going to the WCF. This season, they're struggling to stay in play-in territory. They're the 8th seed, and the seeds down there are so close that they're only one game out of the 11th seed and one and a half games out of the 12th seed.
In those playoffs last year, the ANT hype was off the charts, and nobody wanted to give KAT any credit. Is it time to give him some credit? The Wolves' roster is much the same as last season except with Randle and Donte instead of KAT, yet their SRS has dropped over 4 points and their Net Rtg has dropped almost 5 points.
3. New Orleans
I know Zion's been hurt a lot. But with Ingram, Dejounte Murray, McCollum, Trey Murphy, Herb Williams, etc...I just didn't expect them to be this bad even without Zion. There are teams with similarly terrible records but with way less talent.
4. Milwaukee
They had a REAL bad start to the season. They've been better recently, I guess, having won the in-season tournament and all, but they've been pretty uninspiring on the whole, and that's with Giannis and Dame missing only a handful of games. Right now, I don't know that anyone would pick the Bucks to beat any of the top three seeds in a playoff series.
5. Dallas
I guess Luka has missed some time, but after the experience of last season's Finals run and the addition of Klay Thompson, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Quentin Grimes, it seemed like they should improve. But so far, they haven't been particularly impressive.
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HM: Sacramento
If I was writing this three weeks ago, the Kings would've been on the list, but they seem to have righted the ship after the coaching change.
