Overractions are always pretty widespread early in the NBA season. The Golden State Warriors lost two of their first three games. Are they taking a step back? The Cleveland Cavaliers just lost to the darn Brooklyn Nets. Is LeBron James’ team set to regress?
These are hilarious narratives just over a week into the season. But there are definitely other things we can look at to draw an early conclusion.
Gordon Hayward’s injury in his Boston Celtics debut was among the most heartbreaking things we’ve seen on the NBA court in recent seasons. There’s too much drama in Phoenix for that young team to overcome its inexperience. And in Chicago, things are a hot mess for the Bulls.
These are among the top-10 most disappointing developments thus far in the NBA season.
The Gordon Hayward’s injury
Hayward was so looking forward to playing a huge role for a contending Boston Celtics team after signing a massive free agent contract during the summer. Then, just minutes into his first regular season game as a member of the Celtics, Hayward suffered a heartbreaking ankle injury.
We never like to see players go down with similar injuries in the sports world. That’s magnified a bit more with Hayward, especially considering he was expected to help Boston overcome the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference this season.
Lonzo Ball’s disappearing act
Ball has been a stat filler through his first four games as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Though, that has not translated to overall success for one of the NBA’s most popular players.
The rookie No. 2 pick opened his career by scoring just three points on 1-of-6 shooting against Patrick Beverley and the Los Angeles Clippers. It was a complete shut down performance for Beverly. Then, in his most-recent game, Ball scored just six points on 2-of-11 shooting against John Wall. It might have come in a win, but Ball’s shot surely isn’t there yet. He’s shooting at just a 32 percent clip from the field through four games. Ouch.
Bobby Portis, Nikola Mirotic and the Bulls
By now, it’s welll known what happened in Chicago on opening day. Bobby Portis sent teammate Nikola Mirotic to the hospital after a fight during practice. This forced the Bulls to suspended Portis eight games. It’s also going to force Mirotic out of action for a while. That’s even if the forward decides he wants to return to the Bulls.
Chicago’s handling of this situation was less than stellar. The organization seemingly treated it like a normal occurrence. It’s not. One teammate almost literally breaking another teammate’s face is anything but normal. And for an organization that’s in the beginning stages of a rebuild, it’s most definitely a disappointing situation. It also speaks to a lack of a real winning environment under head coach Fred Hoiberg.
The Suns’ drama
If you’re going to fire a coach three games into the season, why in the world did you retain said coach during the offseason in the first place? Sure Phoenix has played much better under interim coach Jay Triano than it did for Earl Watson for the first three games, but that’s not necessarily the point here.
Despite boasting an talented young core, pretty much everyone knew the Suns would face growing pains this season. No one realized just how drama filled the early part of the season would be. The firing of Watson and subsequent rift with Eric Bledsoe represents this to a T.
The culture in Dallas
Most figured the Dallas Mavericks would be a bottom-feeding team in the Western Conference this season. They are relying on an overpaid Harrison Barnes and young Dennis Smith Jr. to help right the ship. It’s not a great situation, but the Mavs have a solid man in Rick Carlisle to help in the rebuild process.
That’s why it was so disappointing to see Carlisle snub Warriors head coach Steve Kerr after a loss earlier this month. The coach was unhappy over rookie Jordan Bell’s highlight-reel dunk late in a blowout loss. That’s fine. But the team lost by 30 points at home. Bell is a rookie that was making his third NBA appearance. He was excited to see action. Maybe Carlisle should have aimed his frustration at a team that’s now 1-4 on the season. His reaction to the incident isn’t indicative of a winning culture. That’s for sure.
Timberwolves’ struggles
Jimmy Butler has now missed the past two games to illness. Minnesota is also coming off a blowout loss on the road against a less-talented Detroit Pistons team. The recently extended Andrew Wiggins is one game removed from putting up seven points on 3-of-9 shooting in a 23-point loss to the Indiana Pacers.
This has all led to a 2-3 start to the season. It’s frustrating given that Minnesota did everything possible to build a contender by adding Butler, Jeff Teague and Taj Gibson to the mix in the offseason. It’s even more frustrating considering a defensive-minded head coach in Tom Thibodeau is seeing his team yield an average of nearly 114 points per outing. Ouch.
Time for a change in New Orleans
Is it possible that DeMarcus Cousins’ antics are already growing old with the Pelicans? In just the team’s second game of the season, the enigmatic center was called for his first technical of the year. He’s now already on pace to be suspended for crossing the NBA’s technical foul threshold.
And with the Pelicans at 1-3 on the season, there’s some question as to whether the Cousins, Anthony Davis dynamic will work. He’s set to become a free agent after the season, a clear indication that New Orleans might look to move DeMarcus.
As it relates to Davis, he’s already dealing with an injury after suffering through many bumps and bruises last season. With Rajon Rondo also sidelined, injuries have become an issue for head coach Alvin Gentry and Co. Heck, the team has resorted to signing Josh Smith. That’s never a good thing. And for Gentry, it could very well mean he won’t be long for the job in the Bayou. Disappointing, indeed.
Markelle Fultz’s injury
After being selected third overall back in 2014, Joel Embiid missed his first two NBA seasons with a leg injury. While he performed well in limited action last season, the newly-extended Embiid still only managed to play in 31 games. Ben Simmons, the No. 1 overall pick last year, made his NBA debut with the Sixers this past week after missing his entire rookie season. Noticing a theme here?
Well, the concern now is that rookie No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz might be next in line to be bitten by the injury bug. He’s already being ruled out for the next couple games with a shoulder injury. Sure it doesn’t seem to be of the serious variety, but it has to be of the utmost concern for a Sixers squad that’s dealt with horrible injury luck over the past several years.
Buddy Hield
Hield was expected to take on a primary scoring role for the Sacramento Kings in his first full season with the team. Through four games, that’s been anything but the case. He’s averaging just 12.3 points and shooting at a 24 percent mark from three-point range. Outside shooting was Hield’s calling card coming out of Oklahoma. And it has not come together thus far this season.
Hield is a shooter. He’ll attempt to shoot himself out of this rut, as he should. But one now has to wonder whether he’ll ever develop into that 20-plus point per game guy Sacramento thought it was getting in the DeMarcus Cousins trade.
Stephen Curry’s old act
This one scribe is not trying to be a stick in the mud here. Curry is good for basketball. He’s good for the game. And he’s most definitely good for the Warriors. But the two-time MVP needs to mature just a bit on the court itself.
That came out in droves as the Golden State Warriors lost to Memphis this past weekend. Upset over a non-call on what he thought was a foul, Curry threw his mouthpiece in the direction of an official. He was ejected from the game and fined $50,000 for the incident. Though, considering this was Curry’s second such violation, maybe he should have been suspended. It’s a disappointing situation for one of the faces of the NBA. And Curry knows it.