Now that we're approximately a quarter of the way through the season, I wanted to take a look at 5 interesting thoughts.
Thought #1. Luka Doncic is an All-CSL level rookie. At only 19, Doncic is redefining what it means to be a rookie. Doncic is averaging 25.3 Points, 4.1 Assists, and 3.8 Rebounds on only 27.2 Minutes per game. He is arguably the sole reason why the Mavericks are in the playoff hunt this season. The man is a machine. 20 games into the season, and he's the frontrunner for ROTY. He leads all rookies in Points-per-game, he's 2nd in Assist-per-game, and 1st for all rookie guard in Rebounds-per-game. There's no competition.
Thought #2. George DePaula has become an All-Star. DePaula has had a rocky career, as the 3rd overall pick back in 2016, DePaula's sorta floated around in limbo for the last few seasons. He's bounced around, serving as a starting point guard for 5 different teams, but now, at age 26, he's hit a new gear. Last season, he averaged 14.2 PPG | 5.4 APG | 3.9 RPG, on solid efficiency. But this season, he's been absolutely insane, doubling his assists per game to 11.1 APG. The efficiency has dipped for sure, but DePaula is no longer just a good role player, but now an All Star level point guard. Unfortunately he broke his leg a while ago, and will be out for over 2 months, thus probably missing the All-Star qualifications. Regardless, he's been fantastic in his 14 games so far, and we hope to see him bounce back well after his injury.
Thought #3. The Charlotte Hornets are changing the definition of 3 point bombings. At a wild 31 3-point attempts per game, they lead the league in both 3 point shots made per game and 3 point shots attempted per game, at a startling 42.6% efficiency. All the credit goes to Dejan and his forward-thinking roster construction. He's paired superstar Trae Young with Kris Dunn, and the 2 of them combine for 17 of the team's 31 3-point-attempts per game. Their recent extension of Furkan Korkmaz has already proved to be a massive bargin, as he is leading their bench unit at 16 points-per-game, while only earning 8mil for the season. This team is no longer seasons away of making a strong playoff push, they're here and they're ready.
Thought #4. Markkanen was an all-star game starter last season, but this season he's made a shout for All-CSL 1st team. I'll admit, I'm incredibly biased. But Markkanen's lead this team to unexpected heights, and heading forward he'll need to continue what he's been doing so far. At the moment, he's averaging 24.8 points-per-game and 9.9 rebounds-per-game on incredible efficiency. He's been a machine thus far, leading this team on the offensive end. (this would've been about MVP instead of All-CSL 1st Team, but he's calmed down after his first 10~ games)
Thought #5. The Indiana Pacers are for real. With the new engine change, nobody expected the Pacers to go nuclear this season. Although the preseason standings said one thing, nobody was entirely sure what to expect. Lo-and-behold, the Pacers have come alive this season. Recent GM signing TheTwoWallaces has made extremely savvy moves, pushing this team's timeline from lottery team to playoff contender. Led by surprise scorer Ojeleye and not-so-surprise scorer MPJ, they've really cemented their place as a playoff team. This is a team that meshes well talent wise, as their roster compliments their primary scorers.
All credit goes to the wonderful youtube channel of Thinking Basketball. They do fantastic work, doing analysis on the NBA in a higher quality than a lot of other youtubers.
2028
