Top 10 NBA Midseason Takeaways

With just over 40 games in the books and NBA All Star Weekend less than a month away, we have officially reached the midway point of the 2021-22 NBA season.

This gives us a relatively large sample size to work with in terms of developing some strong deductions about teams and players. It also helps with projecting the potential impact these certain players and teams may have on the outcome of the season.

That being said, I have compiled ten of my biggest takeaways and ranked them 10 through 1 with #10 being important but not as influential and #1 being the most impactful storyline of the season. So, stay tuned till the end to see what my top takeaway of the 2021-22 season thus far is.

With that, here are my Top 10 NBA Midseason Takeaways

10. Oklahoma City Has Serious Competition in the NBA Tankathon

When it comes to teams looking to be at the front of the line in the NBA Tankathon, the Oklahoma City Thunder are easily the first team that comes to mind.

I mean they have 38 future draft picks over the next seven years. They have potentially four picks in just the 2022 draft alone. Not to mention they have pretty much decided to build the post Durant-Westbrook era around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with young guys like Josh Giddey, Darius Bazley, and others.

But right now, the Thunder currently are 14-28 which isn’t even the worst in their conference. The Houston Rockets sit 2.5 games behind them in last in the West at 13-32. Then in the East you have the Detroit Pistons at 10-32 who have struggled with Jerami Grant and the Orlando Magic who still haven’t even cracked double digits as they are 8-36.

Now the new draft lottery odds have de-emphasized the impact of having the worst record in the NBA. But between Orlando, Detroit, and Houston, the fight at the top of the draft is getting scrappy. Plus, you have to factor in the Indiana Pacers who might mail it in at the trade deadline and the New Orleans Pelicans who have spiraled without Zion Williamson this season.

That’s five potential obstacles standing between them and the No.1 overall pick. Just food for thought considering Oklahoma City could have had two Top 5 picks in the 2021 draft and left with the 6th pick. Hopefully for Thunder fans, history doesn’t repeat itself.

9. Atlanta Hawks’ Fall from Grace

Remember during the offseason how everyone was talking about how the Atlanta Hawks could potentially be the scariest team to face this season? Yeah, me too. It was really easy to get caught up in the hype after seeing them advance to the Eastern Conference finals last season.

I mean they took down the New York Knicks in convincing fashion while shutting down Julius Randle who was named to the All-Star team last season. Then they took out the MVP runner up Joel Embiid and Philadelphia 76ers while in turn being the one primary causes for the whole Ben Simmons fiasco.

And although they didn’t beat the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks, most assumed they would come into 2021-22 looking better than ever. A full season with Nate McMillan as head coach and Trae Young leading a versatile young core that would hopefully be healthier than they were in the playoffs.

Now whether the expectations placed on the Hawks are fair or not is up for debate. Nonetheless, it is hard to say that they are even in the stratosphere of looking like a team that is coming off of a deep playoff run.

They currently are 17-25 slotting them at 11th in the East and four games back of even qualifying for the Play-In tournament. Now this team got off to a rough start last season and turned things around following the All-Star break.

But with the recent trading of Cam Reddish and reports of a disgruntled John Collins, things may not be as easy to fix this season. Hard to say that this would qualify as a let down season considering how young this team is, but thus far they have clearly crumbled beneath the expectations

8. Cleveland Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley Headlines an Interesting Rookie of the Year Race

According to Vegas Insider’s most recent release of the betting odds, Cleveland Cavaliers’ power forward Evan Mobley leads the charge at -125 to win the Rookie of the Year. The next closest is Scottie Barnes for the Toronto Raptors and he is at +300. Meaning according to oddsmakers, Mobley is pretty much running away with this award at the moment and for good reason.

Mobley is currently averaging 15 points, eight rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 blocks per game. Per Stat Muse tracking data, that makes him 3rd amongst rookies in scoring, 1st in rebounding and he leads the class in blocks.

On a grander scale, Mobley has the 6th highest defensive rating in the league at 103.7. This puts him in the conversation with some of the league’s top rim defenders including his fellow teammate Jarrett Allen (2nd; 102.3), Utah’s Rudy Gobert (1st; 100.9) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (102.5).

With his combination length, athleticism, and defensive versatility, some are even starting to ask if he may be the best defensive rookie since NBA Hall of Famer and former San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan. Founder of The Ringer, Bill Simmons even mentioned Mobley in comparison to Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett.

Now this may be way too high of praise and potentially hyperbolic in the long run, but in the here and now it’s hard to argue with the results.

Between the cohesion of Mobley and Allen on defense along with the rise of point guard Darius Garland, the Cavaliers are finally showing a semblance of a team that can actually be relevant without the need of LeBron James.

The Cavaliers are currently 26-18 which already surpasses their 21-win season last year. This also has them sitting at 6th in the Eastern Conference. In the preseason they were picked to finish 13th. Safe to say that Cleveland has significantly outplayed expectations thus far.

7. Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert Might’ve Just Locked Up Defensive Player of the Year

Here are just a few of the reasons why Rudy Gobert should be the frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year:

·         1st in defensive rebounds with 15.2 per game

·         2nd in blocks with 2.3 blocks per game; 3rd in total blocks with 86

·         Leads the league in Defensive Win Shares

·         3rd in Defensive Rating at 101.0

Not to mention he anchors the 12th best team in terms of defensive rating (109.0) on a team that pretty much does not have any other high level defensive personnel outside of Royce O’Neal. The Jazz’s defense was also significantly worse in his recent five game absence where they went 1-4 during that stretch with losses to the Raptors, Pacers, and Pistons.

Pair all of that with the recent news that Golden State’s Draymond Green will reportedly miss two or more weeks due to calf soreness. Now Giannis may give him a run for his money for the award, but so far I’ve got Gobert atop the leaderboard.

6. Youthful Memphis Grizzlies Continue Ascending in this Rebuild

Last season the Memphis Grizzlies led by Ja Morant finished 8th in the West after defeating the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors in the Play-In tournament. This is what put them on the map. But after falling in five games to the Utah Jazz in the first round, most NBA analysts believed that the Grizzlies were still a year away from truly being a threat in the West.

Here we are months later, and Memphis is 30-15 sitting at 4th in the West. For context, 30 wins is more than any team in the Eastern Conference has right now. 30 wins is also eight-win shy of tying their win total for the entirety of last season. And to top it off, they are comfortably sitting five games ahead of the 5th place Dallas Mavericks while also only being two games back of the 2nd place Warriors.

Not all of this is because of Ja Morant either. Granted he is having an MVP-like season and is my favorite to win the Most Improved Player award, but this team goes deeper than just him.

Desmond Bane has ballooned up from 9.2 points per game to 17.5 this season. Jaren Jackson Jr. is averaging 16.2 points and career-highs in both rebounds (5.5) and blocks 2.1). They are the 6th best scoring offense with the 8^th best defensive rating in the NBA all while having 11 guys playing 15 or more minutes a game.

They are winning with depth. They play a fun brand of together-based basketball. But most importantly they have a group of hungry guys that play like they have something to prove.

For instance, people thought the Grizzlies would come back down to Earth when Morant missed those 11 games back in early December. Instead, they proceeded to go 9-2. They were so good that when they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Morant’s debut, Memphis fans booed him. Booed their franchise player for throwing off the flow.

Ja Morant sounded disappointed after he said a fan was saying he should sit back out during the game. Also spoke about the mental aspect of coming back from a knee injury. pic.twitter.com/Yf8gbhrPmn

— Damichael Cole (@DamichaelC) December 21, 2021

Since then, the Grizzlies are 11-2 including a ten-game winning streak with victories over Golden State, the Brooklyn Nets, and the Los Angeles Lakers. Simplest way to put it is like this: The Memphis Grizzlies aren’t coming, they are here. So, if the West isn’t already on notice, it’s about time to wake up.

5. Indiana Pacers Are Preparing for a “Come One, Come All” Auction

Let’s go through the long list of things happening regarding the Indiana Pacers this season:

·         They are 15-28 despite having an “All-Star” in Domantas Sabonis and a Hall of Fame coach in Rick Carlisle

·         They still do not have a real timetable on the return of TJ Warren

·         Caris LeVert and Myles Turner are both in trade talks

·         Myles Turner has literally verbalized his unhappiness within his role with the team

·         TJ McConnell is out for the season

·         Malcolm Brogdon cannot be traded this season due to the structure of his contract

·         They are relying on guys like rookie guard Chris Duarte and Lance Stephenson who they had to call up from the G-League, to help give this team an offensive spark

So yes, expect big moves at the trade deadline involving Indiana because this ship has sailed and all but sank at this point. We saw the Orlando Magic do it last season. Pacers, you’re up next.

4. Miami May Have Easily the Best Developmental Staff in the NBA

This storyline has a lot to do with the expectations of the Miami Heat in comparison to their expectations this season. Next to the Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami is the team that is most perceived to be the next best team in the East.

With the acquisition of Kyle Lowry and PJ Tucker in the offseason, on paper this team looked better defensively. Lowry also was seen as another perimeter threat to put next to guys like Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro.

But so far this season, the Heat have been dealing with big time injuries. Jimmy Butler injured his tailbone against the Grizzlies back in early December. He then proceeded to miss seven straight games.

Jimmy Butler drives and lands on his injured tailbone once again…He is down on the floor in pain…@MiamiHEAT | #HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/NbF4NAgdPv

— Bally Sports Sun: HEAT (@BallyHEAT) December 7, 2021

Bam Adebayo injured his thumb back in early December and got surgery that forced him to miss 6 weeks leading up to his much anticipated return this week. That’s two of their best players right there who have missed significant time. Nonetheless, guys like Max Strus and Omer Yurtseven from the G-League have come in to play big minutes in their absence. Tyler Herro has bounced back in a major way in Year 3 as he is averaging 20.6 points per game while mainly coming off the bench.

But in spite of the big injuries, Miami is 3^rd in the East at 27-16 and one game out of first place. When healthy the Heat are easily one of the Top-6 contenders for the NBA title, but with the growth and improvement of their depth throughout this rough patch, they may be even more dangerous than we initially believed.

3. Reigning MVP Nikola Jokic Showing Off Why He Deserves to Win Back-to-Back

Nikola Jokic’s Place on the MVP Ladder as of Today According to:

·         MSN.com: 3rd Place

·         NBA.com’ Kia MVP Ladder: 2nd

·         CBSSports.com: 1st

·         TheScore.com: 1st

Jokic right now is 10th in scoring (25.3), 2nd in rebounds (13.9), 10th in assists and 1st in Player Efficiency rating at 32.71 which is the highest in NBA history above guys like Wilt Chamberlain, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Michael Jordan.

He also has the Denver Nuggets in 6th place in the West without the team’s other top two players in Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. To be as efficient as he has been while being the central focus of everything the Nuggets do offensively is practically video game-esk.

He might not be as flashy as Stephen Curry or as physically imposing as Giannis Antetokounmpo but Jokic without a doubt is built to be an MVP. To most, winning the MVP was seen as a bit of a fluke. To me it looks more like a preview of just how high of a level he could reach.

2. The Chicago Bulls Are the Most Surprising Team in the NBA

I have raved about the Bulls this season in past articles, so I won’t go too crazy this time, but the Bulls have simply been outstanding this season.

In most MVP rankings, analysts have Demar DeRozan as a Top 10 guy and some have him as high as 5th in the running. DeRozan and Zach LaVine are the only duo in the Top 10 of leading scorers thus far this season.

Former Lakers Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso have made a new home in Chicago as defensive menaces on the perimeter. Even guys like Chicago native and 2021 rookie Ayo Dosunmu have started to carve out a role on this team.

Now they sit a half game ahead of the Brooklyn Nets as the top seed in the Eastern Conference. A lot can happen between now and the end of the season, but for a team that was picked in the preseason to be the 20th best team in the league by ESPN, life must be feeling really good at the top.

1. Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving Headline Notable 2022 Season Debuts

Notable Returns in the NBA:

·         Klay Thompson returns for the Golden State Warriors after missing just over two years with a torn ACL

·         Kyrie Irving permitted to return as a part time player for the Brooklyn Nets in the midst of the Nets suffering from Covid Protocol absences. There are also reports that there is also optimism around the organization that he may become a full-time player for the team sometime this season

This less of a takeaway and more of me projecting forward, but as well know, these two guys play significant roles in how we perceive the hierarchy of both conferences.

In the East, if Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving are all healthy, they are easily the best team in the conference and the stand-alone favorites to win the championship. Without Irving, this team still is championship-caliber, but they are a bit more beatable.

Irving’s part-time vs. full-time status is going to be a huge storyline all the way up to the Playoffs as he is still not able to play in home games in his current condition. The Nets do have an out of allowing him to play as an unvaccinated player at home, but it will cost them $5,000 every time they do.

Whether or not they are willing to do something like that is going to be a huge decision considering the organization kicked off the season pledging to be a law abiding, cooperating organization. But of course, when talks of a chance at the championship start up, you’d be surprised what an organization is willing to do.

Then you have the Golden State Warriors who have already looked like one of the most dangerous teams in the NBA this season and now they add back in one of the best shooters in NBA history.

Thompson’s return isn’t just an ode to their 2017-2018 run either as this team has gotten some new firepower since then. Guys like Jordan Poole who is making an argument to be named as the third Splash Bro as he is averaging 17.2 points while shooting 43.8% from three.

You also have Gary Payton II from the G-League who has stepped in and already looks like an All-NBA Defense kind of player as one of the best perimeter defenders in basketball. Not to mention solid rotation guys like Otto Porter, Andre Iguodala, Nemanja Bjelica and others who all understand their role and play it well.

Top all this off with having Draymond Green anchor the defense and we’re talking about a team that might just be the favorite to not just win the West but run away with it.