Community Shootaround

Scan the headlines on our website and most of them involve injuries to star players.

Ankle sprains. Toe sprains. Calf strains. Knee soreness. Shin problems. Back problems. You name it, somebody in the trainer’s room has got it.

There are always going to be injuries during the course of a season but it seems as if today’s players are more susceptible, despite supposed advancements in training methods and dietary practices.

Coaches are more than willing to give their regulars an occasional game off, something that commissioner Adam Silver recently addressed concern about, considering that many fans buy tickets to see the best players in action. Early this week, Warriors coach Steve Kerr rested his Big Three and Andrew Wiggins and it wasn’t the only time during the first six weeks of the season he’s done that.

Yet the extra rest doesn’t seem to have any impact on keeping players healthy.

Look back 20 seasons ago and you may be surprised to see how rare it was for top players to sit out a game. Among the top 50 scorers in the 2002/03 season, 32 of them missed five or fewer games during the regular season.

Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, Allan Houston, Antawn Jamison, Jalen Rose and Jamal Mashburn – all among the top 15 in scoring – appeared in every game. Tim Duncan and Stephon Marbury missed only one game apiece, and Dirk Nowitzki sat out just two games.

The schedule back then was more difficult than it is now. There were more back-to-backs and occasions when teams played four games in five nights. Yet players across the league regularly answered the bell and suited up.

Now, it’s very rare for any player to appear in all 82 games, let alone the stars of the team.

That brings us to today’s question: Why do think so many players are getting injured and nursing ailments? Do you believe current training methods and practices are flawed, or are there other factors at play?

Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.

Every NBA team has played between 16 and 20 games so far this fall, meaning we’re nearly at the one-quarter mark of the 2022/23 season. While it’s too early to draw any sweeping conclusions about how the rest of the season will play out, enough time has passed for a handful of stars to emerge as early frontrunners for this season’s MVP award.

In his weekly look at the MVP race, Michael C. Wright of NBA.com highlights Nuggets center and reigning two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who has moved into his top three this week after returning in style from a stint in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. In his two games since coming back, Jokic has racked up 70 points, 19 rebounds, and 19 assists with a scorching .742 FG%, increasing his full-season averages to 22.7 PPG, 9.5 RPG, and 9.0 APG with a .627 FG%.

While Jokic isn’t scoring or rebounding at quite the same rate that he did in his past two MVP seasons, his field goal percentage and assists per game would be career highs, and it seems like he’s just hitting his stride for a Denver team making a push for a top spot in the Western Conference standings — at 11-7, the Nuggets are just a half-game behind the No. 1 Suns.

Still, Jokic ranks behind two players that remain atop Wright’s list for a second consecutive week. At No. 1, it’s Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, who leads the NBA with an astonishing 34.0 points per game on a career-best 50.3% from the floor.

As usual, Doncic is filling up the box score, with 9.0 RPG, 8.1 APG, and a career-best 1.8 SPG. He hasn’t gotten a ton of help from his teammates so far, so Dallas is just 9-8 on the season, but the team’s No. 10 seed is somewhat misleading. The West’s top 10 teams are separated by just two games.

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, the No. 2 player on Wright’s list, has his team’s performance working in his favor. At 14-4, Boston comfortably holds the NBA’s best record in the early going, and Tatum has clearly been the player most responsible for that success. He’s posting a career-best 30.6 PPG to go along with 7.9 RPG, 4.7 APG (a career high), 1.3 BPG (also a career high), and a rock-solid .472/.353/.868 shooting line.

Interestingly, none of these three players are the betting favorite at BetOnline.ag. The site has Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo as the frontrunner at +270, just ahead of Doncic (+275) and Tatum (+280), with Jokic all the way down at +2800 (potential voter fatigue is likely factored into those odds).

Antetokounmpo, the No. 4 player on Wright’s list, certainly has as strong a case as ever. He has missed a little time, but in 14 games, he’s putting up a career-high 30.5 PPG on 52.3% shooting, plus 11.6 RPG and 5.5 APG. He also might be the best defender of the top MVP candidates, with one Defensive Player of the Year award already on his résumé.

Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Wright’s No. 5 choice and the fourth betting favorite on BetOnline, should become a serious contender if Golden State starts winning a few more games. The Warriors are below .500 for now (9-10), but Curry has been as good as ever, with 31.6 PPG on a career-high .524 FG%. He’s also contributing 7.2 APG and 6.6 RPG (a career high) while making an eye-popping 5.2 threes per game at a 44.4% clip.

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, Sixers center Joel Embiid, and Nets forward Kevin Durant are among the stars capable of making an MVP push, and dark-horse candidates like Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell and Suns guard Devin Booker will force their way into the conversation if they continue playing like they have and their teams keep winning.

We want to know what you think. Who would your MVP pick be if the season ended today? Who do you expect to strengthen their case as the season progresses? Who would you put your money on as the year-end winner at this point?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

We’re at the five-week mark of the NBA season and a number of players who expected to play key roles for their respective teams have found themselves out of the rotation this fall.

Knicks wing Evan Fournier, for instance, began the season as a starter, was moved into a reserve role, and then was taken off the court altogether — he hasn’t appeared in any of New York’s last five games. Kings big man Richaun Holmes, who opened the season as the team’s primary backup center, has since ceded that role to Chimezie Metu and has played just six garbage-time minutes in Sacramento’s last seven contests.

Fournier and Holmes are two of the veterans named by John Hollinger of The Athletic as players who could benefit from a change of scenery. However, both are on eight-figure multiyear contracts that won’t necessarily be easy to move. Heat forward Duncan Robinson, another player on Hollinger’s list, fits into that category too.

Many of the other players Hollinger identifies as potential change-of-scenery candidates are younger and cheaper. Sixers swingman Matisse Thybulle and Pelicans big man Jaxson Hayes were both eligible for rookie scale extensions prior to this season, but didn’t sign them and are now on track for restricted free agency in 2023. Hayes has barely played for New Orleans, while Thybulle’s minutes have been inconsistent, even as several Philadelphia players battle the injury bug.

Magic wing R.J. Hampton is another former first-round pick on Hollinger’s list who is in a contract year, though it’s because Orlando turned down its 2023/24 team option, not because he’s in his fourth year. As Hollinger observes, Hampton has actually played reasonably well when given the chance this season, knocking down 43.8% of his three-point attempts, but the Magic’s option decision signals that he’s probably not in the club’s long-term plans, and it’s unclear how often he’ll get to play once Orlando’s injured guards (including Cole Anthony and Markelle Fultz) get healthy.

The other players mentioned by Hollinger include Hawks big man John Collins, once again the subject of trade rumors; Celtics guard Payton Pritchard, a victim of a deep backcourt who could be a trade chip if Boston seeks frontcourt help; Rockets guard Eric Gordon, stuck on one of the NBA’s worst teams for a third straight year; and Hornets center Mark Williams, a lottery pick who has been tearing up the G League but has only played 13 minutes in three games at the NBA level (Hollinger doesn’t expect Charlotte to trade Williams, but would like to see the struggling club give him a shot at the NBA level).

We want to know what you think. Which players on Hollinger’s list would benefit most from a change of scenery? And which other players around the NBA are good candidates to flourish if given a new opportunity?

Head below to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts!

Up until about 24 hours before the 2022 NBA draft, it was widely believed that Paolo Banchero would be the third player off the board, with Jabari Smith considered likely to be the Magic‘s pick at No. 1 and Chet Holmgren the favorite to follow him at No. 2. Banchero was expected to be selected third overall by the Rockets.

Instead, it was Banchero who was the first player drafted, while Holmgren still went to the Thunder and Smith headed to Houston rather than Orlando.

Through the first month of the 2022/23 regular season, it’s looking like the Magic made the right call.

Banchero has been one of the NBA’s most productive rookies in years in the early going, averaging an impressive 23.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 34.7 minutes per game. Smith, meanwhile, has struggled mightily, making just 31.3% of his shots from the field en route to modest averages of 10.3 PPG and 6.8 RPG in 29.7 MPG. And while it may be unfair to dock Holmgren for having suffered a season-ending foot injury before training camps begin, his slight frame was considered a possible red flag for teams picking at the top of the draft.

Banchero is the odds-on favorite for the Rookie of the Year award at this point, but it looks like he’ll face some stiff competition from a couple players selected just outside of the top three.

Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin has arguably been just as impressive as Banchero in his first 12 NBA games, averaging 19.9 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 2.3 APG with a sparkling .456/.453/.831 shooting line in just 28.1 MPG. If Indiana continues to bring him off the bench and he keeps playing at his current level, he could be a legitimate threat to win two end-of-season awards — Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year.

Pistons guard Jaden Ivey, meanwhile, hasn’t been scoring at quite the same rate as Banchero or Mathurin, but he ranks third among rookies in points per game (15.8 PPG), fourth in rebounding (5.1 RPG), and first in assists (3.8 APG). It’s not just a case of him benefiting from a high usage rate either, as his shooting percentages (.446/.352/.727) are very solid for a 20-year-old adjusting to the NBA.

No. 4 overall pick Keegan Murray is off to a slightly slower start after returning from a bout with COVID-19, but the Kings forward has averaged 11.9 PPG on .446/.361/.778 shooting and could continue to boost those numbers as the season progresses.

It’s still very early in the season, and as we saw a year ago with Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green, it sometimes takes highly touted rookies a little time to adjust to the NBA and begin scoring efficiently, so we could see youngsters like Smith and Murray come on strong in the second half.

For now though, we want to know your initial thoughts on this year’s rookie class.

Did you expect Banchero and Mathurin to be this good this fast, or have they surprised you? Do you think they’ll come back to earth while other rookies get hot, or will the Rookie of the Year race ultimately come down to the Magic forward and the Pacers guard? Are you worried about Smith, or do you expect him to be fine after he endures some growing pains? Are there other rookies in this class – including perhaps Shaedon Sharpe, Jeremy Sochan, or Tari Eason – who have impressed you so far?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!