Community Shootaround

It’ a little too early in the 2020/21 NBA season to pencil in a frontrunner for this year’s Most Valuable Player award. However, we’re over a month removed from opening night, and this condensed season will be about a month shorter than a typical NBA campaign, so it’s not too early to check in on which players are establishing themselves as 2021 MVP candidates.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype did just that this week, polling 15 media members who voted on last season’s NBA awards about their first-month MVP picks. The top choice was Nets star Kevin Durant, who missed all of last season with an Achilles tear but has been extremely impressive in his comeback so far, averaging 31.2 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 5.8 APG with a scorching .538/.475/.865 shooting line in 13 games (36.2 MPG) for Brooklyn.

Durant will certainly be in the conversation if he maintains those numbers, though there are a couple red flags on his candidacy worth watching. One is KD’s health — he has been limited to 13 of Brooklyn’s 18 games so far as the team exercises caution with him, particularly in back-to-back sets.

Durant also shares the court with two other superstars, so if the Nets finish with a similar record to other contenders, voters will have to decide whether to vote for him over other stars who probably didn’t spend the season playing alongside a former MVP like James Harden and a six-time All-Star like Kyrie Irving.

Lakers star LeBron James, last year’s runner-up, received the second-highest vote share in Scotto’s poll, coming off an impressive Thursday win over the Bucks and last season’s MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. As Bill Oram of The Athletic wrote this week, James downplayed the idea that 2020’s voting results played any part in his impressive 34-point showing against Giannis, but the performance nonetheless served as a reminder that – even at age 36 – LeBron is a legitimate MVP candidate each and every year.

Third place on Scotto’s list belongs to Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, a two-time All-NBA selection who is off to his best start ever in 2020/21. His 25.8 PPG, 12.0 RPG, and 9.6 APG would all be career highs by a comfortable margin. Nick Kosmider of The Athletic contends that Jokic also has the power of narrative on his side, since he’s redefining what a player of his size and body type can do on the court.

Still, Jokic’s Nuggets will likely need to move up a few spots in the standings for him to receive serious consideration — even after a three-game winning streak, they still have a modest 9-7 record.

Sixers center Joel Embiid, Clippers forward Paul George, Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, Antetokounmpo, and George’s teammate Kawhi Leonard fill out Scotto’s top 10.

We want to get your thoughts. If the season ended today, who would be your MVP pick? Which player do you think is best positioned to win the award this season? Are there any dark-horse candidates further down on Scotto’s list (or missing altogether) that you think will make a push for consideration in the coming months?

Earlier this week, we noted that the Nets are now a strong favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals.

The addition of James Harden gives Brooklyn an imposing superstar trio. But there are still a number of teams in the East who are built for a deep playoff run.

The Celtics, led by the trio of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker, certainly have high expectations. They were one step away from the Finals last season with Walker playing on a bad knee.

The Sixers still boast the combination of Joel Embiid – arguably the most dominant big man in the game when he’s focused and healthy – and Ben Simmons. With Doc Rivers as coach and Daryl Morey heading the front office, there’s a Finals or bust mentality in Philadelphia. Morey made a hard push to acquire Harden and he’ll certainly be looking to do something splashy before the trade deadline.

Milwaukee is eager to make up for its early postseason exit and has the best player in the conference, if not the league, in Giannis Antetokounmpo. The two-time reigning MVP still has to improve his perimeter and 3-point shooting but the addition of Jrue Holiday, albeit at a heavy price, has upgraded the Bucks’ backcourt.

Don’t count out the reigning conference champ. While the Heat have gotten off to a slow start, it can easily be attributed to injuries and COVID-19 issues. They have pretty much the same cast of characters that out-toughed and grinded their way to postseason success in Orlando.

It’s not out of the question that teams like the Pacers, Raptors or even the young Hawks could catch fire and do some postseason damage.

That leads us to our topic of the day: Which Eastern Conference team poses the biggest threat to the Nets?

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

On Wednesday, we asked you for your thoughts on what you’ve seen so far this season from the Eastern Conference teams, including whether certain hot and cold starts are for real or whether certain teams are due for course corrections. Today, we’re shifting our focus to the West.

As in the East, there are some early-season results in the Western Conference that don’t come as a real surprise. For instance, the fact that the Timberwolves and Grizzlies are tied for the West’s worst record at 2-5 isn’t a shock — especially since they’ve been missing their respective stars, Karl-Anthony Towns and Ja Morant.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Lakers (6-2) and Clippers (6-3) were considered the class of the conference entering the season, and nothing we’ve seen so far from them suggests that shouldn’t remain the case going forward.

However, both Los Angeles teams currently trail the impressive Suns, whose 6-2 record has made them the No. 1 seed in the conference. Perhaps it’s not a total surprise that Phoenix is off to a hot start after going 8-0 in the bubble, but even those who were bullish on the Suns may not have expected them to look so good so soon, led by new point guard Chris Paul and his backcourt partner Devin Booker.

Outside of those five teams and the 2-4 Rockets – who have been hard to get a handle on due to the James Harden drama and their early COVID-related absences – virtually every other club in the West can be classified as “middle of the pack.”

Four of those teams – the Pelicans, Jazz, Warriors, and Kings – have 4-4 records, while five others – the Nuggets, Mavericks, Spurs, Trail Blazers, and Thunder – are at 3-4.

Some of those clubs entered the season with much higher expectations than others. Denver and Dallas, for instance, likely aren’t thrilled to be tied with Oklahoma City in the standings. But after just seven or eight games, it’s hard to be too concerned or too excited about a record right around .500. The question now will be which of those teams can start pulling away from the pack and which ones begin falling off.

What do you think? What are your early impressions of the Western Conference race based on what you’ve seen so far?

Can the Suns maintain their hot start and vie for home court advantage in the playoffs, or is regression on the way? Do you expect some of those teams hovering around .500 to break away or fall off soon, or do you believe we’ll see many teams engaged in a tight, competitive race in that part of the standings all year long?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

A handful of Eastern Conference teams are just about exactly where we’d expect them to be through the first two weeks of the 2020/21 season. I don’t imagine, for instance, that anyone is especially shocked by the records put up so far by teams like the Pacers (5-2), Celtics (5-3), Hawks (4-3), Hornets (2-5), or Pistons (1-6).

However, there are also plenty of surprises at both the top and the bottom of the conference standings. It is, of course, still very early in the season, so any trends from the last couple weeks could be easily reversed before the end of January, but now that every team has played between six and eight games, it’s worth checking in on the early results to see how sustainable they might be.

The Sixers (6-1), Magic (5-2), Knicks (4-3), and Cavaliers (4-3) are among the pleasant surprises so far. The 76ers have benefited from a relatively soft schedule and were viewed as a slam-dunk playoff team before the season, but the fact that they hold the NBA’s best record is still impressive.

Orlando, meanwhile, was considered a borderline playoff team, while New York and Cleveland were expected to be in the lottery. The Magic and Cavs have taken advantage of roster continuity to get off to a strong start, while new head coach Tom Thibodeau appears to have be having an impact for the Knicks.

In the middle of the pack, the Bucks (4-3), Nets (4-4), and Heat (3-3) have been up and down, but it seems likely that it’ll be just a matter of time before they hit their stride. Milwaukee and Brooklyn, in particular, each rank in the top five in the league in net rating, despite their middling records.

In the lottery, the biggest disappointment so far has been the 1-5 Raptors, who have had one of the NBA’s worst offenses through their first six games. While Toronto is too talented to remain in the 14th seed for much longer, the team’s early struggles suggest it may not be easy to adequately fill the holes that were created in the frontcourt when Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol departed in free agency.

Elsewhere in the lottery, the 4-4 Bulls have slightly outperformed expectations so far, while the 2-5 Wizards have looked a little better after a disastrous start.

We want to know what you think: What are your early impressions of the Eastern Conference race?

How many of those surprise teams in the playoff picture do you think will remain there? Is it just a matter of time before the likes of the Magic, Knicks, and Cavaliers drop way down the standings, or do any of them have legit staying power? Can the Sixers hold the top seed? Will the Raptors rebound and comfortably make the playoffs or will they spend the season vying for a spot in the play-in tournament?

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

The last year has been a particularly active one for NBA head coaching changes — of the league’s 30 teams, 10 have hired new coaches since the start of 2020, including nine since July.

[RELATED: Longest-Tenured NBA Head Coaches]

Typically, a leaguewide coaching overhaul like the one we’ve seen in 2020 is followed by a period of relative quiet, as those new head coaches get an opportunity to prove their value. But that doesn’t mean that we won’t see any in-season head coaching changes in 2020/21.

In-season coaching changes typically occur when a coach has been on the job for multiple years and is leading an underachieving team. If the coach was hired by a previous front office regime, that’s often a point against him as well, since it won’t necessarily reflect poorly on the current head of basketball operations if he has to replace that coach and bring in his own choice.

It’s probably safe to assume the 10 coaches that were hired in 2020 are safe for the time being. A handful of the league’s longest-tenured coaches, including Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra, and Rick Carlisle, appear untouchable too. And there’s a group of coaches – including Frank Vogel, Nick Nurse, Brad Stevens, and Michael Malone, among others – whose recent achievements will ensure they have a very long rope going forward.

After eliminating all of those coaches from the discussion and paring down the remaining group a little further, I see Wizards coach Scott Brooks, Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders, and Kings coach Luke Walton as a few candidates to find themselves on the hot seat later in the season if things don’t go well for their respective clubs.

All three coaches were hired by a previous head of basketball operations and all three are facing pressure to improve upon last season’s results.

Of the three, Brooks may have the most tenuous hold on his position. The Wizards surrendered a future first-round pick in their offseason trade for Russell Westbrook and are highly motivated to make it back to the postseason and convince Bradley Beal that it makes sense for him to stay in D.C. long-term. Brooks was hired by Ernie Grunfeld, so if things go from bad to worse following the team’s 0-4 start, new head of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard may feel pressure to make a change.

Unlike Brooks, who was hired back in 2016, Saunders and Walton were hired in 2019, which is one reason why I believe they’re probably not on shaky ground quite yet — replacing them in 2020/21 would mean not even giving them two full seasons to show what they can do.

Gersson Rosas could have replaced Saunders in 2019 when the Wolves coach only held the position on an interim basis, but opted instead to make him the permanent coach. Everything Rosas has said since then suggests he’s close with Saunders and feels he’s the right man for the job. And despite owner Glen Taylor‘s playoff hopes, Rosas likely recognizes that there’s a ceiling on what Saunders can do with the current roster — especially if Karl-Anthony Towns continues to battle injury issues.

As for Walton, the Kings didn’t make any splashy roster upgrades during the offseason, so it’s not as if they have short-term championship expectations. As long as Walton can keep the team in the mix for a top-10 spot in the conference, he should be safe for the time being. He’s off to a good start — the Kings are 3-1, with a pair of impressive wins over Denver.

Given their current rosters, expectations likely aren’t sky-high for Dwane Casey (Pistons) this season, so as long as Detroit’s youngsters show positive growth, he should be safe. Three more Southeast coaches – James Borrego (Hornets), Lloyd Pierce (Hawks), and Steve Clifford (Magic) – could be on the hot seat if their teams significantly underachieve this season, but all three (especially Clifford) are off to good starts.

What do you think? Which coaches do you think could find themselves on the hot seat during the 2020/21 season? Do you think we’ll see any in-season coaching changes? If so, which team will be the first to make a move?

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