Welcome to the Hot Take Cannon. This is where we round up all the best and most outlandish overreactions to what’s going on around the NBA over the course of a month and try our best to find a middle ground … unless, of course, one of the hot takes is correct. First up, we look back on October, which was ripe for knee-jerk reactions following the first few weeks of basketball.
The Lakers Need To Do Something
The chorus of “the Lakers don’t have shooters” has been deafening to start the season, and that only got amplified after their 0-3 start. Lakers fans flocked to the wailing wall to lament how the team is squandering LeBron James’ final peak years, while Kobe Bryant zealots made preposterous claims about his crunch-time free throws. Luke Walton’s odds of being the first unemployed coach are the best in the league, while there are concerns about how everyone has meshed together thus far.
But two straight victories, including a big win against the Nuggets on Thursday night behind LeBron’s first triple-double with his new team (28 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists), have quieted some of that … for now.
Karl-Anthony Towns Is Ruined
We won’t bother rehashing all the drama in Minnesota. It’s been covered ad nauseam, and Towns is right at the center of it. He missed a pair of free throws as Mavs fans chanted Jimmy Butler’s name. He asked Thibs to take him out of a game after airballing a three against the Raptors. He had his own hometown broadcast crew wondering on air whether he even wanted to be there. You’d be staring into the abyss after all that, too.
The Wolves are still reluctant to deal Butler, and things probably won’t get any easier for Towns until they do. None of that changes the fact that Towns is one of the most talented big men in the league, and I’m willing to buy up all the stock if anyone is selling already.
Steph Curry Is … Underrated?
Curry’s name doesn’t seem to come up as often as it used to when we talk about the league’s top two or three players. Kevin Durant’s presence in Golden State the past two seasons has ostensibly diluted his case, but every now and then, Curry reminds the world that he single-handedly altered the course of NBA history.
His 51-point explosion in just three quarters on Wednesday night against the Wizards, weirdly enough, felt like a throwback moment. Maybe he’s grown tired of being ignored. Whatever it was that prompted him to unleash that type of fury, we can only hope to see more of it this season. The Warriors’ dominance has grown banal and tedious and desperately needs a transfusion of thrills like this more often, and there is nothing more thrilling than when Curry is pulling up from 30 feet off the bounce and getting nothing but net.
Melo Is Already Destroying Houston’s Chemistry
It’s become fashionable to point the finger at Carmelo Anthony for whatever ails his current team. The Thunder got credit for addition by subtraction when they parted ways with him this summer (though their 0-4 start isn’t inspiring much confidence), and now the Rockets’ sluggishness out of the gate is getting a familiar scapegoat as they’re just 1-3 to start the season.
Some of it is warranted. Anthony is something of a square peg in Houston, as he’s uninterested in defense and prone to contested mid-range jumpers rather then the more nutrient-laden open three-pointers that are a staple of the Rockets’ diet. With James Harden set to the miss the next couple of games with a strained hamstring, Houston is likely going to see more of Anthony, and that magnifying glass might only make things look worse for him.
Zach LaVine Is An Early Front-Runner For MVP (Of Our Hearts)
The thing about pendulum swings is that when they go too far in one direction, they often come screaming back. When the Bulls decided to match the Kings’ 4-year, $78 million offer for LaVine this summer, the backlash was loud. But after four straight 30-plus point performances to start the season, he’s starting to look like a bargain.
The Bulls, however, are just 1-3 overall, so while LaVine’s swagger has been exhilarating, the goodwill won’t hold up unless it starts translating to some wins. Still, he’s making a strong early case for the Most Improved Player award, and potentially an All-Star spot in the Eastern Conference if he keeps this up.
The Cavs Should Trade Kevin Love
With all due respect to Tristan Thompson’s eternal optimism, the Cavs are 0-5 to start the season. Love can’t be feeling too great right now about about signing a long-term deal this summer to say in Cleveland, either. The Cavs are in that dusty, desolate no-man’s land between tanking and contending, and a full rebuild is looking more and more like the course-correction Cleveland needs.
That would start with dealing Love by the trade deadline and offloading aging vets like Thompson, J.R. Smith, Kyle Korver, etc. But that would also require long hard looks at their midseason acquisitions from last year, of whom the early returns have been anything but promising so far.
Blake Griffin Is Still A Superstar
Stan Van Gundy seemed pretty certain of this last season when he dealt for Griffin at the trade deadline, and look where that got him. But Griffin, who seems perpetually to be battling injuries that drastically reduce his court time each season, is clearly eager to prove that he’s still the All-Star he was at the apex of his Lob City tenure. Exhibit A: His career-high 50 points against the Sixers last week.
The question is whether that will prove to be nothing more than fool’s gold for the Pistons, who are trying to figure out their identity with new coach Dwane Casey at the helm. Griffin is a big gamble, even if he is occasionally capable of those types of performances.
Oklahoma City Is Doomed
Russell Westbrook missed the first two games of the season, and even after he returned, the Thunder fell to 0-4 on the year. It’s their worst start for OKC since, well, they’ve been in OKC, which they capped off with a fourth-quarter meltdown against the Celtics at home Thursday night.
Losing Anthony was supposed to be addition by subtraction, but if they continue to struggle, all the old questions about whether Russ and Paul George can coexist will rage on. To make matters worse, the Thunder might not get Andre Roberson back until sometime in December, which is bad news for their already porous perimeter defense. The good news is that they have a couple of days off before hosting the reeling Suns at home on Sunday.
