Jordan Stephenson
South Bureau Chief
There have been many intriguing games, players, teams, and storylines this 2024-25 NBA season. Some of those storylines include the young rising teams, the young rising stars, the In Season Tournament second year hopefulness, the MVP race, the potential All-Star team voting, NBA parity, the unknown Rookie of the Year race, etc. All these things that I have highlighted above, has assuredly led to this extremely entertaining NBA season so far. Also, there are the championship and playoff contenders who are, underperforming to a certain degree and those who are meeting expectations, even with their current situation influx.
The top current young rising teams are the Cavaliers (31-4), the Thunder (30-5), the Magic (22-16) but mostly without Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner with the same oblique injuries, the Rockets (23-12), the Grizzlies (24-13), the surprising Pistons who .500 or better for the first time in over a year (18-18), the Spurs also 18-18, etc. All these teams have exceeded most if not all expectations, have been playing great basketball since the beginning of the season. Also, most of them are way over .500 or better season record, especially the Thunder and Cavs surprisingly who are on a 15 and 10 game winning streak respectively. Both dominant teams meet in an epic battle on Jan. 8, on ESPN (this game was flexed in because of their dominant win streaks). The main thing that all these young rising teams have in common is that they each have a young rising star or superstar, combined with a great young core of solid players that are growing with each other. So, the top rising stars and superstars are Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous- Alexander, Ja Morant, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Alperen Sengun, Paola Banchero, Tyler Herro, Tyrese Maxey Cade Cunningham, Jalen Williams, Cam Thomas, Austin Reaves, Jalen Green, Jaren Jackson Jr.
Most of these young stars and superstars, who are mostly hybrid guards, are averaging over 22 points per game, and most of them are leading their respective teams in scoring; also, in other categories like rebounding and assists. All of these young stars and superstars are primed to make an All-Star team again, or even make their first All-Star team. I honestly believe most, if not all, these young stars and superstars, will make the All-Star team. They all have made this NBA season even much better, because of the many different spectacular games, plays, and moments that they provide on a daily game basis. Speaking of young and rising stars and superstars, Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren and even Evan Mobley as second year (sophomores) and fourth year players respectively, are definitely stars right now and future superstars of the NBA, mainly because of their unique play styles as seven footers who are dominant defensively. They both are having monumental impacts or their respective teams, in the Spurs, Thunder and Cavs, especially defensively because all three are already top 10 in blocks per game, with Wemby leading the NBA again with 4.0 bpg , Holmgren again averaging 2.6 blocks per game, and Mobley averaging 1.7 bpg. As an aside, Dyson Daniel’s leads the league in steals with 3.2 stls per game.
Most NBA analysts would agree with me that the implementation of the In Season Tournament last season was a huge success for players and the fans, so everyone hopes the second season of it will at least be as good or even better. The competition level was through the roof in every game, the special courts and jerseys were spectacular, and the fans enjoyed it for the most part. This season, the In Season Tournament officially started Nov. 12, and continued every Tuesday and Friday into December. first two featured national tv games will be, Mavericks vs Warriors which is Klay’s first return to face his former team, and then the Knicks vs 76ers which is a rematch of their physical playoff series. The In Season Tournament was extremely entertaining as predicted, with the Bucks defeating the Thunder in a defensive stalwart game 97-81, to secure the second NBA Cup Championship, and with Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greek Freak) having a 26-point triple double which gave him tournament MVP. A couple weeks after those intense and competitive games, the Christmas Day special games were even more intense, competitive, and exciting clutch times, which surprisingly boosted the ratings of those pregame shows with Stephen A. Smith and obviously those competitive matchups.
The top five current MVP candidates (with their points per game) are SGA (31.3 ppg) Nikola Jokic (31.5 ppg), Greek Freak (31.6 ppg), Jayson Tatum (28.1 ppg), Karl Anthony-Towns (KAT) (25.3 ppg), etc. Three out of the five players are averaging 30 + points per game, including Jokic who was averaging a triple-double but dropped to 9.7 assists recently. Also, the honorable mention for MVP is definitely Donovan Mitchell, who has the Cavs as basically the best team so far this season (31-4); while averaging 23.3 ppg. This MVP will definitely go down to the wire, like last season when Jokic won, and like the past few seasons.
Shams Charania (SHAMS) reported some extremely important NBA news the past couple weeks. Shams reported that Kawhi Leonard and Zion Williamson will return from their respective injuries this week. He also reported that Jonathan Kuminga is out at least three weeks with an ankle injury. He also reported that Doncic will be re-evaluated later this month with a calf injury on Christmas, and that Kyrie Irving will be out 1-2 weeks with a bulging disc in his back, which is extremely unfortunate timing for the Mavericks. The first trade Shams reported was the Warriors acquiring Dennis Schroder and a 2025 2nd round pick from the Nets, by sending De’ Anthony Melton and three 2nd round picks to the Nets. The next trade Shams reported was the Lakers acquiring Dorian Finnsy-Smith and Shake Milton from the Nets, by sending D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three 2nd round picks to the Nets. The Nets will for sure be one of the most active teams around the trade deadline, mainly because Cam Johnson is basically one of the sought darter wing players. Lastly, Shams has been reporting consistently on the Jimmy Butler trade situation the past few weeks; so last week he reported that Butler prefers to be traded from the Heat asap, and then that Butler was suspended 7 games by Pat Riley and the Heat for “multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team.” In my opinion, I think that was extremely excessive because it could’ve been 1-2 games, mainly because he didn’t do anything to warrant that amount like Draymond Green did.
caption: The Cavs Dominance this season. Photo courtesy of ESPN.com
