Week 2 NBA & Fantasy Basketball Trends, Breakouts, Notes & Player Updates

We are just at the beginning of the NBA season, but there are already a number of important storylines to discuss. Without further ado, here is the first installment of Rotoballer's weekly NBA Roundup.

 

The Return Of Kobe Bryant

Heading into this season, we all didn’t know what to expect when it came to Los Angeles Lakers veteran Kobe Bryant. After missing most of last season with a tear in his lateral tibial plateau fracture in his left knee, would the 16-time All-Star, who is also the highest paid player in the league, return to the brilliant form and the standard that he established to date in his prolific career?

The answer so far has been “yes”. Through five games, Bryant has run fluidly, has seemingly regained bounce in his legs, and has produced at a clip that a much-younger Kobe was used to performing at. Averaging 27.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 34.4 minutes per game, Bryant is the focal point on an offense that includes no other real go-to scorer. Now with Julius Randle out for the season, another potential offensive weapon is gone, placing more burden on the shoulders of Bryant.

So far this year, he has taken an average of 24.4 shots per game, which is the most in the NBA. Expect that number to remain at a similar mark moving forward, unless the team is able to trade for another piece. Bryant should be a player who you trust on a night-in, night-out basis, barring an injury setback. Don’t expect Los Angeles to contend, however, as they have the worst record in the entire NBA at 0-5.

Stock Up: The Lakers' next game comes on Sunday at home against the Hornets. Lance Stephenson will likely be guarding Kobe, but Bryant will show no hesitation and will likely take somewhere between 20-28 shots in the game as the best chance to put the ball in the hoop for the struggling team.

 

Growing Pains For LeBron, New "Big Three"

It took LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade some time to get adjusted to each other when they initially came together. When LeBron bolted Miami for Cleveland, he acknowledged that it would be a process, and not an instantaneous fix. Though they have played just three games this season, they dropped their first game (and home opener) at home against the New York Knicks, who were coming off a 24-point loss at the hands of the Chicago Bulls. Ironically enough, the Cavaliers beat the Bulls in overtime a day later, thus confusing the crap out of all of us, only to then lose by 19 last night at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers. LeBron scored just 11 points in that game.

It will likely be an uncertain and bumpy ride, but as the former Big Three showed, staying the course and keeping with the plan can pay off in the long run. It appears as though James, Love, and Irving will mesh well and make up a huge part of the team’s offense, as they have accounted for 58.3 points per game.

Stock Up: LeBron and company will likely rebound tonight against the Utah Jazz, who were one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA last season. Look for a typical 25/5/5 line from King James.

 

The Kings Are Looking Like Royalty

As I predicted before the season, the Sacramento Kings are a team to watch this season, and can be a dark horse candidate to make the playoffs in a usually-tough Western Conference. After losing their first contest of the year to the Golden State Warriors, the Kings defeated two playoff teams from last season in the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Clippers in back-to-back games and then took care of the Denver Nuggets to improve to 3-1. This success has come mainly due to the ascension of star center DeMarcus Cousins, who has established himself as perhaps the best all-around center in the entire NBA. So far this season, Cousins has averaged 22.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game in 30.5 minutes. Against the Clippers two games ago, Cousins starred, reigning in 34 points, 17 rebounds, five assists, and three blocks, producing more points and rebounds than opponents Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan combined. The Kings appear to be for real, and for a fan-base who hasn’t been able to enjoy more than 28 wins in a season in any of the past six years, it’s pretty exciting!

Stock Up: Cousins scored 19 points and have five rebounds in 25 minutes against the Nuggets. This was his least-productive game of the season to date, and the first time that he played under 30 minutes in a game. This was likely due to rest, as he wasn't in foul trouble and it was the team's third game in four days. Expect the rested Cousins to wreak havoc tonight in the rematch against the Nuggets... this time in Sacramento.

 

The “Anthony Davis For MVP” Campaign Begins

The NBA Most Valuable Player award has been recently dominated by two stars: Kevin Durant and LeBron James. Since Durant is going to be out during the first part of the season and LeBron is back in Cleveland (and surrounded by talented players who will negatively impact his potential statistics), it opens the door for someone else to win the award for the first time since the 2010-2011 season, when Derek Rose denied James of a third-straight MVP win.

Last season, Anthony Davis proved that he will be one of the best players in the NBA for years to come. The now-21-year-old averaged 20.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game, establishing himself as one of the most complete players in the NBA on both ends of the court. He will be the focal point of the Pelicans’ offensive and defensive schemes, and his numbers are already trending upwards again this season, as he is averaging an impressive 23.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 4.0 blocks in 37.0 minutes over two games. Maybe the Tim Duncan comparison was on the lower end of the spectrum in terms of Davis’ potential! Although he is just three games into the season, he has already transformed himself into the best power forward in the NBA… at the veteran age of 21, which is a very scary thought for opposing GMs.

Stock slightly down: On Saturday, Davis squares off against Tim Duncan and the defending champion Spurs. Both players have heard the comparison over and over again, and you have to think Timmy D will be looking to make a statement. Davis will still put up numbers, but expect a 18 point, 8 rebound performance instead of a 30 point, 20 rebound one.

 

Parity, Parity, Parity

When you think of parity in sports, the NBA doesn’t exactly come to mind (the NFL and MLB do). However, there are only three undefeated teams left in the entire league (Rockets, Grizzlies, Warriors), and there are also just four teams who haven’t won a game (Magic, 76ers, Pistons, Lakers). This is especially surprising since no team has played more than four total games. What does this mean? Hopefully it means we are in store for a lot of exciting, competitive battles throughout the season and into the playoffs!

 

 Quick News and Notes from Around the NBA

• The 5-0 Houston Rockets have the best record in the NBA and are 5-0 for the first time since the 1996-1997 season. In that season, the team started 6-0 and held incredible marks of 15-1 and 21-2 at different points in the year. They host the defending champion Spurs tomorrow.
• Stock Up: Chris Copeland of the Indiana Pacers has established himself as someone you can have confidence in on the offensive side of the ball. On the season, he has averaged 16.8 points per game and scored 21 points and then 19 points in his last two games. With a slew of injuries afflicting the Pacers, Copeland is one of the primary options on offense.
• Stock Up: Serge Ibaka of the 1-4 Oklahoma City Thunder is perhaps the only player on the entire team with the ability to put up 20+ points on a nightly basis. Playing without both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Ibaka turned in 25 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to the Raptors last night. He will play big minutes and likely put up big numbers moving forward... until Durant and Westbrook return.
• Stock Down: Carmelo Anthony of the 2-2 New York Knicks seems to be struggling adapting to the triangle offense, as he put up 18 points on 8-23 shooting last game. That's the second time he has been in the teens in scoring in four games, and until he consistently proves that he's a 20-plus point guy in this system, I'd be very wary of him.
• Breakout Candidate: Darren Collison of the Sacramento Kings has put up 16.3 points per game this year, is averaging 5.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists, and on an offense that's clicking, he might be someone to keep an eye on moving forward.
• Breakout Candidate: Perry Jones has stepped in and averaged 15.6 points per game for the injury-ridden Oklahoma City Thunder. Until Durant returns, he should see plenty of minutes.
• Losing Confidence: The following players have surprisingly not delivered in the point-scoring category this season... Andre Drummond (12.0), Eric Bledsoe (11.0), Trey Burke (11.0), Jeremy Lin (10.8), and Jabari Parker (10.5).
• Rookie Watch: No. 1 overall pick is averaging just 7.3 points per game, while No. 2 pick Jabari Parker leads all rookies in points per game and rebounds per game with 10.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per. In one of the highest-rated drafts in recent memory, it's been a bit of a surprise that none of these talented players have taken off yet. As of right now, none have proven fantasy-worthy in any league or format.