4 Questions from the first month of the season

[TheTwoWallaces]

1. More sustainable rise? Grizzlies or Wolves?

Minnesota (11-3) are off to their best start in years. Powered by a 111.6 ppg offense, including a monstrous 22.5 ppg from Nickiel Alexander-Walker off the bench, the Wolves have come out of the gates blazing hot. Their entire starting 5 is averaging double figures. Their marquee wins include over NYK, SAC, and PHI.

However, the Wolves have just wrapped up a long homestead, and will play 10/15 games on the road in December. Is this a legit team, or the beneficiaries of schedule bias?

Memphis (9-5) meanwhile have won 5 straight. Anchored by stud Bruno Fernando (3.1 bpg) and the comeuppance of both Jarret Culver and rookie Sekou Doumbouya, the Grizzlies are young and fearless. With a 4-game homestretch coming up, there's no reason to doubt that Memphis could surpass Minnesota in the standings soon.

So who do you guys think is the real deal? Will either team stay in contention with the big guns of the West?


Bruno Fernando is doing big things in Memphis. Is this his All-Star season?


2. Is Ben Simmons no longer an MVP candidate?

For as far as I've been in the CSL, Ben Simmons has been a Top 3 MVP vote getter. In the last 5 seasons, he's averaged 23/27/26/24/24 PPG, all while always shooting >50%. However, we're one month in and Simmons is putting up only 20.8ppg on 48% shooting. The rest of his stats are similar, but are they enough? In a league with Zion Williamson and Michael Porter, is Ben Simmons going to fall out of the MVP race this year?

Simmons guided the Heat to a Championship. But is his grip atop the CSL slipping?


3. Which veterans from struggling teams could be sold?

We're only one month into the season, but already a few teams are starting to slip. The Magic (4-9), Raptors (5-8), Nuggets (5-8), and Bulls (4-7) all are not out of the race, but they might be getting nervous. All these teams have talented veterans who could either save their seasons or request a trade. Included on these four teams are names like Jayson Tatum, Milos Teodosic, Michael Young, and Terry Rozier, among many others. Out of contention are the Atlanta Hawks, adding Julius Randle and Luke Kennard to the mix of veterans who might seek a trade to a contender. It's still early, but it's never too early for the trade market to start sizzling.

It's looking like another losing year in Orlando. Is this finally the year Wiggins gets free?


4. Gant or Doumbouya for ROTY?

As of now, the Rookie of the Year is a two-horse race. San Antonio's Jakeen Gant is living up to his impressive scouts by making an immediate impact. In 27 mpg, Gant is averaging 17.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, and 3.4 apg, along with 1 spg and 1 bpg.

Memphis's Sekour Doumbouya was raw coming out o the draft. But after a stellar training camp, the Frenchman is putting up 17.2ppg, 5.9 bpg, 3.7 apg, 1.9 spg, 0.8 bpg. He's not shooting well, but it will be hard to keep him off the ballot if Memphis keeps winning.

Who do you think has the inside track for ROTY? Can any of Wiseman, Waters, Williams, or Hoard catch them?

Mr. DOOM is off to a stellar start. Will Jakeenan Gant be able to steal ROTY from him?

[Ramcus]

Jarrett Culver's sheer volume has been a revelation, I don't think anybody expected him to become a 25/3/5 guy in his 2nd season. I'm really impressed with Doumbouya's volume as well. And Bruno Fernando doing Bruno Fernando things. I don't think the record is sustainable, but it's been incredible to watch Memphis expertly land each and every top pick they earn.

[cb4raptorscb4]

Memphis is a really cool team, love it. Bouya is struggling with his efficiency, but he is still impacting the game in a positive manner. Their point differential is really small though, so we'll see how their record holds up.

Minny has been playing well all together and are 5-1 on the road so I think they are more sustainable than Memphis at this point. Alexander-Walker is doing some crazy stuff.

Simmons is behind Zion and MPJ, but it's mainly because Smith Jr and Kuzma are taking their share on offense. Zion and MPJ are the clear #1s on their roster.

[emplep7]

Andrei is doing an amazing job in Memphis and its all through the draft. Bruno, Culver, and Doum in three consecutive drafts is just killing it and its already starting to pay off which is scary for the league. Pretty great to see a team actually stick to the process and reap the rewards at the end due to great drafting.

As for Simmons (screw him in all worlds both real and fake), he's still a stud in the league but the recent influx of great talent has taken him off the mantle which is a good thing for the league.

Great article though man!

[andrei]

1) Its great to win a few games finally but still need to be patient this season. We are really doing what we need to do at this stage - playing our youngsters and investing into their development. We'll continue to do that this season so there won't be any ''win now'' trades or whatever.

Minny is doing a great job. I'm not sure they'll remain at the top of the West but definitely have a good chance to be out there with the top teams.

2) I don't expect SImmons to win MVP - think Silo is more concerned with post season anyway so won't push for it. With Porter resting most games, its really Zion's award to lose

3) None of the teams mentioned have their firsts this year. Not counting Willy cause he will not scout anyway. Pretty shocking and another lesson on how risky it is to trade your firsts. So the only option is to try to improve.

4) Doom just dropped 37 on Gant head-to-head so we know who the real ROY is

[Flaming Homer]

Imo Memhis has the slightly better talent over Minnesota, a testament of how amazing Andrei drafted.Can't remember seeing anyone nailing pick after pick like that.
Minnesota has a bit more experience. The upcoming road heavy schedule for Minnesota will show if they can hang with the elite teams. I think both teams could have a little struggle here and there during the season but are heading for a bright future.

Simmons should be always in the conversation but I think Zion, Porter or even Doncic have the more prominent roles on their teams. But Silo does the right thing, who cares about a MVP if you can get a title.

Randle and Kennard (and even on eof my favorite players in Anderson) would be more than happy to leave us behind and win some games, come get them

[Rizzo]

Great idea for an article! Love getting a quick whip-around the league with some storylines.

1) Will be interesting to see how Minnesota plays on the road but I think they may be more "for real" than the Grizz. No slight to Memphis, they are just incredibly young and could be a little more inconsistent.

2) Ben will always be an MVP candidate especially with the Heat hovering near the top of the standings but he's definitely got a lot of competition for the throne (along with some certain voter fatigue).

3) Love to see veterans on the block! Guess our front office has a few phone calls to make...

4) Incredible start for most of this rookie class it looks. Gant and Doumbouya look to be franchise pillars. If Memphis continues to win I think the records of their respective team could be the deciding factor for RoY.

[WillyJakkz]

Probably will hold onto Wiggins not really looking to trade him

[Jestor]

2 and 4 point road wins over Denver and the Lakers in recent sims suggest that the T-Wolves have had a bit of luck. I anticipate a dropoff is coming, putting them in the mid-lower rungs of the playoff seeding picture.

Memphis will suffer the fate of young teams - lose a number of games - particularly on the road - but they'll still be firmly in the playoffs. The talent is simply too good and too well put together. They'll be a top team in the West with more seasoning though, and every bit of postseason experience counts.

Simmons will always be in the conversation. I do think MPJ wins MVP this year simply because the Southeast is so bad outside of the Heat and the Kings are in the Death Division. Zion will also likely get looks, but I don't think he puts Porter. Doncic? LOL come back to me when Dallas isn't under .500, first of all.

3. I don't see a path forward for Orlando. They're the first team that should be shipping out its veterans. I think the Bulls are in a similar spot. Toronto is a tougher read - I'd give it some more games because there's been so much roster churn. Denver could go either way - It wouldn't shock me at all to see them continue to rebuild/retool around Tatum, though.

4. I think this will be a very, very close race between Doom and Gant. Williams won't score near enough and is only a partial starter. Hoard also needs to increase his scoring to have a shot. Waters isn't even starting, so that's an automatic no.

[Marcos_Beck]

4 interesting questions. The Twolves look legit to me, all their starters scoring in double figures, NAW is a true scoring machine off the bench and lots of defensive playmakers, even if they don't have the best man defenders outside of Cam Johnson. Grizzlies are even scarier to me, a very well built team. There's a lack of shooters in that team, but all their guys who can't shoot are exceptionally great in the mid range game. I don't see any reason for them to play any worse and while I do expect them to fall behind PHX, SAC, HOU and GSW, they should be above any other Western team.

Zion will be the MVP as he gets fed a lot and BT won't unleash Porter until postseason, again..

Orlando should really trade everyone and start a rebuild. The talent level isn't there in a stacked East. They should already have lost Kristaps and will surely lose whatever talent they have left. Why Willy hasn't rebuild and keeps trading away lotto firsts for nothing is beyond me.
Bulls have embraced a partial rebuild already. I guess Rhox will sell as much as possible come deadline and go for a full rebuild with P-Will. Toronto and Denver aren't in the same spot, they have great talent and need adjustments to play better. Toronto's front court has been out but is really scary, and with Tatum, anything can happen for Denver. He's just not a PG, but one of the best wings in the league. Find a PG to feed him and you have a team again.

Doom for ROI. He's delivering on a team who's winning a lot, that was never expected out of him. If it ended today, he'd have my vote.

[Ramcus]

Memphis is making me eat my words with a 10 game winning streak and sole possession of the One seed in the West.

[KW]

1) I think both Wolves and Grizz are legit. Both teams have impressive young cores. I do have my doubts about NAW being able to lead a team in scoring, I'd give that role to a more efficient player but he knows the team better than I do. I will worry about Memphis' lack of 3-point shooting in a different engine. It doesn't matter in this one since you can just go crazy in the paint, and they have two real solid mid range weapons, so Memphis is a really tough roster to face right now. Both should finish up in the 4-6 range I think.

2) Weird seeing Simmons scoring so little and not even that efficiently. I'm sure he'll pick it up though. We know what he's capable of when Miami needs him to dominate.

3) I'll echo the sentiment that Orlando should bottom out and actually scout the draft prospects, don't waste your 1sts!

4) Gotta be Sekou right now, right? He's a huge reason why Memphis is doing as well as they are. Rare to see a rookie contributing this much to a winning team.

[Silogical]

1. Minnesota is mediocre, Memphis is legit.
Minnesota will be fighting for 6-8th memphis will be fighting for 3rd-5th

2. MVP has turned into highest usage award Porter 44.1 Zion 39.9 Simmons 28.4. The knicks would be better with simmons over zion and the kings would be better with simmons over porter. Simmons is better at making other players better which isnt factored in MVP voting.

3. All of those teams should blow it up except for denver. You blow up teams to find a star Denver already has a star.

4. Has to be the memphis rookie. A rookie playing a key role on a winning team is very rare.

[blackice]

Good read, interesting to see how things progress. I won't scout but I hope to find a young player with my DET '1st. I'll follow the media articles and go from there. Wouldn't mind drafting a young up and coming talent with a very late 1st and DET is stacked.

[bt]

1. Hard to get a read as I do value differential but only alongside strength of schedule so I might put a rankings out to see how both the Wolves and Grizzlies have fared so far. Super impressive by both given I don't think anyone saw this, especially the Grizz. If you wrote a paper on the perfect rebuild, the Grizzlies blueprint is it at the moment.

2. Like Silo said, it's about usage but also personal preference on how you value a player in regards to team success. I can't have a player even near MVP consideration if they're not in the top 4-5 teams so it automatically rules out guys like Cousins and Doncic regardless of usage or stats. I don't think Silo cares that much about the award and we might not play Porter enough so I'd say it's Zion's to lose but Simmons could easily be part of it. He's still an absolute stud.

3. For some reason, there's such a fine line, or blurred line between the term 'rebuild' and 'treadmill' here. Why some don't just rebuild, even trading players at a loss is beyond me. The NBA sits players sometimes who are not part of their future in order to develop youth and essentially tank. Tanking is frowned upon here but yeah, why not commit to it is an unknown for sure. Willy and the Magic are just having fun as if he wanted to win, he'd scout and do it properly so they're impossible to peg.

4. Both are super impressive and given team success doesn't matter when it comes to rookie of the year, I'll go with Gant as he's doing it slightly better in slightly less minutes and slightly more efficiently.

[mgtr81]

Interesting article.

1. I didn't expect Memphis to be so good so early on given the youth of the team, but they're currently on 12-game winning streak, so that's a great job by Andrei. That being said, I do really like what Minnesota is doing, patiently building a great team.

2. I don't think so, he'll be in the MVP talks. However, having played the Heat twice recently and planning for both games (one win for each of us), Kuzma is really the Heat player that I have not been able to contain yet.

3. It's still early in the season to make any panic move, as teams have played only around 20 games. Out of the list, though, I see Randle as the most likely to be traded.

4. Clearly Doumboya for me. Second best player so far in the team with the best record at the moment.