10 NBA takeaways after 10 games of the season, starring Nikola Jokic, Celtics, Knicks, and more

11/12/2024 08:00 AM

Here are our 10 biggest takeaways from the new NBA season so far.

The 2024-25 NBA season is underway, and it's already proven to be full of surprises.

The Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks were supposed to be fringe championship contenders, but so far both are among the worst teams in the league. The Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves were supposed to be the class of the West, but right now they're stuck in the middle of the conference standings. The Los Angeles Clippers are showing they can still compete without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the lineup. The Cleveland Cavaliers are off to one of the best starts in league history.

Now that most teams have played around 10 games, let's go over 10 big picture takeaways from the start of the new season.

1. Nikoka Jokic is running away with his 4th NBA MVP already

The consensus coming into the year was that NBA MVP voters weren't going to give Nikola Jokic the award for the fourth time in his career after the Denver Nuggets' disappointing second round exit last season. There was reason to believe Denver just wouldn't win enough games for Jokic to get MVP as the supporting cast around him crumbled.

So much for that. The Nuggets are off to a 7-3 start strictly because of Jokic's brilliance. He's averaging 29.7 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 11.7 assists per game thus far on stunning 66.7 percent true shooting. Basically, Jokic is scoring more than ever and carrying an even bigger burden for his team amid injuries and free agent defections. Right now, Basketball-Reference gives him a 91.2 percent chance of winning NBA MVP.

The Nuggets are going to have to fall off hard for anyone other than Jokic to win MVP. It's certainly possible that will happen, but Jokic just so clearly feels like the best player in the world once again that his fourth MVP is already feeling predestined.

2. There's no championship hangover for the Boston Celtics

We ranked the Celtics are the most likely team to win the championship entering the season. That remains the case after the first right now.

The Celtics are off to a 9-2 start despite not having Kristaps Porziginis until 2025 as he recovers from injury. The Celtics aren't missing a beat without him. Derrick White is going from "should have been an All-Star" to "should be All-NBA" this season. Jayson Tatum is a legit MVP candidate, and he's making me feel like a bozo for not including him on my preseason list. Payton Pritchard is fully emerging as a weapon off the bench, and will be a strong contender to win Sixth Man of the Year. Al Horford somehow isn't falling off yet at age-38.

The East runs through Boston. At this point, they only appear to have one real contender in the conference.

3. The Cavs' amazing start is no fluke

The Cleveland Cavaliers are the NBA's only undefeated team. Only 11 teams in league history have ever started 11-0, and the Cavs are now one of them. Cleveland has been very good the last two seasons, but couldn't get over the hump in the playoffs. New head coach Kenny Atkinson is figuring out a formula to make this roster work without any significant chances over the summer. It really feels like the Cavs are taking the next step, and emerging as Boston's biggest challenger in the East.

The Cavs are shooting the ball at an elite level right now with the NBA's best three-point percentage at 42.2 percent. Cleveland is taking advantage of the extra spacing by also being among the league leaders in points off cuts. Darius Garland is back to playing at an All-Star level after suffering a broken jaw last year, and Evan Mobley is leveling up offensively in his fourth season to turn into one of the game's best two-way big men.

Cleveland will lose some games eventually, but at this point their floor feels like the No. 2 seed in the East.

4. The modern NBA is grueling, and recent injuries prove it

This has been a brutal stretch for injuries. Thunder big man Chet Holmgren is out for months, Zion Williamson is sidelined indefinitely, Ja Morant is week-to-week, and Kevin Durant will miss at least a couple weeks. Player availability is always a big topic in the NBA, with "load management" becoming a dirty word in recent years.

Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain played 82 games every season! What's wrong with kids these days? Well, the games has changed over the years, and it's now much more physically taxing on the body. This graphic proves it.

NBA players have to cover so much more space now because of the three-point revolution. The days of '90s stars just standing around on defense half the time when their man didn't have the ball is over. Now, teams need to defend on a string and cover the three-point line with as much attention as they cover the rim. All that sprinting takes a huge toll on the body during a brutal 82-game regular season.

You might not like "load management" or how often players get injured these days, but the reality is the game is so much more demanding on the body in this era than it's ever been before.

5. The Thunder's defense is championship-level

It's almost impossible to have a team defensive-rating under 100.0 — translating to allowing 100 or fewer points per 100 possessions — in this era of the NBA. The only team in the last 10 years to accomplish it is the 2015-2016 San Antonio Spurs, who won an astounding 67 games. This year's Oklahoma City Thunder just might have the goods to do it again.

The Thunder's 8-2 start has been powered by their defense. Their 100.2 defensive rating is blowing everyone else out the water, with the Orlando Magic's 106.8 defensive rating as a distant No. 2 in the league right now. Chet Holmgren's hip injury might kill their dreams of finishing with a sub-100 defensive rating, but there's no doubt this is a championship-level defense when it's fully healthy.

The Thunder are forcing turnovers on 16.4 percent of opponent's percentage, No. 1 in the league by far. Luguentz Dort and Alex Caruso are like shutdown cornerbacks on the perimeter, and Holmgren's rim protection made him a serious Defensive Player of the Year candidate before the injury. The fact that they are doing this without injured center Isaiah Hartenstein — signed this summer to improve the team's defensive rebounding — is even more impressive. OKC has no weak links defensively, and that makes them a true title favorite out West.

6. The Bucks' problems don't have a solution

Are the Bucks cooked? The Bucks look cooked.

Despite Giannis Antetokounmpo still playing like arguably the second-best player in the world, Milwaukee is off to a nightmare start and don't have many buttons to push. The Bucks are 2-8 on the season and look like an old, slow team that is falling apart around a generational star.

Milwaukee ranks No. 19 in offense and No. 22 in defense. They don't have a consistent third scorer with Khris Middleton out of the lineup with injury. The Bucks' shot profile is a disaster, setting for mid-range shots and post-ups at an alarmingly high clip. Damian Lillard might be the worst defender among star players in the league, and he's getting picked on every time down the floor. Milwaukee just doesn't have much athleticism on this team outside of Antetokounmpo, and they don't really have any future assets left to trade.

The Bucks probably won't finish as one of the worst teams in the NBA as they are right now, but it isn't too early to say this team's days as a contender are over.

7. The Knicks need a year before they're ready to contend

It's rare that an NBA team hits the ground running after making big changes over the summer. The Timberwolves after the Rudy Gobert trade and the Suns after the Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal trades are two recent examples of teams that looked much better in their second full years together. Even the Heatles didn't win the championship in year one. It feels like the New York Knicks are going through the same growing pains right now.

The Knicks are No. 2 in offensive rating right now, but only No. 23 defensively during their 4-5 start. New York is shooting a scorching 39.5 percent from three-point range, but they aren't creating many three-point looks (ranking 20th in three-point rate). There is a serious lack of creation ability on this team outside of Jalen Brunson, and I would expect that to catch up with the offensive rating eventually. Mikal Bridges needs to give them more after the Knicks essentially traded six first round picks to get him.

The defense is the real cause for concern. Karl-Anthony Towns is no defensive anchor at the rim, and teams can also take advantage of Brunson by targeting him in the pick-and-roll. The Knicks don't force any turnovers, and teams are shooting a ridiculous 67.5 percent against them within six-feet. The Knicks just also don't have much depth, which is where Gobert's Wolves and Durant's Suns made big strides in their second seasons together.

I think the Knicks will still be very good eventually, but there's no shame in things taking a year to fully gel.

8. The Suns' vision for the Kevin Durant trade has come into focus

I didn't include the Phoenix Suns on my preseason list of championship contenders, and they're making me look stupid for that right now.

The Suns are off to an 8-2 start under new head coach Mike Budenholzer. Coach Bud has this team shooting more threes and sticking around the middle of the league defensively, which is all you can ask for out of this group. The depth definitely looks better than last year with Tyus Jones helping organize the team at point guard, rookie Ryan Dunn developing into an instant contributor, and Royce O'Neale putting together a Sixth Man of the Year caliber season. With improved depth, Phoenix's stars are carrying them towards the top of the West.

I still worry about Phoenix's big men and the health of their stars, but there's no doubt this team is a legit Western Conference contender. Let's just hope they're healthy for the playoffs after Durant's latest injury.

9. The Sixers have no margin for error

It's getting close to panic time for the Sixers. Philly is 2-7 on the year, and their problems are easy to see.

Joel Embiid has yet to make his season debut as he nurses his sore left knee. Tyrese Maxey is out with a hamstring strain. Paul George was limited at the start of the season with his own knee injury. Philly's depth doesn't look as good as advertised so far.

The 76ers really just need Embiid healthy and playing at an MVP level come playoff time. If that happens, they can give anyone problems in the East on paper. The Sixers are super lucky the East is dreadful once again, but they can't dig themselves too big of a hole out of the gates. Philadelphia's margin for error is already shrinking fast, and the fact that they still need Embiid to carry them on the nightly basis should make everyone around the organization a little nervous.

10. The tank race is about to get serious

Entering Monday, there are five NBA teams who only have two wins. The Bucks and 76ers should rise from that group, but there are also a group of likely tankers ahead of them in the standings waiting to fall.

Add the New Orleans Pelicans to the tank race after Zion Williamson's injuries. The Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls have been surprisingly feisty so far, but both are ripe for trades that would send them plummeting down the standings. The Raptors just can't win despite some positive individual development (R.J. Barrett and Gradey Dick are hooping). The Pistons, Hornets, and Hawks are about to embark on a lowly race for the final spots in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.

We'll have more 2025 NBA Draft coverage soon, but this year's class is already living up to the hype and proving to have even more depth that expected. The race to the bottom for Cooper Flagg is coming soon, and there are already a lot of teams interested.