Trends that defined the first half of the season
- Superstars shine brighter than ever.
Five players (Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jayson Tatum) average 30 points per game.
Donovan Mitchell’s incredible 71-point performance on Jan. 2 perfectly epitomized this trend. That night, Mitchell had a whopping 41% usage rate. Not only did he record the most points a player has scored since Kobe Bryant scored 81 in 2006, but he also dished out 11 assists, six of which ended in three-pointers.
- The globalization of the MVP race is complete.
Speaking of great superstars, they used to be almost exclusively American players, but that is no longer the case.
The first 49 times the NBA handed out the MVP award, recently renamed for Michael Jordan, a non-American player won the honors just once. In 1993-94 it went to Hakeem Olajuwon, who not only rose through the U.S. college system, but would go on to play for Team USA in the 1996 Olympics. The last four MVP awards have been won by a pair of international players, and this season features four potential candidates for the award who were born outside the United States.
Doncic, Embiid, Antetokounmpo and Jokic – who is vying to become the first player to win three consecutive MVPs since Larry Bird in the 1980s – are all having MVP-type seasons for their teams, but none of these guys started playing basketball. in the United States.
- NBA power has returned to the East.
One could argue that since Michael Jordan’s second retirement in 1999, the NBA’s balance of power has rested in the Western Conference. Western teams have accounted for 16 of the last 24 titles, with only one Eastern team, the Heat, claiming multiple titles in that span. - Gobert’s catastrophe goes beyond Minnesota.
Last summer, the Minnesota Timberwolves went all-in on Rudy Gobert, sending five players, four first-round picks and a trade to the Utah Jazz for the three-time Defensive Player of the Year. The move was supposed to be the one that would put the Timberwolves over the top. Instead, it could have crippled Minnesota and thrown cold water on the league’s trade market. - The sun is setting on Phoenix’s title window.
After reaching the NBA Finals, and taking a 2-0 lead in that series in 2021, and posting the league’s best record in 2021-22, the Suns were expected to be contenders again this season. Instead, Phoenix is below .500 after being decimated by injuries in the first half of the season. With the exception of Mikal Bridges, who is having a great season and leads the Suns in total points scored, virtually the entire Phoenix rotation has missed time.
- Trae Young can’t shoot
At this point in his career, Trae Young was supposed to be one of the best 3-point scorers in the league. Well, quite the opposite is happening so far this season.
Of the 35 players who have attempted at least 250 3-pointers this season, Young ranks 33rd in 3-point percentage. Only Jordan Poole and Kelly Oubre Jr. have been less efficient. No one expected those guys to be generational shooting talents.
