The 22-23 NBA season has definitely been off to a surprising start. While the season is still very young and anything can happen in an 82-game season, we can’t just talk about what we’ve seen already from our favorite sports teams. 

The Lakers, Brooklyn Nets, and the defending champions the Golden State Warriors have been off to a terrible start. With expectations high for all of these teams coming into the season we as fans have definitely been shocked with our jaws hanging low. As of now, the Lakers with LeBron James in his 20th season, and the return of superstar center Anthony Davis, the Lakers were told to be coming for revenge after missing the playoffs the season prior. However, that isn’t looking like the case as the franchise is currently 3-10 as of November 16th, 2022 with no signs of any hope for a potential resurrection for the club. Many pointed fingers at Russel Westbrook again as being the main source of the Laker’s problems but that’s nowhere true. It’s obvious that LeBron needs shooters around him if he wants to play his best. We’ve seen this formula have success in Cleveland, Miami, and even the bubble-season Lakers. So why even try to pair Russel Westbrook with James if we know how below-average of a shooter he is? We saw him being utilized off the bench in recent games and have seen success as he provides the team with a spark plug while James and Davis are on the bench. He keeps the offense moving in a team with such young players surrounding it.

I think if the Lakers want to see any type of success, then Westbrook has to remain coming off the bench for starters, and secondly, the team as a whole just needs to get out of this shooting slump and start hitting shots. Of course, injuries are a big part of this team with Anthony Davis and LeBron always being questionable to play and Dennis Schroder still not being on the floor harms them. But that’s understandable in an 82-game season, especially when you’re the star of a team you need rest.  The Brooklyn Nets are currently dealing with the Kyrie Irving issue and just overall a team falling apart. Kevin Durant has made it public in recent times that the team isn’t good. That his supporting cast of Claxton, Harris and Royce isn’t going to cut it. I’m not a fan, as we all know that it was Durant’s decision to leave Golden State in hopes of forming his own superteam and winning a championship. We know Durant’s history of being unsportsmanlike from his Twitter burner account activity to just blatantly name-calling. The solution to the Brooklyn Nets problem? If I was the head of the organization, I’m hitting the restart button. After years of failure, there comes a time when you just have to let go. Trade, trade, and trade. The Warriors, have seen better days. After winning a championship, we expected them to come back with the same fire but of course, as we know it, their record of 6-9 as of November 16th, 2022 isn’t a pretty one for such a team. The problem is clear though, defense. The Warriors lost a lot of defensive pieces this off-season like Gary Payton and Juan Toscano due to Poole’s extension. I think it’s time, to throw Klay Thompson into the trade block and look for better defensive pieces. 

On the contrary, we see teams surprising the league like the Portland Trailblazers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Utah Jazz. With the return of Damian Lillard, we expected the Blazers to be back in it, and by surprise, they’re more than just in with a winning record of 10-4 as of November 16th, 2022. We saw the addition of Jerami Grant and Gary Payton, the return of big-man center Nurkic, and the explosion of young guard Anfernee Simmons. The Blazers are locked in for this season and you can expect them to keep their foot on the pedal. As for the Cavaliers, we saw a blockbuster trade involving Utah Jazz superstar Donovan Mitchell who’s been exploding for the organization. Looking at an MVP campaign season for Mitchell averaging 32 points on 50-40 shooting splits, it appears that this trade was the right move for the young star. However, the one who shock most. The “re-building” Utah Jazz who traded away corner franchise superstar duo Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers for draft picks and young players have proved everyone wrong with a winning record of 10-6 as of November 16th, 2022. What we all believed would be at the bottom of the standings competing for the future number 1 overall draft pick Victor Wembanya is near the top of the Western Conference competing with the toughest of the toughest.