{"id":244704,"date":"2025-10-27T19:09:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T19:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/244704\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T19:09:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T19:09:09","slug":"nba-overreactions-victor-wembanyama-the-wily-warriors-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/244704\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Overreactions: Victor Wembanyama, the Wily Warriors, and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

NBA<\/a>NBA<\/a>We\u2019ve seen enough. From Wemby to the Warriors, these are the players, teams, and trends that stick out from the first few games of the new campaign.\"\"Getty Images\/AP Images\/Ringer illustration\"\"<\/a>By Michael Pina<\/a>Oct. 27, 12:45 pm UTC \u2022 13 min<\/p>\n

We\u2019re nearly one week into the 2025-26 NBA season, and basketball is sweating from my pores. The games have been phenomenal. The seismic news<\/a> that nearly overshadowed all of them is a drag. But in this column, we\u2019ll focus on everything that\u2019s happened on the court, with 13 overreactions about players, teams, and trends in a season that has even more questions today than it did when it tipped off. Let\u2019s dive in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Ringer\u2019s NBA Top 100<\/p>\n

The Ringer\u2019s NBA Top 100<\/p>\n

\"\"1. Golden State is a Tier 1 contender.<\/p>\n

To be in this category, you need to have slightly more than a puncher\u2019s chance of beating the Thunder or Nuggets in a playoff series; a \u201cbeen there, done that\u201d degree of self-belief; A-plus starpower; depth; 3-point shooting; and a roster that can adapt on the fly against different opponents during a playoff run. The Warriors check all those boxes!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, what the Warriors don\u2019t have is Father Time\u2019s blessing. Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, Al Horford, and Draymond Green are all perpetual injury risks on the wrong side of 35. No small thing. But that shortcoming isn\u2019t enough to disqualify them in October. In its first couple of games, Golden State\u2019s offense was seamless. The Warriors tortured the Lakers and Nuggets by cramming them into a blender of cuts and screens and 3s. Curry looked like Curry. Horford provided some pop and steadiness at the 5 that they haven\u2019t had in recent years. And, after months of foreboding contract drama that spelled a seemingly inevitable end to his tenure with the Warriors, Jonathan Kuminga might be evolving in some extremely helpful ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a thin line between record-scratching a possession and being patient with the ball in your hands. Kuminga might have finally grasped the difference between the two.<\/p>\n

Is there a universe where Kuminga makes nice with the Warriors, unveils a more potent outside shot, buys into the confines of a supplementary role, and refrains from hijacking possessions with poor decisions? I didn\u2019t think so before the season, but so far Kuminga is making genuine winning plays that don\u2019t show up in the box score. Take this sequence as an example: Defending a stack pick-and-roll against Los Angeles, he sticks his ass out and bumps Deandre Ayton off his line, turning an alley-oop into an interception.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And here he is mucking up another one of Ayton\u2019s rolls, then going down into the paint and tipping the rebound to a teammate.<\/p>\n

This stuff adds up. It\u2019s smart, infectious, and symptomatic of how good habits can turn contenders into champions. Eight months from now, that may just be what the Warriors are.<\/p>\n

2. The Victor Wembanyama era is here.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to, um, overreact here. Watching Wembanyama\u2019s unreasonably dominant showing in Dallas made me feel like the San Antonio Spurs can win the title this season. I already thought Victor would eventually take the \u201cbest player alive\u201d label from Nikola Jokic, but the timeline for when that happens might be fast-tracked.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wemby made Anthony Davis (Anthony freaking Davis!) look like a child and then followed it up with two breathtaking performances against New Orleans and Brooklyn. His handle, touch, power, footwork, and body control are considerably improved from last year. He\u2019s using the 3-point shot more as a threat than a concession, driving to the basket and forcing defenders to play a step closer to him than they\u2019d prefer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

When you combine all of the ways he makes life easier for teammate on offense, reading the floor and scoring at will, it\u2019s almost easy to overlook the fact that we\u2019re talking about the best defender in the league and someone who may retire as the most intimidating presence in basketball history. Look at this shit:<\/p>\n

Lol:<\/p>\n

This is a game plan\u2013melting individual who may win MVP, DPOY, and Most Improved Player this season. A scoring title is possible. Statistical records will be shattered. Until further notice, Wemby\u2019s transformation into a bona fide top-five player is the most important development in the NBA.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

3. The NBA might enforce 10-second violations this year!<\/p>\n

Giannis Antetokounmpo is off to an incredible start and unsurprisingly looks like an MVP candidate. He also takes at least 10 seconds to shoot a free throw a few times every game. This is against the rules but almost always gets ignored by the officials. But in the second quarter of Milwaukee\u2019s season-opening romp over Washington, Giannis was actually punished for it. This is progress!<\/p>\n

4. Alperen Sengun is an MVP candidate.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the case: Houston finishes as a top-three seed in the Western Conference. Sengun is its best player, and he spends an inordinate amount of time at point guard, leading the Rockets in touches and dramatically increasing his volume and accuracy from behind the 3-point line. Meanwhile, he\u2019s a key cog in an elite defense, which Sengun already spent last season proving he can be.<\/p>\n

This seemed plausible after opening night, when Sengun finished with 39 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists while going 5-for-8 from deep. With last year\u2019s top two ball handlers\u2014Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green\u2014no longer around, there were significant opportunities for Sengun to make plays in a Houston offense that may need to mold itself around his unique skill set. (Sengun generated only 1.5 free throw attempts from the 7.7 drives per game he averaged last year<\/a>. In Houston\u2019s season opener, he logged eight free throws from his 18 drives. Encouraging!) Sengun should be able to run pick-and-rolls, operate from the mid-post, and leverage his back-to-the-basket power against defenses that aren\u2019t super pumped to double him while Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson, and Reed Sheppar are on the floor.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Friday night against the Pistons was a different story. Sengun finished 5-for-18 from the field and badly missed both his 3s. A majority of his drives went nowhere, and, despite finishing with seven assists, Sengun forced too much of the action in desperate attempts to draw fouls that weren\u2019t being called. If he can find a sweet spot in between that disaster and his masterpiece against OKC while leading Houston in usage rate and buoying a decent half-court offense, Sengun may actually hear his name pop up in debates about this season\u2019s MVP.\u00a0<\/p>\n

5. Utah\u2019s Big Three is the future of basketball.<\/p>\n

Consider me all i on the Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, Kyle Filipowski three-headed monster that\u2019s taking the NBA by storm. They\u2019re plus-21 in 27 minutes<\/a>! Even if the Jazz lose 75 percent of their games this season, any team that can fit that much size, skill, and mobility on the court at once is doing something right.<\/p>\n

6. Jalen Johnson is (by far?) Atlanta\u2019s best player.<\/p>\n

There are dozens of players in today\u2019s NBA who are more accomplished than Johnson. But only a few of them can casually make the most arduous parts of basketball look easy. People that large, with this hang time, who can see the floor and instantly process everything that\u2019s happening, are basketball gemstones. Most jump passes are, at best, not advised and, at worst, the reason a head coach just called a timeout to sub you out of the game. But Johnson\u2019s are both gorgeous \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026 and useful.<\/p>\n

Could he lead the Eastern Conference in triple-doubles this season? Maybe If Johnson can find a more stable way to dominate games in the half court, consider his first All-Star appearance a lock.\u00a0<\/p>\n

7. Minnesota\u2019s crunch-time woes are over.<\/p>\n

I covered this in my increasingly bold predictions<\/a> season preview piece, but the next step Anthony Edwards needs to take if he wants to win MVP trophies and scoring titles is to consistently dominate close games and carry the Timberwolves to victory. Last year, Minnesota ranked 20th in crunch-time offense<\/a>. Edwards\u2019s struggles were one reason why. He led the league in clutch points but did so shooting 32.3 percent from deep and 42.6 percent from the floor. He also recorded 13 assists and 15 turnovers in those 160 minutes. Ugly stuff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean Minnesota\u2019s fourth-quarter attack was a mud puddle when the ball rested in Ant\u2019s hands, but there\u2019s significant room for improvement, whether that means honing his midrange jumper or making quicker decisions in the face of a double-team. Single-handedly snuffing out the Blazers on opening night was a solid start.\u00a0<\/p>\n

8. The Sixers are in heaven and hell.<\/p>\n

Daryl Morey didn\u2019t set out to straddle two polar-opposite timelines when he came to Philadelphia. But here the Sixers are\u2014blessed and doomed, living their best and worst life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Philly might already have one of the most thrilling backcourts in the league. Rookie VJ Edgecombe and (actual franchise player) Tyrese Maxey set the Boston Celtics on fire Wednesday night with an exhilarating and highly efficient 74 combined points. It was only one game (both players cooled down a bit in a close win against Charlotte a couple of nights later). But sometimes the future becomes the present much faster than anyone expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking of fast: On the first dunk of his career, Edgecombe caught a pass behind the 3-point line, took one dribble, and exploded through Boston\u2019s rotating half-court defense. Poor Xavier Tillman didn\u2019t even enter the rookie\u2019s peripheral vision. Speed kills<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Edgecombe will be up and down, as most rookie guards are, but so long as he\u2019s on the court with Maxey\u2014who may become the best point guard in the Eastern Conference this seaso\u2014there will always be an opportunity to crack into a defense that\u2019s in scramble mode. Maxey is impossible to keep at bay and a constant threat to score from the moment he crosses half court. No stepback is prettier. Toss in Jared McCain off the bench when he gets back from a thumb injury, and there will be no rest trying to slow Philadelphia\u2019s guards down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The flip side of all this optimism is simple: Joel Embiid seemingly can\u2019t run or jump and is guaranteed $243.4 million through 2029. Right now, he\u2019s a part-time player who isn\u2019t able or willing to play defense more than a few feet away from the basket. On offense, he\u2019s stationary. According to Sportradar<\/a>, Embiid has popped 55 percent of the time after setting a ball screen this season. In 2023, that number was 27 percent<\/a>. Look at his effort getting back in transition on this play.<\/p>\n

And then we have problem no. 2: Paul George is 35 years old, currently hurt, and owed $162.3 million through 2028. I don\u2019t really have anything specific to overreact to here, but the juxtaposition between young, athletic, and invigorating and rickety, dwindling, and expensive is just so jarring. Philly\u2019s universe contains both realities. It\u2019s a complicated way to go through a season, and if you\u2019re a Sixers fan who wants to bifurcate the situation, it\u2019s the ultimate eye-of-the-beholder conundrum. Your glass is either half full or bone dry. There\u2019s either a light at the end of this tunnel or we\u2019re not even halfway through a crisis that feels like it\u2019ll never end.\u00a0<\/p>\n

9. Dallas is not doing Cooper Flagg any favors.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only Flagg\u2019s rookie season, and even though he\u2019s aced every developmental challenge in his basketball career, we still don\u2019t know exactly what his capacity will be to overcome the on-court obstacles embedded in his current situation. Typically, a growing franchise player can\u2019t become the best version of himself without a franchise that builds around what he can and can\u2019t do.<\/p>\n

That isn\u2019t happening in Dallas right now. Flagg is playing point guard, which is fine. It makes sense to put the ball in his hands under the tutelage of a brilliant former point guard. But trying this approach on a team that\u2019s pot committed to a pair of big men who can\u2019t space the floor is not fine. In his debut, Flagg spent only the first few minutes of the first and third quarters next to both Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II, but the cramped floor did not make his life as easy as it could be:\u00a0<\/p>\n

His debut was a zero-assist, three-turnover dud that garnered a Least Valuable Player badge from ESPN analytics; Flagg had \u20138.1 total net points<\/a>. To be clear, that number does not matter in the grand scheme of things. Flagg looked much more comfortable last night against the Raptors\u2014along with some highlight dunks in transition, his vision and feel on a couple of lobs to AD and Lively were highly advanced\u2014and in a loss against the Washington Wizards on Friday. But his progress wasn\u2019t thanks to the space he had to work in.<\/p>\n

Dallas has still looked wretched with its starters on the court and in the first two games had by far the worst offense in the league<\/a>. It\u2019ll be interesting to see how long it takes for Jason Kidd to tweak his rotation\u2014especially once Daniel Gafford is healthy enough to enter it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

10. The Clippers need to change their starting five.<\/p>\n

Kris Dunn needs to start over Bradley Beal. This is not a dig against Beal, who missed Sunday\u2019s game with a sore back, and shouldn’t be seen as a demotion. But so much of what kept last year\u2019s Clippers afloat before Kawhi Leonard returned from injury was their tenacious defense. Dunn makes sense from the jump, hounding lead guards, wreaking havoc, forcing turnovers, and being the first-class irritant he is. That\u2019s what L.A. needs, and Beal\u2014whose defensive deficiencies so far have nothing to do with effort, to be fair\u2014is better suited to steer second units with the offensive firepower L.A. needs off its bench.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Clippers were lifeless before Dunn checked into their home opener against the Suns on Friday night. His energy reset the tone and sparked a 27-5 run. Here\u2019s what happened on his first two defensive possessions:<\/p>\n

Beal and James Harden can play together, but staggering them is preferable. It lets the Clippers keep at least one dynamic playmaker on the floor and incentivises Ty Lue to run more specific off-ball actions that suit Beal\u2019s skill set. Everyone\u2019s happy! Change feels inevitable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

11. Full-court pressure is officially a thing.<\/p>\n

One of the defining traits that made the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder such outliers last year was the incessant pressure their defense applied in the backcourt. They turned simple inbound passes into a riddle, and lined the path to normal half-court offense with land mines. Opposing point guards were either denied the ball or forced to exert an inordinate amount of energy carrying out a basic part of their job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was disruptive, exhausting, and extremely effective. And in a copycat league where every team is looking at the previous season\u2019s finalists to glean what helped them get that far, unceasing full-court pressure is something both hung their hat on. It also doesn\u2019t require superstar talent or a steep luxury tax bill.<\/p>\n

Now, that doesn\u2019t mean that what works for the Pacers or Thunder can be replicated by rosters that don\u2019t have an army of brilliant on- and off-ball defenders. But several clubs\u2014the Toronto Raptors Portland Trail Blazers and Brooklyn Nets, to name a few\u2014are still trying to execute similar tactics with maximum energy.<\/p>\n

When these teams go balls to the wall, they can beat anyone on any night. When they don\u2019t, their flaws radiate through the screen. The idea of a full-court press isn\u2019t necessarily to steal the ball. It\u2019s to create erosive torture, an exercise to mentally and physically unravel the other team, dictate terms of play, and make every possession occur either faster or slower than the offense wants, sometimes while a set is being initiated by someone who isn\u2019t used to doing that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t get me wrong \u2026 steals are cool, too.<\/p>\n

As are five-second violations.<\/p>\n

Somewhat related to all this is the shorter stints and expanded rotations we\u2019ve seen across the league. Ten Blazers saw the floor in the first nine minutes of that loss against Minnesota. Mike Brown played 11 guys in the opening 13 minutes of his first win as head coach of the New York Knicks, and then followed it up with a 10-man rotation in the first half of Friday\u2019s win over Boston. It\u2019s almost like teams are sending a passive-aggressive message to the league about the ridiculousness of their regular-season schedule. (Also, games should be 40 minutes long. It\u2019s time. Make the change.) Anyway, in an era that\u2019s geared to generate offensive explosions, defenses may have found one way to put them on their heels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

12. Mike Brown\u2019s Knicks will lead the league in 3s.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Knicks ranked 28th in 3-point rate. After their first two games, they rank first<\/a>. Just something to keep an eye on!<\/p>\n

13. LeBron James has never made less sense on the Lakers.<\/p>\n

While some of the focus on L.A.\u2019s acquisition of Luka Doncic was initially about the existential dilemma that LeBron James now faces as an aging superstar whose team no longer prioritizes his wants and needs, the most fascinating question here\u2014now that we\u2019re seeing Doncic at or near the peak of his powers in a Lakers jersey for the first time\u2014is what LeBron\u2019s role will even look like next to someone who deserves to start and end every play with the ball in his hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luka entered the season with the highest career usage rate in NBA history. Before Sunday\u2019s report that a sprained finger and leg contusion would sideline Doncic for a week, his usage rate through L.A.’s first two games was at a league-high 39.9 percent. His PER is 43.4 and his true shooting is 73.3 percent. I don\u2019t care what the sample size is, these numbers are nearly unprecedented and also not a fluke. Instead of crashing down to earth, Luka will parachute onto a trampoline. In NBA history<\/a>, only Wilt Chamberlain (1961, 1962) and Anthony Davis (2016) ever scored more than the 92 combined points Luka recorded in the season\u2019s first two games.<\/p>\n

So if you\u2019re James, what does sacrifice look like? Beyond a reduction in touches and shots, with shorter stints and fewer minutes, where does he primarily exist on the court? At what point are there diminishing returns with the ball in James\u2019s hands while Doncic is in the game? Like, LeBron shouldn\u2019t take minutes from someone like Marcus Smart, who provides defensive toughness and makes spontaneous winning plays, right? It\u2019d be jarring to see him essentially fill the hole that Jake LaRavia is sitting in. Rui Hachimura makes sense as a stretch 4 and Austin Reaves is an ideal secondary ball handler.<\/p>\n

Trading LeBron seems unlikely, and it\u2019s hard to imagine a buyout. This is such a strange situation, and the better Luka plays the more uncomfortable it\u2019ll be. How much humility should a king be willing to show?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Pina<\/p>\n

<\/a>Michael Pina is a senior staff writer at The Ringer who covers the NBA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBANBAWe\u2019ve seen enough. From Wemby to the Warriors, these are the players, teams, and trends that stick out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-244704","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}