Spurs
The Spurs entered this week’s Paris games vs. the Pacers in a little bit of a tailspin. But they have time to get it corrected, and overall, it’s been a season of growth.
“In Victor Wembanyama‘s second season, the Spurs have taken an expected step forward and then some,” ESPN’s Kevin Pelton wrote. “With veteran Chris Paul organizing the team, San Antonio reached two games over .500 with its win in Denver on Jan. 3. Since then, the Spurs’ progress has stalled with six losses in their past seven games (entering Thursday).”
How can the Spurs be even better in the season’s second half?
“Maintaining 48 minutes of solid defense,” Pelton wrote. “How does a team with the front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year rank 18th in defensive rating? Per Cleaning the Glass, San Antonio lineups without Wembanyama rate in the 5th percentile leaguewide on defense, as compared with the 78th percentile with him.”
Hawks
The Hawks are another team that had a better first half of the season than many expected. They’ve won at Cleveland, at New York and at Boston (twice). That’s progress.
“The expectation was the Hawks would be on par with last season’s 36-46 team after breaking up the Dejounte Murray–Trae Young duo,” Pelton noted. “Instead, Atlanta has been even better. Dyson Daniels has excelled replacing Murray, leading the league in steals (3.1 per game), while Jalen Johnson has emerged as a strong No. 2 option on offense.”
Of course, a little more consistency across the board wouldn’t hurt.
“Get better play from No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher or reduce his role,” Pelton wrote in mentioning ways for Atlanta to improve. “Risacher has started 37 of the 39 games he has played but is shooting just 28% on 3s. Risacher’s development is important, but the evidence that playing more translates into progress is mixed.”
Nets
The Nets have been on the struggle bus in a rebuilding season, but they still deserve an “A” for effort. And if not an “A,” then at least a “B-plus,” which is what they got from Pelton.
“The Nets started strong under new coach Jordi Fernandez, getting halfway to their projected preseason win total by Dec. 4,” Pelton wrote. “They stocked up on second-round picks by trading Dorian Finney-Smith and Dennis Schroder when both were playing at a high level. Since then, Brooklyn has slid to sixth in the lottery standings, working to accomplish the real goal of this season, a top-10 pick in the draft.”
So yeah, all is not lost — despite all the losing, some of which has been downright ugly.
Now all Brooklyn needs to receive “solid production from developing players who could be part of the team’s future, including Noah Clowney and Cam Thomas, and lose enough games to move into the top five entering the draft lottery,” Pelton added.
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