NBA News and Rumor Roundup 10/30/2024

The Standouts, the Spooks, and the Injured

Aaaaaand we’re back!

Boy, does it feel good to have a week of NBA basketball under the books, huh? In just the past 7 days, we’ve seen teams surprise us with their fast starts right out the gates, others, uh, not do that, and many more players give us some incredible highlights that might be worthy of an end-of-season award in and of themselves.

Today, we’ll cover more of the news and actual play than we do rumors — at least, more than I normally do — but there are a few rumors to cover. Plus, we’ll even get to talk about the under-the-radar G League Draft that happened a few nights back as well as the chaos that’s happening in the coaching ranks over at the WNBA. Oh, and we’ve got a new, possibly repeating segment for the season, which you’re about to read: Say hello to The Kings of The Court!

👑This Week’s Kings of The Court👑

For the majority of this publication’s lifespan, I’ve mostly looked to write about whatever pops into the news cycle each week, which is fine in and of itself. However, I want to add a bit of continuity to the News and Rumor Roundup this season, without sacrificing too much spontaneity. With that in mind, I’ve created a new segment, deemed This Week’s Kings of The Court — which may be too long of a name, so I’m open to ideas! — that looks to cover the three players and/or teams who have impressed me since the last roundup.

The goal is to give you a good overview of what teams/players are really showing out, who has momentum, and why you should care. Each player will have their week’s stat line (from Wednesday of last week to Tuesday of this week), along with one or two advanced metrics that I have my eye on. If it’s for a team, then their relevant stats will be displayed as well. Let’s get into it!

Your first King of The Court this week is…

👑LaMelo Ball👑

• 31.7 PPG

• 7.3 AST

• 7.0 REB

• 5.7 TO

• 41.7% 3P

• 46.8% FG

Bonus Stat: 1st in effective field goal percentage out of all point guards (minimum 100 minutes played)

Ball is balling, y’all.

After a couple of seasons of injury-plagued play, LaMelo Ball has suddenly thrust himself back into the Best Young Guard In The League conversation. While the Hornets are still starting with a 1-2 record, it isn’t because Ball is slacking in any sense of the word.

Currently, LaMelo ranks near the 80th percentile in pick and roll initiation and, more intriguingly, ranks first overall in foul frequency (AKA, getting fouled) in isolation. Even in pick and rolls, he getting fouled quite a bit and is taking it in full stride:

What’s most important of note, however, has been LaMelo’s three-point consistency. In his previous 4 seasons in the league, Ball only cleared 38% from three-point range once and would often see sub-33% games during really trigger-happy days. Now, over his first three games, he’s averaging 41.7% from range and is nearly off the charts in 3-Point Efficiency, a metric from Cerebro Sports that takes into account attempts, situation, and more (see the turquoise/greenish line below, where 2024-25 is on the far right side):

If Ball keeps this up and the Hornets somehow make a Play-In or, dare I say it, playoff appearance, you could see some top-5 MVP votes going to him. He’s playing at a much better, more mature pace than in previous seasons and looks like a superstar right now.

👑Paolo Banchero👑

• 28.5 PPG

• 9.3 REB

• 6 AST

• 1 BLK

• 0.8 STL

• 39% 3P

• 48% FG

Bonus Stat: Became the youngest forward to score 50 points in a game since 2006 — the last was LeBron James.

Don’t look now, but the NBA’s youth might finally be in a position to start taking over. Paolo Banchero, in particular, might be taking the superstar leap in just his third season in the league. While he’s been great since opening night, his biggest performance of the week came on Monday in a 119-115 win over the Pacers. He scored a whopping 50 points (and 37 in the first half alone!), 13 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 blocks on 61% shooting, by far the most impressive overall performance of his young career.

The scoring, in and of itself, was incredible; I’m willing to be quoted in saying that he has the most strangely satisfying mid-range jumper out of any player under 25. It practically functions in slow motion, yet destroys defenders all the same in isolation:

Somehow more impressive was the fact that Banchero assisted on 47% of the team’s made shots during the game, which was higher than the actual point guard on the team, Jalen Suggs. Case in point, Banchero seems to be toying with defenses as a distributor from inside the paint:

The sheer versatility of Banchero’s game — he’s currently near the 80th percentile in estimated defensive plus-minus, too — is what makes him one of the league’s most reliable young players, but his ability to actually generate offense could be the godsend this Magic team needs.

👑The Cleveland Cavaliers👑

• 4-0

• 52% FG

• 41% 3P

• +16.8 Differential

Bonus Stat: The only team thus far to rank inside the top 5 in eFG%, points per possession, defensive points per possession, and defensive eFG%, per Cleaning The Glass.

It’s only fitting that one of this week’s kings includes the Cavs, who have raced ahead to a 4-0 start thus far and look like a contender (it’s early, I know) under new head coach Kenny Atkinson. For much of the Cavs’ recent history, it’s been an either-or proposition; you’re either good at offense or defense, but rarely both at the exact same time. That appears to have changed this season under new leadership. As a result, only Boston and Cleveland look like the most surefire contenders at the moment based on shooting and defense:

The biggest change under Atkinson appears to be the team’s pace of play. Last season, the Cavs ranked outside the top 20 in pace, preferring to choke opponents via defense versus bombarding them with quick-hit offense. Now, under the new Atkinson system, the Cavs currently rank 13th, which, while not as fast as teams like the Thunder and Warriors, caters more to both Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell’s strengths.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the team’s drive-and-kick play, with both Mitchell and Garland driving into the lane much earlier in the shot clock — sometimes as early as 4 seconds in — to generate outside looks like this one:

Everything appears to be coming together for the Cavs. Evan Mobley looks like a star, averaging 17 points and 9 rebounds on 50% shooting from three-point range, Mitchell and Garland are coexisting much better than they have in previous seasons as a result of the increase in pace, and Jarrett Allen is still one of the best lob threats in the league to benefit from the aforementioned duo’s passing game. It’s a beautiful brand of basketball and just might make them one of the only true contenders this season, considering all of the recent chaos.

The Spookiest Ones

In the Halloween spirit, I think it’d also be fitting to talk about the teams and/or players that are scaring us this season. Whether it’s because of abysmal play or otherwise, there’s reason to be afraid if you’re a fan of any of the following — I’ll keep it shorter than the Kings of The Court section, so here we go:

👻Cody Williams👻

I could list quite a few rookies here because it hasn’t been the best showing from the league’s freshmen, but I choose Williams because (1) he’s one of the only rookies getting a significant minutes load and (2) he has been so incredibly passive and inefficient. Oh, and because I was really high on the guy coming in, so his slow start is a little more scary.

Through Tuesday (not counting last night’s game because I didn’t get the chance to watch it), Williams is averaging just 2 points on 18% shooting (!!!), despite playing 20 minutes per contest. Most of his looks from beyond the arc have been wide open, yet he still hasn’t made a single one out of 6 total, which is still low shot volume considering his minutes per game.

One of the questions for Williams coming out of Colorado was whether or not he could assert himself as an offensive threat and, thus far, the answer has been no. It’s super early on, but keep tabs on Williams, as he’ll likely get a lot of chances to prove himself this season.

👻The Indiana Pacers👻

After a dark horse season last year, the Pacers are having quite a few issues in returning to form. For one, the team ranks 26th in three-point percentage at just 31%, while they’ve also been the league’s 2nd-worst free throw shooting squad — in other words, the once incredible offense has regressed to a very poor level.

There’s a couple of explanations for this, yet none of them are satisfactory. Despite once being the fastest team in the league last season, they now rank in the bottom 10 in pace and turnover percentage, which makes little sense because usually playing slower means you don’t cough up the ball as much. Making matters worse, Tyrese Haliburton’s scoring decline from late last season appears to have manifested itself once again; the offensive hub is now averaging just 14 points and 5.3 assists per game, though he still ranks in the upper echelon of offensive estimated plus-minus according to Dunks and Threes.

So what is the problem here? Well, it’s a little bit of everything included above plus the fact that the defense hasn’t improved from last season, as you can see below in a missed-three-into-transition opportunity:

I don’t know what to say here, but the once-spunky team is now 1-3 to start the season.

👻That Not-Dwyane-Wade Dwyane Wade Statue👻

Earlier this week, the Miami Heat unveiled a statue dedicated to franchise icon Dwyane Wade, though you wouldn’t know it by looking at it. I mean, who even is this?

Post-humiliation, Wade said, “It don’t need to look like me.” Buddy, the statue is supposed to look like you. Regardless, arguably the scariest thing to come out of the NBA this week.

Other News, Rumors, and Fun Facts

• Unfortunately, it seems that the biggest storyline of the start of the season has been the increasingly lengthy injury report. Both Joel Embiid and Paul George have yet to return from their own ailments for the Sixers, leaving Tyrese Maxey to suffer in silence and carry the team on his back (mostly to little avail). Steph Curry is set to miss multiple games after an ankle-related strain on Sunday, leaving, uh, Buddy Hield to lead the Warriors. Pacers center and former #2 pick James Wiseman tore his Achilles and will be out for the season, while Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks is expected to miss the season with a fractured fibula and dislocated ankle. The list goes on, with Kawhi Leonard still in an unknown state and Khris Middleton’s return becoming more unsure by the day — overall, just a terrible start to the injury train for this season.

• The G League Draft went down this past Saturday, leading to some interesting selections. The two most intriguing ones happened right away, with the Westchester Knicks selecting Matt Ryan (no, not the quarterback) and Landry Shamet (who the NBA Knicks waived after an injury) with the #1 and #2 selections. Last season for the Pelicans, Ryan shot a whopping 45% from three-point range and has a solid chance of being promoted to the Knicks’ NBA roster later this season, while Shamet will now be allowed to recover from injury before moving back up to the NBA ranks. Another interesting selection came at #4, with former G League Ignite guard Thierry Darlan, who withdrew from the 2024 NBA Draft earlier this year, going to the Rip City Remix franchise in Portland. He has intriguing physical tools — 6’6 with a 7’1 wingspan — and will now get a chance to work his way up to the big leagues.

• According to Jake Fischer at Bleacher Report, the Brooklyn Nets may eye Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, who went without an extension a week ago, in restricted free agency next summer as a key rebuilding piece. For now, take this with a grain of salt, but the Nets will have the cap space to spend next offseason if they want to go that route.

• According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Lakers are reportedly very intrigued by a potential trade for the Jazz’s young big man, Walker Kessler. Kessler is like the Walmart Rudy Gobert, locking down the paint with incredible consistency, though he’s mostly one-dimensional. The Lakers would likely look to use him alongside Anthony Davis, effectively allowing Davis to be the permanent power forward.

• There’s also a rumor surrounding Jimmy Butler, but I won’t tell you which team is involved — common policy for me not to divulge reports from fellow Substackers with paywalls. That report can be found over at

  Marc Stein
  ’s newsletter here.

• Rudy Gay, an NBA veteran who went #8 overall back in 2006, has officially announced his retirement after averaging 15.8 PPG across 1,120 total games. He was arguably one of the more underrated players in the league during his time in Memphis and will now look to other ventures, stating, “Maybe it’s public speaking, or media, or business. We’re gonna see. I have a contracting company, a real estate company. I have the PickUp USA Fitness gym in Towson, Maryland. There are a bunch of things I’ve already begun devoting some time to. Now it’s just a matter of finding one big new thing that I love, and then throwing my energy into it.”

• Jay Huff, an undrafted G League journeyman big man who now plays for the Grizzlies, has gotten off to such a hot start that he’s had his two-way contract converted into a standard 4-year deal. Huff is currently averaging 12.3 points per game and has shot an incredible 58% from three-point range on solid volume, so the Grizzlies felt the need to lock him in on a roster spot.

• Lakers big man Christian Koloko, who is just 24 years old and has been dealing with a career-threatening (let alone life-threatening) blood clot issue, has officially been cleared by the NBA’s Fitness-to-Play board to play on his two-way contract. Koloko is 7’1”, has great rim protection skills (as you might expect), and great coordination for his height, so we may see him play for the Lakers at the NBA level later this season.

• On this day in NBA history (in 1981!), the legendary Pat Riley made his NBA coaching debut for the Los Angeles Lakers at home against Houston. The Rockets won 113-112 in double-overtime. Plus, in WNBA history (in 1996!), the WNBA announced the cities of the eight teams that would compete in the WNBA’s inaugural season — Charlotte, Cleveland, Houston, and New York in the Eastern Conference, and Los Angeles, Phoenix, Sacramento, and Utah in the Western Conference.

  

My Favorite Reads This Week

• Speaking of the aforementioned Jay Huff, you can go read about why he’s so effective (and his teammate, Scottie Pippen Jr.) over at

  Mike Shearer
  ’s most recent article. You can read that here!

• If you’re gearing up for the upcoming college basketball season, you should go check out

  No Ceilings
  ’ conference preview series. Most recently, the team over at No Ceilings previewed the Big 12, which includes high-end prospects like VJ Edgecombe, along with fringe prospects who might skyrocket up draft boards this season. You can go read that one right here.

• If you aren’t aware, the New York Liberty just took the WNBA title over the Minnesota Lynx, and they’ve got a great story to go with it.

  Joe Pompliano
  over at
  Huddle Up
  just did a deep dive into how the Liberty got here, and it all starts with Knicks owner James Dolan. You can find that piece here.

• Aaron Runk
  just wrote a fun little piece over at
  The Role Player
  based on his three takeaways from the first week of regular season ball. He mentions, among other things, that the Bucks’ defense hasn’t been very good, which I think is interesting mainly because of Doc Rivers’ supposed penchant for defensive coaching — you can read his other takeaways here.

• Chris Shorts
  recently wrote up his random collection of thoughts from the start of the season as well, including Adidas’ recent campaigns with Anthony Edwards, which are possibly some of the best pieces of basketball marketing from the brand ever. You can read up on Chris’ thoughts here.

That’s it for this week’s roundup! As always, more content is on the way for this weekend, though I’m unsure what it will cover — it’ll depend on what happens over the next two days! Hope to see you then!