NBA Preseason 2016: Winners and Losers so Far
For those who’ve been craving pro hoops since the thrilling finish to the 2016 Finals, even modest morsels plied from exhibition games can be a godsend.
For the teams that are competing in those contests, the warm-up schedule can be long and grueling, if not excessively so, but hardly without consequence.
At best, there are position battles to be sorted out and a roster to be rounded out. At worst, there are injuries to cope with and poor performances to pick apart on film.
Separating winners from losers in any sense may not mean much at this time of year, but for these 10 players, coaches and teams, the early returns could be well worth watching once the games start counting in the standings in late October.
Winner: Devin Booker
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Last season, Devin Booker was a pleasant surprise, adding a silver lining to the dark cloud that hovered over the Phoenix Suns. In 2016-17, he could be a star on opening night.
The Kentucky product has been brilliant as a starter for the Suns during the preseason. He’s led the entire league in scoring at 21.5 points per game while getting to the free-throw line 5.8 times per night—and converting 95.7 percent of those trips into points.
“I had to keep reminding myself he was only 19,” Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts told Bleacher Report when reflecting on Booker’s 34-point preseason masterpiece against his team. “He looked like a veteran out there, getting to his spot and playing with a lot of confidence.”
On a team that features Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight in the backcourt, Booker might already be Phoenix’s best guard (and former Wildcat). His spot as the team’s top teen, though, is only guaranteed until Oct. 30, when he turns 20.
Loser: New Orleans Pelicans
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The injury bug is still alive and well in the New Orleans Pelicans locker room.
Anthony Davis’ ankle sprain in Beijing puts him out 10-15 days and on a long disabled list that already included Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, Terrence Jones, Quincy Pondexter, Alexis Ajinca, Robert Sacre and now E’Twaun Moore.
That’s not exactly the foot New Orleans wanted to start on this fall. During the 2015-16 campaign, the Pelicans led the NBA with 351 man-games lost to injury, according to InStreetClothes.com (h/t ESPN.com).
This year’s squad isn’t built any better to withstand such a debilitating string of absences either. With Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson both off to Houston, the Pelicans will have to lean more than ever on Davis and Evans to carry the scoring load.
Fortunately, New Orleans’ newest scoring threat, rookie guard Buddy Hield, is still standing and has performed fairly well. Through four games, he’s averaged 12.8 points on 47.6 percent shooting (35.3 percent from three) in 25.6 minutes per night.
Numbers like that could help Hield snag some Rookie of the Year votes, but they would hardly boost the Pelicans’ playoff hopes if his more experienced teammates don’t heal up in a hurry.
Winner: Brett Brown
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Brett Brown’s Philadelphia 76ers have won 47 games and lost 199 during his first three seasons on the job. They’ll start Year 4 of his regime without Ben Simmons, who could miss more than three months while recovering from a fracture in his right foot.
And Brown, for his part, is now working for a general manager in Bryan Colangelo who didn’t hire him—which is never a good sign for a coach’s future.
How, then, does he wind up as a winner on this list?
For one, Simmons, while being Philly’s most promising youngster, isn’t the only Sixer to be excited about. Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor are still on the roster (for now), and this year, Joel Embiid and Dario Saric will join them.
Embiid, in particular, has been a force during the preseason, albeit in short spurts. Against the Washington Wizards, the former No. 3 overall pick finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds in 14 minutes—his third straight double-figure scoring game and first double-double of any kind as a pro.
What really makes Brown a winner in our book, though, is the positivity and certainty he brings to a job that’s been marked by losses and roster turnover since the day he arrived.
“I’m proud to coach this team, and I feel very strong and confident with the relationships, and the direction that I’m being given by the people that pay me,” Brown said, per Pro Basketball Talk's Kurt Helin. “And I feel so aligned with Jerry and Bryan and what we’re trying to achieve. There is a vision we have in place.”
It might not be realized for a while, at least until Simmons gets to strut his stuff in real NBA games, but don’t expect Brown’s outlook to waver in the interim.
Winner: Domantas Sabonis
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Domantas Sabonis has taken his fair share of lumps during his first preseason.
In the Oklahoma City Thunder’s exhibition opener, the Gonzaga rookie was outscored by just about everyone of Real Madrid’s forwards amid a stunning 142-137 loss to the Spanish squad. During a 114-109 defeat to the Dallas Mavericks, Sabonis got his first taste of defending Dirk Nowitzki—and got torched in the pick-and-roll—while missing all five of his own three-point attempts.
"A lot of times he was out there in the right coverage but staying too long,” head coach Billy Donovan said afterward, per the Oklahoman’s Erik Horne.
Sabonis’ dances with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph during OKC’s 110-94 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies didn’t treat him any better.
But for all his struggles, he’s still the Thunder’s starting power forward. With Kevin Durant gone and Steven Adams sidelined by a bum ankle, Sabonis could be the biggest benefactor of Russell Westbrook dump-offs and offensive rebounds that figure to comprise a sizable share of OKC’s offense.
And in a weak draft class that’s already lost the top pick to injury and seen the second choice (Brandon Ingram) relegated to the bench, Sabonis’ steady starting gig on a potential playoff team could be enough to put him in the running for Rookie of the Year honors.
Winner: Brandon Jennings
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It took Brandon Jennings all of three preseason games with the New York Knicks to get his first chant at Madison Square Garden.
The crowd got behind Jennings during the third quarter of New York’s 90-88 win over the Washington Wizards, when he followed up a confrontation with fellow Drew League veteran Casper Ware Jr. by drilling a three-pointer in his eye—and drawing a foul in the process.
“He’s going to be a crowd favorite,’’ head coach Jeff Hornacek said, per the New York Post’s Marc Berman. “He’s going to do some crazy stuff sometimes to get the crowd going. You just to have let him be Brandon for a bit.”
For Jennings, the love at the mecca was a long time coming.
“I should’ve been here when I first got drafted, but that’s another story,” he said, per the Post. “But timing is everything.’’
In Jennings’ case, timing led him to land a modest one-year, $5 million deal with the Knicks this past summer. With Derrick Rose consumed by off-court troubles, Jennings may have the chance to prove he’s worked his way back from a devastating Achilles injury.
Loser: Carmelo Anthony
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Carmelo Anthony is a man of many concerns these days. On the court, he’s looking to lead the New York Knicks back to the playoffs after three seasons of lottery ball. Off it, he’s become a prominent voice among social activists in the world of pro sports.
Somehow, Anthony found the time and energy between all of that to gripe about landing at No. 15 on Slam's list of the top 50 players in the NBA this coming season.
“@slamonline lost all credibility in my (eyes emoji),” Anthony commented on an Instagram post about his ranking. Anthony later explained it wasn’t the placement that bothered him...sort of.
“I should be mad at the person that send it to me,” he said, per the New York Post’s Marc Berman. “I think they were sending it to me more as motivation. I wasn’t actually upset. I looked at it and [thought] it was disrespectful. … I’m self-motivated. I don’t really need that to motivate me, someone sitting at a desk at Slam.”
If that lights a fire under his behind, nobody will much care that Anthony voiced his displeasure on social media. Still, with the way his game has declined on account of age and injury in recent years, he would do well to accept this spot as a positive or ignore it entirely.
Loser: Detroit Pistons
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After giving the Cleveland Cavaliers a tough four-game series in their long-awaited return to the playoffs, the Detroit Pistons appeared poised for another leap up the standings during Year 3 of the Stan Van Gundy era.
That all changed the moment Reggie Jackson was ruled out for six to eight weeks after undergoing plasma injection therapy to deal with a bone bruise in his knee and a sprained ligament in his thumb.
"To find out the diagnostics and settle down and figure out what the procedure was going to be, that was the hard part," Jackson said, per MLive.com’s Aaron McMann. "Now that I got the procedure, it was like a burden was let off. It was kind of a sigh of relief."
The Pistons, though, won’t get to relax, not even after Jackson returns. While he’s out, they’ll look to Ish Smith to hold the fort at point guard. Smith has performed well as a fill-in floor general in recent seasons, but he would be hard-pressed to keep Detroit afloat in the East’s postseason picture.
That will put all the more pressure on Jackson to not only return in a hurry but hit the ground running once he's back.
Winners: D’Angelo Russell and Nick Young
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In the wake of last season’s Snapchat debacle, D’Angelo Russell and Nick Young seem to have reached a workable detente in the Los Angeles Lakers’ locker room—enough so for both to play well in the preseason.
Russell has looked like a star-in-waiting for the Purple and Gold. The second-team All-Rookie performer has scored 20 points or more in three of his last four exhibition games, including a 31-point, 11-assist assault against the Sacramento Kings during a 116-104 defeat.
Young, meanwhile, has looked like a new man at age 31. He’s shot the ball well—11-of-19 from three so far—but it’s the energy and effort with which he’s defended that have reopened eyes.
“Obviously he’s going to make shots here or there,” head coach Luke Walton said, per the Southern California News Group’s Mark Medina. “But defensively, he’s fighting over screens, making one-on-one [stops] and getting in and mixing it up.”
What’s gotten into Young, you ask? Is it that he and Russell have reconciled? Is it that Young is playing to preserve his present and future with his hometown team after three disastrous seasons as a Laker?
Not if you ask Swaggy P himself.
“It’s a new year. All the stuff is in the past,” Young said, per Medina. “I just look good. When you look good, you play good.”
Winner: Benches Everywhere
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All across the NBA, longtime starters have started to get used to life on the pine, whether they like it or not.
Jordan Clarkson, fresh off signing a $50 million deal with the Lakers, is now the first man off the bench in L.A. Luke Walton has instead started Lou Williams next to Russell, perhaps to pump up the former Sixth Man of the Year’s trade value.
Brandon Knight, Kenneth Faried and Zach Randolph have the opposite problem in Phoenix, Denver and Memphis, respectively. In each case, precocious youngsters have come for their jobs: Devin Booker with the Suns, Nikola Jokic with the Nuggets and JaMychal Green with the Grizzlies.
For Knight and Faried, this could be the beginning of the end in their current cities. Trade rumors swirled around Knight on draft day, and according to ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe, Faried remains on the block. For the 35-year-old Randolph, it’s more a matter of dealing with Father Time’s inevitable encroachment.
These may not be ideal roles in the minds of the players, but their talents and contributions will be welcomed with open arms by the second units they’re joining.
Loser: Los Angeles Clippers
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The Los Angeles Clippers’ 45-point loss to the Golden State Warriors wasn’t pretty. Neither was the comeback L.A.’s reserves let up to the Toronto Raptors or the fumbling and stumbling committed by Jamal Crawford and Austin Rivers en route to defeat opposite the Utah Jazz.
But there’s only so much stock anyone can put in subpar preseason results. Come October 27, those wins and losses won’t matter.
What will matter is who the Clippers install at small forward—if they have anyone who can stick at that spot at all. Head coach Doc Rivers has already tapped Luc Mbah a Moute, Alan Anderson and Austin Rivers to start at the 3 in exhibitions, with Wesley Johnson coming off the bench each time.
Of those options, only Anderson is a newcomer this season. His shooting ability, relative on-ball skill and sturdy defensive acumen could earn him the starting nod down the line.
That’s not an encouraging development, at least for ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe. “It’s probably not a good sign that this might be L.A.’s best-case scenario,” he wrote in predicting Anderson would wind up as the Clippers’ starting small forward.
Anderson may be an upgrade over Mbah a Moute, Johnson and Rivers, but against the likes of Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard out West, his resistance could be just as futile.
All quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted.
