We’ve rang in a new decade, and in the NBA world, new superstars are forming that are going to carry this league through this decade and beyond. 2020 has a chance to be the best and biggest year the NBA has ever had, and this postseason is set up to be epic. What should you be looking for?

Zion Williamsons’ Debut

We’ve still yet to see Zion in an actual NBA game but from all the reporting, a debut is near for the 6’8, 280 pound rookie mammoth. It’s certainly a negative that we’ve yet to see him, considering the NBA built their early-season NBA TV schedule around the New Orleans Pelicans and instead of seeing Zion, we’ve watched the Pelicans lose to a bunch of teams they are less talented than. From what we saw in preseason, Zion looked like this slasher from another world, almost freelancing on offense while still putting up big numbers. A core of Zion and a fast-rising Brandon Ingram (25.2 PPG) is one the Pelicans can build around over the course of the ’20s.

Where does Andre Iguodala land?

Andre Iguodala, like Zion Williamson, hasn’t played a game this year, but for entirely different reasons. Since being traded from Golden State to Memphis in July, The Grizzlies and Andre have had an agreement that he can stay away from the team while they try and find him a trade partner. Iguodala has been heavily linked to both of the LA teams and will make a difference wherever he lands. It’d be quite interesting if he were to land in Dallas or Denver, both teams that have assets to give up while the Lakers and Clippers are dependent on Iguodala demanding he only go to LA. He’s a wild card and can make the difference to a championship winning team.

Trade Deadline-Buyout Market

The two stars that have been heavily linked in trades is Andre Drummond and Kevin Love, yet their situations are different. Kevin Love is owed 91 million dollars AFTER this season, which makes teams wary of trading for a power forward in his 30’s, and which would also debilitate their cap flexibility in the Summer of 2021, where superstars galore will be available via Free Agency. Andre Drummond has a player option for 28 million after this season, which he might want to pick up unless he really wants to get out of Detroit. Centers are a dying breed, especially ones who can’t space the floor, and I don’t think he gets a contact from a team close to that annual salary. If I had to make a guess, Drummond gets moved before Love, but I have my doubts either go anywhere.

As Far as the buyout market goes, you just never know who will get bought out and will enter free agency, but with the parity in the league going on, any solid rotation player can help contenders and give an edge over another team. Keep an eye on the Lakers and Sixers, two rosters that are very good, but a solid addition can push them over the top.

How many PPG does James Harden end up with?

What James Harden is doing right now is honestly ridiculous and comical at this point. Over the last month, he’s shooting 52% from the field, 38.3 PPG, 5.7 rebounds, 7.9 assists, while making 6 3’s a game at a 38% clip. His 38.4 PPG would be he highest PPG average since Wilt Chamberlain and theres a possibility Harden can push it to 40 PPG before the regular season ends. He’s been absurd and while his free throws per game have gone down each month, his scoring averages are sitting tight while his efficiency is continuing to improve. We’re watching the peak of a historic scorer.

MVP Race

I haven’t even talked about Luka Doncic, a player that has the potential to be the player of the ’20s, and he’s right in the middle of the MVP Conversation, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a top-4 seed in the Western Conference while almost averaging a triple-double. I just got done talking about James Harden and all of his shenanigans. Giannis Antetokounmpo, who we will talk about more later, is leading the Milwaukee Bucks to the best record in the league while posting 30 points and 13 rebounds a game, all in 31 minutes per contest. You can make the argument for either LeBron James or Anthony Davis to round out the top 4, with both players leading the Lakers to the top seed in the Western Conference. This is all the makings of an MVP race where no matter who wins, the group of players I mentioned will feel snubbed that they didn’t.

Playoff Seeding

We’re all looking forward a potential matchup between the Clippers and Lakers in the Western Conference Playoffs, and most expect it to be in the West Finals. However, it’s a realistic chance that it could be a second round matchup rather than the Finals, especially since the Clippers are insistent on resting Kawhi Leonard as much as possible during the regular season. That’d make teams like Denver and Houston very interesting, as they wouldn’t have to go through the LA gauntlet to reach the NBA Finals. In the East, with 6 teams (Milwaukee, Toronto, Boston, Miami, Indiana, Philadelphia) all legit contenders, matchups are everything. We saw it last year, we’re going to see it again.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Yes, he’s a free agent in 2021, a whole year from now. Depending on how this season turns out, it’s going to drastically influence his decision on whether or not he wants to stay in Milwaukee. If Milwaukee wins a championship this year, then it’s almost a 100% guarantee he stays. If they were to get knocked out before they reach the NBA Finals or even an NBA Finals loss, the endless chatter about where he can land is only going to get louder. If Giannis then declines the 5 year, 252 Million Dollar contract extension he can accept in the summer, Milwaukee is then going to be put in the impossible position of whether to look at trade offers or risk losing him for nothing.

NBA Stars Returning

While we expect Steph Curry to return to the court before the 2019-20 season ends, it won’t matter much since the Warriors are trying to tank into a top draft pick. So we’ll throw Curry in with Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and John Wall as all top players who should be on the court when the 2020-21 season begins. When these players are healthy, it makes for a better NBA product, and it also means the Warriors will be back at full strength, adding another team contending in the Western Conference.

A Different NBA Schedule?

While it’s still preliminary, the NBA Board of Governors plan on proposing a change to the NBA schedule starting in 2020-21. The proposed plan includes a Mid-Season tournament in which players get a $1 Million dollar payout and a 78 game schedule instead of 82. While the changes would add a new wrinkle into a schedule that’s been set in stone for so long, it’s hard to imagine players, who are already taking precautions making sure they’re healthy for the postseason, taking a mid-season tournament serious enough that doesn’t count the same as winning a NBA Championship. Either way, It’s a topic that’s going to be talked all the way until owners vote in April.

2020 Hall of Fame

Kobe. Duncan. Garnett. It’s must watch television.

Creating my own website for this semester was one of the best things that I could’ve done. It’s given me the platform to write with freedom and use my own ideas and let other people see my ideas and opinions. I’ve written articles for websites before but stopped because of school, so being able to do both has been a real benefit for me. I plan on keeping this website and will continue to use it to write my own articles and will use it to show future potential employers.

One of the things I wanted to change (and will change) is the name of the website. I need to change it to something basketball based, a catchy basketball phrase. Something that will stick. The layout is also something I will change eventually, as
I was more focused on just content this semester. One way I could have better promoted it is maybe tweeting out my website once a week or so, just letting people know to go check my website out. The best thing about this semester is the platform this website has given me to write my own content. It’s why I want to keep my site running in the future. All this is going to benefit me long-term, writing as much as possible can only help me long-term. If I want to accomplish my long term goals, I must keep taking it serious and producing quality content.

My most popular post was my article about Kawhi Leonard and what he could potentially accomplish this season if he were to win an NBA Championship. It got almost 70 views, and while 70 isn’t a crazy amount, only the people that follow me on twitter and my professor were able to see it, so not too shabby. I believe it got the most views because of Kawhi’s popularity, and he’s a polarizing figure in San Antonio. I was surprised with even posts that I didn’t publish on my main twitter, I was still able to get views on them, and I think there’s potential to grow even if its my own website.

My media:

Twitter: @_Jeremyyyy

Instagram: @_Jeremybochniak

Facebook: Jeremy Bochniak

I’ve been going to Spurs games for a long time, a LONG time. 12 years to be exact. One of my biggest regrets during these twelve years is I haven’t taken enough pictures at the games, seeing these players during present times. Over the last couple of years, there’s been so much turnover in the NBA; Players switching teams, dynasties coming to a hault (Golden State). I knew coming into this season I wanted to take more pictures and give myself moments I can look back on 5-10 years from now.

I put the picture up of me and Rudy Tomjanovich up first because he’s a coaching legend and someone I was surprised to see at a game. It was after the game against the Los Angeles Lakers where were simply waiting for traffic to die out so we can go back to m parents. I take a look on my left and I notice a taller, older man and I immediately recognize who he was. I didn’t want to go over and bother him but my dad insisted I go talk to him and he was nice enough to let me take a picture with him. A little info on Tomjanovich; 2 time NBA Champion head coach with the Houston Rockets, and also played with the Rockets in the 1970’s where he was a 5x All-Star. Meeting him was one of the cooler moments I’ve ever got to experience.

The Rest of the pictures I have up are just some I took during downtime of an NBA game. It’s easiest to take pictures of a player when free throws are being shot and it’s pretty easy to take a good one. Choosing the players were the easiest part. LeBron James is on my favorite team and is one of the greatest players of all-time. Kawhi Leonard won the most recent NBA championship, then signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in July, where that team is considered one of the favorites to win. James Harden is the leading scorer of the NBA, and what he’s doing scoring the ball is unprecedented and is going to be hard for someone to replicate anytime in the near future. I’ve also written about all three of these players at some point this semester so another reason to take the pictures. I definitely plan on taking more as I go to more games throughout the year and can’t wait to post more of these in the future.

It’s a long NBA season, we all know it. We’re about 20 games through, give or take, a quarter of the season has already vanished. When we look at the landscape of the NBA, the two Los Angeles teams and the Milwaukee Bucks stand at the top of most power rankings. There have been quite a few surprises (Toronto, Miami, Dallas, etc.) However, there have been disappointments through the first quarter of the season and teams that haven’t met expectations. This doesn’t mean they can’t turn it around, but they need to be better.

Houston Rockets

Record wise, Houston isn’t off to a terrible start. They are 14-7, and just came off an impressive win against the Toronto Raptors in Canada. So what’s their biggest problem? For the most part, it’s been the James Harden show. He’s their Mr. Everything, and yes it’s going to win you regular season games, but it’s been proven to not work in May come playoff time. In July, the Rockets swapped PG’s with the Oklahoma City Thunder, trading Chris Paul for Russell Westbrook. Through 21 games, Westbrook is shooting under 40% from the field and 21%(!) from three. Teams are starting to double Harden once he crosses half-court, and they need Russ to not only playmate, but hit open 3’s. Right now, he’s doing not either well. That needs to change or Houston is going to come up short again and left answering the same questions on why they couldn’t beat elite teams in the playoffs.

Utah Jazz

Utah’s problems are a lot easier for the eye to see than say, the Rockets. In the preseason, most basketball heads viewed Utah as a top 4 team in the Western Conference and thought they would give serious problems to the teams they played in the playoffs. Instead, Mike Conley, their prized offseason acquisition, has been awful. Joe Ingles, a long-time starter, was moved to the bench and has somehow been even worse than Conley. Their last 3 games? A 20 point loss to Toronto, in which they were down 40 at halftime. They head to Philadelphia, lose by 9, where the score doesn’t indicate just how out of the game they truly were. Then, the Lakers come into Utah, fresh off of playing in Denver the night before, and run Utah right off the court in embarrassing fashion. Utah’s record is 12-10, and we need to see a sense of urgency from them soon.

Philadelphia 76ers

In a previous article earlier this season, I proclaimed that the 76ers were going to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. They have done nothing to help my confidence with that proclamation since. On paper, they are as talented as any team in the league and their defense is still really good. The offensive end, on the other hand, has been a true struggle for this team. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons still look clunky on the floor, while their top two offseason acquisitions, Al Horford and Josh Richardson, haven’t spread the floor as well as they would like. It feels like this team is still missing a true sniper, a deadeye 3-point shooter to really complete this team. While 15-7 isn’t a bad record, the Milwaukee Bucks are 20-3, won 14 straight, and Giannis Antetokounmpo looks as dominant as prime Shaq. 76er fans should be concerned.

Honestly, I get it if you don’t like James Harden. His style of play isn’t for everybody, and there are times he’s more irritating to watch than you are amazed of his scoring prowess. He still hasn’t had his big playoff moment, where he leads the Houston Rockets to the NBA finals. There are times where he looks disinterested on the court, sometimes in big playoff moments. I get it. At some point though, it’s time to appreciate what he’s doing and realize that this is a once-in-a-generation type of scorer.

Last year, Harden averaged 36.1 points per game, a scoring mark only vested by Michael Jordan in 86-87 (37.1) and the most since Kobe Bryant in 05-06 (35.4). This is the type of scoring company we need to commonly put Harden in when we talk about historical context. And this year, he’s amped it up to 39.5 points through the first month of the season. The numbers he’s putting up commonly is comical at this point and it’s almost a surprise when he doesn’t hit the 40 point mark in the games he plays. He’s that good offensively. Right now, he’s only shooting 42% from the field when he’s a 44% career field goal shooter. From three point land, he’s at 32% when he’s a career 36% from downtown. Sooner or later, those shots he’s missing right now and he’s going to be averaging over 40 a night, a stat that seems impossible for almost any other player in the league.

You can say he’s a product of Mike D’Antoni’s run and gun system, you can say he manipulates the refs to get more foul calls (he’s averaging 15 trips to the free throw line. Insane), and you wouldn’t be wrong. No other player is going to put up those numbers regardless. James Harden is that good, that special offensively. He’s been doing it ever since he got to Houston. If he were to win a championship this year or in the next couple of years, he will be validated much more than he is right now. Whether he does that remains to be seen, but let’s appreciate what he’s doing right now.

James Harden’s stats can be found here.

The NBA season is officially two weeks old as of today, and storylines from all 30 teams surely aren’t going the way we all expected. We may know how some teams seasons’ are going to end (early in April) and there are some teams that are mysterious enough that it’s too hard to make a conclusion this early in the season. Players are breaking out, cases are being made; My five biggest takeaways from the first two weeks of Basketball.

The Phoenix Suns are good!!

When was the last time we could actually say that sentence without laughing immediately after? Phoenix started catching eyes when they beat the Clippers, and they verified that win with another win against the previously unbeaten Philadelphia 76ers. They are second in the league in assists, fifth in field goal percentage, and fifth in three pointers made (per NBA.com). Not to mention, both of their losses have been by one, against teams expected to make the playoffs. For years, I’ve always thought Devin Booker was a little overrated because I didn’t think he made his teammates better. Well turns out if you give him teammates who can actually play, he’s a damn good first option to have. Aaron Baynes has been just fantastic, and really just an underrated trade that many of us scoffed at. Monty Williams is proving how good of a coach he is, and his knowledge has turned the franchise around. This is a team you should root for to stay competitive.

Denver is.. good? Not good?

Fine, the headline may be a little misleading. It’s not like I’m going to say the Denver Nuggets are going to miss the playoffs, they’re too talented for that to happen. Yet, this team is starting to worry me just a bit. They remind me a lot of last years Celtics, a team that is so talented, maybe too talented for their own good. They have no Kyrie Irving nor do they have an ego problem the way the Celtics did, but it’s hard to tell a player that can start for ten other teams that they might not even play on a given game. It’s what makes Denver interesting and worth keeping an eye on, especially if they have a three or four game losing streak in January. If you start to hear rumblings of players being unhappy, then watch out, this season can turn out to be in disaster. With all this questioning I’m having of this team, they are still 4-2. Just keep an eye on them.

Luka Doncic is Special, SPECIAL.

Luka Doncic is my favorite player to watch in the league right now and it’s not even close, especially with Steph Curry going down with a broken hand. He’s so smooth with the basketball, and makes a lot of plays look so easy. Here’s a reminder: This is only his second year in the league and he’s 20 years old. 20!!!!! Just typing that is so exciting, we get to watch this man for at least another fifteen years. What’s great about that? His game isn’t depending on jumping higher than someone else, or being the fastest player on the court. His game is going to transition beautifully as he gets older, which means this level is play is something we should be expecting. He’s also twenty years old. We’re like.. six years away from seeing the absolute best version of him. If you’ve only seen him a handful of times, you’re doing yourself a disservice. He single handedly makes Dallas a must watch team, along with Porzingis. Don’t take Luka Doncic for granted, don’t make comparisons to other players this early, just enjoy him for what he is. He’s a future MVP. Take a look at Luka’s stats here

The Lakers need Andre Iguodala

Look, the Lakers are good. Like, really good. LeBron James looks rejuvenated not just offensively, but he’s bringing it on the defensive end as well. I thought he would coast through defensively to start, simply because evidence shows this is what LeBron does in the last five years. LeBron looks good, Anthony Davis is putting up big numbers, and their summer signings have, for the most part, looked good early. How about Dwight Howard?!? I couldn’t be happier for Dwight. BUT, the Lakers aren’t trying to win the regular season. You know they’re looking across the hall and seeing the Clippers, the only team they’ve lost to, playing just as well, and that’s a team who’s missing Paul George still. Two weaknesses I’ve seen with the Lakers early on is that their backcourt is a little weak and they most likely need another playmaker. Andre Iguodala checks both of those boxes and would make a playoff matchup with the Clippers even more compelling than it already is.

The Sixers are going to the Finals

A bold prediction! I’m usually not the type of person who just comes out and makes predictions, especially with the season being so early. Barring injuries, the Sixers make the Finals and it’s something I feel great about. It was a universal thought that the Sixers and Milwaukee Bucks were the two best teams in the East, and the choices were split. Just watching these two teams currently, the top eight players for Philly are head and shoulders better than the top eight players of Milwaukee. Defensively, they might be even better than the Clippers, considering their length and size of all five players on the court. Does the offense need tinkering? Yes, they need another shooter to spread the floor to be complete on both ends of the floor. They make it up with talent, and a roster that is just deep. The Bucks have the best player in Giannis if they play in a series, but Philly has too much size and too much talent for Milwaukee to handle. We’re going to see Philadelphia in June.