Why it’s ‘panic time’ as superstar mystery deepens; champs’ $750m concern: NBA Talking Points

Kawhi Leonard’s ongoing absence ought to elevate alarm bells for the LA Clippers in a season when it was all supposed to return collectively for the franchise.

Plus the truth of the Golden State Warriors’ woes and the fallout on the Brooklyn Nets after Steve Nash’s sacking.

That, and extra, in our NBA Talking Points.

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WHY IT’S ‘PANIC TIME’ FOR KAWHI

While the Lakers have copped the brunt of the criticism in LA this season, the Clippers have their very own main downside amid Kawhi Leonard’s thriller absence.

Coming off an ACL harm that sidelined the star ahead for all of final season, Leonard was bizarrely introduced off the bench for 2 of the primary three video games of this marketing campaign and sitting out the opposite regardless of beginning over the pre-season.

He’s since been sidelined with ‘right knee management’ regardless of the Clippers claiming he hasn’t sustained any of kind setback – dominated out for not less than the crew’s upcoming street journey in Houston and San Antonio – having already missed 5 of seven contests.

It comes an entire 17 months after Leonard initially suffered his ACL harm within the 2021 post-season. Yes, it’s a critical harm, however no ACL ought to take that lengthy to get better from.

And so the alarm bells ought to properly and actually be going off.

“Is it panic time? I feel like it is,” The Ringer’s Bill Simmons stated of the Leonard scenario on The Bill Simmons Podcast.

“I was excited to watch Kawhi – I didn’t if he was going to be 90 or 95 per cent of what he was – but I assumed we were getting him. It’d been a year and a half since he’d been hurt.

“It’s just never good when the guy who’s been injured a bunch of times with the same thing and now has a setback again and you’re near your mid 30s.

“The first red flag was when he didn’t start opening night.”

This is a Clippers facet that went into this season because the favourites to return out of the loaded Western Conference underneath the lead of Leonard and Paul George together with perhaps the deepest roster within the league that includes the likes of Marcus Morris, Norman Powell, Ivica Zubac, Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, Nicholas Batum and Robert Covington and bolstered by John Wall.

Yet by way of seven video games, they’re 3-4 in an detached begin to the season that included a four-game dropping streak and consecutive losses to the Thunder, ranked second final within the league in offensive ranking and ranked fourth final in internet ring.

However Tyrone Lue’s facet has largely averted scrutiny given the likes of the Lakers and Nets have struggled so badly.

In truth, the Clippers solely narrowly averted dropping a fifth-straight recreation in opposition to the lowly-ranked Rockets if not for a George recreation winner.

But extra necessary to how they’re really taking part in proper now could be the unknown availability of Leonard shifting ahead. Without him, they’re frankly not a title contender, as we noticed with final 12 months’s iteration of the Clippers with out Leonard – basically the identical roster – that did not make the playoffs.

It’s abruptly turn out to be an unstable surroundings and utterly opened up the Western convention sweepstakes.

The man referred to as the ‘Claw’ was thought-about the important thing issue to assist push the Clippers again into title competition, nevertheless it feels extra like a pipe dream than something proper now.

KEY REPERCUSSIONS OF UDOKA RETURN

The NBA is a loopy league at one of the best of instances, in actual fact more often than not, however that is plain wild.

Just over a month after former Celtics coach Ime Udoka was suspended by the franchise for your entire season for violating crew insurance policies because of an improper intimate relationship with a crew staffer, he’s now reportedly set to turn out to be Brooklyn’s new coach lower than 10 video games into the marketing campaign.

You can’t make these items up.

It comes after the Nets parted methods with Steve Nash after their disappointing 2-5 begin to the season that’s been marred by off-court drama – largely surrounding Kyrie Irving – whereas their points date again to a chaotic low season when Kevin Durant requested for a commerce.

It’s price noting that the precise specifics of Udoka’s crew misconduct on the Celtics have been by no means made public exterior of that he made undesirable feedback to the feminine staffer – reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski as “crude language.”

And now that he’s out of Boston and set to return to the NBA highlight, there’s cause to imagine that extra data round his sudden departure may get leaked by reporters.

“There was never clear reporting on what actually took place with the Boston fallout and here’s me betting there will be clear reporting now,” NBA podcaster Chris Veron stated on The Mismatch podcast.

“Somebody in Boston is going to report everything. They’ve all held it back, but now all the talk is going to come to the surface.

“We’re going to find out if people are going to be able to make their decisions if they think Ime Udoka is worthy of being a head coach again or not.”

Udoka was an assistant for the Nets two years in the past previous to becoming a member of Boston, taking the Celtics to the NBA Finals in his first season.

It included the Celtics sweeping the Nets 4-0 in final 12 months’s playoffs amid studies on the time key Brooklyn figures favored Udoka as a coach.

Wojnarowski reported that the Celtics would allow him to depart for a distinct job, whereas Yahoo Sports added they wouldn’t search any compensation.

So is Udoka the person who may also help drag the Nets out of the outlet they’re in?

“This says to me they think Udoka is the guy who can make it work with this mess they currently have,” The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor informed The Mismatch podcast.

“But I don’t think just changing the coach is enough to overcome what this team is in right now.

“They need accountability with each other. If Udoka can get Kyrie to hold himself accountable and KD (Durant) to hold himself accountable instead of just pointing fingers at others, if they can have a locker room culture like that, then sure they can be better.

“But strictly from a basketball standpoint, it doesn’t change the fact that Ben Summons is already hurt, Kyrie Irving hasn’t played a lick of defence, the team lacks wings, they aren’t healthy with their depth as well, and they lack a big behind (Nic) Claxton that adds size and beef.

“This team has roster issues, they have guys underperforming, there’s chemistry issues and the Kyrie stuff looms over all of it.”

WARRIORS HARD TRUTH AMID $750 MILLION QUESTION MARK

Is Golden State the bona fide title contender it was considered?

The reigning champions are reeling amid a three-game dropping streak to take a seat twelfth within the West at 3-5, and albeit, past Steph Curry’s heroics, look a methods off the highest groups.

It’s included the Warriors having a 0-4 document on the street and points at each ends of the courtroom.

Golden State ranks twentieth within the league in offensive ranking, and to higher concern, ranks twenty fifth within the league in defensive ranking – a far cry from when it had the No. 1 defence final season.

The actuality is that these are numbers not reflective of a title contender … so what’s modified from final season?

The Warriors misplaced a number of key function gamers from their championship facet over the low season together with Gary Payton II, Otto Porter, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Nemanja Bjelica and Damion Lee – the previous two significantly worthwhile on defence.

They then added Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green and have given extra alternatives to their younger gamers equivalent to James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody.

While it’s nonetheless too early to find out the long-term prospects of those children, there’s honest queries over whether or not or not they’ll present optimistic NBA rotation minutes proper now.

As issues stand, they’ve confirmed in any other case, with Golden State’s bench internet ranking ranked second-last within the league.

“They have a lot of work to do. All of their continuity is in their starting line-up and so every time they veer outside it, it’s guys that either weren’t on the team last season or weren’t playing meaningful minutes,” the Ringer’s Rob Mahoney informed The Bill Simmons Podcast.

“When they’re incorporating those guys the defence has not been there. But is that because it won’t work or because it’s October?”

It comes as Golden State handed out mega contract extensions to Jordan Poole (4 years, $140 million) and Andrew Wiggins (4 years, $109 million) in a monetary dedication to maintain the championship core collectively that takes the crew’s payroll and luxurious tax for the 2023/24 season to an unprecedented $483 million (AUD$750m), per ESPN’s Bobby marks, in an all out win-now transfer.

So committing such funds with out being something lower than a high two or three favorite for the title, once more, which they’re at present a good method off, could be an enormous oversight.

Next season additionally marks the final marketing campaign Klay Thompson, 32 years outdated, and Draymond Green, 32, are underneath contract, whereas the pair have been beneath their greatest type this season.

Thompson, though nonetheless getting again in control at NBA degree after a number of critical accidents, has actually struggled, averaging simply 13.3 factors per recreation on 35 per cent taking pictures together with 29 per cent from downtown – the bottom returns of his profession exterior of averaging 12.5 factors in his rookie season.

His frustrations boiled over throughout final week’s conflict in opposition to Phoenix when the sharpshooter was ejected for the primary time in his profession after getting embroiled in a heated showdown with Devin Booker.

“I do think Klay and Draymond are entering a different point of their careers,” The Ringer’s Bill Simmons stated on The Bill Simmons Podcast.

“I thought the most interesting thing about the Booker and Klay stuff wasn’t just them going at it, I think Klay was really frustrated because Booker was kicking his ass.

“For Klay that felt like a ‘I’m moving into a different phase of my career and I’m not ready to accept it yet’ moment.

“The difference between being a star and a good player is stars have reliability and good players every once in a while can be good, and then other times you don’t know what you’re getting.

“It’s a plot I’m watching.”

SCARY REASON UNBEATEN BUCKS CAN GET BETTER

The Milwaukee Bucks are the final crew undefeated at 6-0 and have seemed one of the best facet this season.

They’re ranked first within the league in defensive ranking and third in offensive ranking, whereas Giannis Antetokounmpo is taking part in at a degree past anybody proper now.

The ‘Greek Freak’ has averaged a career-best 33.8 factors to go together with 12.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists advert 1.7 blocks proper now and continues to be a pressure and terror at each ends of the ground.

Meanwhile the 34-year outdated Brook Lopez’s bounce again has been one of many nice tales of the season, averaging each a career-high and league-best 3.3 blocks per recreation.

But there’s a cause the Bucks can get even higher in a scary prospect for the remainder of the league – and his identify is Khris Middleton.

Middleton is nearing his return from a wrist harm, having been assigned to Milwaukee’s G League affiliate the Wisconsin Herd for observe on Wednesday.

Claiming his third All-Star season in 4 years final 12 months, Middleton averaged 20.1 factors, 5.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists per recreation, and can present a very worthwhile taking pictures increase.

For all their good play, the Bucks at present rank twenty fourth within the NBA in three-point proportion at 33.5, per NBA.com/stats, whereas Middleton is a 39.2 per cent profession shooter from downtown.

Helping in that division would then theoretically enhance the Bucks’ offence, which is at present ranked sixteenth within the league.

His presence alone will assist stretch the ground and he’s a harmful second possibility whereas opposition defences hone in on Antetokounmpo.

Middleton can be a worthwhile defender with size and flexibility that may additional enhance the Bucks’ already potent defence.

We noticed simply how worthwhile Middleton was to the Bucks when he received struck down throughout the crew’s playoff collection with Chicago final 12 months to depart a large void regardless of Milwaukee happening to win the first-round collection.

But the Bucks then narrowly misplaced to eventual NBA finalists Boston in seven video games of their semi-finals matchup with out Middleton – an final result you need to assume the star ahead would’ve helped change.

And who is aware of, if not for Middleton’s harm, maybe the Bucks would’ve been back-to-back champions.