What is your biggest overreaction to opening week of the NBA season?
Scott Rafferty (@crabdribbles): Nikola Jokic will be a starter in the All-Star Game.
It helps that the league is currently thin at the center position — DeMarcus Cousins was the Western Conference's leading vote-getter at the five last season and he's currently sidelined with an injury — but Jokic has been on an absolute tear to start this season, carrying the Denver Nuggets to a 3-0 start with averages of 26.3 points, 10.0 rebounds and 7.3 assists per contest.
While he won't maintain that pace for the entire season, Jokic did average 18.5 points, 10.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game last season. Even if his scoring drops a little as the season progresses, there's no doubt that he's skilled enough to average 20-plus points and 7-plus assists per game to go along with his double-digit rebounds.
A 7-footer averaging close to a triple-double on one of the best teams in the West? See you in Charlotte, Jokic.
Gilbert McGregor (@GMcGregor21): We will recognize Anthony Davis as the best player in the league by the year's end.
Davis has been on the cusp of overtaking the throne for some time now. A combination of a slight regression from his peers and Davis' continued improvement will make the 2018-19 season the one in which he finally gains the crown.
Over a small two-game sample, Davis is averaging 28.5 points (on 63.6 percent shooting), 13.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 2.5 blocks and 2.5 steals, and the Pelicans have yet to lose. With the exception of Kawhi Leonard, no one else in the "best player" conversation can even say they haven't lost a game yet.
Many expected the Pelicans to take a step back this year, but the continual rise of Anthony Davis, who is still just 25, will propel his team to new heights this year. I've already predicted that Davis will win Defensive Player of the Year, and I'm now beginning to envision him as an MVP.
Micah Adams (@MicahAdams13): Stephen Curry will win another MVP
Through four games, Curry is off the second-best start of his career behind only the 2015-16 season in which he went on to become the first unanimous MVP selection in NBA history. He’s been Golden State’s best player, leading the team in scoring, assists and PER while once again hovering around the hallowed 50-40-90 club which he’s already done twice in his career.
More importantly? The Warriors have been a mess without him on the floor, posting a net rating of -4.9 in 49 minutes, a ridiculous 16.1 points worse than with him in the game. It’s exactly what we’ve seen over the last two years with Curry’s on/off impact weighing more heavily than Kevin Durant’s.
Should the Warriors finish with the league’s best record – a decent bet even with the loss to Denver – it’s hard to argue against a third MVP award for Curry if he continues to produce at this level.
Kyle Irving (@KyleIrv_): Kemba Walker will finish top-five in points per game.
In a league where players like James Harden, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and LeBron James (among others) seem to score 30-plus points whenever they feel like it, it's not easy to find your name on the top-5 scoring list at the end of the season.
Kemba is off to a historic start, tying Curry's record for 3s made through the first four games of the season with 21. He's averaging a league-best 33.0 points per game and he hasn't been inefficient either, shooting 49.0 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from deep.
His 24.5 field goal attempts per game is obviously inflated due to a small sample size and his 34.7 usage percentage trails only Giannis Antetokounmpo for highest in the league, which is also higher than expected. But if the Hornets are going to compete for a playoff spot, Walker's number is going to be called early and often.
For a 28-year-old two-time All-Star in a contract year, he's going to do his best to keep this pace all season long to prove that if you want to sign him this offseason, you better bring out the Brinks truck. These facts will result in Kemba's first career top-five scoring finish.