Casting a cursory eye up and down the standings this weekend, I noticed some appearances that made me take a second look. This went for teams for climbing and sliding. So, I’m introducing a potentially recurring feature called “Monday movers”, highlighting teams jostling and jockeying in the standings, likely bound to get more contentious as the season goes on.
San Antonio Spurs
What a thrill it must be for long-suffering Spurs fans to take a glance at the West’s top 10 and see their team there, after so many seasons spent hanging around the bottom of the conference. What a thrill it was for me, too!
It’s not all because of Victor Wembanyama, but the phenom did hit two milestones this weekend: he played his 100th NBA game and he turned 21. His in-game numbers are similarly worth celebrating.
He’s the first player since Shaquille O’Neal to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds before turning 21, and the 7th player in the last 45 years to score over 2,200 points (he’s scored 2,278) through his first 100 games. Other than Bill Walton and Brad Daugherty, Wembanyama’s the only other 7-foot center with 385+ assists before turning 21, though their first 100 games. He’s also put up more threes than Steph Curry did, with 225 to Curry’s 200 through their first 100 games.
The Spurs have one of the most fun, and competent, young rosters in the league. Jeremy Sochan, in his third season, is developing into a flashy shooter (the lime green hair is unmissable) with a lot of confidence with the ball. He’s certainly had some flubs, but not being anxious about trying, and failing, is a crucial part of NBA development. His 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game certainly don’t hurt.
The firepower doesn’t stop with Sochan: Charles Bassey has a 56.3 field goal percentage, Side Cissoko has a perfectly round 50.0 3-point percentage, Devin Vassell chips in for 15.7 points per game, and Chris Paul, the vet of the group, keeps dishing it up with 8.3 assists per game.
Philadelphia 76ers
There have been rumblings that the Sixers might try and turn back time to secure the one that got away. Namely, trading for Jimmy Butler. Put as much stake in that sort of smoke and mirrors and wishful thinking as you like, but it seems doubtful.
Without Butler, Philly is slowly, very slowly, finding some sense of balance — at least compared to how the team started the season. There still does feel like there’s a big, existential question mark in the room, shaped like Joel Embiid, but Tyrese Maxey, Guerchon Yabusele, and Caleb Martin are trying their absolute hardest to get a handle on this season.
Paul George and Embiid still play like strangers we’ve never met, an awkward misfit that’s way too prolonged at this point in the season, but eve George has found some consistency where it counts in his shooting.
It’s unlikely that the Sixers will see a surge to the top of the standings where so many assumed they’d be, but some semblance of competency will go a long way in the meantime.
