NBA players thriving in new situations

One of the only constants in the NBA is change. Every offseason, so much changes around the league. Players change teams. Teams change coaches or general managers. Coaches change systems and rotations. Naturally, all of these changes are reflected on the floor the following season in one way or another.

Already during the 2018-19 season, we’re seeing how an offseason’s worth of changes is affecting the league. Below, we’ll dive into a host of players who are clearly thriving in their new circumstances.

Kawhi Leonard, Toronto Raptors

Yeah, so … he’s back. Kawhi missed almost the entire 2017-18 season, playing just nine games due to the aggravating circumstances surrounding his quadriceps tendinopathy and reported feud with the Spurs organization. Leonard did not appear fully healthy even when on the floor last season, but it seems safe to say he looks fully recovered in Toronto.

After playing in three of Toronto’s first four games, Kawhi is averaging 25.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 46 percent from the field and 47 percent from 3 and making five trips to the free-throw line each night. He absolutely took over down the stretch of the Raptors’ win over the Celtics in their second game of the season, scoring 22 points after halftime while essentially getting anywhere he wanted on the floor. He and Danny Green are back to working their perimeter defense magic, closing off driving lanes, sharking into passing alleys, and generally getting in the way.

The Raps are 4-0 but they have been an absolutely insane 30.5 points better per 100 possessions with Leonard in the game than on the bench. He has been an absolute boon for their offense, providing many of the same traits brought by DeMar DeRozan — only better in nearly every way. His additional gravity has been great for Kyle Lowry, who is off to a fantastic start alongside Leonard.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe, Milwaukee Bucks

In what comes as a shock to exactly zero people, Milwaukee’s core perimeter trio has benefited greatly from Mike Budenholzer’s system.

Giannis looks like a supercharged version of the superstar he was last year, averaging 27 points, 16 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. The scary part is he clearly still has room to improve, considering he is not yet finishing at the rim as consistently as usual. The Bucks’ improved court balance has given him so much more room to operate, and he has taken advantage in all the ways we thought he might. And his defense, all over the floor, has been splendid.

Middleton may be benefitting from Budenholzer’s system even more than Antetokounmpo. Frankly, he looks a whole lot like the player the Bucks have always wanted him to be.  A major paint point for Bucks fans over the years has been Middleton’s preference for the mid-range shot at the expense of the 3. Bud has changed that very quickly. Middleton is launching a career-high 7.7 shots a game from 3, taking more than half his shots from beyond the arc for the first time in his career. It helps that he’s knocking down in excess of 65 percent of those attempts. When the expected drop-off from 3 comes, he’ll make up for that with improved finishing at the basket, like Giannis. In a major development, he’s also getting to the rim far more often than he has over the past few years, which is an excellent sign.

Bledsoe, meanwhile, is defending with a verve unseen since his days with the LA Clippers. He appears to have struck the proper balance between looking for his own offense and facilitating the opportunities of Antetokounmpo, Middleton, and the rest of his teammates. And he’s been fantastic when attacking the basket, connecting on over 80 percent of his shot attempts off the drive while piercing the defense 9.3 times per game.

Garrett Temple, Memphis Grizzlies

An underrated trade acquisition this offseason, Temple has worked out splendidly for the Grizzlies so far.

Starting each game in the backcourt and averaging what is by far a career-high with more than 31 minutes per game, Temple appears to be an excellent complement to Mike Conley in Memphis’ backcourt. (It certainly helps that he’s playing almost all of his minutes alongside Conley.) He’s taking advantage when the defense bends away from him and showing zero hesitation in letting fly when left open from deep. It’s only three games, of course, but Temple is launching from 3 a full seven times per 36 minutes — far more than his career average of five per 36.

Temple’s also doing an admirable job defensively, using his length to disrupt passing lanes and contest shots all over the floor. He’d become an afterthought while toiling with the Kings over the past two seasons, but Temple appears to have not lost much of his effectiveness while in NBA purgatory.

Tim Hardaway Jr. and Noah Vonleh, New York Knicks

Before the start of the season, Hardaway was one of 10 players featured in our Stepmoji series. Late in our piece, I asked:

"So, is there anything he can do to solidify his place in the team’s future plans? … The best thing Hardaway can do is drastically out-perform the value of his deal …"

Mission accomplished, so far. Hardaway looks like one of the most improved players in the NBA early this season. Working as the top scoring option for the Knicks in the absence of Kristaps Porzingis, Hardaway has shown expanded shot diversity and it has paid off to the tune of 27 points per game.

His overall field goal percentage isn’t elite but part of that is because he has become New York’s late-clock bailout guy. (His true shooting percentage is also up so far this season despite a massive uptick in usage and the fact that he has had to do a lot more self-creation.) He’s getting up an absolute ton of 3s (9.3 per game) and doing so in a variety of ways: off pin-downs, spotting up, pulling from behind screens on pick-and-roll play. Hardaway has shown far more aggressiveness off the dribble as well, parading himself to the line a career-high five times per game.

He’s been engaged on the ball defensively, and though he still has a tendency to space out when away from the play, any sort of improvement from where he was last season is a positive sign. I’,m somewhat skeptical about much of this improvement holding up, but THJ has been super impressive.

Vonleh, meanwhile, might be resurrecting his career in New York. This dude is just grabbing absolutely every available rebound, snagging 17 percent of available offensive boards, 35 percent of defensive boards, and 26 percent of all boards up for grabs while he’s been on the floor. Vonleh’s activity level is much higher than it was during his time in either Charlotte or Portland, and he’s flashed the ability to switch and slide with perimeter players on defense. He still needs to figure out a way to be effective offensively beyond hitting the glass, but a player who rebounds as well as he has so far and is hyperactive on both ends has a place in the league somewhere. Vonleh is still just 23 years old, so there’s plenty of time for him to figure this out.

Nik Stauskas, Portland Trail Blazers

SAUCE CASTILLOOOOOOOO!

Stauskas absolutely combusted against the Lakers in LeBron’s L.A. debut, going off for 24 points on 11 shots as the Lakers essentially forgot he existed and left him open repeatedly. He couldn’t rediscover the stroke against the Spurs in Game 2, but came right back with another solid performance in Portland’s loss to Washington in their third game of the season. We shouldn’t expect Stauskas to consistently go off the way he did in the opener, but his increased willingness to actually let the ball fly has brought him back into the realm of viable NBA players. For a guy who was salary-dumped after his rookie year and essentially floated through the league for the past few seasons, it’s a major step up.