Winners and Losers After 2 Weeks

Sure enough, two weeks is enough time to know if you're a loser.

Things can change in an instant in the NBA.

Today's loser can be tomorrow's winner and vice versa. Or you just lose now and lose for the rest of the season. The vicissitudes of the NBA are inevitable!

Loser: Trae Young

It is unfortunate and, frankly, undeserved that Trae Young will be compared with Luka Doncic in perpetuity. The two are different players drafted into different situations with different expectations. But Doncic is still an All-Star and arguably already a Top 10 players in the league. Sorry Trae! Young also lost his pick-and-roll partner in crime John Collins to a 25-game suspension. He's all alone, and his team isn't winning. At least he's good to go viral once a game for a long 3-pointer.

Winner: Luka Doncic

But not just for clearly being the better player over Trae Young. The Mavericks have been really good, and way ahead of schedule. Their 4.0 net rating is ranks ninth in the league, and largely because of Doncic's otherworldly play — he's averaging 26.7 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 9.1 assists. I mean, what? Doncic is elevated by the spacing provided by Kristaps Porzingis, but even role players like Jalen Brunson, Maxi Kleber, and more are looking like real pieces because of Doncic's ability to make the right play. I think the Mavs have a good shot of making the playoffs.

Loser: The James Harden-Russell Westbrook experiment

The Rockets just aren't playing the type of basketball that led them to Western Conference Finals. Houston finished 27th in pace last year as they relied on Harden ISO ball. With Westbrook, the Rockets are ranked second in pace. It should have been expected with Westbrook, but he's still an inefficient shooter, and the rest of the Rockets' roster, Harden included, can't keep up. They are old and system-oriented. They're tragic defense 113.1 defensive rating is partly a byproduct of this new style.

Winner: The Anthony Davis-LeBron James connection

Not that this was ever in question, but now we get to see it, and it's producing results beyond expectations (at least my expectations). They have been the best defensive team in the league, energized by James actually caring and, of course, Davis and Dwight Howard commanding the paint. Okay, Dwight Howard was not an "of course" for me. Davis and James post an awesome 16.1 net rating on the court together, and it passes the eye test. The only concern is that James has already put on some extra mileage this season, which may portend trouble come playoff time. It's also LeBron though, so maybe not.

Loser: NBA fans watching the Clippers

Hot take time. Load management absolutely should not be a thing. However, I think the season should be reduced to something around 65 games without back-to-backs. Leonard appears to have a degenerative knee issue that obviously requires monitoring. I don't think he is healthy. Why is the NBA schedule is so demanding for Leonard and others, yet completely dependent on their health and ability to perform?

I don't believe in load management because NBA games don't exist in a vacuum. It's not an NBA player's "job" to win Championships, that's the bonus of fandom. The NBA exists as entertainment for fans, and any other interpretation is misguided. The journey of NBA players can still be appreciated while also expecting them to compete night in and night out.

Winner: The Clippers

But load management does exist. And for the sake of this piece, the line between good and bad is winning. Kawhi has been playing at a remarkable, Hall of Fame level. The Clippers are still 5-3 with Leonard missing two games and without Paul George. It's scary to think of what this team will be when George returns, because they're already scary as it is with the fourth best offensive rating in the league.

Loser: The New York Knicks

Losing by 20 to the Pistons without Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose, Reggie Jackson, and Tim Frazier would be a low point for any other team. But not the Knicks, coming off a 21-point loss to the Sacramento Kings. The lineups don't make sense. It took too long to give Frank Ntilikina playing time. Alonzo Trier and Damyean Dotson could certainly be used outside of garbage time (but they're such non-impact players that the point is moot anyway). Mitchell Robinson is still foul-prone and now injured. The power forward logjam is exactly what everyone expected. R.J. Barrett is the only thing giving any semblance of hope, and even then he's been run into the ground (36.8 minutes per game) by David Fizdale. Oh well. Only 2 more years for Giannis to not come.

Winner: Jimmy Butler

Becoming a father makes you a winner regardless, but that's not entirely why Butler is on this list. He's on here because Butler finally is the sole leader of a team, and they are pretty damn good at 5-2, third in the East. Butler is the unquestioned leader even though he is still only averaging 15 points a game. He is also averaging 7 boards and 6.5 assists and 3.8 (!) steals a game. No publicized fighting and strange power dynamics (KAT). He's the best player on his team, but his supporting cast has been pleasantly surprising. Bam Adebayo has spearheaded a defense with the third best defensive rating. Adebayo, alongside undrafted Kendrick Nunn, rookie Tyler Herro, and job-changing sixth man Goran Dragic, have been revelations on offense for an otherwise quiet Butler (I write this as Butler has 30 points at halftime). They very well could stay at the No. 3 seed.