Wembanyama and other top rookies make their highly anticipated debuts
Since Lebron, there has been arguably no player in sports with more hype surrounding him than the #1 overall pick, Victor Wembanyama. He made his long anticipated debut against in the San Antonio Spurs against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. Unfortunately his time on the floor was limited due to foul trouble, though he was able to make some special plays in the 4th quarter to keep the game close. The Spurs came up short thanks to some late game heroics from Luka but Wembanyama still managed to have a solid performance in his first game despite the foul trouble. In just 23 minutes, he scored 15 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.
Wembanyama was not the only highly drafted rookie to play in the Mavericks-Spurs season opener as the #12 overall pick in Derek Lively had very impressive performance. He had a big time performance off the bench with a 16 point 10 rebound double double while shooting an excellent 7-8 from the field in the 126-119 win.
Other highly touted rookies making their debuts were the #2 and #3 overall picks in Scoot Henderson and Brandon Miller. Scoot made his debut on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers, where he struggled early with his shot but finished with 11 points and 4 assists in a 123-111 loss on the road. As for Miller, he put together a solid performance off the bench making a couple highlights plays and finished with 13 points in 25 minutes of game action.
Old Faces in New Places
This past offseason there were some key players who made moves to new teams this offseason but no move was bigger than Milwaukee Bucks trade acquiring 7-time All-Star Damian Lillard. Lillard put on a show in his Bucks debut scoring 39 points in a vintage "Dame Time" performance hitting multiple clutch shots in the 4th leading the Bucks to 118-117 win over the Philadelphia Sixers.
Other big moves made by contenders was the Boston Celtics trade for Kristaps Porzingis and the Golden State Warriors trade for the future Hall of Famer Chris Paul. Porzingis put together a spectacular performance against his former team in his Celtics debut. He set a franchise record scoring 30 points which is the most ever scored in a Celtic debut. In a well rounded performance he grabbed eight rebounds while blocking 4 shots and hit a huge three late in the 4th to give the Celtics the lead where they close the game out in 108-104 win over the New York Knicks. As for Chris Paul, he made his debut against the Phoenix Suns where he put together a quality performance starting alongside Steph Curry due to Draymond being out. Despite an off shooting night, Paul was able to make some vintage plays scoring 14 points and dishing out 9 assists in the 108-104 loss to the Suns.
Are early injuries for the Suns already a concern?
The Phoenix Suns have formed a new big three that will surely put together an explosive offense with three lethal scorers in Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. However, despite the high expectations for the Suns there is already some concern I have with this team. Though we are just 3 games into the season the Suns are already dealing with injuries to 2 of their 3 best players. Beal has yet to play due to a back issue while Booker has missed the last two with a foot injury. Because of the early injury bug for the Suns we have yet to see their big 3 in the regular season.
What makes this most concerning for a team with championship aspirations is that due to the trades acquiring Kevin Durant last season followed by the offseason trade for Bradley Beal they have lost a lot of their depth. Due to this, they are a very top heavy team that could be heavily impacted if any of their stars miss a prolonged amount of time due to the injury. Also concerning is the fact that each member of the Suns big 3 missed a lot of time last season due to injury. In the 22-23 season, Beal missed 32 games, Booker missed 29, and Durant missed 35. Though he is currently healthy, Durant's injury trouble has been an issue for the last few years as since his Achilles injury in the 2019 Finals he has missed 27 or games each of the past of 4 seasons. I still expect the Suns to have an excellent season but in a tough western conference it will be interesting to see how the Suns perform if their injury struggles continue.
Source: NBA YouTube Channel, ESPN YouTube Channel
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