5 things I know about the NBA: The Rockets are terrifying, LaMelo Ball is chaos and more

The leaves are turning brown, there’s a brisk breeze in the morning, and the barista at Starbucks is asking if I want to try the seasonal pumpkin spice latte.

My answer is no. But the question does remind me of one thing: The NBA season is back.

The start of an NBA season is always exciting, and the first week did not disappoint. We saw surprise 40-point games and a 50-point barrage in Los Angeles. The new-look dream team in Philadelphia is fun and filled with drama, as Jaylen Brown starts a public media war with Jayson Tatum.

The Washington Wizards are above .500 for the first time since the 2022 midterm elections. Yes, Joe Biden was still in the White House, and Elon Musk had just purchased Twitter the last time Washington was above .500.

But, in typical NBA fashion, tragedy struck when Thunder forward Jalen Williams suffered a serious leg injury that put a damper on the end of the week. I fractured my fibula and tibia in ninth grade, and it changed my life forever. I’m sympathetic to anyone going through major surgery and the long road to recovery that follows.

Still, aside from the devastating injury news, the opening week was fantastic.

Welcome to my weekly NBA column, where I break down five things I know about the league from my office in Dallas, Texas. We have contenders to fear, agendas to investigate, stocks to buy and sell, a Mavericks diagnosis and a training arc worthy of an anime protagonist.

The Final Boss

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama had a chance to send the game into overtime. He had a mismatch down low, with Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson defending him, and got his shot off from less than 12 feet away.

But Thompson reminded everyone that attacking the rim against Houston might be a terrible idea.

With the Rockets clinging to a two-point lead against the Spurs, Wembanyama turned toward the basket for what looked like a game-tying finish. Thompson, listed at 6-foot-7, rose to meet the 7-foot-4 center and swatted the shot away, preserving Houston’s 114-110 win.

It was the type of defensive play that reminds NBA fans what a 99th-percentile athlete actually looks like. Maybe Thompson is the alien, not Wembanyama.

Thompson finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. But that final rejection was the highlight of a larger statement about Houston’s potential.

The Rockets already have Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun. Now, with Thompson continuing to develop and Fred VanVleet back on the floor after missing last season with a torn ACL in his right knee, Houston has another reason to make the rest of the Western Conference uncomfortable.

The question is whether those pieces can turn the Rockets into a legitimate championship threat. They have the personnel to make life miserable for opponents, but the real test will be whether they can sustain that level when injuries start to mount up again.

The agenda of the week

LaMelo Ball might be one of the most unorthodox players the NBA has ever seen. But that’s also what makes him so underrated.

Ball’s on-off net rating last season was plus-6.9 with the Charlotte Hornets, who foolishly traded him. Charlotte posted a blistering 125.2 offensive rating with the playmaking savant on the floor.

Somehow, he has been even better so far with the Minnesota Timberwolves, helping lead them to an undefeated start. Ball has a plus-39.5 net rating, and Minnesota has a 127.8 offensive rating with him on the floor.

The synergy between Ball and Anthony Edwards has produced some of the most chaotic, exhilarating basketball the league has to offer.

Edwards is making 43.3% of his 10.0 3-point attempts per game this season, while Ball is shooting 42.3% on 8.7 attempts. Their high-volume, efficient long-range shooting evokes memories of the Splash Brothers in Golden State.

Of course, neither player is likely to sustain that level of shooting all season. But this is not some random hot streak from two players who cannot shoot. Ball made the second-most 3-pointers in the league last season, while Edwards shot 39.9% on 8.4 attempts per game.

The question is whether Minnesota can turn this backcourt pairing into something more than a League Pass attraction. If the shooting and defense hold up then the Timberwolves could become a serious problem for opposing teams.

For now, this team is firmly No. 1 in my League Pass rankings.

The basketball stock market

SELL: Darius Acuff’s ability to affect winning basketball

I’m selling stock in Acuff’s ability to affect winning basketball in a meaningful way as a rookie. He has struggled to start his NBA career, and his shot selection has been a major part of the problem.

Acuff has attempted 74 shots through his first three NBA games, the most in league history over that span.

• His first game: 24 field-goal attempts
• Game 2: 26 field-goal attempts
• Game 3: 23 field-goal attempts

He also ranks second in the NBA in total field-goal attempts, with only one player ahead of him having played an additional game.

Kings center Domantas Sabonis leads the league with 17.3 rebounds per game, partly because he keeps getting opportunities to clean up Acuff’s bricks.

This cannot continue. Sacramento will need to make some adjustments if it wants to turn those possessions into something productive.

BUY: The Lakers as a top-five team in the West

I’m buying stock in the Lakers finishing among the Western Conference’s top five teams this season.

Los Angeles is 3-0 and leads the NBA in scoring, averaging 128 points per game, and field-goal percentage, at 54.5%.

Lakers guard Luka Doncic ranks second in the NBA in scoring at 34.3 points per game. He is also shooting 39.5% from 3-point range on 12.7 attempts per game.

Doncic has helped newly acquired center Walker Kessler turn the paint into a personal dunk contest. Kessler is averaging 16.7 points while shooting a league-leading 82.1% from the field. He is also averaging 3.0 blocks per game, anchoring Los Angeles’ defense.

Of course, there is one small issue: Doncic is averaging 7.0 turnovers per game.

The Lakers can survive some sloppy possessions when their offense is this productive. But if Doncic can cut down on the giveaways without sacrificing his scoring and playmaking, Los Angeles has a chance to be one of the West’s best teams.

The Dallas diagnosis

The Mavericks sit at 1-2 after last week’s games, but their two stars have looked terrific.

Cooper Flagg is averaging 23 points, five rebounds, four assists and four stocks, the basketball shorthand for steals and blocks, to start the season. One of his two games was cut short because of a shoulder injury.

The 19-year-old has been a menace as a defensive playmaker while making 60.9% of his shots. If Flagg can maintain that level of play after returning from a left shoulder injury, he could make a legitimate push for his first All-Star selection.

If you spent the past year on the moon and returned to Earth for the Mavericks’ season opener, you might not have realized Kyrie Irving was coming back from a torn ACL.

The Dallas guard has shot a scorching 42.9% from 3-point range on seven attempts per game. His high-volume perimeter shooting, combined with his dazzling playmaking, makes Irving one of the league’s most entertaining players to watch.

But Mavericks fans already expected Flagg and Irving to be good. Sergio de Larrea (Larry for short) might be the player who has surprised everyone.

After playing fewer than seven minutes across the Mavericks’ first two games, Larry saw his role expand with Flagg and Irving out against the Spurs on Saturday.

He responded with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists against the defending Western Conference champions.

Larry’s ability to find passing lanes, cut without the ball and knock down 3-pointers could make him one of the steals of the 2026 NBA Draft.

The Mavericks have plenty to figure out at 1-2, but there is something encouraging about the way their young players are beginning to contribute. Flagg looks like a potential star, Irving looks healthy, and Larry has shown that he might be more than a developmental project.

The Training Arc

I love anime, and if you’re a fan, you know that one of the best moments in any series is the training arc. The protagonist disappears, grinds through the offseason and returns with a new skill set that leaves everyone wondering what happened.

The winner of this award to start the NBA season has to be Ty Jerome.

Believe it or not, after Sunday’s games, Jerome was leading the league in scoring at 34.7 points per game. His lowest point total through three games was 28, and he reached that mark while shooting 50% from the field.

Jerome is the perfect example of a training arc because he played only 15 games last season but was excellent when he was on the floor. He showed enough to make you believe there was another level to his game. After putting in the work during the offseason, he appears ready to break out.

The early scoring numbers are eye-popping, but the bigger question is whether Jerome can sustain his production and turn it into a larger role over the course of the season.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Jerome scored 45 points on 25 shots in the Grizzlies’ season opener and has helped lead Memphis to an undefeated record.

The training arc is complete. Now we get to see what happens when the rest of the league realizes the protagonist has leveled up.