The first week and a half of the NBA is in the books. Here’s the key takeaways from Week 1.

RJ Barrett is a frontrunner for Rookie Of The Year

Now, it’s only four games in, but the kid is looking legit. He’s putting up 20.5 points per contest on 50% shooting from the field and an absurd 47% from three, with seven and a half boards and two steals a game. All the worries of him having tunnel vision and shooting inefficiently are gone, and he looks to be an impact player for this season. As BHS Senior Chris Curley said, “RJ Barret is a lock for Rookie of the Year.”

The Warriors are struggling with the loss of Kevin Durant and the injury to Klay Thompson.

Any team that loses two superstars will decline, but with the talent around the Warriors, you’d think they’d stay afloat. The first week did not go as planned for them. They lost to the Paul George-less Clippers(albeit a great team still) and got blown out by the Thunder, with D’angelo Russell getting ejected. Yikes. Might be close to time to hit the panic button in the Bay Area. 

The Raptors look to be just fine without Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green

Pascal Siakam looks great, averaging 28 points and ten boards while leading them to a 3-1 record through Week One. Kyle Lowry seems to have avoided a decline, for right now, and OG Annunoby is taking advantage of his bigger role.

The Pelicans are struggling to close games without Zion Williamson, but the Anthony Davis trade is paying off well.

The Pelicans are still winless in the 2019-2020 season as the top pick in this spring’s draft rehabs from a right knee injury. Brandon Ingram is scoring at a highly efficient rate and Lonzo Ball is averaging 13 & seven. Josh Hart is exceeding expectations, and Jrue Holiday is playing like an All-Defense player.