Kawhi and his Load management

Man I am getting upset, and so are basketball fans. The Clippers all star has been taking significant time off from the beginning of the season to rest his body. He is depriving national television of the Kawhi versus Giannis matchup tonight and will continue to miss more than a dozen games this season.

All of this aside, his numbers are crazy. Even more scary, he is completely fine letting his teammates run the show if it's working. Against the Jazz earlier this week he turned on the jets in the 4th quarter to win the game putting up 18 points in that quarter alone. His ability to lead his team to victory sometimes at the cost of his own stats is terrifying.

If he plays a majority of games and continuous to hit MJ level mid rangers while still shooting the 3 ball very efficiently. He may take home the Kia MVP title this year, and I hope he does.

​The rookie surprises

Tyler Herro and his ridiculous 3 shooting ability is something we saw in pre-season and we continue to see it now. He is taking some time adjusting to actual calculated defense but with some time he can become one of the better players in the NBA. Herro has a bright and long career ahead of him, full of employment opportunities....unlike Carmelo Anthony.

More impressive though is Kendrick Nunn. Becoming the first player since Sonics KD to put up more than 100 points in their first 5 games as a rookie. Even more impressive, he was undrafted. I am hoping this isn't a fluke, because if he continues to ball out we may have one of the greatest underdog stories ever.

PJ Washington is putting the NBA on watch. Postering defenders and shooting the 3 ball better than most of his teammates on the Hornets, he shows a promising career ahead of him. With Zion out PJ is my pick for ROY. With crazy amounts of opportunities he will have to be their number 1 scoring option, it is only a matter of time before he develops into an all star level player.

​Early All-Star starters watch list

In the west it seems Lebron will be locking down one of the guard positions as a starter with Steph out and multiple consecutive triple doubles. The forward spots also seem to be locked up. between Kawhi and AD. I can't see anyone else coming back from an injury or otherwise taking either of their spots in the west especially with all the attention the two LA teams are getting. The center position will undisputedly go to Jokic who continues to impress while watching 6 hours of Pokemon before game day. The last guard spot however is up for contention. And Luka has a pretty strong ballot at the moment. Leading a compelling Mavs team to some key victories, the young guard seems to be breaking record after record.

The east is a mess, but the center position is pretty much guaranteed for Joel Embid. An MVP candidate as well as a DPOY candidate, he is putting up numbers and leads the team with the best record in the NBA. It's too early to tell for any other position but Pascal Siakam is making a strong case for a forward position, leading a Kawhi-less Raptors team to some convincing wins. Giannis will 100% lock down the last forward position for very apparent reasons. But the guard spots are a giant question mark. As of now, Kyrie and Ice-Trae are leading the pack for the positions but both teams seem to be poised to be a low seeded playoff team. Some even say Kyrie may miss the playoffs this year. Only time will tell in the east.