At long last, the NBA regular season is coming to an end. Stars on the rise, incessant trade rumors, and teams’ inner drama have filled the past six months. And as the regular season comes to a halt, let’s take a look back at the five most captivating storylines of the regular season:
5. The Rise of the Rookies
One of the most interesting stories was how the 2018-19 rookie class has blossomed over the course of the year. The rookie group is headed by Luka Doncic, whose eye-popping numbers and play on the court have him firmly at the top of the Rookie of the Year conversation.
He’s averaged 21 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game, and has the Dallas Mavericks licking their chops at pairing him with fellow star Kristaps Porzingis next year. But Doncic is not alone in reshaping the future of a franchise.
Trae Young has been equally as impressive. After a slow start to the season, the sharpshooter has turned it up. Since the All-Star break, Young is averaging 24.8 points and 9.1 assists per game, leading all rookies in both categories during that span. Young, playing alongside John Collins and fellow rookie Kevin Huerter, has the Atlanta Hawks looking at a very bright future.
And while those two have dominated the Rookie of the Year discussions, other rookies have showed up in a strong way this year. Number-one overall pick Deandre Ayton is averaging a double-double for the Phoenix Suns. Marvin Bagley III is part of a young core helping the Sacramento Kings be fun to watch again. And Collin Sexton is pouring in over 20 points a game for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The future of the NBA is in the hands of these rookies, and if this past year is any indication, the league is in a good place.
4. March for the MVP
The race for the best player this season has been an intriguing one. James Harden, the reigning MVP, has upped his game to another level–averaging an absurd 36.1 points per game this year. No one has sniffed 36 points per game since Kobe Bryant scored 35 points a game in the 2005-06 season.
This season, Harden also went on an insane run of 32 straight games of scoring 30 or more points. That streak of 32 games put him second on the all-time list of consecutive 30-point games.
So it says a lot about Giannis Antetokounmpo, the other MVP candidate, that this isn’t a one-horse race. Giannis is having a career year of his own, averaging 27.7 points and 12.5 rebounds on 57% shooting, all while leading the Milwaukee Bucks to the best record in the NBA.
Other names have been tossed around like Nikola Jokic, who’s been another star who’s taken his game to the next level. Jokic has the Nuggets as one of the top seeds in the crowded Western Conference and, up until the last weeks of the season, were fighting the Golden State Warriors for the number-one seed.
But the MVP will go to either Harden or Giannis, and rightfully so. It’s been an exciting back-and-forth in a season littered with signature moments: Harden nailing the game-winning three at the buzzer to down the Warriors, or Giannis stuffing the stat sheet against the Philadelphia 76ers with 45 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and five blocks.
Each is just as deserving as the other, and neither should hang his head when the much-anticipated award is announced in June.
3. Trade Talks
Blockbuster trades can shake up an entire season. And the NBA was strangely close to having one such trade at the February trade deadline. Anthony Davis had publicly requested a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Los Angeles Lakers looked like prime suitors.
A bona fide star like AD would demand an enormous boatload in return, and the Lakers were up for the task. They offered the Pelicans a giant package that featured Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, two first-round draft picks, and more.
However, Dell Demps, the Pelicans’ GM at the time, ultimately declined the offer, choosing to wait for the summer to trade Davis. Mainly, Demps was waiting for the Boston Celtics, who promised that anyone was on the table in exchange for Davis.
The NBA world was very close, though, to having LeBron James team up with Anthony Davis, giving the Lakers two superstars to build around going into this offseason. Not getting the deal done may have cost Dell Demps his job, as he was fired a couple of weeks after the trade fell through.
In addition, Magic Johnson, the Lakers’ team president, just announced his resignation on Tuesday. And one could only think what might have happened if the Lakers had the talents of LeBron and Anthony Davis, and were playoff-bound right now.
Pelicans’ coach Alvin Gentry called the whole situation “toxic,” and it’s rare that one of the biggest storylines in the NBA is a trade that didn’t happen.
That being said, there were several big trades that did go down. And they shook up the balance of power out in the East. After a drama-filled month that, in and of itself, was a big headline, Jimmy Butler was finally traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. Joining Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, Butler helped form one of the most formidable starting fives in the league. The Toronto Raptors acquired Marc Gasol to complement Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry. And the Milwaukee Bucks traded for Nikola Mirotic to boost their outside shooting even more around Giannis.
The Eastern Conference had several teams with legitimate Finals hopes, and the arms race in the East spiced up a trade deadline mired by Anthony Davis rumors.
2. Dynasty Drama
The Golden State Warriors are in the midst of one of the best five-year runs in the NBA under Steve Kerr. Looking for a three-peat, the Warriors looked invincible coming out of the gates. They opened with a 10-1 record, and with Stephen Curry looking every bit like an MVP candidate.
That all changed on November 12, 2018, when the Warriors lost a tight game to the Los Angeles Clippers. On the last possession, Kevin Durant wanted the ball in his hands, but Draymond Green dribbled himself, and turned the ball over instead of passing to KD.
Durant and Green exchanged fiery words after the game, and Green appeared to cross the line. With rumors swirling about Durant’s impending free agency, Draymond shouted, “We don’t need you. We won without you. Leave.”
Green daring Durant to leave was a cause for concern for the Warriors, who were always assumed to have a happy, rosy locker room. But the feud between the longtime Warrior and the prized superstar free-agent-to-be put a dent in the Warriors’ chemistry.
While the tension from the feud eventually dissipated, the questions about Durant’s free agency did not. After a nine-day media silence in February where Durant did not participate in any post-game interviews or press conferences, he finally went off. In a passionate tirade, Durant scolded the media for twisting words and making up headlines about him. Which only served to spark more questions about whether or not he’ll stay in Golden State.
The Warriors will be entering the playoffs as the one-seed in the West, but the journey has been tough, and the road rocky, to get to this point.
1. The Lakers, LeBron, and Losing
When LeBron James chose to play for the Lakers last summer, Los Angeles immediately believed they were returning to relevance. But it was not to be, as they’re going to miss out on the playoffs amidst various injuries to their young stars and to LeBron himself throughout the season.
The Lakers end the year with a 37-45 record, but what hurt more than the losing was the distrust in the locker room. The Lakers’ young players reportedly started to trust LeBron less, and started to see him differently, after his groin injury. LeBron didn’t spend a lot of time around the team during his injury, and once showed up to a game with a glass of red wine in hand. It didn’t help that LeBron openly advocated for Anthony Davis to come to the Lakers.
It’s believed that LeBron was trying to pull the strings to get the Lakers to trade for Davis. But because the trade fell through, LeBron’s younger teammates had to play out the season feeling slighted, even betrayed, by their mentor, their leader. And so the seeds of distrust were sown.
In February, with the Lakers starting to free-fall, LeBron accused the rest of the team of being “accustomed to the losses that I’m just not accustomed to.” While he may have just been being honest, the locker room chemistry doesn’t get any better when the team leader calls out his teammates for being comfortable with their losing ways.
To top it off, Lakers’ president Magic Johnson declared he was stepping down on Tuesday, even furthering the hole the Lakers have dug for themselves. Going into the offseason, the Lakers have a myriad of question marks. They’re in search of a team president, will try to get back into the AD sweepstakes, and will search for a star in free agency to pair with LeBron.
Once dubbed the savior of the Lakers, the King now needs some saving of his own. Missing the playoffs for the first time in 14 years, LeBon James finds his team looking for answers after a mess of a regular season.
The 2018-19 season has come to an end, but it was not without its share of entertaining storylines. It was a year of surprising stars, botched trades, locker room drama, and unfulfilled expectations.
In other words, just another regular season in the NBA. And with the playoffs on the horizon, we’re all excited to see what new storylines are waiting for us next.
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