1) TY LAWSON: A season removed from being third in the NBA in assists-per-game, the former Denver Nuggets point guard was bought out by the Houston Rockets last week … thanks largely to ranking LAST among all point guards in real plus / minus with a -5.95. Lawson was also averaging career lows in field goal percentage and points per game. Lawson may have been troubled here in Denver, but getting cut by the Rockets was unfathomable when the Nuggets dealt him away last summer.
2) CARMELO ANTHONY: If ever one needed a single visual that perfectly captures the type of season Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks are having, it’s this one:
3) JASON KIDD: Why isn’t anyone calling out Jason Kidd for the coaching job he’s doing with the Bucks in Milwaukee this season? A season removed from going 41-41 and making the Eastern Conference playoffs, Kidd’s Bucks are on pace to win just 34 games and have no prayer of a repeat playoff appearance.
4) D’ANGELO RUSSELL HATERS: Akin to when many NBA “experts” and his own team gave up on future Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups (the third overall pick in 1997) 51 games into his rookie 1997-98 season, the Los Angeles Lakers D’Angelo Russell – the second overall selection in last June’s NBA Draft – had already been proclaimed as a bust by some earlier this season when he got off to rough start. For those who have watched Russell lately, it’s clear that he’s anything but a bust, capped off by his performance on Sunday when his Lakers easily bested the juggernaut Golden State Warriors.
5) GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: While it's cool to see Russell prove the critics wrong, it doesn't change the fact that Russell's Lakers are a meager 13-win team. And they beat the mighty, world champion Warriors by 17 on Sunday – making it the first time in NBA history that a sub-.200 team beat a plus-.900 team.
