Biggest Disappointments Of The NBA Season So Far
Every season teams, players, and trade deals arrive with their excitement and hype. Sometimes that buzz is well placed, but other times it misses the mark.
You can find the latest 2022 NBA trade rumors here to see what we are talking about. Nonetheless, here we look at five of the biggest disappointments of the NBA season so far.
5. The Sacramento Kings
Kicking off our list of the biggest disappointments of the NBA season so far is the Sacramento Kings, but don't worry, this doesn't have anything to do with their record.
A lot of people didn't expect them to take a random jump into contention. However, many people around the NBA community were ridiculously disappointed when the Kings chose to trade Tyrese Haliburton for Domantas Sabonis.
Haliburton was one of the few players on the Kings roster over the last decade that was vocal about wanting to stay there for his entire career. He was excited to change the culture. Instead, they shipped him off to try and contend for a play-in spot; one that the Kings may not even win.
4. The Atlanta Hawks
Coming off a season where the Atlanta Hawks were able to march into the Eastern Conference Finals and bring the eventual NBA Champions to five games, the Hawks have flopped this year. They are struggling badly to get themselves over .500 on the season, and their defense is simply non-existent. Going back to early January, the Hawks had allowed over 130 points seven times!
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They are one of the worst defensive-rated teams in the league by a long shot and are running out of time to get things turned around. This could be a wasted season and off such a strong base created last year!
3. James Harden
Similar to another team that we are about to talk about, the Brooklyn Nets were expected to cruise their way into the NBA Finals. The trio of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden seemed too good to be true - at least on paper. Apparently, it was. Harden has been hampered by a hamstring injury for most of the season and, as a result, his explosiveness has been completely absent on the court.
He also sat out a few games before the trade deadline with rumors swirling that he wanted off the team already. Harden then got traded to the Philadelphia 76ers; it crushed the hopes of this big three marching through the postseason. Harden definitely goes down as one of the biggest disappointments of the NBA season so far.
2. Zion Williamson
Many people may have actually forgotten that Zion Williamson even exists; he missed a large chunk of his rookie season before coming back and averaging over 20 points per game in his sophomore year. He was expected to return at the start of this season, but multiple setbacks have caused him not to be able to play a single game.
There is no doubting that Williamson has all the talent in the world, and whilst you can't blame him for injuries, his lack of game time is a disappointment to everyone from the player to the team and on to the fans.
1. The Los Angeles Lakers
Topping our list of the biggest disappointments in the NBA so far is the LA Lakers. Truth be told, there probably won't be many surprised by this. They entered the season as heavy championship favorites, but they have not looked anything like a Championship winning outfit; in fact, they've been poor. They are sitting at the ninth seed in the Western Conference and are just a few games ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans. Yes, you did read that correctly.
LeBron James has been amazing - as per usual - but Anthony Davis has missed over 20 games. He also is shooting a horrendous percentage when he does make it onto the court. On top of all that, Russell Westbrook has been benched numerous times to end games because of his negative effect on the court. The Lakers also didn't make a single trade at the deadline, further disappointing everybody in the community.
With public criticism leaking from both camps within the Lakers organization, LeBron and Klutch on one side and ownership and management on the other side, drama is far from over.
