It is wonderful to have NBA basketball back! What a week it has been. Multiple 50-point games, some electric finishes, rookies blossoming, other players breaking out, players and coaches getting arrested for a potential gambling scheme — it’s safe to say, it’s been a busy week for hoop fans.
Without further ado, let’s get into five things I noticed throughout the week.
No. 1: Paolo Banchero And Orlando Finding Their Magic
The Orlando Magic have begun the season 1-3, losing to the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers — three Eastern Conference teams many expected the Magic would be better than. Out of the gate, Orlando has stumbled on both ends.
Last season, the Magic ranked second in defensive rating. Through four games, they’ve allowed 120 or more points twice, something they only did nine times all of 2024-25. There is some room for optimism, particularly because this is a team with virtually the same roster as last year, save for incorporating Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones.
The offense is where the real issues reside. The Magic have not been able to climb out of the bottom 10 in offensive rating in 10-plus seasons and it doesn’t look like that will change this year.
Orlando’s offense with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner at the helm has felt unimaginative at times. While adding capable ball-handlers in Bane and Jones figured to give them a boost, it just hasn’t translated. Banchero and Wagner are still being tasked to create most of their looks off the bounce and both have struggled involving Bane in actions. Banchero, specifically, has struggled to notice he’s playing with a career 40 percent 3-point shooter. Through four games, Banchero has eight assists and 10 turnovers.
Bane has made just five shots off of passes from Wagner and Banchero, despite playing 117 and 102 minutes alongside them, respectively. Not good!
This just has to be a pass at this point, man. pic.twitter.com/CW2CAyrwAt
— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) October 26, 2025
That said, it’s still way too early to worry! And the trio found more success during their loss to the Sixers, specifically on offense.
It could all be so simple! https://t.co/LLJTuLXUAu
— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) October 28, 2025
No. 2: The Portland Blazers Are A Pressing Issue
If you haven’t had a chance to watch the Portland Trail Blazers yet, do so immediately. This team is about as balls-to-the-wall on defense as you could possibly be and it has the talent to make life impossible for opposing offenses.
It’s early but no team is pressing on defense as frequently and efficiently as the Blazers this season. They spend 24.5 percent of their defensive possessions in some sort of press, nearly 8 percent more than the second-place Toronto Raptors. The Blazers have also been far and away more effective than any team pressing, limiting teams to just 0.817 points per possession in these sets.
They also start pressing higher up the floor than anyone else:
📊Early trend to keep an eye on!
The average pick-up distance is up ~3 feet from last season. pic.twitter.com/O3WBFDKVGc— ALL NBA Podcast (@ALLCITY_NBA) October 28, 2025
With Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, Jrue Holiday, Matisse Thybulle and other good wing defenders, alongside a rim protector in Donovan Clingan, the Blazers have the requisite roster to play as aggressively as they’d like with little to no downside.
If this keeps up, they have an outside shot at being a top-three defense.
No. 3: Kyshawn Kountry
This summer, I wrote about how there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel for the Washington Wizards’ rebuild. But truthfully, I may have undersold just how important Kyshawn George is to that premise.
Through three games, George has come out hot to start his second season, averaging 20 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.7 blocks and one steal while shooting a blistering 53 percent from three.
He will undoubtedly cool off. He hasn’t suddenly turned into Luka Doncic. But maybe, his upside as an on-ball creator deserves more credit than even I gave him.
The Wizards have taken notice. George has had at least eight possessions as a pick-and-roll ball-handler in two of his three games this season. The only reason he didn’t reach eight in the Wizards’ loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday was he fouled out. During his rookie year, George had just one game with seven such possessions and rarely had more than three or four opportunities to handle the ball a night.
Fun seeing Kyshawn George flourish. Averaging 27-10-4-2-1 on 77% TS the first 2 games of the year.
Jumper will regress (10/15 from 3) + strength/handle need work but he’s creating way more this season and using his frame/length/fluidity well on both ends. Easygoing release. pic.twitter.com/YTt67S1NjZ
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) October 25, 2025
Maybe, this is early season fool’s gold. Maybe, this is a glimpse into George’s future as an on-ball savant for the Wizards. Nonetheless, there’s no question they’re intentionally investing more in his development, which has to mean something!
No. 4: Somebody Has To Match My (Greek) Freak
Giannis Antetokounmpo is an absurd basketball player. You know this, I know this. He is one of the most unique players ever. A 7-foot ball-handler who barrels his way to the basket, finishes like prime Shaquille O’Neal and constantly adds new wrinkles to his game: a potent midrange jumper, some improved playmaking — nothing too shabby!
The Greek Freak is putting up laughable numbers early in the season, averaging 36 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and one block while attempting a career-high 18 two-pointers per game. The Bucks, for their part, have built a pretty intriguing offense around him, armed with knockdown shooters like Gary Trent Jr. and AJ Green, a couple of stretch five options in Myles Turner and Bobby Portis Jr., and spry wing defenders in Ryan Rollins and Andre Jackson Jr.
The fit among groups centered around Antetokounmpo has been clean and the Bucks are plus-23 when he’s on the floor. But they crater when he’s on the bench — which has been for about 16 minutes a night — losing the 46 minutes he’s sat by 12 points.
Antetokounmpo is the sun around which all Bucks players rotate. They are directionless and purposeless without him on the floor and it shows.
Whether they’re able to overcome that will be the difference between a fun playoff team and potentially contending in a wide open Eastern Conference.
No. 5: Wemby’s World
I was going to be cute and talk about the Raptors’ poor defensive start, the fun Chicago Bulls or even this incredible rookie class poised as an all-time great. Still, it felt disrespectful not to talk about Victor Wembanyama, who is the proud new owner of the National Basketball Association.
Wembanyama consistently shattered our expectations for what seemed possible in basketball over the course of his first two seasons. Now in his third year, he’s firmly thrust himself into “Best Player In The World” territory with how he’s played.
The 7-foot-7 (I don’t even know his real height) giant is averaging 31 points, 13.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and a league-leading 4.8 blocks a night. He’s shooting 60 percent from the field, 64.5 percent on twos and 37 percent from three while taking a career-high 10 free throws per game (nearly six more than last season) and making 80 percent of them.
Those are numbers you would put up with your “2K” MyPlayer if you set the game to rookie difficulty.
It’s not just the dominance but how he’s doing it. His shot diet has shifted. He’s taking fewer threes (2.8 attempts per game, compared to 6.8 his first two seasons). He’s nearly doubled the amount of shots he takes in the paint (4.5 to eight) and realized just how dominant he can be using his size.
Defensively, he has no equal when it comes to scaring the ever-loving crap out of opposing offenses. The Raptors nearly soiled themselves when they got within two feet of him during their loss to the San Antonio Spurs Monday night, when Wembanyama only registered one block, in part because of the fear he instilled with his size.
Wemby defensive impact/influence vs TOR pic.twitter.com/SZwknD3lMw
— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) October 28, 2025
What a fun start.
