Ranking the most prolific scoring duos heading into the 2019-20 NBA season
In doing my annual exercise of predicting scoring leaders for the coming NBA season, I decided to focus mostly on the interaction of star teammates, especially in this roster-turnover-filled summer. So many duos and trios have been recently formed, but in order to give proper attention to the most interesting ones, I had to resist the urge to look at anyone who could be considered a second star or second-leading scorer.
Some “second wheels” like Andrew Wiggins, Mike Conley, Jamal Murray, and LaMarcus Aldridge likely just won’t put up the numbers expected of a quality secondary option to be included on this list.
To prevent myself from hedging on players stats, I rounded each player’s scoring prediction up or down to the nearest even number. Think player X will score 25 points per game? Too bad, trust your guy, is it 24 or 26 points per game?
*Honorable mention: Dallas Mavericks – Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis
I’ll confess to knowing less about this duo than any other. It’s hard to predict what KP will be like 21 months removed from his ACL tear. He could be much improved, or he could be mentally shaken like Gordon Hayward was for the Celtics this year.
He could just as easily average 28 or 12 points as 20. Doncic is coming off a rookie season that is statistically superior to that of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis or just about any other rookie in my lifetime, but if KP is the first option, Doncic could see a decrease in his raw scoring.