NBA Monthly Roundup: 3 October takeaways and 3 November predictions

October Takeaway: The depth out West is already showing

It wasn’t really possible to overstate the depth in the Western Conference before the season started, so the West being deep isn’t really a surprise to most. But even with all the hype, I think we might have undersold it.

Sure, the season just started and it’s hard to trust anything that we’ve seen when most teams have only played about three or four games. But I’d encourage you to go watch some of the expected “bad teams” in the Western Conference…they’re pretty good!

The Timberwolves and Suns look a lot better than expected, and teams like the Kings and Pelicans will be much better when they get all of their pieces in the lineup. Even the rebuilding teams like the Thunder and Grizzlies have potential stars in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ja Morant/Jaren Jackson, respectively.

There will certainly be a dichotomy that forms within the next couple months between the real contenders and the not-quite-there-yets, but the relative skill gap between those two groups might be as marginal as its ever been…especially when compared to the dearth of good teams in the East.