NBA Rumors: Digging deeper into one concerning early-season trend that could end up dooming every team.
Nearly two weeks into the NBA's regular season, there is already much to unwrap across the league. As we head into the second official month of the regular season, we take a look at one concerning early-season trend that could end up dooming each team.
Atlanta Hawks
1 Concerning trend: Zaccharie Risacher has been underwhelming
With the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks made the bold move of selecting Zaccharie Risacher over all the other prospects. It hasn't proven to be a terrible move considering how historically bad of a start this draft class has gotten off to, but the early returns of the initial decision aren't great by any means. Through the first few games of Risacher's NBA career, he's left much to be desired as a player. Most of the time he's on the floor, Risacher looks like "just another guy."
When the Hawks selected him with the No. 1 overall pick, that couldn't have been the expectation heading into the season. Averaging just eight points and three rebounds on 32 percent shooting from the field and 22 percent shooting from 3-point range, Risacher is struggling to begin his NBA career. If things don't drastically change over the course of the season, there's a chance that Risacher could end up being a huge mistake for the franchise.
Boston Celtics
1 Concerning trend: Kristaps Porzingis' injuries could be a problem
Even though the Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship last season, and in dominating fashion, there's an argument that could be made that the injuries to Kristaps Porzingis are a growing concern for the team. KP missed 25 regular-season games last season and 12 in the playoffs. Even when KP returned for the NBA Finals, he looked nothing like his former self. Ultimately, it led to offseason surgery that will keep him out for the first half of this season. At best, KP is probably looking at a January return to the floor.
The Celtics have been able to survive without KP because of how talented and deep they are all over their roster. However, I can't help but wonder if there's going to come a time when the Celtics will need a healthy KP. At that point, who knows how dependable he's going to be for the team? When healthy, KP is an absolute game-changer for the Celtics. However, as has been the case over the course of his career, KP being healthy is far from a guarantee.