Welcome to the weekly NBA stock report where we go around the league and examine whose stock is rising and whose is falling.
This past week in the NBA the Toronto Raptors’ late-game woes became very apparent, the No. 1 overall pick is playing like a No. 1 overall pick and Miami has been playing host to nightly block parties.
Stock Rising
James Johnson Struggling to get minutes earlier in the season, Johnson was able to finally get some playing time when DeMarre Carroll was shelved with plantar fasciitis for a little bit and has continued to receive minutes even after the Raptors’ starter returned to the lineup. This may be a result of Terrence Ross’s injury, but playing time is playing time and right now the rotational minutes Johnson is getting are definitely an upgrade over the DNP-CD’s he was racking up before.
Karl-Anthony Towns: Town was the first-overall pick in last June’s NBA draft and he’s playing every bit the part. He’s one of only five players in the league averaging a double-double with 15.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, and ranks sixth in the league in blocks with his 2.4 per game average. Right now, he certainly seems like the clear favourite for rookie of the year.
Hassan Whiteside Whiteside is averaging 15 points and 11.3 rebounds per game on 62.6 per cent shooting. That alone categorizes him as a certified beast. However, when you take into consideration his league-leading 4.6 blocks per game is almost 1.5 better than second place and that he recently recorded a triple-double with blocks then you have to start thinking the NBA has a Leviathan-level monster on its hands to deal with.
Stock Falling
Raptors’ late-game execution: Out on a five-game Western Conference road trip, the Raptors have dropped their first three contests in tight affairs they could’ve won mostly because of poor late-game execution. As was the case last season, Toronto has a poor tendency to devolve into one-player isolations with DeMar DeRozan or Kyle Lowry in crunch time, regardless of how well the team may or may not be moving the ball previously in the game. The Raptors are at their best when the ball is zipping around, and so, going away from that late in games simply makes no sense.
Victor Oladipo: After a strong sophomore campaign that saw him average 17.9 points per game on 43.6 per cent shooting, Oladipo has really struggled through 10 games played this season. With the exception of his rebounding, the Magic shooting guard’s numbers are down almost completely across the board from his rookie season, including dismal shooting numbers of 36.6 per cent from the field and 26.7 per cent from deep.
Gordon Hayward: After re-signing Hayward to the big contract last season, much was expected of him and he responded in kind, averaging 19.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game on 44.5 per cent shooting. Coming into this season, Hayward noticeably bulked up in an effort to grow his game, and that appears to have backfired. The former Butler standout is only averaging 15.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game on a very sub-optimal 39.5 per cent shooting this season.
