In one month of NBA action, there have been plenty of headlines that have caught our attention. Teams that were expected to be less dominant currently sit atop the standings in both conferences, the Eastern Conference has two perennial playoff contenders stuck at the bottom, and the Western Conference is currently showing early signs of just how competitive it will be throughout the 82-game regular season. With all of this in mind, staff writer Teddy Benchley ’26 and sports editors Max Forstein ’27 and Ethan Lee ’26 detail some of the headlines that have caught their attention as we enter the second month of the basketball season. 

Warriors Return to Glory? 

The Golden State Warriors came into the 2024–25 season with interesting vibes. On the one hand, the beloved Splash Brothers seemed to be no more; Klay Thompson, half of the greatest shooting backcourt in NBA history, signed with the Dallas Mavericks in the offseason and ended a decorated partnership with superstar Stephen Curry. On the other hand, Golden State replaced Thompson with solid role players Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson, and De’Anthony Melton, while counting on the continuing development of promising young players like Jonathan Kuminga and Brandon Podziemski. Regardless, the Warriors were expected to compete for the playoffs, but were not generally considered top-tier contenders in the Western Conference. 

That idea has been flipped on its head a few weeks into the season. The Warriors are currently first in the West at 10–2, conquering contenders like the Celtics, Thunder, and Mavericks in the process. After a shaky first few games, Curry has completely regained his Hall-of-Fame form, taking over late against Oklahoma City and Dallas. Draymond Green is also playing well; not only does he continue to bring his world-class defense, but his three-point stroke is beginning to come back as well. But the most notable part of the Warriors has been their ridiculous depth of talent—coach Steve Kerr runs 13 guys in his rotation, and no one gets over 30 minutes a game. As a result, the Warriors can play a fast, efficient offense and a chaotic, suffocating defense, a devastating combo for the regular season. Hield is having a career year, Melton has been a phenomenal 3-and-D guard, and Andrew Wiggins has flashed a potential return to his 2022 form. 

The Warriors are fun, energetic, and dangerous—but will it last? And is it sustainable in the playoffs? There are arguments for both sides. There’s objectively a lack of star power behind Curry, and depth usually doesn’t matter as much in the postseason; rotations shrink as coaches will play their guys 40+ minutes a game. At the same time, the Warriors have performed well against the top-tier teams in the league, and those were games with playoff-level intensity. If I had to pick a side, I would lean toward making a trade for another star—Curry is near the end of his prime, and I think this team could hit another level of dangerous with a strong second option. It’ll be interesting to see how Golden State’s front office manages the rest of this season. I suspect there won’t be any significant rumblings until the trade deadline, but keep an eye on Kuminga, an intriguing young guy liked by many teams around the league. 

Disaster in Philly 

The Philadelphia 76ers came into the year with massive expectations, as adding star wing Paul George to the duo of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey made for an incredibly talented big three. Everything has gone wrong since then. Embiid has barely played, battling an injury and then receiving a suspension for shoving a reporter. George has also been hurt, and when healthy he’s struggled to find his rhythm. Maxey was balling—averaging almost 28 points per game (PPG)—but then he suffered a hamstring injury and does not have a return date. The Sixers sit at 2–10, second-to-last in the Eastern Conference and with little hope of a deep playoff run, let alone a playoff appearance. 

As much as I’d love to completely annihilate Philadelphia and proclaim that their season is officially over, I’ll try to withhold my bias as a Knicks fan and give the glass-half-full approach to the rest of the year. For one, it’s impossible to have worse injury luck; Embiid and George are injury-prone, yes, but you have to assume they’ll play more minutes together as the season goes on. Then you have the Maxey factor, as he’s been a legitimate superstar and looks like a bona-fide number two (which may slot in George more properly as a third option). And then you have the few bright spots of the Sixers’ brutal 2–10 opening—French big man Guerschon Yabusele was a late signing who looks like a legitimate rotation piece, while rookie Jared McCain has shown some legitimate on-ball creation potential filling in for Maxey. Lastly, we should look at the context of the Eastern Conference; only four teams have winning records, and Philly is only four games out of the six seed. 

There’s definitely a reality where the Sixers get healthier, capitalize on the weaker opponents of the East, and sneak into the playoffs. But to now move to the glass-half-empty approach, I’d be worried about two things. First, Philadelphia’s poor start makes it extremely difficult for them to get one of the top four seeds in the East—this means they’ll most likely be facing off against a tough opponent (maybe even Boston or New York) right off the bat in the first round. Second, continuity matters; even if the Sixers make the playoffs, it’s unlikely that Embiid, Maxey, and George will have enough time playing together to really understand their roles and how to best maximize them. The year is far from over and I’d bet that they’ll make the playoffs, but the Sixers have done some serious damage to their championship prospects with such a rough opening. 

Cleveland is 15–0; How Far Can the Cavaliers Go? 

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been a consistent presence in the postseason for the last couple of years, but they never seem to do much damage once the calendar hits May. In 2022, they formed a core of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen that took them from the bottom of the barrel in the Eastern Conference to a firm playoff spot. However, they haven’t shown any signs of serious championship contention since, losing in the play-in tournament in 2022, the first round of the playoffs in 2023, and the second round of the playoffs in 2024 to the eventual champion Boston Celtics. There were no glaring improvements to their roster the Cavs made this summer, and with the Eastern Conference becoming more competitive this offseason, I felt confident saying in The Argus’ NBA Roundtable a month ago that the Cavaliers would disappoint. Boy, was I wrong. 

The Cavaliers, as of the writing of this article, are 15–0. They are tied with the 1993–94 Houston Rockets and the 1948–49 Washington Capitols for the second-longest winning streak to begin the season. None of the Cavaliers’ big four are having particularly extraordinary statistical seasons, but the difference this year seems to be the cohesiveness of their unit on the court. Cleveland’s success has been building since they formed this group in 2022, and they finally have been able to figure it out together to string together consistent winning behavior. The starting five of Garland, Mitchell, Isaac Okoro, Mobley, and Allen look stronger together on court, as each of them is playing their role perfectly, maximizing the Cavs’ offensive and defensive potential. The bench rotation has also seen improvement, as Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, and Ty Jerome have stepped up and become key role players when the starters need a break. From top down, the Cavaliers have caught fire in all aspects of the game, and head coach Kenny Atkinson has fostered a successful team that lets each of their players shine and contribute to success.

The big question now will be if this success is sustainable. It is unlikely that the Cavaliers will reach the 2015–16 Warriors’ record of 24–0 to start the year, but regardless of whether the Cavs flirt with this mark or not, Cleveland certainly has incredible momentum to start the year. With all four key pieces performing well, many NBA fans online have been drawing the double-edged sword of a comparison between this Cavs’ team and the 2014–15 Atlanta Hawks: a team with four All-Stars on their roster and the best regular season record in the Eastern Conference that promptly got swept by LeBron and the Cavs in the conference finals. I understand that the Cavaliers are hot right now, but I can’t see them competing with the powerhouses of the East once the playoffs come around. While it would be nice to believe Cleveland can experience its first taste of postseason success without LeBron James since the 1980s, I worry that the Cavs might burn out come the playoffs.  

Greek Freak Floundering to Keep the Bucks Above Water

For the past half-decade plus, the Milwaukee Bucks have been the picture of regular season dominance. Led by their two-time MVP forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, they have finished as a top-three Eastern Conference team in each of the past six years (the only team to do so), and the expectations for 2024–25 were no different. But 13 games into the season, Milwaukee is 12th in the East with a 4–9 record, far below anyone’s expectations. So, what’s going wrong? And how can they fix it before the Greek Freak sours on Cream City?

The Bucks made headlines just days before the 2023–24 season started, as they agreed on a swap sending away veteran point guard Jrue Holiday (a talented playmaker and Defensive Player of the Year candidate), sharpshooter Grayson Allen, and a first-round pick for superstar point guard Damian Lillard. The Bucks had perhaps the most dynamic duo in the league between Lillard and Antetokounmpo, but the roster was top-heavy due to the trade and the cap-space consequences.

This season, this effect has been really felt. The two stars are playing out of their minds, but the rest of the team has not been able to pick up the slack. Giannis is pacing the league with 32.1 PPG on 60% from the field, and Lillard is adding 26 points and 6.6 assists, but both have been flirting with injury (Lillard missed the last three games under concussion protocol and Giannis will play through right patellar tendinopathy) and if either go down for significant time, the results could be disastrous. Even with both on the floor, the Bucks are missing forward Khris Middleton, the final piece of their big three, as he slowly progresses to a return from ankle surgery. 

With all of this, the supporting cast has not stepped up. While forward Taurean Prince has been lights out, guards Gary Trent Jr. and Pat Connaughton as well as forwards Bobby Portis and Brook Lopez have been stuck in serious shooting slumps. The team has also been generally lackluster and has suffered double-digit losses to several subpar teams, including the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets, early in the season. Their defense still feels the loss of Holiday, but is slightly improved since last year; they have gone from the 19th to 17th best defense, so the real drop is the offense, where they have fallen from 6th to 19th.

There is a path out of this hole, but it includes Khris Middleton playing at a high level for 50+ games this year and the support players having the ability to hold down some of the offensive load instead of making the Greek Freak play Atlas.

Ethan Lee can be reached at ejlee@wesleyan.edu.

Max Forstein can be reached at mforstein@wesleyan.edu.

Teddy Benchley can be reached at tbenchley@wesleyan.edu.