𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

We’re nearing the one-month mark of the NBA season, and the small sample sizes are getting larger by the day.

Cooper Flagg has taken a leap in Dallas, Kevin Durant has taken a step back (perhaps by design) in Houston and some teams are withstanding the injury bug better than others.

What has been each team’s biggest surprise so far, good, bad or ugly? The Athletic posed that question to its NBA staff this week. Here’s what they said. (Stats are entering Thursday’s games.)

Atlanta Hawks

Jalen Johnson’s slow start: Coming into camp as the team’s key star for the first time, Johnson seemed ready for another mini-breakout in a career that’s already been full of them. Instead, he’s posting a career-low 54.1 percent true shooting mark, he’s at 20.5 percent from 3 and even worse on long 2s. His peripheral numbers are down, too. Getting him cooking would go a long way toward improving an offense that thus far has been a lot better at generating shots than making them. — John Hollinger

Boston Celtics

Paul George: After several injury-riddled seasons, George feels healthier than he has in a long time. It’s easy to see on the court. He has been everywhere on defense while providing consistent — and sometimes extremely impressive — scoring. The Celtics were crushed for their return in the Jaylen Brown trade, but George is a great fit for them. — Jay King

Brooklyn Nets

Day’Ron Sharpe’s step forward: Sharpe has stepped into the starting center role and grown into the job. The Nets are 18.2 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court than off, according to Cleaning The Glass. His block and assist rates are up, making up for decreased rebounding numbers (though the Nets still grab boards more often with him on the court). He even notched his first triple-double earlier this month, dishing out 13 assists. The Nets are waiting on their young prospects to come along, but at least Sharpe is making strides. — Mike Vorkunov

Charlotte Hornets

The offense: Charlotte has the worst offense in the NBA so far. That was not on the bingo card. The Hornets had the fifth-best offensive rating in the league last season, and it was No. 1 by nearly a point after Jan. 1. Yes, the Hornets traded LaMelo Ball, and yes, Kon Knueppel has basically missed every game, and yes, Coby White has been limited by injuries. But still, this is a surprise. The Hornets lead the league in turnover rate, are dead last in effective field goal percentage and have the sixth-worst assist rate. — Mike Vorkunov

Chicago Bulls

So few redeemable traits: A schedule front-loaded with playoff contenders will eventually clear up, but I’m not sure Chicago’s blemishes will. Through nine games, they were the worst shooting team in the NBA, 29th in field goal percentage, 30th in defensive rating, 30th in net rating, and the list goes on. And now Caleb Wilson has a fractured hand. They were meant to be rebuild bad, not all-time bad. — Joel Lorenzi

Cleveland Cavaliers

Meleek Thomas can play: There are plenty of concerns surrounding the Cavs, including James Harden’s slow start, but Thomas has become one of the best stories in the league. He has a scorer’s mentality and has quickly carved out a role on a veteran, contending team despite being a 20-year-old rookie taken 34th in the draft. The Cavs needed more athleticism and shot creation from their supporting cast, and Thomas is delivering, averaging 13.1 points in about 23 minutes a game and constantly looking to attack. — Jason Lloyd

Dallas Mavericks

Cooper Flagg: I thought Flagg had a strong chance to become an All-Star this season. That’s absolutely on the table, and based on how he’s played, making an All-NBA team isn’t out of the question. Flagg is hitting almost anything he puts up from 2-point range while flashing impressive passing chops. He’s fourth in the NBA in “clutch” scoring and averaging three “stocks” (steals + blocks) per game. At 19 years old, he’s performing like a top-10 NBA player. Scary stuff. — Christian Clark

Denver Nuggets

Struggles with good competition: Through 10 games, the Nuggets have one win against a team currently with a winning record — Memphis. It’s a small sample size, but one worth watching for a team where depth was a question, putting a lot on Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray. — Jason Jones

Detroit Pistons

3-point shooting improvement: The Pistons’ 3-point shooting, or lack thereof, was one of their weakest points offensively last season. This season, Detroit is shooting 37 percent from long range, ninth in the NBA. Duncan Robinson is leading the charge, averaging 18.6 points on 45.7 percent from distance on 9.2 attempts per game. Each of those numbers would be a career best for the sharpshooting veteran. — Hunter Patterson

Golden State Warriors

YaxelMania: The Warriors were hoping that Yaxel Lendeborg could provide an immediate boost, but the 24-year-old rookie has given something even bigger a month into his first season. He has become the second-most-important player behind Stephen Curry, who will be sidelined for at least the next two weeks, and he’s given the Warriors a bona fide scorer and defender they can count on every night. — Nick Friedell

Houston Rockets

Kevin Durant’s reduced role: It’s still too early to tell if this is a sign that Durant may be showing some slippage at 38 years old, but it’s evident that the Rockets don’t want to depend on their superstar forward’s offensive production as much as they did last season. Through 12 games, Durant is averaging 20.9 points per game, which would be his lowest since his rookie season. His usage rate is at 23.8 percent, which is by far the lowest of his career. Maybe Houston’s best path to title contention is spreading out the scoring burden, but it’s still strange watching one of the greatest scorers in history take such a significant step back. — William Guillory

Indiana Pacers

Braden Smith is important: With Indiana experiencing another season with significant injuries to their starting lineup, the Pacers’ only rookie is seeing quite a bit of impactful playing time. The 5-foot-11 guard has started the past four games he’s played as Indiana tries to stay afloat without star Tyrese Haliburton and backup point guard T.J. McConnell. — Shakeia Taylor

LA Clippers

Brutal interior defense: The Clippers started the season 2-8, their worst start in 16 years, but the bigger surprise is just how awful the defense has been. They’re a bottom-five rim-protection team, and only the Pelicans and Bulls allow more paint points per game. No team allows a higher field goal percentage than the Clippers’ defense (49.7 percent). Isaiah Jackson has been benched, Brook Lopez’s age makes it prohibitive to play him starter minutes, and Yanic Konan Niederhäuser is a developmental player in the latter stages of a long-term injury recovery. — Law Murray

Los Angeles Lakers

Their wings: Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle have been two of the highest impact minimum free-agent signings from the summer, both providing two-way impact. Williams is hitting 46.5 percent of his 3s, while Thybulle’s 2.2 steals per game is tied for fourth in the league. — Dan Woike

Memphis Grizzlies

Cedric Coward: “Ty Jerome, superstar” is the knee-jerk answer, but he at least provided an inkling in his 15 games with Memphis a season ago. Coward turning into a plus-minus god in his second pro season is arguably an even bigger surprise. Memphis is plus-17.4 per 100 possessions when he plays and minus-4.9 when he doesn’t, leading the team in both categories and by far the biggest differential overall. It feels like Memphis can safely plug him in as its starting small forward for the next decade or so. — John Hollinger

Miami Heat

They can’t defend: Heading into the season, the widely held assumption was that the Heat would be an elite defensive team. That has not been the case. Through 11 games, Miami has been in the bottom 10 of defensive rating the entire season. Things have gotten better in recent games, but it’s still nowhere near the level expected from a team coached by Erik Spoelstra. — Eric Nehm

Milwaukee Bucks

Myles Turner looking lost: The Bucks are 1-11, and Turner’s performance has played a major role in Milwaukee being unable to build winning habits. Turner is one of three players, along with Mikal Bridges and Sion James, to play at least 25 minutes per game and record a field goal percentage below 34 percent this season. Playing for a rebuilding team is not what Turner signed up for when he joined the Bucks, but his best way out of Milwaukee was playing well enough that another team would trade for him. That hasn’t happened. — Eric Nehm

Minnesota Timberwolves

LaMelo Ball is playing defense: Everyone knew about his offensive talent, but Ball has surprised everyone in Minnesota by quickly fitting into the team’s defensive culture. His 2.2 steals per 36 minutes is his career high. He is leveraging his length and instincts to be additive on both sides of the ball, which has been a huge part of Minnesota’s solid play since Anthony Edwards went down with knee surgery. — Jon Krawczynski

New Orleans Pelicans

Where’s Herb Jones?: Through 12 games, Jones only has six starts under his belt, and he’s played 30-plus minutes in just two games. He’s played fewer than 20 minutes six times. Jones isn’t the cure to all of the Pelicans’ issues on the defensive end, but he’s still one of the most impactful defenders in the league when he’s healthy. However, it seems his role will remain somewhat reduced as long as New Orleans keeps starting Jeremiah Fears and Dejounte Murray in the backcourt. — William Guillory

New York Knicks

Tyler Kolek rotation minutes: I didn’t have Kolek playing more than Jose Alvarado on my bingo card to start the season, but here we are. The youngster took advantage of the time Alvarado missed due to injury by being an assist machine and taking care of the ball, and he hasn’t lost his spot. Kolek is even knocking down jumpers here and there, a development that is needed for him to have real staying power in the league. — James L. Edwards III

Oklahoma City Thunder

How cruel injury luck can be: No contender in recent memory has been struck with this level of injury misfortune. Three starters, two of them potentially out for the season, lost in a single night. The Thunder are handling it as well as possible, 5-4 in games since, but are still playing incredibly unrecognizable lineups and cycling through deep reserves. — Joel Lorenzi

Orlando Magic

How far the defense has fallen: The Magic’s defense has declined relative to the rest of the league, ranking 21st in rating entering Thursday after it finished last season 13th, second in 2024-25 and third in 2023-24. True, the coach has changed from Jamahl Mosley to Sean Sweeney, but Sweeney had built a strong defensive reputation. Orlando’s dealing with significant injuries — including to top perimeter defender Jalen Suggs — but the Magic’s decline is worrisome. — Josh Robbins

Philadelphia 76ers

Their record: It’s not that the Sixers weren’t capable of winning these games. Obviously, the talent level is high. It’s that they have won these games playing the Knicks, Cavaliers and Pistons twice and the Celtics once. That’s a gauntlet to begin the season. The Sixers realistically probably should have had a few more struggles than this, but things have largely come together relatively early. — Tony Jones

Phoenix Suns

Poor defense: The Suns last season had a top-10 defense, and with many key parts returning, it was reasonable to assume they’d be just as strong this season. Wrong. They rank 28th, better than only the Bucks and Bulls. No doubt, losing big man Mark Williams to a shoulder injury was a setback. But to contend in the Western Conference, the Suns will have to keep opponents from penetrating into the paint and seal them off the defensive boards. They’ve improved lately. They have a long way to go. Tone-setter Jordan Goodwin, back from a calf injury, should help. — Doug Haller

Portland Trail Blazers

Scoot Henderson’s struggles: Many inside the Blazers thought Henderson was primed for a breakout season after being arguably one of the Blazers’ best players in the preseason, but he has been stunningly subpar, so much so that he lost his starting role filling in for the injured Ja Morant after five games. Henderson has 26 turnovers compared to 17 assists and is shooting 31.5 percent from the field while making only 10 of 44 from 3-point range (22.7 percent). The worst part: The Blazers need him more than ever with Morant sidelined. — Jason Quick

Sacramento Kings

Darius Acuff Jr: The rookie from Arkansas is better than expected. He’s among the league leaders in scoring and assists, and his shooting efficiency continues to improve. The team isn’t winning, but Acuff is making the Kings worth checking out. — Jason Jones

San Antonio Spurs

Three-guard lineup has worked: When Mitch Johnson made it clear Dylan Harper would replace Julian Champagnie in the starting lineup, it was clear the Spurs needed time to figure it out. The first two games were tough losses to major rivals, but the team hasn’t lost since. The starting lineup with Harper, De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle had the fifth-best net rating in the league entering Wednesday, and San Antonio is figuring out how to shape its second units to remain consistent throughout the night. — Jared Weiss

Toronto Raptors

3-point shooting got worse: I know Kawhi Leonard has been mostly missing, and the team wasn’t a good 3-point squad to begin with. However, the Raptors are barely making 32 percent of their 3-pointers. The offense is good because they don’t turn it over and they hammer the offensive boards. But they can’t stretch the floor. — Zach Harper

Utah Jazz

How bad they’ve been: After four years of tanking, the flip was supposed to be switched to be competitive and make the playoffs again. But injuries and incompetence on offense have kept Utah from any kind of acceptable start. The Jazz are already looking at an awful season with Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. out for extended time. And their first-round pick goes to Memphis next summer. — Zach Harper

Washington Wizards

Decline in 3-point percentage: The Wizards made 35.9 percent of their 3-point attempts last season. But the team has dipped to 29.8 percent through its first 12 games. A smallish sample size but painful nonetheless. Bub Carrington, Kyshawn George and even Anthony Davis have shot well, but the rest of the team has declined significantly. The offense has been more efficient as a whole, and the gains would be better if the 3-point shooting were even close to league average. — Josh Robbins