6 most surprising NBA storylines after a wild opening week

Milwaukee Bucks having no problems playing without Khris Middleton

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks are holding down the fort at Fiserv Forum while the team’s second-best player, Khris Middleton is recovering from left wrist surgery. The longtime Buck was scheduled to miss the first few weeks of the regular season while he makes his way back to the court, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The fact that the Bucks are clicking and playing well without Middleton, is a great sign for Milwaukee. It probably helps that they invested in retaining their core players to maintain year-to-year continuity. Jrue Holiday, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton, George Hill, and Wesley Matthews are all entering their third year or better with the franchise.

How patient will LeBron James be with the Lakers shooting woes?

It’s only been one week, but there’s already trouble brewing in LaLa Land. LeBron James was transparent and perhaps passively trying to motivate his teammates when he told reporters that the Lakers are not a team “that’s constructed of great shooting.”

Teams are literally leaving 10-15 feet of space between themselves and most Laker players when they attempt a jump shot—like we saw Portland’s Jusuf Nurkic do when Anthony Davis shot a wide-open three and hit the side of the backboard. Or when Nurkic did it again with Russell Westbrook taking a pull-up mid-range jump shot with the game on the line.

With such poor shooting on the roster and LeBron James in the final years of his career, can the Lakers afford to stand pat and do nothing? If they don’t want to part with their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks, maybe they should consider dealing with Anthony Davis and trying to get better role players around James.