Roundball Roundtable: Pleasant surprises, biggest letdowns

With more than a quarter of the 2024-25 campaign in the books, theScore's NBA editors answer some of the biggest questions around the league.

Who's been the most surprising player?

Norman Powell: Steve Ballmer might need to thank Powell with several luxurious gift baskets over the holidays for saving the Clippers' first season at the Intuit Dome from becoming a complete disaster. Not only is the 10th-year guard carrying L.A. offensively with a career-high 23.6 points per game, he's also doing it while shooting a blistering 49.6% from deep on 7.9 attempts per game. For context, here's the complete list of qualified players to shoot at least 45% over an entire season while averaging at least seven threes per game: Stephen Curry. That's it. That's the list. Curry did it twice, but it's never been done by anyone else. That's the kind of historic pace Powell is on, which is exactly what the Clippers need with Kawhi Leonard seemingly nowhere close to returning. - Jonathan Soveta

Ty Jerome: The 27-year-old has surprisingly been instrumental to the Cavaliers' 18-3 start, averaging 11.8 points, 3.6 assists, two rebounds, and 1.4 steals in less than 20 minutes per game. Jerome has been on fire, shooting 50% on 3-pointers as well as over 60% on 2-point attempts. The NBA journeyman has made the most out of his opportunity after being limited to two games last campaign due to a lingering ankle injury. Leading the Cavs in bench points, a Sixth Man of the Year award is possible if Jerome can keep up his hot start. - Donald Higney

Nikola Vucevic: Vucevic - and the two years, $41 million left on his deal - was arguably the least valuable asset in the league heading into this season. And while his defense has been underwhelming, which is putting it kindly, he's recouped some trade value for the Bulls. The Montenegrin is averaging over 20 points for the first time as a Bull while shooting career highs from both the field (57.7%) and from deep (46.9%). Vucevic's 7.6 points per game on catch-and-shoot situations is the second-highest mark amongst centers in the league. Chicago will never recover the assets it gave up to acquire Vucevic, but the club is at least in a situation now where he's moveable. - Thomas Tittley

Who's been the most disappointing player?

Jamal Murray: Murray's struggles from last year's playoffs and the Olympics have followed him into this campaign. He's averaging 18.1 points per game, the lowest mark since his sophomore season, and shooting just 42.4% from the field, his worst since his rookie year. Murray's 3-point shooting has also dropped off, shooting a career-worst 33.3% from beyond the arc. The Nuggets have a better offensive rating per 100 possessions in the three games Murray missed (38.2) than the 14 contests he's played in (7.86). Struggles like this should concern Denver after inking Murray to a four-year, $208-million max extension in September, keeping him on the Nuggets' books until the 2028-29 campaign. - Joseph Luca Casciaro

Tyrese Haliburton: Indiana's talismanic guard could be in the midst of a seasonal correction, but Haliburton still has plenty of work cut out for him to erase the memory of his dire start to the year. The Pacers star made less than a quarter of his attempts from distance in nine of his first 15 games of the year and looked a shell of the 3-point-slinging dynamo he'd established himself as since arriving in Indiana midway through the 2021-22 campaign. A forlorn Haliburton told reporters after a 12-point loss to the Bucks on Nov. 22 that he had no idea what was holding him back, but he might have in fact zeroed in on something; in the five games since that defeat, the 24-year-old has looked much more like himself, averaging 22 points and 8.8 assists while hoisting 11.2 threes per game and hitting 42.8%. - Soveta

Bam Adebayo: The extra basketball courtesy of the Olympics could be responsible for his offensive woes, but Adebayo is struggling to score. The Heat center is averaging his lowest points per game (15.7) since the 2019-20 season and is shooting his worst percentage from the field over eight campaigns in the Association (42.6%), which is also the worst mark for a center with at least 200 field-goal attempts this season. The three-time All-Star is still making over 60% of his shots from within five feet but is shooting less than 40% from all other areas on the court. Even with the Heat remaining competitive in the Eastern Conference, Miami could stand to improve its middling offense with a more efficient Adebayo. - Higney

Which team's hot start is the most sustainable?

Golden State Warriors: The Warriors are 12-7 with a top-10 offensive rating because they have some of the best depth in the Association. Head coach Steve Kerr's system emphasizes ball movement and spacing. As a result, the Warriors lead the league in just about every passing category: They're first in passes made (333), first in secondary assists per game (4.9), and first in potential assists (55.4). The ball hums when Golden State is on offense, resulting in the league's third-highest assist ratio. Nine players on the Warriors are averaging at least seven points per game. This offensive style has allowed them to thrive when Curry has been absent: The Warriors boast a 3-1 record without the former MVP. - Tittley

Orlando Magic: The Magic have turned a corner and become legit contenders in the East. Franz Wagner is having a breakout season and has taken a leap toward stardom with career highs across the board. The Magic have also been electric at the Kia Center and are the last undefeated team at home this season. Orlando currently sits 15-7, winning 12 of its last 13 games, good enough for third place. The Magic have reached these marks while dealing with injuries: Paolo Banchero has been out since Oct. 30 with a torn right oblique, while Wendell Carter Jr. missed 13 games earlier this year. Once Jamahl Mosley's roster is fully healthy, the Magic should continue their success and reach an even higher peak. - Casciaro

Boston Celtics: Joe Mazzulla's men are again in a tier of their own and showing no signs of slowing down thanks to an easy-to-remember recipe: more threebies, less freebies. The Celtics are attempting and hitting the most 3-pointers per game in NBA history, and those 3-pointers are responsible for a league-high 47.4% of their total points (conversely, they also rank last in percentage of points from twos, which further illustrates where their scoring focus is). And while hot shooting can come and go, their discipline is a variable almost entirely within their control, and one that's been just as impactful as their 3-point barrage; they average the NBA's fewest turnovers at 11.6 while limiting opponents to just 18.4 free-throw attempts per game - the fourth-best mark in the league. - Soveta

Who will be the first coach fired?

Mike Brown: Sacramento's management may be looking to make a change at head coach if the Kings aren't able to gain some traction in the Western Conference. Brown's squad ranks 12th with a 9-12 record and has won only three out of its last 10 contests. A big area of concern for the Kings has been their bench production, which ranks 27th in points from reserves after placing 12th last season and ninth during their breakout 2022-23 campaign. Even with cornerstones De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis averaging career highs in points over the first quarter of the season, Brown will need to find ways to get other players involved offensively or his job may be in jeopardy. - Higney

Chauncey Billups: The Portland Trail Blazers are in Year 4 of the Billups project and have yet to see much success. The 48-year-old is 89-178 (33.3%) over that period and has only won more than 30 games in a season once. His teams haven't even made a play-in game, let alone a playoff appearance, during his tenure. The roster hasn't been exceptional since his arrival, and Portland has struggled with some injuries, but Billups has failed to adapt. His teams have been unimaginative on offense, and the results have been underwhelming at best: The Trail Blazers have ranked 27th or worse in offensive rating in three of Billups' four seasons. - Tittley

Nick Nurse: The 76ers have been a car crash on and off the court. Key absences, locker room shoving matches, Tyrese Maxey ripping Joel Embiid for being late to team meetings, those meetings getting leaked to the media, and, most recently, Embiid saying he's confused about what the team is trying to execute on the court. The latter seemed to be a direct shot at Nurse. The Sixers sit 27th in the NBA with a 4-14 record and have their second-lowest offensive rating of the Embiid era (105.8). With so much money invested into Maxey, Embiid, and Paul George, it's likely Nurse is the first to go. - Casciaro