Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard and Celtics forward Jayson Tatum are the NBA’s first Players of the Week of the 2022/23 season, having won the awards in the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).
Lillard led Portland to an impressive – and unexpected – 3-0 week to open the season, averaging 34.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 4.3 APG on .471/.364/.929 shooting in victories over the Kings, Suns, and Lakers. He scored 41 points in each of the latter two wins.
Tatum’s Celtics also opened the season with three consecutive wins, having defeated the Sixers, Heat, and Magic. Tatum was the team’s leading scorer in all three games, averaging 34.7 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 3.0 APG on .587/.333/.880 shooting. The All-NBA forward had his first 40-point game of the season on Saturday night in Orlando.
According to the NBA (Twitter links), Devin Booker, Stephen Curry, De’Aaron Fox, Nikola Jokic, Lauri Markkanen, CJ McCollum, Zion Williamson, and Ja Morant were the other nominees for Player of the Week in the West, while Giannis Antetokounmpo, Paolo Banchero, Donovan Mitchell, and Pascal Siakam were nominated in the East.
Which duo would you rather have on your team for the next 3yrs, Damian Lillard/Jerami Grant, Jayson Tatum/Marcus Smart, Giannis Antetokounmpo/Bobby Portis, Pascal Siakam/Fred Van Vleet or Donovan Mitchell/Evan Mobley? Rank a top3 if possible…
1) Tatum/Smart
2) Mitchell/Mobley
3) Giannis/Portis
Tatum has been on a revenge tour so far after losing to the Warriors in the Finals last year. If Smart actually plays like he just won DPOY instead of his performance so far (I have him on a fantasy basketball team, to my chagrin), the two of them have the highest floor and the highest ceiling.
Donovan has looked good since becoming a Cav, and I’m high on Evan Mobley as the blueprint of the future for Cleveland. Giannis is Giannis, which is why it felt wrong to leave him off this list, and he alone is better than Dame/Grant and Pascal/Freddy.
They should have picked Giannis and Ja, right?
As a Magic fan and someone who’s fantasy team just got run over by Jayson Tatum, I can attest that he looked the part. Dame Time has been unstoppable lately as well. Obviously, everyone will have a different opinion on who deserved the award each week, but we can all be at peace with the knowledge that no Nets player won Player of the Week.
I’m trying not to let my optimism overrun me, but the Blazers were on fire, without Dame, for that brief moment before the team pretty much shut everything down last year. Add Lillard and #7 lotto pick and GP3, and maybe this team is the real deal. I still don’t see this group competing seriously for a title this year, but if they are anywhere close to the top tier, they have alot of options to trade off young assets and/or pick up some valuable vets in the near future.