Now over halfway through the 2022-2023 NBA season, many players have exceeded their already high expectations from the beginning of the year. Before the season started, the Tower shared its picks, and today, we will reflect and discuss the accuracy of our picks so far. 

Coming into the season, the Tower predicted that Luka Dončić would earn his first scoring title. He is currently averaging 33.0 ppg. As impressive as this is, he is still only in second place in the race for the title. Joel Embiid, who started the year off pretty slowly, has quickly ascended, and now leads the NBA in points per game, with 33.8. Although the Tower had previously predicted that Dončić would win this award, it comes as no surprise that Embiid would give him a run for his money, considering he won the scoring title in the 2021-2022 season, after averaging 30.6 points per game. 

The Tower had also predicted that Luka Dončić would win his first MVP award this season. According to the NBA’s KIA Race to the MVP Ladder, Dončić is currently sitting in fifth place to win this award, despite averaging 33.0 ppg, 8.9 rpg, and 8.4 apg. This ranking seems controversial at first glance, considering his stats are better than Jayson Tatum’s, who is averaging 31.1 ppg, 8.7 rpg, and 4.4 apg, and is ranked number three to win MVP.  Joel Embiid’s, who is averaging 33.4 ppg, 9.8 rpg, and 4.1 apg, is ranked second, but to win the MVP award, a player must lead their team to a top spot in the conference standings. Nikola Jokic, who is currently in the lead to win this season’s MVP, has led the Denver Nuggets to a 34-15 record, putting them at the top of the Western Conference standings. Embiid and the 76ers have held their position as the second seeded team in the east, with a record of 31-16, while the Boston Celtics, led by Jayson Tatum, hold the best record, not only in the Eastern Conference, but amongst all 30 NBA teams. Luka Dončić simply does not have the help he needs to land the Mavericks a top seed in the west, which may cost him the MVP this season. 

At the beginning of the season, we predicted that Paolo Banchero, who was drafted with the first pick to the Orlando Magic, would be the Rookie of the Year, and he has fulfilled every expectation and then some. Through 51 games, Paolo has averaged 20.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, and 3.7 apg. He has the most ppg amongst rookies, third most apg, fourth most rpg, and fourth most spg. He has had a large impact on the young Orlando team and it shows. Last season, they finished the year as the 15 seed in the Eastern Conference, with a 22-60 record. Right now, they hold a 20-31 record. Unfortunately, they are still only the 13 seed, but Banchero’s dominating performance to kick off his career gives glimpses of hope to Magic fans. Another rookie who has had a great start to his career is Bennedict Mathurin, who the Indiana Pacers drafted sixth overall. Coming off of the bench, he has had a tremendous influence on Indiana’s success, averaging 17.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, and 1.4 apg. Last year, the Pacers finished the season with a 25-57 record, landing them the 13 seed in the Eastern Conference. Alongside Tyrese Haliburton, Mathurin has helped the Pacers have a strong start to the season.  However, the Pacers have struggled without Haliburton as he is out due to injury. After falling to 24-28 during his absence, Haliburton’s return will surely bring life back to a team that desperately lacks fire power without him in the lineup.

To start off the season, the Tower predicted that Jordan Poole would earn the 6th Man of the Year award after his success in the playoffs last season. He is currently having another productive season off of the bench, averaging 21.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, and 4.3 apg. The Warrior’s beginning to the season was rough, but recently, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have started heating up, and with the help of Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole, they have worked their way back up to the sixth seed in the Western Conference. The main problem concerning Poole is his inconsistency. In most cases, he will give the warriors 20+ points, but there have been many cases where he only gets around 10 points. Poole has also spent a large portion of this season as a starter. Other candidates to win the award include Russell Westbrook and Malcolm Brogdon. Westbrook this season has averaged 15.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, and 7.5 apg. After all of the scrutiny he faced last season, many fans were happy to see Westbrook return as an explosive scoring threat. Malcolm Brogdon has been a massive help offensively to the Celtics since his trade from the Pacers this past off-season. He has averaged 14.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, and 3.7 apg, but has had many 20+ point games recently. His addition to the team has played a massive role in the Celtics’ early success this season. 

Additionally, the Tower predicted that Tyrese Maxey would win the Most Improved Player award this season. Despite averaging two less minutes per game this season, Maxey has managed to average three more ppg, while also averaging 2.9 rpg, and 3.9 apg. What makes this production even more impressive is that he is doing this on the Philadelphia 76ers, who already have a top three MVP candidate in Joel Embiid and a former MVP in James Harden. Maxey’s 39.2% from three this season has been one of the many factors leading to Philly’s success. However, Utah’s Lauri Markkanen has also proven his worth this season. After being traded to the Cavaliers from the Bulls in 2021, Markkanen averaged 14.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, and 1.3 apg in 30.8 mpg. This season, he was involved in the trade that gave the Cavaliers Donovan Mitchell. At the start of the season, many NBA fans thought that the Jazz would tank this season in an attempt to receive the number one pick in the coming draft, but Markkanen and the young Utah roster had other plans. Since his trade to the Jazz, Markkanen has been on a tear. Through 52 games, Markkanen has averaged 24.9 ppg, 8.6 rpg, and 1.8 apg on 52.0 FG%. What makes him such a difficult player to guard however, is that despite his 7 ‘0 build, he has maintained a 43.2% from three this year. 

Unfortunately, this season has been loaded with injuries, which has led to star players missing games. Both Zion Williamson and Anthony Davis returned this season from injuries. In the 25 games he played before suffering a right foot injury, Davis was dominant in the west, helping the Lakers work their way up the standings. Over the course of these games, Davis averaged 26.7 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.3 spg and 2.1 bpg. Anthony Davis has since returned from this injury, and played two games before sitting out again to rest. In these two games, Davis averaged 18.5 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 2.5 apg, and 2.0 bpg. Due to these good performances, the Lakers main worry surrounding Davis is keeping him healthy. Zion, on the other hand, has not returned from this season’s injury yet. In the 29 games he played before getting injured, Zion helped lead the Pelicans to the number one seed in the Western Conference, averaging 26.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, and 4.6 apg. Unfortunately, the Pelicans have fallen in the standings due to not only Williamson’s injury but also Brandon Ingram’s injury. Both players have missed many games, although Ingram made his return to the court on Tuesday, January 31st. Williamson, on the other hand, will be reevaluated in early February Kawhi Leonard missed parts of the 2020-2021 Season, along with the entirety of the 2021-2022 season due to an ACL tear in his right leg. He made his return this season, and due to the large amount of time he missed, he started off slowly. Unfortunately, after playing only a few games, he had to sit out for a couple weeks due to pain in his surgically repaired knee. Since his return, Kawhi has shown signs of his old self, averaging 21.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg, and 3.9 apg, while playing lockdown defense and averaging 1.2 spg. Another player who has dealt with a painful injury this season is Karl-Anthony Towns. After receiving Rudy Gobert in a trade with the Jazz, many fans thought that the Timberwolves would be much better than last season, and that has been the case. Minnesota is currently sitting in fifth place in the Western Conference, even without Towns. Before his injury, Towns was averaging 20.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg, and 5.3 apg. Unfortunately, there is no timeline for his return. Tyrese Haliburton was also having a breakout year in Indiana before his injury. Fortunately, there is a chance for him to return as soon as this coming weekend to play the Cavaliers, although his minutes may be limited