Since the season has just begun, I’m going to focus on playing time surprises, rather than player performances thus far. The reason for this is that the sample sizes are only one or two games, so a poor performance could easily be explained by an off-shooting night, or a tough opponent. However, it’s a bit easier to draw conclusions based on playing time, so let’s look at the guys who’ve played more than expected and less than expected early on, for all 30 NBA teams.
(Note: All minutes played stats are through Friday, October 22)
More than expected: none
Less than expected: Clint Capela — 21.0 minutes per game (mpg)
Capela was still able to double-double in just 21 minutes of action in Atlanta’s season opener, and the Hawks had planned for him to have a minutes restriction, since he missed all of preseason due to health precautions. So look for Capela’s minutes to start ramping up soon, although he may not match last year’s 30.1 mpg.
More than expected: Marcus Smart — 37.5 mpg, Robert Williams — 36.5 mpg
Less than expected: Enes Kanter — 5.0 mpg
Due to Boston playing a double overtime game already, their per game stats are going to appear inflated for quite some time. This especially applies to Smart and Williams, who played 46 minutes and 45 minutes, respectively, in that double-OT loss.
