Week 1 News recap and Roze's 5 things

I hope everyone has enjoyed the first week of the NBA season already, and hopefully your team has won at least 1 game. Throughout the season I will try and update everyone on injury, trade, and contract news that arises. On top of that, I will do something called Roze’s 5 things. This list will be compiled weekly after watching games throughout the week. These things can range from player and team performances to really specific offensive or defensive themes I see taking place throughout the NBA. Starting at week 3 and on I will start to provide each conference’s standings as teams get more games under their belts.   

Now let’s dive into rookie extension deals and injuries that happened from the first week. 

To provide some context to the rookie extension here are requirement and rules:

• Players who are eligible for the rookie extension have to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft and have to be going into their fourth year in the NBA. This highlights the deals for the 2021 NBA draft class. The deadline to sign someone to a rookie extension is before the regular season of the player's 4th NBA season. 
• The contract can be up to 5 years long. 
• The first year of the salary cannot exceed 140% of the players salary in their last year of the contract.
• One of the most notable rules is any player who does not sign a rookie extension with the team will become a restricted free agent. 

Monday October 20th 

Precious Achiuwa strained his right hamstring and will be re-evaluated in 2-4 weeks. 

Moses Moody signed a 3 year 39 million dollar rookie extension with the Warriors. The Warriors did not agree to a rookie extension with Jonathan Kuminga which will make him a restricted free agent when his contract is up.  

Tuesday October 21st

Trey Murphy signed a 4 year 112 million dollar rookie extension with the Pelicans. 

Jalen Green signed a 3 year 106 million dollar rookie extension with the Rockets. His contract features a player option in the third year which is atypical for a rookie extension. 

Jalen Suggs signed a 5 year 150 million dollar rookie extension with the Magic. 

Corey Kispert signed a 4 year 54 million dollar rookie extension with the Wizards. 

Alperen Sengun signed a 5 year 185 million dollar rookie extension with the Rockets. 

Jaden Hardy signed a 3 year 18 million dollar rookie extension with the Mavericks. 

Jalen Johnson signed a 5 year 150 million dollar rookie extension with the Hawks. 

Aaron Gordon signed a 3 year 133 million dollar extension with the Nuggets. The move saves the Nuggets 60 million in luxury tax with his contract starting in 2026-2027. 

Rudy Gobert signed a 3 year 110 million dollar extension with the Timberwolves. 

Wednesday October 22nd 

Dejounte Murray fractured his left hand on opening night for the Pelicans. It is unclear how long he will be out for. 

Thursday October 23rd 

Brandon Miller had a left glute strain for the Hornets in their opener. He will be out at least 1 week. 

Roze’s 5 Things 

1. The Celtics Offense 

The opening week could not have gone better for the defending champs. They demolished the Knicks on opening night before blowing out the Wizards on Thursday and finished up the week 3-0 beating Pistons in a tight matchup on the road on Saturday. They looked phenomenal and primed to be the first repeat champions since the Warriors. On offense it feels like they took a step forward in the young 2024-2025 NBA season. The reason why is not only because of the shooting they have and all the weapons they can throw at you, but they’re running an efficient offense late in the shot clock. Typically in the past when the Celtics have struggled both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have forced tough shots with 4 or 5 seconds on the clock. However, opening night and the two games versus lesser competition have shown growth in this department. Tatum and Brown handle the ball most of the time, but they still do a good job of setting screens and creating mismatches not only for them, but for their teammates. Jrue Holiday being used as a screener has been good. Notably this week when they had multiple pin downs and flare screens set with Brown and Tatum and handling the ball. All of this happened with close to 10 seconds left on the shot clock. The Celtics being able to put pressure on the defense for the entirety of the shot clock instead of only 10 real seconds is a game changer and makes them extremely difficult to guard. With all the shooting they have and how they run their sets I think the only way to beat them is to switch everything they do. The problem is almost no team was the personal to make that happen. On opening night they punished Karl Anthony-Towns in drop coverage and they were able to swing the ball around the perimeter and get good shots. The Knicks defensive rotations were good, but it didn’t matter because of the Celtics shooting ability. The Celtics also have the early lead in offensive efficiency with a rating of 130. Absolute absurd numbers to start the year for Boston. 

2. Can the Cavaliers steal the 2nd or 3rd seed in the East? 

Cleveland started their season very well with commanding wins over the Raptors, Pistons, and Wizards. Granted none of those teams are good, but that’s part of the game in the NBA. Beat the bad teams and you can move up the ranks. It’s noticeable that the chemistry between Garland, Mitchell, Mobley, and Allen is real. They shared the ball very well and oh my god Evan Mobley took steps this year. They’ve experimented with him bringing the ball up the court and running a little bit of the offense. In their opening night game against the Raptors he brought the ball up the floor and shot a three with about 15 second left on the shot clock, something that had never happened in his career. If these steps are real and the Cavaliers can stay healthy I see no reason why they can’t earn the 3rd or even 2nd seed. The 76ers are already dealing with injuries to Joel Embiid and Paul George and the Bucks had troubles against the Bulls and Nets this week. The Cavs being ready to take their shot at a top 3 seed is something that can happen this year. 

 3. LaMelo Ball is making strides getting to the foul line. 

In the first three games of the year LaMelo Ball has attempted 8 free throws and doubled his career-high from last year of 4. People can go on about the 31.7 points per game he is averaging or the 15 threes he’s already made on the year, but getting to the free throw line was a big issue for him the first three years. Him putting pressure on the paint not only as a passer, but a scorer will create easier opportunities for him. This will help open up the game for himself and get himself easier points at the line rather than attempting floater after floater. I hope everything in this is real because the Hornets are fun and frisky and with a point guard like Ball the ceiling can be really high for him. 

4. The Jalen Green discourse

Jalen Green is one of the more fascinating players in the league in my opinion. He’s 6” 6 with a clean shooting stroke and an explosive athlete. So is this the year he makes the jump to reach all-star conversations? Early on I would say no but he’s off to a nice start this year. I still think he needs to clean up his shot selection and over shot profile, more threes and less of the long step back twos he likes to take.  He’s off to a nice start to the year averaging 26.3 points per game on 41%/36% splits. Obviously he needs to be more efficient, but I think that 11 game stretch last year that saw him averaging 30 points per game on 50/40 shooting splits was real and a signal that something is here. I’m not saying he’s an all star this year or even next, but if the Rockets want to have someone in the playoffs to go get them a bucket late in the game he’s their best bet. Him having a breakout year after getting a smaller contract compared to teammate Alperen Sengun on the rookie extension should light a fire underneath him and propel him to having a good year. 

5. The Sun’s new look offense and Devin Booker having a tough start. 

The Sun’s offense under Mike Budenholzer looks fantastic and has me confident they can earn a top 4 seed in the West. Budenholzer has emphasized ball movement along with utilizing Tyus Jones and Monte Morris correctly. Kevin Durant has seen himself get off to a great start this year averaging 28 points on 52/50 splits from the floor. He's always been a sniper, but the role players have been elevated in the offense under Mike Budenholzer. The assist numbers are through the roof from a season ago up to this point. They’re averaging close to 29 assists pre game and 15 threes a game. Two areas they struggled with a year ago. The additions of Monte Morris, Tyus Jones, rookie Ryan Dunn, Mason Plumlee, and rookie Iso Ighodaro have fit nicely next to Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal. The actions they are running have multiple layers involved with them. If they start with a pick and roll for Durant or Booker that get multiple ball reversals and actions on each side of the floor. Rookie Ryan Dunn has played very well cutting, moving and being able to keep the ball moving for the Suns. However, with all  this being said Devin Booker has struggled to start the season. Not from a shooting perspective, but from not getting enough shots. He only attempted 12 shots in their game against the Mavericks on Saturday in 37 minutes of play. He doesn't seem as aggressive as he did two seasons ago. The shifting of shooting guard to point guard and back could be messing with him a little bit, but overall it's been a shaky start. The Suns will need him to find his rhythm and timing of being aggressive in the offense if the Suns want a chance to win the title this year.