There’s always something worth digging into in the NBA. Every Tuesday, this space will be devoted to three things that have caught my attention — a team that’s better than its reputation, a trend I’m buying, or something that just isn’t working.
Welcome back to “Three in the Key.” This week: why the Warriors are legitimate contenders in the Western Conference, why Darius Acuff’s numbers can no longer be ignored, and why the Hornets might stink — but why that’s not such a big deal.
Golden State Warriors: Why They’re Contenders Again
After starting the season with three straight losses, the Warriors have rattled off eight wins in a row. Since January 26, Golden State ranks second in the NBA in points scored per 100 possessions (121.9) and fourth in points allowed per 100 possessions (106.7). The Warriors are playing high-level ball on both ends of the floor, and it’s time to take them seriously.
A big part of Golden State’s turnaround has been the play of rookie Yaxel Lendeborg. The Warriors have spent years searching for All-Star talent to put around Stephen Curry toward the tail end of his career. They might have found it in the draft. Through 11 games, Lendeborg is averaging 21.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 4.0 assists, with 52.3/44.3/75.8 shooting splits that show just how advanced he already is as a scorer.
Having Lendeborg as another legitimate scoring threat has made it much harder for opponents to load up on Curry. But some offensive tweaks from Steve Kerr have also helped unlock the 38-year-old. Golden State is running fewer pick-and-rolls this season, leaning instead on shooter-heavy lineups that spread the floor. There’s a little less of the Curry-Draymond Green two-man game, and everyone is benefiting from the extra space.
Curry has responded by going absolutely nuclear. He’s averaging 30.6 points per game on 50.3/45.7/98.7 shooting splits, making him the NBA’s No. 2 scorer while putting up ridiculous efficiency numbers. The Warriors needed to make his life easier, and this version of the offense appears to be doing exactly that.
Golden State suddenly has the bones of a really good team. Curry is performing like his usual megastar self, Lendeborg is giving the Warriors borderline All-Star production, and Brandin Podziemski and Green are playing like plus-level starters. The bench has been awesome, too, with Brandon Williams, De’Anthony Melton, and Georges Niang all playing extremely well. And Kerr’s options don’t end there. He can also turn to Gui Santos, Will Richard, Al Horford, and Gary Payton II, giving him plenty of ways to fill out a rotation.
Of course, I’m not picking the Warriors to beat the Spurs as currently constructed. But the team we’re watching now isn’t necessarily the one we’ll see in the playoffs. Jimmy Butler is expected back at some point in 2027, and early reports suggest he’s progressing quickly in his recovery from a torn ACL. It might take him some time to get up to speed, but perhaps he’ll be a two-way menace again by the time the postseason rolls around.
Golden State also has the option of packaging Kristaps Porzingis’ contract with draft capital to add another solid rotation piece. We’ll see what that deal might look like, but there have been rumors that the Warriors called about Bulls big man Jalen Smith. A player of that caliber wouldn’t suddenly make Golden State the favorite, but another useful piece could push this team closer to contention.
The bet here is that Butler can make the Warriors whole and put them firmly in the group of Western Conference teams chasing San Antonio. There’s some projection involved, but I don’t need Golden State to be the best team in the West today to like these prices. I’m grabbing the Warriors at 22-1 to win the conference (0.5 units) and 60-1 to win the title (0.1 units).
Last year, Golden State had plenty of success against San Antonio, with Curry’s late-game shot-making often making the difference. If these teams meet in a playoff series and the Warriors have their full group, I’d give them more than a puncher’s chance.
Darius Acuff: The Numbers Can’t Be Ignored
A few games into the season, it was easy to pick apart Acuff’s big, empty-calorie performances. He was jacking up bad shots, looking off open teammates, and playing miserable defense on the other end. But over the last six games, his numbers have been off-the-charts good:
- October 29 vs. Pelicans: 34 points, 14 assists, and six rebounds.
- October 31 vs. Grizzlies: 38 points, five assists, and five rebounds.
- November 2 vs. Mavericks: 25 points, six assists, and five rebounds.
- November 4 vs. Lakers: 22 points, 12 assists, and three rebounds.
- November 6 vs. Spurs: 22 points, eight assists, and three rebounds.
- November 8 vs. Heat: 32 points, 10 assists, and five rebounds.
That’s 28.8 points, 9.2 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per game over that stretch. Acuff has been a flamethrower off the dribble for Sacramento, but he’s also doing a tremendous job of setting up his teammates. More importantly, the production is coming with better shot selection and fewer wasted possessions.
Acuff shot 40.0% or worse from the floor in each of his first four games as a pro. Since then, he has shot at least 45.0% in five of six games. He has also posted an assist-to-turnover ratio of at least 2-to-1 in four of those six. It’s a lot harder to call the numbers empty when he’s scoring efficiently and creating for others without constantly giving the ball away.
That doesn’t erase the defensive concerns, and six games won’t tell us everything. But it was easy to dismiss what Acuff was doing early in the season. It isn’t anymore.
He’s starting to look like a real threat to win Rookie of the Year, and the price isn’t bad if you’re looking to bet it. I’d rather take Acuff at +350 than Lendeborg at +190 or Cameron Boozer at +200.
Charlotte Hornets: Stinking Now, Winning Later
Charlotte’s decision to trade LaMelo Ball to Minnesota was polarizing for a reason. Ball was the engine of a Hornets team that looked like one of the NBA’s best from January through the end of the 2025-26 season. He had also been the face of the franchise since the day he was drafted.
But the front office ultimately decided Ball wasn’t going to be good enough, or healthy enough, to justify his next contract extension. Charlotte viewed Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel as its true foundational pieces, making cap flexibility and draft capital the priorities as it looked to build around them.
There was some quiet selling of the idea that the Hornets could actually be better without Ball in the short term. That talk has disappeared in a hurry. Charlotte is 4-7 and dead last in the NBA in raw offensive rating (101.9). After the All-Star break last season, the Hornets were second in that category.
In fairness to Charlotte, Knueppel hasn’t been healthy, and he hasn’t been alone. We haven’t really seen the roster the Hornets envisioned when they mapped out their offseason. Still, there’s no getting around how awful this team has looked.
The good news is that a miserable start doesn’t mean the plan is broken. All offseason, the idea was to take a small step backward to set up a major step forward. Taking a bigger step backward than expected doesn’t automatically rule out the second part.
The Hornets still have good young pieces and a stockpile of picks they can use to put more talent around Miller and Knueppel. That doesn’t guarantee they’ll land whoever they want, but they have options. This was never supposed to be the finished product.
The immediate problem is that Charlotte just isn’t fun to watch. That means a little less “hum diddly dee” from play-by-play announcer Eric Collins and a lot more waiting for Hornets fans.
Those fans knew there was potentially a gap year coming. Now we can probably drop the “potentially.” This season might stink, and watching Ball thrive in Minnesota might make it feel even worse. But the future is still bright, even if the present is tough to sit through.
