The NBA season is full of surprises. Teams that were championship contenders can become lottery teams over an offseason. There are players who have stepped up while others have taken a steep decline. And many teams have over and under achieved with those expected to perform doing quite the opposite.

A player who has had the epitome of a breakout season is Lauri Markkanen. He has progressed from being a player who many fans counted out last season to a legitimate super star leading a championship contending team. After being picked seventh overall by the Timberwolves and then being traded on draft night to the Bulls, he was expected to be an all-star level player in a few years. However, this didn’t materialise as he was traded to the Cavaliers where he continued to play poorly. This changed when he moved to the Jazz in the offseason.

Leading up to this season, nobody thought Markkanen would lead the Jazz into one of the top seeds. He has went from averaging a sub-par 14 points and five rebounds while playing a poor defence to averaging 23 points, nine rebounds and a block. His Jazz team are currently the fourth seed in the west with a 12-8 record, much better than what was predicted by analysts.

A player whose career trajectory this season couldn’t have been predicted by anyone is Kyrie Irving. Picked first overall in 2011, he has cemented himself as one of the best point guards of the 2010’s. He was respected by fans up until his controversial antics in the 2021 season when he refused to get vaccinated. However, things couldn’t get any worse going into this season as his Nets, alongside fellow superstar Kevin Durant were expected to be in contention for the championship.

More off court antics by Irving has put a spanner in the works as he has only played 11 games out of a possible 19, due to his suspension by the NBA following anti-sematic tweets. Irving has been ultimately shunned by the basketball community and has publicly claimed he will consider retirement, at the age of 30. It was only a few years ago that Irving was an NBA champion, now he is public enemy number one.

Kyrie Irving has been shrouded in controversy in recent years (Image: Getty)

The Warriors were last year’s NBA champions. So far this year, they aren't even in the playoff picture. With a disappointing 9-10 record, they find themselves at the 11 seed, far off what was expected. However, their super star player Stephen Curry is having a great season averaging 32 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, on 50-40-90 efficiency. You would think with a team’s primary star continuing to impress the team would be at least in the top eight.

The team’s lack of success can be broken down to a number of reasons. The team’s young core has not been as promising as previously thought as Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman and Moses Moody all disappoint. The only promising young talent is Jordan Poole, who has only played four games this season- while the team’s defensive anchor Draymond Green has struggled to guard role players. The Warriors lack of success is due to many reasons, but nonetheless it’s a big surprise for fans and players alike.

A team that finds itself in the opposite situation from the Warriors, is the Kings. They have been the laughing stock of the NBA for decades minus one or two past seasons. They have missed the playoffs for a historic 16 seasons in a row. That is looking like it may end this season with the Kings fifth in the west and looking as good as ever.

This can be attributed to a few players. The main one being De’Aaron Fox. Picked fifth overall in 2017. His dedication to the team is looking like it’s paying off with him leading the way. He is averaging 25 points, five rebounds and six assists while playing great perimeter defence. On the topic of defence, Davion Mitchell earns his nickname “Off Night” as he defends the best players in the league at an elite level. And with Domantis Sabonis dominates averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds, this Kings team could really be the biggest surprise of all.

Biggest surprises of the NBA season so far