The Dunkyard continues its early look at each team’s surprise players – those playing above expectations as well as those who are struggling to make an impact. We continue with the North West Division*:

Minnesota (10-5)

Champs: Despite their off season acquisitions this is still Karl-Anthony Towns team. If the team continues its impressive start then Towns (21.1-11.5-1.3, 1.7bpg, 54.3% FG, 37.0% 3FG, 24.3 PER) will become an All-Star for the first time.

As was the case in Chicago coach Thibodeau plays his starting line-up very heavy minutes. While you may find some Bulls fans blaming this approach for the injuries suffered by Rose and Noah you can’t argue with the results. Don’t discount the bench entirely though. In limited minutes Nemanja Bjelica (7.6-3.1, 15.8mpg, 58.3% FG, 52.8% 3FG, 18.9 PER), Gorgui Dieng (6.7-4.8-1.0, 15.4mpg, 47.5% FG, 17.6 PER) and Jamal Crawford (9.1-1.1-2.3, 18.3mpg, 42.6% 3FG, 14.7 PER) ensure there is no drop off in production.

Chumps: The Timberwolves are going to be pretty happy with where they currently sit, however if they want to truly contend in the west they need more out of their other big names. While there is no doubt his leadership and experience is having a positive effect on the team Jimmy Butler (15.8-5.2-4.7-1.8, 36.1mpg, 40.0% FG, 15.7 PER) is playing well below his potential. Speaking of potential, will Andrew Wiggins (18.9-4.3-1.7-1.3, 35.8mpg, 45.5% FG, 33.9% 3FG, 15.0 PER) ever reach his? Now in his fourth season he continues to cruise along at a league average level while the basketball world waits for his breakout season. The Dunkyard is starting to think it may never come.

Denver (9-6)

Champs: It’s time to start paying attention to the Denver Nuggets again. It’s only a matter of time before 22-year Nikola Jokic (16.2-11.6-4.7-1.5, 50.6% FG, 41.5% 3FG, 24.5 PER) starts to be mentioned in the same breath as Porzingis and Antetokounmpo as the future of the NBA.

In more good news for Denver their young backcourt talent is starting to shine. Jamal Murray (14.4-2.5-2.5, 26.5mpg, 45.1% FG, 14.9 PER), Gary Harris (13.2-2.7-3.0-1.6, 46.2% 3FG, 15.5 PER) and Emmanuel Mudiay (12.1-3.4-3.4, 23.3mpg, 47.4% 3FG, 15.1 PER) are all staring to put it together. Having veteran Paul Millsap (16.0-6.3-3.1-1.1-1.3, 17.5 PER) around while you wait isn’t too bad either.

Chumps: Once cornerstones of the team Kenneth Faried (4.6-2.6, 10.1mpg) has found himself almost completely out of the rotation while Wilson Chandler (8.9-4.5-2.9, 31.2mpg, 43.9% FG, 29.3% 3FG, 10.2 PER) probably should be. Both players should be dangled as trade-bait as Denver attempts to compete with the Western Conference elite.

Portland (9-7)

Champs: Despite my opinion that he’s the most overrated “Superstar” in the game, Damien Lillard (24.6-5.4-6.4-1.2, 40.5% FG, 31.7% 3FG, 24.2 PER) is still the best player in Portland. He may want to stop watching Steph Curry clips and defer to C.J. McCollum (22.5-3.9-2.7-1.3, 47.7% FG, 51.1% 3FG, 20.4 PER) a bit more though. If the two of them keep producing then they will continue to sniff around the last few playoff positions.

In his 8th season starting forward Al-Farouq Aminu (9.4-8.1-1.8, 1.3bpg, 43.3% 3FG, 16.2 PER) is playing his best basketball and may have finally developed a reliable 3-point shot, while Shabazz Napier (7.0-1.5-1.3, 14.1mpg, 66.7% 3FG, 21.9 PER) is looking like a real NBA player.

Chumps: The arrival of Jusuf Nurkic in a trade last season revitalised the Trailblazers. In those 20 games Nurkic (15.2-10.4-3.2-1.3-1.9, 50.8% FG, 21.1 PER) looked every bit the dominant centre the team needed. It seems the novelty has worn off as Nurkic (14.6-7.2-1.9-0.9-1.0, 46.0% FG, 14.3 PER) has struggled to recapture that form.

The other issue facing Portland’s quest for the playoffs is the performance of two of their big minute players. Evan Turner (8.7-4.1-2.6, 27.3mpg, 41.3% FG, 21.4% 3FG, 9.5 PER) and Maurice Harkless (6.3-4.1, 27.4mpg, 41.1% FG, 26.7% 3FG, 8.4 PER) need to find other ways to help the team if they both continue their horrid shooting.

Oklahoma (7-8)

Champs: It was always going to take some time for this team to get on the same page, however many felt that it would be the play of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony that would suffer as they became acclimatised to Russell Westbrook. In reality it’s been the other way around as Anthony (20.1-6.1-1.6, 42.6% FG, 36.8% 3FG, 18.3 PER) and George (21.6-5.9-2.7-2.4, 43.2% FG, 41.0% 3FG, 18.2 PER) are playing about as well as expected. We’ll look at Westbrook in a moment.

Elsewhere on the team Steven Adams (12.6-8.3-1.1-1.4-1.3, 66.0% FG, 22.1 PER) is quietly enjoying a career-best season while the Thunder will be ecstatic with the bench play of Raymond Felton (7.5-1.4-2.6, 17.1mpg, 42.4% 3FG, 16.6 PER) and Jerami Grant (8.9-4.7-1.1, 24.0mpg, 49.0% FG, 15.0 PER) so far.

Chumps: The decision to place a reigning MVP on this list does not come lightly but comparing MVP Westbrook (31.6-10.7-10.4-1.6, 34.6mpg, 42.5% FG, 24.0 FGA, 30.6 PER) with the current version of Westbrook (19.9-8.2-9.5-1.9, 34.3mpg, 40.0% FG, 17.7 FGA, 19.9 PER) makes it clear he’s struggling. At the moment he’s trying to hard too hard to integrate others. This needs to be his team.

The rest of Oklahoma’s bench must keep coach Billy Donovan awake at night. Alex Abrines (4.6-1.7, 17.1mpg, 40.0% FG, 7.2 PER), Patrick Patterson (3.1-1.7, 15.2mpg, 34.8% FG, 7.4 PER) and Josh Huestis (2.3-1.6, 12.2mpg, 30.3% FG, 5.0 PER) are the stuff of nightmares.

Utah (7-10)

Champs: The loss of Gordon Hayward has hit this team hard. Let’s start with the good news. Rookie Donovan Mitchell (14.8-3.1-2.8-1.4, 34.0% 3FG, 13.0 PER) has been impressive. Aussie Joe Ingles (10.2-4.5-3.7-1.4, 47.1% 3FG, 13.8 PER) continues to improve and Rudy Gobert (13.9-10.5, 2.5bpg, 62.0% FG, 20.4 PER) is a defensive beast.

Chumps: The bad news? Gobert’s injury will keep him out until Christmas. Rodney Hood (17.7-2.5-1.7, 42.1% FG, 15.7 PER) and Derrick Favors (11.9-6.1-1.4, 52.8% FG, 16.8 PER) don’t seem to have any further improvement left, leaving them well below the All-Star level the Jazz front office hoped they would reach. The decision to replace George Hill with Ricky Rubio (13.3-3.8-5.3-1.8, 37.1% FG, 25.0% 3FG, 13.8 PER) gets worse every day, while age and injury are the succubus on whatever ability “Iso” Joe Johnson (6.3-2.7-1.6, 39.1% FG, 11.8% 3FG, 8.3 PER) has left.

*All statistics current as at November 19.