- Close
ESPN Senior Writer- Tim Bontemps is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com who covers the league and what's impacting it on and off the court, including trade deadline intel, expansion and his MVP Straw Polls. You can find Tim alongside Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast.
- Close
ESPN Senior Writer- ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010
- Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years
- Author of two books
As we approach the halfway point of the 2024-25 season, it's a good time to take stock of where things stand across the NBA.
A sample size of half the season allows us to explore which players have surprised and disappointed, relative to expectations. When we asked coaches, scouts and executives from across the league for their selections, they had no trouble dredging up a whole bunch of players for both categories.
So here's our rundown of which players made the lists and why, a breakdown of what the surprising Detroit Pistons could do at the trade deadline, an update on the status of a promising rookie in Philadelphia, and what could come next for Bradley Beal and the Phoenix Suns in our weekly trip around the NBA.
Jump to league intel:
First-half surprises | Disappointments
Detroit changing its trade deadline plans?
Latest on Bradley Beal's future in Phoenix
Two reasons Cavs-Thunder was a classic
