After the first month of the 2025-26 NBA season, the OKC Thunder and Detroit Pistons are tops in the class. But there are plenty of teams failing.

The Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox. The Bounce will take a break on Thursday and Friday to enjoy Thanksgiving. In the meantime, happy birthday to Shawn Kemp (Wednesday) and Nick Van Exel (Thursday)!

A member of three Warriors championship teams, Kevon Looney embraced any role for coach Steve Kerr — starting, coming off the bench, even playing minimal or no minutes at times if that was best for the team.

The Pistons look like a contender, the Clippers are nearing complete collapse and the Grizzlies are tricky to figure out.

The NBA Cup field is set for the December one-week slate to crown an in-season tournament champion. Past winners have seen LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks winning the titles in the first two years of this NBA effort.

There have been plenty of teams who have performed beyond what their expectations were before the season. With about a month of the season gone, some teams stand out.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James explains how the NBA is a copycat league while discussing the lack of experimentation from teams.

The Miami Heat trading for LaMelo Ball would purely be a bet on Erik Spoelstra, Pat Riley, and Heat Culture changing his habits in a profound way to get the best out of the potential in his game. Miami would force Ball to play defense, trim the fat from his offensive game, and buy into a winning plan for the long term.