4 hours Ago By Eric Pincus
Two months into the NBA season is enough to get a sense of how far each franchise will go. Some are clear contenders; others are better served chasing the draft lottery. Sure, the trade deadline, improved health and a nice win streak could change fortunes, but the playoff favorites already have a nice cushion.
The following list describes each NBA franchise in just two words, followed by a brief explanation for context. The Hawks stole Dyson Daniels in a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans. Formerly a role player, Daniels is leading the NBA with 3.
0 steals a game and giving Atlanta a point-of-attack defender alongside smaller, scoring point guard Trae Young. Along with the continued emergence of Jalen Johnson, the Hawks are stealing their way to enough wins to chase more than just a play-in berth—they could be on their way to a playoff spot outright. The NBA's reigning champions are as good as expected.
They win most of the time. No, they're not in first place with the Cleveland Cavaliers also rolling, but Boston's bigger-picture focus is staying healthy through the regular-season grind to get back to winning when it matters most. The Nets were winning too many games.
Since the focus was supposed to be on development, the lottery and rebuilding, Jordi Fernández may have been doing too well as the team's new head coach. No worries—the front office traded his starting point guard (Dennis Schröder) for an injured player (De'Anthony Melton) and draft considerations. Look for more of the same as Brooklyn cashes out its veteran players before the deadline.
The Hornets are a fun team, capable of big wins when LaMelo Ball is playing. Unfortunately, he hasn't been available enough this season. He missed much of last season, and the team just isn't good enough without him (even then, marginal when Ball is cooking).
Charlotte is still retooling, but the team needs to find a way to keep their young point guard healthy. The Bulls are good enough to win too many games. The result seems to be consistent trips to the lottery but not high enough odds to land a franchise player.
Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević have had bounce-back seasons. Coby White is legit. But the end game isn't clear, and Chicago probably needs a deeper reset.
The Cavaliers faced significant uncertainty before this season until All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell recommitted with a multiyear extension. The team also gave deals to Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Isaac Okoro. With business taken care of and a new coach in Kenny Atkinson, Cleveland has been the best team in basketball all season.
The Mavericks did not initially look like the franchise that took runner-up in the NBA Finals. Star Luka Dončić just wasn't himself. A wrist injury knocked him out for a bit, and the team started to improve without him.
The time off did wonders, as Dončić returned with a vengeance and reminded the league how uniquely talented he is as a scorer. The Nuggets may not have the deepest team, losing key role players like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown Jr. in recent years, but the franchise remains among the elites in the West.
Most of that is on Nikola Jokić, who continues to improve every year despite his status as the best player in the league. That, and Jamal Murray seems to have several awful games for the first 43 minutes but turns into prime Michael Jordan, Steph Curry and Kobe Bryant in the last five. The Pistons will probably miss the playoff this year, but that it's even a possibility is a massive improvement over the product the last handful of years.
They've been borderline unwatchable for way too long. Credit to the new front office (led by Trajan Langdon), new head coach JB Bickerstaff and the players for bringing actual basketball back to Detroit. The Warriors hit the 2024-25 campaign hard, looking like added depth (instead of former Splash Brother Klay Thompson) plus Steph Curry heroics would thrust the team back into the playoff spotlight.
That momentum has subsided, be it because of injury or chemistry. Perhaps Dennis Schröder, recently acquired from the Brooklyn Nets for injured guard De'Anthony Melton, will re-spark the franchise. Last year, the Rockets switched from almost entirely young, inexperienced players to a mixed group with veterans like Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks.
The results were interesting but not explosive enough for a play-in run. Head coach Ime Udoka turned a woeful team into a defensive force, which has carried over this season. The Rockets are growing up quickly and are legit.
They will not be in the lottery again this May. The Pacers weren't supposed to be a contender last year, when they surprised their way to the in-season tournament championship game (now NBA Cup) and Eastern Conference Finals. While they fell short in both, the team had taken a significant step forward.
Unfortunately, that has led to a step back this season. The team just isn't clicking yet, at least not enough to outscore opponents like it did regularly through 2023-24. On paper, the Clippers should be far worse than they are after losing two of their best players (Kawhi Leonard, thus far, to injury and Paul George in free agency).
Yet the team has stayed competitive with a nasty defense surrounding the offense of James Harden and Norman Powell. Also, credit to coach Ty Lue for making the most of what he has to work with. The Lakers started hot under new coach JJ Redick.
That initial momentum stalled hard, and the team has struggled to put together wins (especially on the road) consistently. Some of that is due to a talent gap (lack of depth), but the team has also experienced a series of injuries. Returning almost the same team as last year's inconsistent, oft-injured group has not yielded a different result.
The Grizzlies want to forget last year ever happened. The team was a force in 2022-23, but injuries, suspension and overall bad luck made 2023-24 a complete mess. Now that they are (mostly) healthy, the Grizzlies are back comparing among the best teams in the West.
Butler has led the Miami Heat to two NBA Finals. He's still highly productive when he is healthy, but he misses a lot of games each season. At 35, Butler is likely too old for the Heat to reinvest, and he's looking for a new contract.
That stalemate may lead to a trade before the deadline, and that potential hangs heavily over the organization. Butler has a large player option for next season and will be best served if he's dealt to a team that will extend him. If not, he may need to opt in for 2025-26 at $52.
4 million. The Bucks were awful to begin the season. Teams were eager to see the team flounder, hoping Giannis Antetokounmpo would demand a trade.
Nope, Milwaukee has been one of the hottest teams of late, parlaying that run into an NBA Cup title. Barring a collapse, Antetokounmpo suitors will continue to covet from afar. The Timberwolves executed a blockbuster deal before the season began, trading Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks, primarily for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.
Minnesota's pivot has initially fallen flat after a run to the Western Conference Finals. It's vital to remember that players are not NBA2K avatars. The players all needed time to adjust and the chemistry is gradually building.
Oof. The Pelicans should be a playoff team in the West, but injuries have struck them hard. After filling its primary hole at point guard with Dejounte Murray, New Orleans was confident in the season ahead (even if it was a little weak at center).
Now, the team has to consider focusing entirely on the lottery. A healthy Zion Williamson with Murray and the talented roster would have been something to see. Instead, the team is mostly unwatchable.
The Knicks were on the other end of the roster shakeup with the Minnesota Timberwolves, but New York also brought Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets. The team's identity has shifted significantly. Instead of a defense-heavy team with little scoring help to supplement Jalen Brunson, the Knicks added Karl-Anthony Towns and now have two offense-first options who aren't known for what they do on the defensive end.
Coach Tom Thibodeau has made his reputation coaching defense, but this roster isn't quite as rugged as last year. That's not bad; it's just different, and the Knicks need (and still need) some time to perfect it. The Thunder were already the regular season's top team last year in the West.
That was before improving by adding Alex Caruso (trade) and Alex Hartenstein (free agency). Despite injuries to their big men, first to Hartenstein and then Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City unsurprisingly still has the best record in the conference. The NBA Cup loss to the Milwaukee Bucks may suggest vulnerabilities.
Still, the Thunder played without Holmgren, and a one-and-done championship is very different from a seven-game playoff series. For the Magic to get 50 points from Paolo Banchero only to lose him to an oblique muscle strain, to then see Franz Wagner step up as "the guy" they hoped he'd be in Banchero's absence..
.only to see Wagner go down with an oblique muscle strain is wild. Orlando, one of last year's surprise teams, still has high hopes for this season once they get their two young stars back healthy.
Let's be clear: NBA teams are not cursed. It's more confirmation bias than anything when 29 out of 30 won't win the title each year. Still, the 76ers feel extremely, extremely unlucky this year.
The team was reeling from the start, from injuries to Paul George and Joel Embiid (somewhat predictable) to losing Tyrese Maxey for a stretch. However, when the one bright spot (rookie Jared McCain) goes down with a knee injury, Sixers fans became absolutely convinced that their team is cursed. The playoffs will decide whether the Suns' roster makeup works.
However, the top-heavy design will halt when Kevin Durant isn't healthy. With Durant already out for 10 games, Phoenix will struggle whenever any of its three expensive scorers (Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Durant) aren't available. This was the issue last season: inconsistent health (mostly Beal), but when the Suns are at full strength, they have a better roster than 2023-24 and are a potential contender.
The Trail Blazers are knee-deep in a rebuild but still have veterans on the roster who don't quite fit with the youth movement of Scoot Henderson, Donovan Clingan and Shaedon Sharpe. Will the team look to move players like Deandre Ayton, Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant? Competing executives believe Portland will try. However, the broader issue is Henderson's development.
The No. 3 pick from 2023 is still trying to adapt to the league, and his shooting has gotten even worse in his sophomore season (27.9 percent from three-point range).
The Kings broke a long playoff drought in 2022-23 (their first appearance since 2005-05). Last year, Sacramento fell in the play-in tournament after winning 46 games and has gotten even worse so far this season. The Kings (13-14) don't even have a winning record.
While DeMar DeRozan is a prolific scorer, he was an odd choice for a team built around De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk and Keegan Murray. The team needs more role-player/defender/athlete types instead of a litany of scorers. After landing Victor Wembanyama with the No.
1 pick in 2023, the Spurs' timeline immediately shifted from rebuilding to winning. What's difficult to gauge is timing. How quickly should San Antonio push in its chips? The team chose to go slowly this summer, acquiring older but capable veterans like Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes.
The results are positive, and the Spurs are not just eyeing the play-in but the playoffs. The Raptors aren't quite the Pelicans of the East, but it's close. New Orleans had greater hopes, but Toronto expected to be competitive with players like Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett and Gradey Dick.
Instead, Barnes and Quickley haven't been available consistently. Barrett and Dick have stepped into more prominent roles, but the team is losing non-stop. It's not what the franchise had hoped; fans may not be having the fun they had expected to have, and the team may need to consider going full-bore to maximize its lottery positioning.
Last year, the Jazz messed around early and won too many games. The goal was to get the most out of the roster for as long as possible and then focus on the lottery. The result was 31 wins and the No.
10 pick (Cody Williams). This year, Utah has been awful from Day 1. The team plays little to no defense.
At least if the product is going to be poor, a lot of points were scored (more from the other team, but that seems to be the goal). Like the Jazz, the Wizards know their priorities. The team is not good, but the results wouldn't be that different even if it played every game to win.
The coach and players are probably trying to win. It's not a team designed to win in the NBA. Washington has some young and talented but raw pieces.
It will be some time before the Wizards are competing for the playoffs. With that in mind, it's all about the 20024 draft lottery. Email Eric Pincus at eric.
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