The NBA season is halfway over, and the standings in both conferences are tightening up.
We ranked all 30 teams after the first half of the season, splitting them into 10 unique tiers. The rankings will be revealed in three parts, starting with the first two tiers: the teams tanking for the chance to draft Victor Wembanyama number one overall, and the teams that could and maybe should tank but haven’t yet.
We’re In For Wembanyama
30. Houston Rockets
The Rockets are really bad. Really bad. But when Kevin Porter Jr. is leading your team in minutes/game, I guess it’s to be expected.
Houston hoped to get a strong sophomore season from Jalen Green, and he hasn’t quite delivered. He’s averaging just over 21 points and 3.5 assists per game, which doesn’t quite fit the bill for what was expected. Additionally, rookie Jabari Smith, 2022’s third overall pick, has had a rough start to life in the league, shooting under 40% from the field while making an underwhelming impact on defense.
The Rockets will continue to lose a lot over the course of the rest of the season. Eric Gordon is a likely trade or buyout candidate, and Porter/Green could be shut down if they start preventing the tank from taking full effect. I would be surprised if Houston isn’t one of the four highest odds-holders for the number one pick.
At least KJ Martin is in the dunk contest.
29. Detroit Pistons
The Pistons came into the year with a promising young core, but it became apparent very early that the tank was on in the Motor City. Cade Cunningham suffered a shin injury that was conveniently season-ending; by shutting him down, the Pistons prevented him from single-handedly winning games they should be losing.
Now, the team runs mostly through Bojan Bogdanovic, Jaden Ivey, and Isaiah Stewart. The latter two are important pieces for Detroit’s future, but Bogdanovic is interesting. He was probably Utah’s best player in last year’s playoffs, and there is sure to be a good amount of trade interest as we head toward the deadline. If they can ship him off, then the tank is really on.
Ivey, Stewart, and company are surprisingly fun to watch, especially given how bad they are at winning basketball games. They’d be even more fun with Wemanyama or Scoot in the mix next year.
Bottom line: Any team with Alec Burks as its third-leading active scorer is bound to have some problems.
28. Charlotte Hornets
Charlotte is curious to say the least. They have one of the worst records in the league, but they’ve developed a habit of winning games they really shouldn’t be winning, especially if they want to finish in the coveted bottom four.
With wins against teams like Golden State, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Sacramento, and a 29-point thumping of Milwaukee, you’d think the Hornets would have more than 11 wins on the season. Wrong.
LaMelo Ball recently returned from injury, which certainly won’t help the tanking effort. Averaging 23/9/5 is convincing enough to believe he could be a legit piece for them. Ball is likely untouchable in trade negotiations, but the Hornets’ roster is full of middle-of-the-road assets, including Terry Rozier, Kelly Oubre, and Gordon Hayward. If the Hornets decide to really go for the tank, those players and others will likely finish the season on other teams.
Charlotte could also potentially earn the wrong kind of headlines if they bring back Miles Bridges, who pleaded no contest to domestic assault charges in November. Probably not a good direction to head in.
27. San Antonio Spurs
I never thought I would see Gregg Popovich coaching an openly tanking team, but here we are. The Spurs’ timeline to competitiveness obviously got thrown off by the Joshua Primo fiasco, but San Antonio still has a few valuable pieces for its future.
Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell have clearly proven they are capable of playing competitive basketball, but those two are certainly not enough to take the Spurs out of the tank-zone.
San Antonio is likely to make a few moves to help their tanking efforts at the deadline. Jakob Poeltl will be a coveted acquisition for a playoff team somewhere, nearly averaging a double-double. Josh Richardson and Doug McDermott could also depart.
Overall, especially given how much Popovich has hinted about Wembanyama, don’t be surprised if the Spurs flatline toward season’s end.
26. Orlando Magic
This is a fun team that isn’t quite good enough to get out of tanking territory. Number-one-pick Paolo Banchero is the real deal, and when accompanied by Franz Wagner and Wendell Carter, the Magic are frisky to say the least.
For a team with a legitimate shot at a top-four draft pick, Orlando is surprisingly competitive in most games it plays, but again, it just doesn’t have the juice to close out wins. This is probably by design, all told. Teams that win games don’t get top draft picks.
Orlando is also an intriguing trade team with several possibilities. Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs could be of interest; neither of them has quite lived up to expectations, but they are both young enough to yield decent returns. And then there’s Bol Bol, who might be the most fun mediocre player to watch in the entire league. He only averages 12 points per game, but it’s a loud 12.
Orlando is naturally bad enough to tank, but when you’ve got Paolo and Franz, at least you get to have fun while you’re at it.
25. Oklahoma City Thunder
After losing top pick Chet Holmgren to injury, OKC figured to be one of the worst, if not the worst, team in the league. However, nobody expected an all-NBA season from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
SGA is averaging 31/6/5 and is single-handedly winning games on a routine basis. He is proving himself to be one of the hardest guards in the league to defend, and he has vastly improved on the defensive end as well. Combine him with Josh Giddey and you get a backcourt combo that is easily good enough to win NBA games. Can’t forget about the Dorture Chamber either.
Gilgeous-Alexander might be playing too well for the Thunder to completely throw the season away, but as the season goes on, they should naturally lose enough to have decent odds at getting a top-tier draft pick. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we randomly wake up to news one day that SGA is out for the season with a mysterious calf injury.
We Can’t Tank Properly
24. Washington Wizards
Washington actually has a worse record than at least one team in the tanking category, but purely on talent alone, they move up a tier. However, the path is clearly there for the Wizards to bottom out very quickly.
Bradley Beal? Gone. Kyle Kuzma? See ya. Kristaps Porzingis? How do you say goodbye in Latvian?
Beal and Porzingis might be hard to pass off to other teams given their large contracts, but Kuzma is where real trade value lies for the Wiz. He’s a former NBA champion with real pedigree and has the ability to contribute to a contender. A deadline bidding war for his services would not be surprising at all.
At present, the Wizards have too many quality guys to tank, but they are only a few moves away from being firmly in the mix. A starting five of Monte Morris, Will Barton, Corey Kispert, Deni Avdija, and Rui Hachimura is easily bad enough to lose as many games as you need.
23. Toronto Raptors
Unfortunately, Toronto’s recent run of success looks to be coming to an end. Scottie Barnes, last season’s rookie of the year, hasn’t taken the forward step that was expected of him, and the rest of the roster simply hasn’t been good enough to make up for it. Head coach Nick Nurse clearly doesn’t trust anyone off the bench.
The Raptors have a decision to make in the coming weeks. They could stay the course and hope the situation improves, but if they decide to torpedo things, there will be interest in players throughout the roster.
Barnes is likely the only untouchable piece Toronto has. Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent are capable of stepping in and adding valuable scoring to a contender, and on top of that, OG Anunoby figures to be one of the most sought-after assets at the deadline.
The one to really watch here is Pascal Siakam. Capable of all-league performances, Siakam is currently Toronto’s franchise cornerstone. Common sense would say it would be dumb for Toronto to trade him, but is that really true? He could yield a massive return in a trade, and his addition to another team could completely change the complexion of the season. Could a team like Dallas or Golden State get desperate and sell the house for him? It’s certainly interesting to think about.
22. Utah Jazz
Talk about over-achieving! After starting the season 10-3, Utah has come back to Earth and looked a bit more like the tanking team they might be. However, after trading Mitchell, Gobert, and Bogdanovic, nobody expected the Jazz to be this high in any power rankings halfway through the season.
Those trades ended up working out extremely well, all things considered. Lauri Markkanen was a part of the return for Mitchell, and he’s been nothing short of extraordinary this year. He’s playing the best basketball of his career and will likely be an all star. Additionally, Gobert returns Walker Kessler, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt have combined to be better than Gobert was last year. It’s quite a stunning series of moves by Utah, in fairness.
The Jazz have a lot to be excited about, but there is still a pathway to tank-ness for them. Jordan Clarkson and Mike Conley, both over the age of 30, are likely to be of interest to buyers at the deadline. Clarkson single-handedly beat Cleveland Tuesday night, and Conley would provide a clear veteran presence to playoff teams.
Trading those two would likely put Utah right back in the Wembanyama sweepstakes. The team has lost seven of its last nine, increasing the chance that Danny Ainge decides to cut off an arm and a leg to try and clinch top-four lottery odds.
21. Chicago Bulls
To me, Chicago is the most confusing team in the NBA. The Bulls have beaten teams like Brooklyn and Milwaukee, but lost to awful opponents like Houston and Oklahoma City.
The talent is clearly there for the Bulls to turn it around and be more competitive, but they could just as easily go the other way and submit to the tank.
DeMar DeRozan is averaging 26/5/5, leading them in points and assists. At 33, he may not be the shiny trade candidate he once was, but he could still be of use to most contending teams. Nikola Vucevic and Alex Caruso are also viable rotation pieces for higher-tier teams, and there’s already been plenty of speculation about Zach LaVine’s future.
Halfway through the season, Chicago is at a stark crossroads. It could stay the course and hope DeRozan and LaVine carry them back into the playoffs, but is it really worth it just to lose in the play-in or first round? A decent run of recent performances has convinced a lot of people they should hold out and try to compete this year.
However, Chicago should light up its roster with 100 sticks of dynamite. DeRozan, LaVine, Vucevic, Caruso, and even guys like Goran Dragic and Coby White should all be available for trade. Moving off those players would make the Bulls one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference, putting them in prime position to lose their way into Wembanyama territory. Plus, the returns on those trades should be decent as well.
Or they could keep beating Philadelphia while also losing to San Antonio. Doesn’t seem very promising.
20. Portland Trail Blazers
Like Utah, Portland has been a surprise package in the west, only they’ve held out a bit longer. Damian Lillard has come back from injury in a major way, averaging 27 and 7. Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant are bonafide starters as well.
Part of the expectation heading into the season was that Dame would struggle coming back, which played a big part in the Blazers’ preseason calculus. But with Lillard playing well, the Blazers are probably too good to throw it all away.
More importantly, Lillard likely won’t let them make tanking trades. They have four players averaging double figures and are only now getting Gary Payton II back from injury. Overall, I like this team. They aren’t quite good enough to be in a higher tier, but they are closer to the teams in front of them than those behind them.
Stay tuned to The Camp for the release of the rest of our power rankings this week.
Follow Nick Hedges on Twitter @nicktrimshedges or Instagram @nicktrimshedges