Writing Every NBA Team's Holiday Wish List
The NBA season has hit the holidays, which makes this the ideal time to lay out the item that should sit atop every franchise's wish list.
Bleacher Report NBA staff writers Grant Hughes and Dan Favale will run the gamut on the gift front. One team may need something as straightforward as a wing who can hit a three once in a while, while another could make a far less concrete request.
With 30 teams spread all over the competitive spectrum, these wants and needs won't lack for variety.
Let's spread some holiday cheer.
Atlanta Hawks: A Defensively Dominant Forward
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Not every team's wish list will feature a specific player type, but the Atlanta Hawks' needs are so clear that there's no point suggesting something esoteric. Don't worry, there'll be plenty of that later.
For now, Atlanta's defense is the obvious issue in need of attention. After finishing 21st in points allowed per 100 possessions last season, the Hawks have slipped to 25th this year. That slide is bad enough to essentially rule a team with the league's No. 4 offense out of top-six playoff contention.
Dejounte Murray hasn't been the same disruptive force he was with the San Antonio Spurs, Clint Capela isn't defending the rim like he used to, and none of the team's healthy rotation wings or forwards is up to the task of covering for Trae Young and shoring up a weak interior defense. These Hawks need someone who can put out fires all over the floor, ideally a switchable wing or forward who can contain lead ball-handlers in the pick-and-roll and hold up against heft inside.
That describes only a handful of players in the league, with Toronto Raptors forward OG Anunoby being the prototype. The Hawks aren't getting someone like that via trade without putting Murray and/or Jalen Johnson on the table. So from Hawks' fans perspective, maybe the item atop the wish list should really be "a serious conversation about breaking up the team's core."
-Hughes
Boston Celtics: A Fast-Forward Button
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The Boston Celtics are officially this season's "I have no notes" team, which is to say they appear to be a fully formed, frailty-free title favorite.
Unless you're hung up on the viability of Sam Hauser as a seventh man (which you shouldn't be) or the possible need of a bruising third big man (guys like Bismack Biyombo are available off the scrap heap, as the Memphis Grizzlies proved), there just aren't any nits to pick here.
Boston has its first-option, playmaking wing in Jayson Tatum, elite backcourt defense from Derrick White and Jrue Holiday, an overqualified second banana in Jaylen Brown, premium spacing and rim protection from Kristaps Porziņģis and valuable veteran versatility in Al Horford. Throw in the experience of several deep playoff runs and Holiday's ring with Milwaukee, and the Celtics don't even lack for the intangibles you'd want in a contender.
Injuries are a potential source of concern, but that's true for every team. That bad luck on the health front is perhaps Boston's only real worry illustrates how complete this group is.
Hence the fanciful wish-list item. The Celtics have everything they need to chase a championship, so why not give them a means to skip past the intervening months and get right down to the business of winning postseason series?
-Hughes
Brooklyn Nets: A Little Chaos
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A roster featuring Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith, Royce O'Neale, Nic Claxton, Ben Simmons and Dennis Smith Jr. should be wreaking defensive havoc on opponents. Heck, Cam Johnson ranked in the 95th percentile in steal rate among forwards in his 25 games with the Nets last season. Throw him in there if you want.
That group is as long, rangy, switchable and generally disruptive as any in the league—a theoretically nightmarish collection of ballhawks that should be blowing up possessions left and right. In practice, Brooklyn has been one of the most passive defenses in the league.
The Nets rank 23rd in deflections, 20th in loose balls recovered and dead last in steals and opponent turnover percentage.
The bottom-line results are less jarring, as Brooklyn ranks 21st in points allowed per 100 possessions. But it's still hard to understand how this particular set of personnel is failing to make opposing offenses uncomfortable. Ben Simmons has missed plenty of time, as have Smith and Claxton, but citing their absences feels like a copout.
This same group ranked a much more respectable 14th in opponent turnover rate last year and looked like a swarm of killer bees in some highly disruptive postseason moments against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Nets never had a chance in that first-round series, but they generated 13 turnovers from the MVP in Games 2 and 3.
That same skill set exists somewhere within these Nets, who could do some real damage if they embrace chaos on D.
-Hughes
Charlotte Hornets: A Healthy LaMelo Ball
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The last time LaMelo Ball put together a healthy campaign, he earned an All-Star nod, led his team to a 43-39 record and established the Charlotte Hornets as a young franchise to watch.
Unfortunately, that was back in 2021-22.
Since then, Ball has been unavailable far too often, the victim of rotten luck on the injury front. A fractured ankle limited him to 36 games in 2022-23, and a nasty sprain on that same extremity knocked him out of action on Nov. 26 of this season. Without him, Charlotte is a team adrift—unable to compete on a nightly basis and having a much harder time evaluating all of the various supporting players who benefit from Ball's presence.
When Ball isn't playing, the Hornets are filming a blockbuster without a lead actor to anchor it. They're also not a very threatening basketball team.
This is more than a one-season issue for the Hornets, who have probably already lost what seemed like a decent chance at a play-in berth. Ball is easily the most important figure in the franchise, which isn't to say he'd certainly have Charlotte on the same footing as Anthony Edwards with the Minnesota Timberwolves or Tyrese Haliburton with the Indiana Pacers—to name two other high-end guards from the 2020 draft class.
It's to say the Hornets can't establish clear expectations of where their ceiling is, what they need in terms of a supporting cast or where they are in their competitive timeline if Ball keeps missing large chunks of time.
-Hughes
Chicago Bulls: Clarity of Purpose
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The Chicago Bulls suddenly started winning after Zach LaVine went on the shelf with a foot injury, but surely that wouldn't convince the front office that this season, this core and this whole operation was salvageable. Who'd be so disillusioned as to believe a respectable couple of weeks should outweigh literal years of mediocrity-treadmill jogging when it comes to long-term planning?
Oh. Right. Chicago would.
As trade season heats up, the Bulls are "not necessarily looking for straight draft capital," per HoopsHype's Michael Scotto. "They're looking for players that can help them win now and maybe a pick down the line if they can add to their cupboard."
This seems like a good time to note that a fixation on short-term winning is exactly what got the Bulls to this desolate yawn-scape of a position in the first place. They dealt a pair of first-rounders for Nikola Vučević, sent another to the San Antonio Spurs in a sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan and handed LaVine a five-year, $219 million contract that has everything to do with there being "no market" for him.
This is a situation screaming for a hard reset, but it seems like the Bulls are thinking more along the lines of a retool. Let's hope the holiday season brings them the gift of clear thinking.
-Hughes
Cleveland Cavaliers: A Break
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Beset by injuries to at least one of their starting five for almost the entirety of what was supposed to be a bust-out 2023-24 campaign, the Cleveland Cavaliers can't catch a break.
Within hours of the report that Evan Mobley would miss six-to-eight weeks due to left knee surgery, Darius Garland got cracked in the face for what felt like the 29th time in his career. He'll miss a month after breaking his jaw against the Boston Celtics on Dec. 14.
The Cavs' starting five has played only 304 possessions together this season, and that number won't be rising any time soon. That means Cleveland won't have a chance to find its form or eliminate the bad vibes clouding its disappointing start for up to a couple of months.
With the clock ticking on Donovan Mitchell's 2025 opt-out and rival clubs readying predatory trade offers, it may already be too late to salvage this season and, by extension, this iteration of the team.
Per Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic: "If the Cavs' season is to be derailed by these two lengthy injuries to key players, the rest of the league will immediately turn toward the shores of Lake Erie to see if Mitchell is available even earlier."
The vultures are circling.
Cleveland needs a break. The issue is, that might come in the form of quick recovery timelines for Garland and Mobley that allow it to get its season on track sooner than expected...or it might manifest as a godfather trade offer for Mitchell.
It's hard to know which the Cavs should be hoping for.
-Hughes
Dallas Mavericks: Two-Way Supporting Cast Members
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Injuries have made it difficult to evaluate the Dallas Mavericks against the league's truly elite. Hovering comfortably above .500 when Kyrie Irving and Maxi Kleber have missed extensive time and when Josh Green took a couple of steps back prior to his elbow issue is a pretty big deal.
At the same time, the Mavs are where they are because Luka Dončić is among the MVP headliners. And not even his offensive mastery is enough to overshadow their glaring lack of two-way players.
Dante Exum's emergence is a bright spot. Ditto for rookie Dereck Lively II. And Derrick Jones Jr. has exceeded expectations by merely playing as much as he does. It's still not enough.
Jones' three-point shooting is slumping back down to earth. Exum has turned into a drive-and-kick force with the capacity to knock down open threes. But his outside attempts are so unguarded that they don't have the full-tilt floor-spacing effect. Opponents are throwing parades at the basket when Lively isn't on the floor.
Maybe the answer is on the roster. Perhaps Exum's offense eventually bends defenses. Grant Williams might play better. Kleber could actually play. For now, though, the Mavs' roster—as well as their 1-5 record versus fellow top-10 offenses—is screaming for another contributor who meaningfully moves the needle on both ends of the floor.
—Favale
Denver Nuggets: Shooting Consistency (and Volume) from Aaron Gordon
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Aaron Gordon's three-point and free-throw shooting look like they're turning a corner entering games on Dec. 20. Will his upward trajectory hold?
Optimists won't bat an eye. And the Aaron Gordon Appreciator in me can't bring myself to care about how many triples he's taking, or what he's shooting on them. But his start to the season was arctic-cold enough to warrant at least some concern:
- First 16 games: 22.2 percent on threes (2.4 attempts per 36 minutes), 52.0 percent on free throws (3.3 attempts per 36 minutes)
- Last five games: 50.0 percent on threes (1.5 attempts per 36 minutes), 81.0 percent on free throws (5.3 attempts per 36 minutes)
Efficiency feels like it dictates Gordon's offensive outings more than most players. He seems less inclined to attack the basket, on or off the ball, when he's not faring well at the charity stripe. And his dip in three-point volume says a lot when he wasn't jacking many in the first place.
Denver can probably live with an even more restrained version of Gordon from beyond the arc. But it needs him to bump up his scoring edge—and, preferably, his efficiency from this season's problem spots.
—Favale
Detroit Pistons: A Win
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Just one win. A single, solitary victory. That's all. Not a five-game unbeaten streak, and certainly not a run of success long enough to balance out a two-month slog of uninterrupted failure.
Just. One. Win.
With a franchise-record losing streak sitting at 24 games and the all-time mark of 26 alarmingly close, the Detroit Pistons aren't asking for much.
In the grand scheme of this season, a single victory that helps the Pistons avoid historic ignominy won't change anything. The 2023-24 campaign will still go down as a profound failure, one that indicts the franchise's poor roster construction, draft misfires and top-down mismanagement. A skid-stopping win won't magically turn Cade Cunningham into a surefire top option or give Detroit a do-over on its misguided affinity for injury-prone veterans during a rebuild.
It won't let the Pistons take back the then-record contract they gave head coach Monty Williams, either. All of those problems will endure.
But a win will allow everyone associated with the franchise to breathe, to forget about the litany of things that have gone wrong. This much losing weighs on a team—its players, coaches, staff and even fans.
Detroit needs a break, if only for a moment.
-Hughes
Golden State Warriors: Better Play at the Top
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Is "better play at the top" akin to "wishing for the invention of a time machine?"
Who's to say, really?
Stephen Curry, 35, is holding up his end of the bargain by continuing to perform at a level worthy of contending for MVPs and titles. The rest of the Golden State Warriors' core players are failing miserably and spectacularly.
Draymond Green, 33, remains transformative on defense and is shooting preposterously well from three. He is also suspended for the second time this year—and without a concrete timeline for return this time. Klay Thompson, 33, looks like he's pressing on offense even when he's hitting threes. And the defense is—cliche alert—not what it used to be.
Andrew Wiggins, 28, is a shell of a shell of the player who helped the Warriors win the title in 2022. Even Kevon Looney, 27, isn't espousing his usual meld of grit and malleability.
Stellar play from the supporting cast and bench has kept Golden State afloat, which runs counter to basically their entire dynastic existence. Changes have already been made to the starting five.
Is leaning more on Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, Dario Šarić, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Moses Moody enough? Can the usual starting five climb out from its collective pit? Who among the non-Steph core is actually capable of flipping the script midseason? And if there is no turning back, can better play at the top be found on the trade market?
Answers to these questions could be uncomfortable. But the Warriors need to find, acknowledge and, above all, react to them.
—Favale
Houston Rockets: A Jalen Green Revelation
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As the Houston Rockets climb the NBA's competency rankings, Jalen Green is having a year to forget.
Not only is his efficiency down both inside and outside the arc, but he's no longer assured playing time in the highest-stakes moments. To say he looks out of place on this version of the Rockets would be an understatement.
Ratcheting up Alperen Şengün's role and implementing Fred VanVleet could have something to do with it. FVV in particular has infringed upon much of the two-man stuff that last year's Houston team would run with Green and Şengün.
But this is not strictly a crisis of identity. And Green isn't performing nearly well enough to mandate a role or pecking-order recalibration. He is down to 33.3 percent on catch-and-shoot triples, and his pull-up efficiency has plummeted off a cliff. Things get even worse when he's logging time without VanVleet or Şengün, per PBP Stats.
Green is capable of playing better in this role. We have seen midseason ascents from him before. Still, the Rockets have accelerated their immediate expectations and commitment to defense. They no longer have the same stomach for extended bouts of growing pains.
Green needs to be more of a steadying offensive constant, equal parts malleable and efficient. If he's not, it won't be long before he's viewed as more of a trade asset than part of the core.
—Favale
Indiana Pacers: A Moment to Reflect
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The Indiana Pacers are not going to slow down and appreciate the moment. They can't handle the first part. Deceleration is a foreign concept for the team that boasts the most exciting and relentless uptempo attack in the league.
But what's happening in Indy this season, and specifically what's going on with Tyrese Haliburton, is something worth pausing to savor.
It's rare for one player to so completely transform a team, to imbue it with an identity the way Haliburton has. To simply cite his pass-first nature as the explanation is to miss something deeper. The other Pacers run because he runs, and because they know that if their downcourt sprints take them into even the smallest sliver of space, Haliburton will deliver them the ball. That trust and the movement it inspires carries over into half-court sets as well.
This is the kind of top-down inspiration you only get from true offensive greats. It's the best possible kind of contagion. The joy is infectious.
Steve Nash, to whom Haliburton is sometimes compared, spread it with the Phoenix Suns. In his own way, Stephen Curry started something similar with the Warriors a decade ago. Nikola Jokić is doing it right now with the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.
Haliburton is transforming the Pacers, elevating his teammates in ways only a handful of players in every generation can. At the moment, there might be three or four point guards in the league as good as Haliburton. But there isn't a single one making a more transformative impact.
Everyone associated with Indiana should slow down and enjoy this moment, if only temporarily.
-Hughes
Los Angeles Clippers: More of This
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After dropping their first five games on the heels of the James Harden trade, the L.A. Clippers have been on an absolute tear.
And that's putting it lightly.
Over the past month-plus, the Clippers are 13-3 with a top-three offense and top-six defense. Kawhi Leonard looks like an MVP candidate. James Harden is beginning to fit like a glove, forging lethal chemistry with Ivica Zubac and delivering a brand of offense that looks and feels more adaptable than ever.
Paul George has juiced up his connectivity both as scorer and passer. Norman Powell is staking his claim as the fourth-most important player on this team—except for when Zubac is doing the same.
Russell Westbrook's lines are seldom the prettiest, and playing him with Harden profiles as a no-go, but his coming off the bench and accepting a smaller role has helped the Clippers get here. So has head coach Tyronn Lue, who is pulling the right lineup levers.
Though the Clippers aren't exactly perfect, asking for anything more than this just feels greedy. Especially when George and Leonard have missed a combined one game and rank as one of the 16 most-played duos on the season.
—Favale
Los Angeles Lakers: Another Offensive Outlet
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There are certain nights when the Los Angeles Lakers offense hums enough to make you believe in its championship viability. Anthony Davis is hitting jumpers and finishing all over the place, Taurean Prince is setting the net aflame from deep, Austin Reaves is maneuvering his way through the heart of defenses and D'Angelo Russell makes you wonder why Zach LaVine trade rumors are a thing at all.
Then, well, there are the other nights. The nights on which the Lakers remind you that they are 25th in three-point attempt rate and 22nd in long-range accuracy. The nights on which their half-court attack looks clumpy and sloggy. The nights on which Russell has you pulling your hair.
The nights on which neither Davis nor LeBron James can do enough to paper over an offensive hierarchy light on secondary lifelines and heavy on wild cards.
Remedying this dilemma will require Los Angeles to look outside the organization. Save for a few blips and extended bursts, this offense isn't going to be materially more than it is now. Nor will it be any less reliant on a going-on-39-years-old LeBron.
On the bright side, the Lakers do have the salary-matching contracts and just enough first-round equity (one pick, multiple swaps) to make something happen. Whether that "something" needs to be on the level of a LaVine acquisition or simply bag an infusion of capable outside shooting and volume is what L.A. must figure out.
—Favale
Memphis Grizzlies: Fuller-Strength Availability
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Ja Morant has officially returned from his 25-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the league. That's great news for the Memphis Grizzlies. But it does not completely fix what ails them most: near-total decimation.
Dealing with critical absences is part and parcel of the NBA season. The Grizzlies are attempting to overcome a different state of affairs altogether. No team in the league currently comes close to having more games with at least five players missing from the lineup:
Memphis will never entirely escape the missing-player doldrums. Steven Adams (right knee) and Brandon Clarke (left Achilles) aren't expected to suit up this season. But the Grizzlies will settle for having more of Luke Kennard (left knee) and Marcus Smart (left foot), both of whom have missed more than half the year.
Even midseason addition Bismack Biyombo (back) is banged up. And Derrick Rose does not have a timeline for his return from a left hamstring strain.
Crossing your fingers for the Grizzlies to address their full-strength roster voids is too ambitious. This season may already be lost.
Taking to the trade market in search of impact wings and another bigger, burlier Adams replacement won't change anything—or at least not enough of anything. Memphis and its fans instead need to hold out hope that when all's said and done, they'll have a meaningful sample from the quartet of Morant, Smart, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. to judge.
—Favale
Miami Heat: New City Edition Jerseys
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The idea of Heat Culture was a lot cooler when the league at large referred to it in whispers. When it arose as an explanation for the Miami Heat repeatedly developing Finals starters from nothing. When it signified the franchise's unique dedication to defense, grit, excessive conditioning demands and borderline militaristic order.
But now it's just branding.
The aesthetics of Miami's City Edition jerseys are problematic enough. The word "culture" is more prominent than the name of the team, for one thing. And for another, there's almost nothing novel about the rest of the look.
Worse than all of that is the way these jerseys, which are basically just advertisements, diminish what used to be a legitimate identity. Are you really about the work and the grind and thankless hours of pain and sweat if you're announcing just how blue-collar and no-frills you are on your shirt? And your court?
The Heat are still a product of their habits. They're perpetual overachievers who really do work harder than most other teams. You'd think avoiding self-promotion like this would be a tenet of Heat Culture, yet here we are.
-Hughes
Milwaukee Bucks: A Head Start
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The Milwaukee Bucks' league-worst transition defense is one of the most confounding aspects of the 2023-24 season.
Granted, the Bucks ranked 28th in opponent transition frequency last year. In that sense, maybe what's happened this season wasn't totally unforeseeable. But at the same time, shouldn't the issue have been at the top of Milwaukee's offseason list of action items?
Instead of making it a priority to get back and protect the basket, the Bucks have regressed to an inconceivable degree. Opponents get transition opportunities on 40.7 percent of live rebounds. For context, the second-most generous team in that stat, the Philadelphia 76ers, only permit runouts on 34.9 percent of live rebounds, which ranks closer to the middle of the pack than it does to the Bucks.
A bold suggestion: Milwaukee players should grossly exaggerate their approach to transition defense by running back two or three seconds before they think it's necessary. Maybe head coach Adrian Griffin can wave a flag or use one of those piercing Phil Jackson whistles to signal when it's "go time." Clearly, the Bucks can't be trusted to judge when their sprints to the other end need to start.
You might argue that such a strategy would compromise Milwaukee's offensive rebounding to a damaging degree. But the Bucks are already 24th in offensive rebound rate—which only makes it harder to understand why they aren't getting back on D—so more slippage in that area would hardly matter.
*Alternate wish-list item: a game ball.
-Hughes
Minnesota Timberwolves: Upgrade at Backup Point Guard
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In what constitutes a nice change of pace, the Minnesota Timberwolves and their fans needn't cobble together an extensive wish list of things to change. This team is an actual title contender, sitting alone atop the Western Conference, with a smattering of hallmark, we-are-for-real victories under their belt.
Wishing for this to continue is fine. But the Timberwolves are also real enough for us to nitpick.
Minutes without Anthony Edwards on the floor are generally rough for the offense. Minnesota ranks in the 23rd percentile of points scored per possession when he sits and is not much better during the stretches that feature Mike Conley sans Edwards (27th percentile).
Sturdy defense has allowed the Wolves to survive these stretches. The path to dominating them is nonexistent unless they're willing to flip a member of the core. But Minnesota doesn't have to reinvent the wheel. It just needs to mine the market for an offensive upgrade over the Shake Milton, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jordan McLaughlin, etc. minutes.
Granted, even that might be a tall order relative to the Wolves' expendable assets. In the event they can't glob onto a caps-lock FLOOR GENERAL, though, a point guard type who inflates their three-point volume and improves half-court spacing would still effectively fortify the rotation. (Hello, Jevon Carter!)
—Favale
New Orleans Pelicans: More Threes, Please
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Place a space-creating rim protector atop the New Orleans Pelicans' wish list if you're so inclined. That's a gargantuan ask knowing the answer isn't on the roster, the relative scarcity of such players, and the reality that any acquisition would need to usurp one of the team's top-five, maybe top-six, guys to make a real difference.
Harping on the Pelicans' three-point volume poses similar issues. Trey Murphy III's return has not sparked rain-making from downtown. New Orleans remains 26th in long-range-attempt rate since his season debut—despite his taking a bunch of triples and the team's shot profile changing accordingly with him in the game.
Browsing through the trade market for higher-octane shooting makes some sense. But the same dilemma crops up again. Landing an outside marksman worthy of closing games or ranking inside the top six of minutes for this team is difficult given their depth.
Extra deep balls likely need to come in-house—unless the Pelicans are acquiring a star. This really might be a roundabout way of spotlighting Brandon Ingram.
Murphy (11.4) and CJ McCollum (10.9) are already launching more than 10 treys per 100 possessions. Zion Williamson doesn't take threes, period. Jonas Valančiūnas' 38.2 percent clip from distance won't be taken seriously by defenses if he's firing off under four per 100 possessions, and his efficiency may not sustain does if he uncorks more threebies.
Among prospective closing-lineup options, this leaves Ingram (5.9) and Herb Jones (5.4). Focusing on the former is a more realistic call to action given his agency over the offense. Out of 105 players with a usage rate above 20, Ingram's 5.9 three-point attempts per 100 possessions rank 77th.
—Favale
New York Knicks: An Upgrade Button for RJ Barrett
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The New York Knicks still need a player at least as good as Jalen Brunson to climb into the top tier of contenders, so "an alpha" would be a fine item to top their wish list. With that said, the Knicks' chances of signing Donovan Mitchell in 2025 free agency look better by the day with Cleveland hitting a run of bad injury luck. If they're patient, they can keep competing at a high level, land their alpha in 18 months without trading away assets and walk away winners.
For now, New York should focus on adding a big wing or combo forward who can defend top opposing options at several positions—all the better if that player can threaten defenses from deep. That sounds a lot like a slightly larger, enhanced version of RJ Barrett, but it also describes OG Anunoby.
The Toronto Raptors forward is basically a universal fit, so it's not like the Knicks are the only team that would love to slot him into their lineup. But few squads on the brink of joining the league's elite need him more.
Anunoby could be a massive difference-maker for a Knicks squad that struggles to hit threes and slow down multi-skilled wings. His ability to hold up against all but the most hulking centers on D would also open up new lineup-construction possibilities—exactly the kind that need to be available for deep playoff runs.
If Mitchell then joins up in 2025 as the long-sought-after star, New York will really be able to make some noise.
Maybe the Knicks and Raptors' decision-makers can discuss trade particulars in court.
-Hughes
Oklahoma City Thunder: More Signature Victories Over the West's Elite
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Did I dislocate my shoulder attempting to pat myself on the back for not putting some variation of the "The Oklahoma City Thunder and their fans should wish for a trade that bags them a higher-volume three-point sniper or some additional heft or bounce up front?" I'm no doctor, but the sling I'm currently wearing speaks volumes.
To be sure, those are reasonable wishes to have. But much like New Orleans, the acquisition must be splashy enough to crack the preferred crunch-time lineup—or at the bare minimum, the top six of the rotation—to make a massive difference.
Finding that type of an upgrade is hard when Oklahoma City is already so good as currently constructed. And that's before factoring in executive vice president Sam Presti's aversion to consolidation in the name of acceleration.
Settling on signature victories is more in line with reality. The Thunder have the second-best record in the West and the league's No. 4 net rating. Major shakeups likely aren't on the horizon, if only because the team's vitals suggest they're equipped to party crash the contending tier without them.
Sticklers will maintain this is a rush to coronate. They might not be wrong. The Thunder are currently 4-6 against Western Conference opponents with a winning record and have played just one game versus a squad with a top-10 offense and defense.
Teams can only beat who's in front of them. Oklahoma City is doing that. It has lost only once to an opponent below .500 and is no stranger to signature victories overall. The Thunder just took down the reigning champion Denver Nuggets on their own turf this past Saturday with a rollicking fourth-quarter effort.
But the burden of proof always lies with the new kids on the block. Netting more of those Ws will go a long way toward crystallizing OKC's place among the elite company it's already keeping.
—Favale
Orlando Magic: Three-Point Shooting
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No team takes a larger share of its shots at close range than the Orlando Magic, and only a handful convert those premium looks at the rim more efficiently. The East's most successful young team (to this point in the season) has half of the basic shot-location problem solved.
The other half? Not so much.
For the uninitiated, modern NBA offenses want shots near the basket and beyond the arc, with as few as possible coming in between those two areas of highest expected value.
Orlando ranks dead last in the percentage of its shots that come from three-point range, and it only makes them at a clip that ranks 26th. This group's collectively poor jump shooting extends to the mid-range area, where it also ranks 30th in accuracy.
It doesn't have to be this way. Scan the roster, and you'll note that Joe Ingles is hitting over 40.0 percent of his treys, while Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs and Paolo Banchero are all over 37.0 percent. None of those players is getting up more than 4.5 three-point attempts per game, so the obvious fix is getting those four to hoist more often—and convincing Franz Wagner and his 29.3 percent hit rate on a team-high 4.9 attempts to cool it a little.
Banchero isn't a three-point chucker by nature, and until this year, the Magic probably wouldn't have wanted Suggs (career 29.4 percent) or Anthony (34.8 percent) to add volume to their wayward shots. But the Magic's defense is elite, and its offense is only a shot-selection tweak away from cracking the top 10.
It's time to get some threes up, fellas.
-Hughes
Philadelphia 76ers: A Better Trade Market
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Long before trading James Harden for expiring contracts, two future first-round picks, a first-round pick swap and a pair of second-rounders, Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey was planning to have his cake and eat it, too.
"What we're attempting to do is have the best team possible this year," Morey told 97.5 The Fanatic's Anthony Gargano in July (h/t Bryan Toporek of Liberty Ballers), "but also have the ability that, if we get into a next-season situation, to be a very unique team with the most cap room of a team that's as good as us."
Philly could have more than $55 million in cap space in the summer of 2024, which satisfies the second prong of Morey's have-it-both-ways approach. The tricky part will be executing the first, having the best team possible this year.
Part of the difficulty on that front: With some exceptions, most deals the Sixers could make to improve in the short term would either bring in a player whose contract runs beyond this season, eating up some of that $55 million, or add someone whom they'd have to re-sign in free agency. In a best-case scenario, Philadelphia could use the expiring contracts and picks that came over in the Harden deal to add a difference-maker who's under contract through next season—but not one on a deal that'd compromise flexibility to any major degree.
That's a tight needle to thread under any circumstances, but it's particularly tricky in a current market bereft of stars who aren't overpaid, on expiring deals or both.
With Dec. 15 in the rear-view, more trade options are on the table. The number of players on the trade block generally increases as the February deadline approaches.
But the Sixers look like they're one player away from serious contention right now. It's too bad that player isn't available at the moment.
-Hughes
Phoenix Suns: Real, Actual Big Three Minutes (and Fewer Turnovers)
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Bradley Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant have played a whopping 24 minutes across two appearances together this season. That sample is incomprehensibly low, and it isn't increasing anytime soon.
Barely two games into his return from back issues, Beal suffered a right ankle sprain that will sideline him through at least the start of the new year. Plenty of basketball will be left at that point, but the Phoenix Suns desperately need their three stars to familiarize themselves with one another in advance of the postseason. At this rate, we can't simply trust they'll all be available from the middle of January onward.
Getting a more extended stretch with the Big Three is also (probably) the Suns' ticket to mitigating their bad-possession issues. They are 24th in turnover rate, and only the Utah Jazz are coughing up the ball more often in fourth quarters.
Some of this is ingrained into Phoenix's roster makeup. The absence of a floor general beyond Booker looms large. But the Suns' big men and low-usage wings have helped fuel the turnover warts more than anyone.
At the very least, having Beal available both strengthens and simplifies the on-ball decision-making tree.
—Favale
Portland Trail Blazers: Clearer Runway for the Kids
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Mercifully approaching full strength has not actually been merciful for the Portland Trail Blazers. Their breadth of available bodies has created redundancies and court-time crunches that don't have comfortable solutions—or distinct problem origins.
More than anything, this is probably a too-many-vets-who-expect-to-play-and-get-touches issue. It's one thing to lean heavily upon Malcolm Brogdon and Jerami Grant when you're winning. Portland is doing the exact opposite.
Seeing Scoot Henderson's minutes kept in check is especially puzzling. It was one thing when he first returned from his sprained right ankle. It's uncomfortable to watch it happen nearly one month later. The same can be said for Shaedon Sharpe's fluctuating offensive usage. There needs to be room for him to explore, consistently and in high doses.
Whether this is on head coach Chauncey Billups' philosophy or general manager Joe Cronin's roster construction is debatable. Regardless of your preferred scapegoat, the Blazers playing Brogdon for the entire fourth quarter in a four-point loss to Golden State on Dec. 17 typifies this problem. That makes sense if you're prioritizing the immediate picture, but Portland is supposed to be playing a (much) longer game.
—Favale
Sacramento Kings: Wing Defense (or No Zach LaVine Trade)
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Zach LaVine is open to joining the Sacramento Kings, according to The Athletic's Sam Amick. Marquee names wanting to play in Sacramento is pretty cool. And this offense, despite its supernova tendencies, could use another from-scratch shot-maker.
The Kings should steer clear anyway.
Leaning further into the offense doesn't sit right when Sacramento is still floating around the bottom 10 in points allowed per possession. Even if the Kings are concerned about their offensive standing—they're trending in the right direction since De'Aaron Fox returned—acquiring someone like LaVine would almost assuredly exhaust their trade-asset stores and limit their capacity to address other issues moving forward.
Wing defense remains the biggest barrier standing between Sacramento and full-blown entry into title contention. Keegan Murray's improvement on the less glamorous end is real and spans genuine wing assignments. De'Aaron Fox is defending more aggressively, too. But prowling the trade market for someone who can sponge up reps versus the top perimeter covers without torpedoing offensive floor balance should still be priority Nos. 1, 2 and 3.
If that search leads to a player who also has some on-ball oomph, well, even better. But another wing defender has to take precedence over everything else. That includes any rim protectors whom the Kings have their eye on—unless they come in the form of proven floor-spacers who can log time in tandem with Domantas Sabonis.
—Favale
San Antonio Spurs: Tre Jones Starts (or the Acquisition of a Primary Initiator)
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Starting Victor Wembanyama as the lone big is a step in the right direction for the San Antonio Spurs. It has visibly altered the way they're able to use him at both ends.
Continuing to not start Tre Jones, on the other hand, remains curious at best. As Noah Magaro-George wrote for his Vic-and-Roll Substack:
"One of the issues with this lineup is they have no one who can consistently self-create paint touches off the dribble to collapse defenses. The other dilemmas lie in their lack of reliable three-point shooters and quick-fire processors. Those shortcomings appear all over the advanced numbers, where this five-man starting unit has a 104.3 Offensive Rating since December 8th, which would the fourth-worst mark in the last five years.
"This combination of personnel has been tremendous when they outpace opponents in transition, but their process flounders in a half-court setting. San Antonio is gradually learning how to incorporate Wembanyama as the fulcrum of their attack, and that has produced some clunky possessions where teammates have overthrown lobs, misplaced entry passes, or accidentally neglected the towering centerpiece on obvious openings."
Inserting Jones into the starting five may not fix everything. And the Spurs would then have to account for the playmaking they're ripping from the second unit. But optimizing life for Wemby is their most pressing priority. And his effective field-goal percentage improves by nearly 10 points when he plays with Jones, per PBP Stats.
If starting Jones isn't the answer, the Spurs should look into trading for another game manager whom they're willing to roll out at the opening tip.
—Favale
Toronto Raptors: A Lights-Out Shooter at the Point
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Scottie Barnes' third-year climb should allow (and encourage) the Toronto Raptors to get creative at several other positions. If a 6'7" forward is doing a lot of the playmaking, it means you don't necessarily need a conventional pick-and-roll spammer at the 1.
Toronto's wish list should have a combo guard with size at item No. 1—one with a penchant for high-volume three-point shooting and the ability to attack the weak side of a defense in isolation or with the use of a screen. That may sound like a combination of the very best versions of Dennis Schröder and Gary Trent Jr., who are already on the team, with a dash of former Raptor Fred VanVleet's tenacity thrown in.
Schröder has been a serviceable stopgap, but lineups with him at the point only score at a rate that ranks in the 35th percentile leaguewide. That's not good enough.
If Toronto is going to be a buyer and not a seller at the trade deadline, which would mean keeping OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam ahead of their impending free agency, it should target the Atlanta Hawks' Dejounte Murray. Failing that, lower-end options like Malcolm Brogdon, Terry Rozier or Spencer Dinwiddie could fit the bill, though none of them would tick all the boxes we listed a moment ago.
It'd be nice if the Raptors hadn't encumbered their first-round picks until 2028 by sending their 2024 top-six protected selection to the San Antonio Spurs for Jakob Poeltl last year, but maybe they can still cobble together some salary and draft capital to upgrade the spot VanVleet vacated in July.
Lastly, can we all just appreciate the restraint it took to put something other than "pick a direction" in this section? Please hold your applause.
-Hughes
Utah Jazz: Veteran Floor General
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The Utah Jazz's undefined point guard pecking order has admittedly lent itself to some instructive developments.
Keyonte George flashed plenty of slowed-down passing feel prior to his ankle injury that wasn't routinely considered a strength of his during the predraft process. Jordan Clarkson made another playmaking jump before getting sidelined by a thigh issue. Talen Horton-Tucker and Collin Sexton treat us to the occasional high-energy performances—sometimes together, as they did during Utah's Dec. 18 victory over Brooklyn.
None of this should prevent the Jazz from seeking out a veteran floor general ahead of the trade deadline. Their current setup has culminated in a bottom-five offense. That's not ideal, even when you're unconcerned with winning games.
Self-exploration this early into a rebuild is critical. I just finished saying that Portland should probably flip Malcolm Brogdon to make more room for its young guards. But there is also value in having a steady offensive organizer to streamline the roles and development of under-construction building blocks.
And unlike Portland, Utah is not overrun with guards of the future. There's George, and then there's, well...George.
—Favale
Washington Wizards: More Fireworks
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The Bradley Beal trade, which triggered a broad and long overdue teardown, meant the Washington Wizards were going to lose a ton of games this season. Failure wasn't just the expectation; it was the draft-pick-focused, rebuild-juicing goal.
It would have been nice if Washington could have racked up L's in an entertaining way, though.
Jordan Poole was supposed to come in with guns blazing, freed of the stodgy (and pugilistic) strictures of the Golden State Warriors, insistent on getting at least five ridiculous shots up before most of the fans at Capital One Arena could make it to their seats. If he was willing to try things like this with occasional success on a team defending a title, what was to stop him from going full Harlem Globetrotters on a squad playing for lottery position?
The possibilities seemed endless. And fun!
Poole and Kyle Kuzma have gotten up to a few shenanigans, but those have only been tiny sparks of excitement in an otherwise joyless season. Poole is actually shooting less often per game (and even less efficiently) this year than last.
Outside of intriguing rookie Bilal Coulibaly, the only verve you see during a Wizards game is when the other team is on offense. Washington is second-to-last in defensive efficiency and doesn't foul nearly as often as most terrible defenses do, so at least you get long stretches of uninterrupted highlights by the opposition.
-Hughes
Unless otherwise noted, stats come courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass and are accurate entering games played on Tuesday, Dec. 19. Salary information via Spotrac. Subscribe to Dan and Grant's NBA podcast, Hardwood Knocks.
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