The 7 Most Desperate Teams in the NBA Right Now
Desperation isn't measured in wins and losses alone.
Even as the Philadelphia 76ers occupy the bottom of the league standings with a 2-22 record, that's more or less what general manager Sam Hinkie had in mind. His team is undergoing a radical transformation and harbors no illusions about the painful near-term that entails.
You could even argue that the 14-9 Cleveland Cavaliers are the more desperate team after this summer's larger-than-life additions generated commensurate hype.
Teams like the Cavaliers have plenty of time to hit their strides, but other corners of the Association have less reason for optimism. We ranked the seven most desperate teams according to two factors: Which teams are falling short of expectations, and which teams face the greatest pressure to turn things around?
That excludes promising young teams like the Orlando Magic or Utah Jazz. They may have some work to do, but that's not a bad thing.
It's the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers of the world that should be worried—the clubs that ought to be better than they actually are.
All records and statistics current as of games played on Dec. 16.
7. Sacramento Kings
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For the moment, former assistant Tyrone Corbin will replace ousted head coach Mike Malone at the helm on an interim basis for the currently 11-14 Sacramento Kings. Though the team had already surpassed many projections—especially before star center DeMarcus Cousins fell ill with viral meningitis—the surprise decision to go in a new direction speaks volumes about this organization's need to turn things around.
"The NBA has increasingly become like the high-tech business," owner Vivek Ranadive told reporters on Tuesday, via Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. "Just because you invent the iPhone doesn't mean you can rest on your laurels, because someone is building a better phone.
"Just because you win 50 games doesn't mean the status quo is OK, or that you don't try to get Ray Allen. Good enough just isn't. You have to get better. So, we felt it was time for us to pivot, to (play) defense and offense. And we think we can make the playoffs."
On paper, Sacramento certainly has a chance. The problem is that there are probably eight or nine teams in the Western Conference that are decisively better, and it's fairly doubtful a new coach will change that.
The Kings reportedly tried to convince team adviser (and NBA legend) Chris Mullin to take over, but NBCNewYork.com's Mitch Lawrence recently reported that, "According to league sources, Mullin felt he needed time to install his system and was hesitant to make a move to the bench at this point in the season."
So while he remains a future possibility, it's hard to imagine the franchise waiting around. Otherwise, why part ways with Malone so quickly?
One solution may be Mark Jackson, the former Golden State Warriors coach who was fired this summer prior to the club's pursuit of Steve Kerr. He met with a Kings contingent after the club's 104-92 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.
USA Today's Sam Amick reports that, "After calling the game courtside for ESPN, Jackson had a lengthy meeting with Mullin, Kings general manager Pete D'Alessandro and franchise centerpiece DeMarcus Cousins inside the 'Chairman's Lounge' where they had requested that arena workers and others give them some privacy."
Whatever happens, this much is certain. Ranadive and the Kings front office are swinging for the fences, apparently confident this collection of talents can make a dent in the perpetually crowded West. They're in no mood to concede another sub-.500 season.
6. Phoenix Suns
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The Phoenix Suns posted 48 wins a season ago, just one game behind the No. 8-seeded Dallas Mavericks.
After agreeing to a five-year, $70 million extension with Eric Bledsoe and acquiring Isaiah Thomas via a four-year, $27 million sign-and-trade arrangement, conventional wisdom suggested this club would be even better this time around—perhaps good enough to squeeze a playoff incumbent from the conversation.
So far, however, the big investments haven't paid off in the standings.
The Suns are off to a 12-14 start and already find themselves trailing an Oklahoma City Thunder team that spent roughly a month without superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. At 12-12, the New Orleans Pelicans have also pulled ahead of Phoenix, further complicating this club's already suspect postseason chances.
And after coming within tantalizing reach of last season's playoffs, the biggest concern is that the Suns' impressive collection of point guards may in fact be too much of a good thing. Thomas becomes the third talented floor general in a rotation that already included Bledsoe and Goran Dragic.
That naturally means fewer touches, shots and minutes to go around.
Thomas told reporters in late November:
"It's a tough situation. But you've just got to be ready for whatever circumstances coach puts you in. You gotta be ready when your name is called, but I'm not going to sugarcoat it. It's tough.
It's not what I expected, but coach has a tough job. Putting all of us on the floor and trying to mix up the minutes, it's tough for him. So it's not just tough for us as players, we just gotta be ready when our name's called and just know, I mean, coach is trying to do what he thinks is best for the team to put us in a position to win. But the key word is it's a tough situation. For all of us.
"
More recently, Thomas expressed his frustration amidst the club's current six-game losing streak.
"It's not just one person," he told reporters this week, via Paul Coro of AZCentral.com. "We're just making mistakes that we shouldn't be making, especially down the stretch, whether it be scouting mistakes or defensive-plan mistakes. Whatever it may be, there's a possession or two and it costs us, especially in close games."
No one is declaring the Suns or their backcourt experiment a failure just yet, and all three guards are playing reasonably well in spite of their slightly curtailed playing time.
Phoenix is still capable of beating elite competition, but it can ill afford a slow start during a season that was supposed to be another step forward.
5. Brooklyn Nets
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Forget a title.
The Brooklyn Nets are just trying to save some face at this point. They have become an expensive mess, a cautionary tale for franchises attempting to buy their way to championships. While success typically comes at a cost, Brooklyn's failure has come at an even greater one.
Remarkably, the $134 million this organization is scheduled to spend on players (and luxury taxes) for the 2014-15 season represents significant savings when compared to the $197 million spent a season ago.
Pricey veterans like Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Kevin Garnett still aren't getting it done, even with talented center Brook Lopez mostly healthy and playing at a reasonably high level. Though Brooklyn's 10-13 start doesn't preclude another playoff appearance in a relatively weak Eastern Conference, there are already signs the franchise may be returning to the drawing board.
ESPN.com's Marc Stein and Ohm Youngmisuk reported per league sources earlier this month that the "Nets have begun reaching out to teams to let them know that former All-Stars Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson are available via trade."
Bleacher Report's Howard Beck subsequently noted that, "The more likely scenario, per team sources, is that the Nets will trade one of the three, two at most, and keep retooling around whoever is left. Team officials want to rebuild while staying competitive."
To that end, Brooklyn's desperation is unique. If all goes according to plan, the organization will blow things up without undergoing a protracted rebuilding process. That will be tricky.
Given the assets (picks and prospects) Brooklyn has already given up in pursuit of its current veteran core, it won't be easy to sweeten deals designed to unload Williams, Johnson or Lopez. The Atlanta Hawks have the right to swap next summer's first-round draft pick, and first-rounders in 2016 and 2018 belong to the Boston Celtics.
It's hard to get better without draft assets and young talent, and Brooklyn doesn't have much of either.
4. Detroit Pistons
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In his first season as president and head coach of the Detroit Pistons, Stan Van Gundy has had little luck with a roster that was largely assembled prior to his arrival. The club's 5-20 start offers little hope of improving upon last season's 29-53 record, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to envision this core ever working out.
"We've got to reassess what we're doing," owner Tom Gores told reporters this week, per Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. "And that's one thing great about Stan: He's not sitting around saying, 'Hey, we're just going to stick to the game plan.' He's changing things up. You've seen, he's got a different starting lineup at times. He reassesses things every single minute. So we're just trying to make progress."
Unfortunately, there aren't many signs of that progress. Van Gundy took over after agreeing to a five-year, $35 million deal with the organization, so he'll likely have some time to see his vision through.
It remains to be seen whether key contributors on this roster will stick around, though. With new rumors emerging well in advance of the trade deadline, there's a good chance Van Gundy shakes things up in a bid to demonstrate at least modest improvement before season's end.
But having missed the playoffs for six consecutive seasons, patience is a tough sell in Detroit. Though the Pistons' 13-game losing streak mercifully came to an end on Dec. 12, their 113-91 implosion against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night was a reminder of just how far behind this club remains.
3. Charlotte Hornets
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The 6-18 Charlotte Hornets hardly resemble the same team that claimed a No. 8 seed last season, and that's particularly bad news after the organization made something of a splash this summer with the free-agent acquisition of swingman Lance Stephenson.
The 24-year-old has struggled mightily from the field (38.7 percent through 24 appearances), and reports that he's on the trade block have already emerged, per Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
Its appears that Charlotte isn't interested in waiting around for its three-year, $27.4 million gamble to pay off. There's an urgency to improve upon 2013-14's emergence and avoid the rebuilding depths to which the franchise was previously accustomed.
With teams like the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic making some strides (to say nothing of the Cleveland Cavaliers' obvious improvement), there's real danger that last season's Hornets were a one-hit wonder. Key contributors Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker are still leading the way, but they may not be enough without another star in top form.
Charlotte's 97.8 points per 100 possessions registers as the fourth-worst offensive efficiency in the league, according to Hollinger Team Stats. So even when one accounts for a snail-paced tempo good for the league's fourth-slowest (also per Hollinger Team Stats), this offense is still bad.
Rediscovering last season's formula—with or without Stephenson—would certainly help, but time is increasingly of the essence.
2. Los Angeles Lakers
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Kobe Bryant's days carrying a title-caliber team are numbered, and that adds an iconic layer of desperation to the Los Angeles Lakers' 8-17 plight. While the 36-year-old recently surpassed Michael Jordan as the third-most prolific scorer in league history, it seems more doubtful than ever that he'll match MJ's sixth championship.
Though the organization failed to land LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony this summer, there was at least some hope that new head coach Byron Scott would improve upon the woeful defensive culture that emerged under Mike D'Antoni from 2012 to 2014.
So far, that hasn't happened.
Scott's Lakers currently rank dead last in defensive efficiency, allowing opponents 110.5 points per 100 possessions, according to Hollinger Team Stats. That's not nearly good enough to compensate for a middling offense that depends so heavily on Bryant and sixth-man Nick Young.
"The main thing I have to do right away is establish ourselves as a defensive basketball team," Scott told reporters at his introductory press conference in July. "Offense is going to come and go, but you control your effort on the defensive end every night, and we obviously have to get that back in the plans."
By mid-November, however, Scott was already expressing serious frustration about his team's commitment on the defensive end.
"You either want to do it, can't do it or won't do it," he told media after a 136-115 loss to the Golden State Warriors. "I got to assume that when I see guys jogging, that you're tired. If I assume that, I have to make changes."
While Scott may be sounding the right tone, his options are limited. With no rim protectors or perimeter stoppers to whom he can turn, there are no obvious adjustments to his current rotation. And making changes runs some risk of rattling an already fragile chemistry, undermining what little confidence this roster can build.
Los Angeles may improve upon last season's 27 wins now that Bryant is healthy, but this still feels like a franchise ignoring the elephant in the locker room. The Lakers don't have time for a rebuild, but it's hard to see another way out of this mess.
No amount of defiance will secure a sixth title for Bryant. At this point, it may take a miracle.
1. New York Knicks
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Expectations never die in New York, but they're especially acute for the Knicks this season—Derek Fisher's first on the job as head coach.
Though team president Phil Jackson technically came to town last season, this is his first with Fisher at the helm implementing the famed triangle offense that yielded such enormous dividends with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.
But having amassed an early 5-22 record while succumbing to losing streaks of 10 and seven games, it's become increasingly clear Carmelo Anthony and Co. need more than a new system to turn things around. And they may not get it until this summer's free-agent market opens for business.
That will be Jackson's first serious opportunity to work some magic. With Amar'e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani's pricey contracts finally expiring, New York's front office will have the kind of financial flexibility it's lacked since originally signing Stoudemire back in 2010.
How that money is spent this time will largely determine whether the duration of Anthony's new contract with the Knicks is a successful one.
As the Sporting News' Sean Deveney put it in July: "As much as Anthony's decision [to re-sign with the Knicks] shapes the near future of this team, it is the summer of 2015 that figures to make or break Jackson's fortunes."
In the meantime, however, there's still plenty at stake. New York's performance this season will impact Jackson's ability to land those prized acquisitions. With upcoming free-agent stars like LaMarcus Aldridge or Marc Gasol ostensibly interested in winning championships, the Knicks' foundation—or lack thereof—will naturally come into question.
So, too, will Fisher's future. Should he fail to bring this team together, the perception of toxicity could drive talent away.
Earlier this month, ESPN the Magazine's Chris Broussard reported that "[s]everal Knicks, in addition to [Tim] Hardaway, are at odds with Anthony and believe he is not playing team basketball."
According to Broussard, "Sources said players voiced their displeasure with Anthony over the weekend [at a players-only meeting], telling him he shoots too much, doesn't move or pass the ball, and plays defense only when he feels like it."
One of Jackson's strong suits was his ability to manage superstars from the sideline. Only time will tell whether Fisher can do the same, and one wonders just how much time he has left.
