Every NBA Team's Biggest Problem Right Now
It's still early, but we've made it far enough into the 2025-26 NBA season to start flagging potential trouble spots. Every team entered the campaign concerned about at least one shortcoming, and we're already seeing a few of those play out.
From the indomitable Oklahoma City Thunder to the rapidly imploding New Orleans Pelicans, everyone has a problem worth discussing.
One issue, in particular, afflicts an unusually large number of teams. It seems point guards and playmakers are in short supply throughout the league. Other than injuries, which we'll try to avoid as a core "problem" whenever possible, the dearth of shot-creators feels like an epidemic.
Let's check in on that and everything else that's going wrong for all 30 teams to date.
Atlanta Hawks: No Answers On Trae Young's Fit
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Trae Young went down with a sprained MCL early in an Oct. 29 game against the Brooklyn Nets, and the injury will cost him at least four weeks.
Initial returns for the Atlanta Hawks' offense were positive, as they finished the Brooklyn win with a committee approach that produced 33 assists against eight turnovers. They then put up 30 dimes against 10 turnovers versus the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 31, earning another victory.
The Hawks also utilized rangier, more disruptive lineups without Young to post their two highest steal totals of the season against Indy and Brooklyn. The narrative was easy to spot coming, and it arrived as expected. It was time to start wondering whether Atlanta was better without Young and his ball-dominant style—an important question with the four-time All-Star set to hit free agency this summer via player option.
Atlanta struggled to replicate those strong results against better competition. Cleveland turned the Hawks over a whopping 23 times in an eight-point win on Nov. 2.
The Hawks will have the better part of a month to get some data on what life is like without Young. If Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker can run the offense collectively, it'll be a lot harder to justify retaining Young and/or giving him a raise. If the Cleveland result is more the norm, Young's missed time could actually up his earning power.
Boston Celtics: Defensive Rebounding
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When you lose your entire center rotation in a single offseason, it's not hard to imagine where issues might arise. Of the various interior problems the Boston Celtics have faced in the wake of Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet heading elsewhere, defensive rebounding stands as the most glaring.
No team is securing a smaller share of opponent misses than the Celtics who, not coincidentally, are also giving up the most second-chance points per game in the entire league.
The overall talent drain of the Celtics' cost-cutting summer put them at a disadvantage to begin with. Sans Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and the aforementioned center trio, they were always going to struggle to generate efficient offense and hold up against top units. But Boston is also now losing games on the margins by failing to secure boards and giving their opposition multiple cracks every time down the floor.
Brooklyn Nets: Egor Demin's Two-Point Allergy
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The Brooklyn Nets selected Egor Demin at No. 8, the highest of their five first-round picks, partly because they believed he was a better shooter than his 27.3 percent three-point hit rate at BYU suggested.
So far, they've been proven correct, as Demin is canning 38.5 percent of his long-range attempts. The surprise has been just how much of Demin's shot diet is made up of deep shots. Twenty-four of his first 26 attempts on the season were threes, and he didn't even try a two-pointer until Nov. 2. It's a welcome sign that he's a weapon from deep, but the lack of an inside-the-arc game is diminishing several of Demin's other skills.
Much of his appeal as a prospect was tied to his passing game. A willing distributor whose size allows him to see angles many guards don't, Demin was both a stellar setup man and a strong connective ball-mover in college. So far, his inability (or unwillingness) to get into the teeth of the defense is muting that quality. He had 12 assists and nine turnovers through his first five appearances.
It's possible some of this is related to the plantar fascia injury that limited Demin during the preseason. Maybe he's missing his burst off the dribble. The Nets had better hope that's the case.
Charlotte Hornets: No Disruption
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With LaMelo Ball and rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner bookending their starting lineup, the Charlotte Hornets were never going to be defined by their defense. They're nonetheless underwhelming on that end because they simply never make opposing offenses sweat.
Despite a top-10 attack, Charlotte is still struggling because it almost never forces mistakes. Its opponent turnover rate of 12.4 percent is 28th in the league and the worst such figure in the last 20 seasons of Charlotte basketball.
Ironically, Ball and Kalkbrenner have been the most disruptive players on the team. They're first and second in steals per game, and the rookie center is swatting 2.1 shots per contest. It's the wings and forwards who are failing to pull their weight, and the trickle-down effect is actually weakening what should be a strength. If the Hornets could generate more giveaways, they'd increase Ball's opportunities to attack dynamically in the open floor.
Chicago Bulls: Fool's Gold
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The numbers have regressed since midway through the season's second week, when the Chicago Bulls were magically holding opponents to a corner three-point percentage in the teens. But Chicago is still skating by defensively on the strength of luck.
Opposing shooters are hitting just 33.9 percent of their threes on the season, the sixth-lowest accuracy rate in the league. Just as unsustainably, Bulls opponents are making just 32.8 percent of their corner threes. The league shoots 37.1 percent on those shots overall.
Before anyone tries to trot out the explanation that the Bulls are somehow gaming this on purpose—making sure only bad shooters get clean looks, cleverly closing out in ways that disrupt mechanics or otherwise engaging in some kind of purposeful voodoo to coax misses—just stop. The idea that teams can reliably control opponent three-point shooting is a fantasy; luck like this almost never holds year over year, and it typically can't sustain itself month to month.
There's a lot to like about what the Bulls did during their 5-0 start, particularly on offense. But they won't put up defensive numbers anywhere near this good once opposing teams start shooting at expected rates.
Cleveland Cavaliers: No Darius Garland
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Last year's Cleveland Cavaliers blew the doors off opponents with the top offense in the league. The 2025-26 version of the team is about 10.0 points per 100 possessions worse on that end of the floor and is basically living or dying based on how spectacularly Donovan Mitchell can take over entire quarters at a time.
Some of this was to be expected. The Cavs lost bench dynamo Ty Jerome and Caris LeVert in free agency, and Max Strus is hurt.
Darius Garland's absence loomed largest, as he was critical last year in running pick-and-rolls, generating open threes (particularly for Mitchell) and making sure Evan Mobley wasn't overstretched as a creator.
The Cavs are still treading water because Mitchell, though seemingly hampered by a hamstring, is capable of being an offense unto himself for long stretches. The defense has been stellar and will continue to be as long as Mobley is around. But this is not a contending team without Garland operating as the co-lead ballhandler alongside Mitchell. His return couldn't have come soon enough.
Dallas Mavericks: Ridiculous Roster Construction
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Who would have thought that a team intending to start two centers and three power forwards might struggle to generate shots?
The Mavs have succumbed to a handful of injuries of late, most notably Anthony Davis' lower leg issues, so they haven't played quite as big as they otherwise would have. But Cooper Flagg is still the point guard, Klay Thompson (who can't guard anything but slow-footed 4s) is the 2 and a combination of power forwards and centers, most of whom can't space the court, round out lineups far too often.
As a result, Dallas has the third-worst half-court scoring efficiency in the league, trailing only the New Orleans Pelicans and Indiana Pacers. Indy is missing half its roster due to injury, and it's mostly the good half. The Pelicans engaged in self-sabotage over the summer, are coming unglued and seem moments away from firing head coach Willie Green. So you could argue the Mavs have the worst offense in the league if you only count actual NBA teams.
Denver Nuggets: Cam Johnson's Fit
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It hasn't really hurt the Nuggets yet, but Cam Johnson is well on his way to defying one of the most trusted truisms in basketball: Everyone is better with Nikola Jokić.
Through six games, four of which Denver has won, Johnson kind of just looks like a guy out there. He's averaging only 8.5 points per game, shooting 25.0 percent from three and simply isn't involved in most of what the Nuggets are doing. Forget his days in Brooklyn when he was a much larger part of the offense; Johnson's minuscule 13.3 usage percentage is a career low and well beneath anything he produced when he occupied a similar fourth-option spot with the Phoenix Suns.
He has plenty of time to adjust, but it seemed fair to assume Johnson would hit the ground running, fueled by picture-perfect setups from Jokić. So far, he's one of the rare players to look like something other than the best possible version of himself alongside the three-time MVP.
Detroit Pistons: Secondary Creation
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The Detroit Pistons desperately miss Jaden Ivey. Though Cade Cunningham and Co. handled things well enough after Ivey went down last season, that version of the team had Malik Beasley spacing the floor and, after a while, Dennis Schroder chipping in as a creator.
Duncan Robinson has so far done a very poor impression of Beasley, and Caris LeVert—due to injury and ineffectiveness—isn't matching Schroder's impact.
Now, if Cunningham doesn't make things happen on offense, well…nothing happens.
Detroit is putting up a respectable 114.6 offensive rating when Cunningham is in the game and a 105.9 when he's not.
Ausar Thompson might have more to give as a facilitator, and Jalen Duren may need to tap into his occasionally helpful passing. If those two can handle a little more, and if LeVert can take on more of a facilitating mindset, Detroit should be able to weather the storm. But even this version of Cunningham, which appears to be improved over the one that made an All-NBA team last year, has been overtaxed so far.
Golden State Warriors: Complacency
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Turnovers have always been a part of the Golden State Warriors' makeup. You don't get the chaotic highs of Stephen Curry and Draymond Green without the careless, occasionally success-hindering lows. Steph tossed a lefty behind-the-back pass into the stands during the waning moments in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals, for crying out loud.
That level of complacency is rearing its head in the early going, resulting in back-to-back losses that nobody saw coming. The Dubs dropped a game to the Milwaukee Bucks (playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo) on Oct. 30 and followed it with an even more self-inflicted defeat to the then-winless Indiana Pacers on Nov. 1. In that one, the younger contingent of Warriors had everything to do with building the lead and nothing to do with giving it away. The blame rested solely on the vets, as head coach Steve Kerr, visibly frustrated, explained.
Houston Rockets: The Most Predictable One
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Over the offseason, the Houston Rockets lost the three players who made more threes than anyone else on the team. So it was never going to be that hard to imagine where the deficiencies were going to lie this year.
Fred VanVleet's torn ACL shelved him, and everyone fretted over the lack of playmaking his absence would cause. The bigger issue was his shooting. He finished third among Rockets with 159 made triples in 2024-25, behind Dillon Brooks (186) and Jalen Green (234). Nobody else even broke the century mark.
No wonder the Rockets currently rank 29th in long-range attempts per game. They lost the guys who took and made most of them a year ago.
One positive: Houston is playing to its strengths by fielding huge lineups that dominate the glass, generate paint points and physically overwhelm opponents.
Another: The Rockets are drilling the relatively low number of deep shots they take, nailing 42.5 percent of their attempts through five games. As hot as they've been, at some point, more volume is going to be necessary for the Rockets.
Indiana Pacers: Health
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Tyrese Haliburton was likely never going to suit up this season after tearing his Achilles in June, but the other absences up and down the Indiana Pacers' roster were a lot harder to see coming.
The wear and tear of a Finals run might have something to do with it, but it's hard to isolate a bigger culprit than bad luck when it comes to the Pacers' health in the first part of this season.
Indy has already applied for and been granted a 10-day hardship roster exception, bringing in Jeremiah Robinson-Earl after signing Mac McClung out of the G League.
Obi Toppin, Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard are three of seven total Pacers players currently sidelined by injury, and that doesn't include Haliburton. These aren't short-term scrapes or bruises, either.
Toppin is set to miss three months with a foot injury, Mathurin is week-to-week and Nembhard has no timetable as he works back from a shoulder strain suffered on opening night.
The only silver lining here is that Indiana got its 2026 first-rounder back from the Pelicans last June. If the Pacers bottom out due to injury, they'll have a shot to add a potential star via the draft.
LA Clippers: Turnovers
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So far, veteran experience hasn't precluded mistakes. The LA Clippers have the oldest roster in the league, but they rank second-to-last in turnovers per game.
James Harden has been the biggest offender at 4.0 giveaways per contest, which makes sense considering he logs more time on the ball than anyone else on the roster. Bogdan Bogdanovic, Chris Paul and John Collins all cough up the rock on a higher percentage of their possessions than Harden, though. If this issue is going to get corrected, it'll have to start with those three first.
The Clippers are pretty good when they actually attempt a shot, as they rank eighth in effective field-goal percentage through their first six games. They sit all the way down at No. 22 in offensive efficiency because they're throwing the ball out of bounds or to the other team before they can square up to score.
Los Angeles Lakers: Austin Reaves' Skyrocketing Price
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For the most part, it's not a problem that Austin Reaves is playing so well that there won't be room for negotiation on his next contract. So far, he has scored at least 20 points in every game, exceeded 40 once and even cracked the 50-point barrier. Add to that three double-digit assist nights, and you've got one of the hottest starts in the league.
If he keeps this up, Reaves will be in line for a no-brainer max deal when he inevitably opts out of his contract this summer.
While this version of Reaves is undoubtedly worth big bucks in a vacuum, it's worth asking whether this Lakers team, in particular, should spend maximally on a secondary scorer. Luka Dončić certainly needs a sidekick as L.A. builds its next contender around him, but he's gotten pretty far with much cheaper assistance. Think Jalen Brunson (the non-superstar, inexpensive version) for example.
Reaves has been spectacular, and the Lakers should probably just max him when he opts out. But his play and Los Angeles' budgetary concerns going forward raise an allocation-of-resources issue. If all that cash goes to Reaves, where will the money needed to pay three-and-D wings and rim-rolling bigs come from?
Memphis Grizzlies: Simmering Discontent
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Simmering might be the wrong modifier. Ja Morant's unhappiness with his role boiled over last week, and it's starting to seem like the Memphis Grizzlies won't be able to turn down the heat. The Grizzlies' franchise player engaged in some very conspicuous quiet quitting during an Oct. 31 loss to the Lakers. This was a sub-preseason level of effort, and Morant called out the coaching staff afterward. The Grizzlies suspended him for one game, citing conduct detrimental to the team.
If you're of the opinion that Morant is out of line, this might only be a step down the path toward a "good riddance" trade. But if you're in Morant's camp and believe he's justified in bristling at 28.5 minutes per game and has earned the clout necessary to cause friction just five games into the season, this is a huge deal.
Memphis already moved on from Desmond Bane, signaling its waning commitment to the previous core. Could Morant be next?
At least Cedric Coward looks like a player…
Miami Heat: Kel'el Ware's Inconsistency
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An elite net rating and one of the most intriguing offensive styles in the league has the Miami Heat looking surprisingly good through the first two weeks of the season. Miami's attack—which has basically abandoned on-ball screens in favor of isolation drives in a spaced floor—could get even more interesting when Tyler Herro returns.
All the good vibes have obscured a concerning issue: Kel'el Ware, inconsistent during an occasionally jaw-dropping but often frustrating rookie year, is mostly looking like the worst version of his 2024-25 self. The Heat are losing the minutes when Ware is on the floor, and head coach Erik Spoelstra has utilized a very quick hook with the big man when he sees subpar effort.
Those instances of listless play seem to be increasing in frequency. Sooner than later, Ware might see his starting spot and rotation role disappear.
Milwaukee Bucks: Only Giannis Shoots Free Throws
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It's really hard to rank 25th in free-throw attempts per game when you have Giannis Antetokounmpo on your team, but the Milwaukee Bucks are pulling it off.
Giannis accounts for nearly half the team's total attempts on the season, and nobody else averages even 3.0 foul shots per contest.
The Bucks are living the high-variance life, focusing on three-point shooting and spacing the floor so Antetokounmpo can get downhill, finish at the basket (where he leads the league in two-point makes and attempts) and spray the ball out when doubled. His consistency as an interior force and foul-drawer provides a modicum of reliable scoring, but much of the rest of Milwaukee's offense is subject to the whims of the three-point gods. A cold night from deep, and points will be very hard to come by.
This is still probably the most sensible build around Giannis, given Milwaukee's budgetary constraints and lack of secondary shot creators not named Ryan Rollins. But it subjects the team to some wild scoring swings when deep shots aren't falling.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Gobert's Extremes
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For most of the past half-decade, Rudy Gobert's minutes came with a tradeoff. His presence on the floor all but assures a stellar defense, but his drag on a team's offense often gives back most of those gains.
That trend is intensifying in 2025-26, as Gobert's time on the court coincides with the largest offensive dip of his career (minus-9.0 points per 100 possessions). Small-sample caveats definitely apply, but his positive impact has been better than ever on D, where he knocks a ridiculous 35.0 points per 100 possessions off opponents' offensive rating. Those numbers are sure to regress toward the mean, but the offensive side warrants concern.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have an issue at point guard, where Mike Conley is now coming off the bench and combo guard Donte DiVincenzo mans the 1 in the starting lineup. Even when Conley was in the first unit a year ago, the Wolves struggled with offensive flow and shot creation. Anthony Edwards' hamstring injury is only exacerbating the issue.
The time when Minnesota has to relegate Gobert to the second unit in the interest of preserving the offense may be closer than you think.
New Orleans Pelicans: Terrible Planning
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The New Orleans Pelicans gave the Indiana Pacers their own 2026 first-rounder back in exchange for what became the No. 23 pick in the 2025 draft. The Pels then used that pick in a package that also included their unprotected 2026 first-rounder to move up 10 spots so they could select Derik Queen.
Queen has shown flashes of potential on offense but doesn't appear likely to rate as a transformative player in his loaded class.
Game it out, and the Pelicans gave up what might be the first and second picks in the 2026 draft to get him. Indiana started 0-5, won't have Tyrese Haliburton all year and has suffered several key additional injuries.
New Orleans is a house on fire, winless, aimless and highly likely to become the first team to fire its head coach. This is a death spiral, and it's happening without the safety net of potential high lottery picks. There has been no shortage of terrible trade sequences in NBA history, but this is shaping up to be the worst in recent memory.
New York Knicks: Depth
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Jordan Clarkson's Sixth Man of the Year days feel like they're decades in the past, Guerschon Yabusele hasn't been a consistent scoring presence off the bench, Mitchell Robinson needed over a week off before debuting and Malcolm Brogdon decided to hang 'em up prior to opening night.
Among other positive expected changes under new head coach Mike Brown—faster pace, dynamic offensive sets, reasonable playing time expectations—improved depth was supposed to be a story.
So far, the Knicks haven't gotten anything close to the bench production they anticipated.
Josh Hart should eventually make a shot or two, and Tyler Kolek has offered welcome glimpses of legitimate point guard play in relief of Jalen Brunson. The search for ways to stay afloat when reserves enter the game seems to have carried over from the Thibodeau era.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Threes
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The Oklahoma City Thunder are getting them up, but they're not knocking them down. Through their first seven games, OKC ranked sixth in three-point attempts per game but 28th in accuracy. Because all seven of those games resulted in wins, and because the defending-champion Thunder don't have any actual problems, this is as close as we can get to a trouble spot.
Jalen Williams' eventual return should help, both because he's a career 38.2 percent shooter from deep and arguably the team's second-best facilitator. And it's pretty unlikely that Lu Dort (18.2 percent) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (26.8 percent) will stay this cold forever.
For now, the Thunder are winning in spite of their frigid shooting, trusting in their league-best defense and late-game SGA heroics to carry them through. Imagine what they'll be able to do when the deep shots start falling.
Orlando Magic: Offense
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Sound familiar? It should, considering the Magic set the modern-era benchmark for three-point futility by hitting a league-low 11.2 triples per game at a 31.8 percent clip last season. They're at just 10.3 makes on 30.7 percent shooting through their first seven games of 2025-26, an inexplicable decline.
Desmond Bane has only hit 25.8 percent of his triples. With 4.4 attempts per game representing a huge dip from last year's 6.1, it's clear he contracted whatever long-range disease afflicted the rest of the Magic upon arrival.
Orlando's offense is plodding and uninventive, which makes it difficult to generate many threes. This is about more than a roster of dubious shooters. It's a systemic failure that produces almost impossibly inefficient stretches in half-court sets and is earning criticism from just about everyone in the video-breakdown sphere.
The results have been marginally better of late, but the Magic still disappointed with a 3-4 start and have yet to show they can run a modern NBA offense.
Philadelphia 76ers: Maxey's Minutes
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Through games played Nov. 2, Tyrese Maxey was leading the league at 42.4 minutes per game. Josh Hart led the NBA at 37.6 minutes per game last year, and nobody has even topped 40.0 since Monta Ellis did it 15 years ago.
As good as Maxey has been, that's not a sustainable amount of playing time.
The Philadelphia 76ers have only gone to overtime once this year, so it's not as if Maxey's minutes are artificially inflated by several extra periods. Head coach Nick Nurse is just leaning on the 25-year-old to an extreme degree because he needs him on the floor to compensate for Joel Embiid's minutes limit/diminished effectiveness, and because Maxey has been such a clear driver of the team's surprising success in the early going.
At almost exactly this time a year ago, Maxey suffered a hamstring injury that cost him a couple of weeks. He was playing heavy minutes with Embiid and Paul George out of the lineup then, and the circumstances feel pretty familiar at the moment.
Phoenix Suns: No Point Guards
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To be fair, the Phoenix Suns have been playing one nominal point guard in Collin Gillespie. He has yet to start but has appeared in every contest and is averaging 25.1 minutes per game. Otherwise, almost all of the distribution is being done by committee, with Devin Booker handling the lion's share of facilitating work.
Unsurprisingly, the Suns are second-to-last in turnovers per game, and only the Celtics take a lower share of their shots at the rim. Those are telltale symptoms of an offense that doesn't have a true setup man at the controls, not that any of this rates as a surprise. Everyone knew the Suns were in for some offensive struggles when they went into the year assuming Jalen Green and Booker could tag-team the point guard spot (before Green pulled his hamstring).
Phoenix is defending with great energy and deserves credit for making the most of its offense with a wonky roster, but the lack of a floor general is already causing some trouble.
Portland Trail Blazers: Shooting
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The Blazers are a chaotic, smothering, turnover-forcing monster on defense. Their aggression even produces a bevy of fouls, which is an acceptable tradeoff for all the benefits of their high-pressure approach. They've needed to be disruptive on defense because the other end, particularly when it comes to shooting, has been such a struggle.
Portland rates among the league's bottom 10 in accuracy at the rim, on mid-rangers and from three. That's three-level futility you don't want to see in an offense.
Fortunately for the Blazers, they're compensating by posting top-five rates in transition frequency and scoring efficiency. Their offense is right around the league average overall as a result.
You can go a long way with excellent defense and an emphasis on getting up and down the floor, maybe even to the postseason. At some point, though, shots need to fall from somewhere.
Sacramento Kings: No Forwards
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Just because DeMar DeRozan can only defend power forwards (and even that's a bit of a stretch), it doesn't mean he's actually a 4. That's where the veteran shooting guard has been spending most of his time lately, as the Sacramento Kings struggle to navigate the early part of the season without Keegan Murray. Rookie Nique Clifford missed time as well, and is coming off the bench, despite being one of the only actual forwards on the team.
Recently signed Precious Achiuwa might actually help, which only highlights the severity of the problem.
For now, expect Sacramento to continue playing four guards next to Domantas Sabonis entirely too often.
As you'd expect, the defensive results have been substandard.
The Kings are a bottom-10 defense overall, they struggle to clear the defensive boards and units with Russell Westbrook, Dennis Schroder, Zach LaVine and DeRozan sharing the court are getting absolutely hammered to the tune of a minus-22.4 net rating.
San Antonio Spurs: Guard Depth
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The San Antonio Spurs entered the season with a very different problem on their hands: figuring out how to integrate three point guards who all deserved to play. De'Aaron Fox inked a max extension over the summer, Dylan Harper was the No. 2 overall pick and Stephon Castle won Rookie of the Year last season.
Instead of wrestling with minute and role allotments, the Spurs now find themselves looking shallow at what was supposed to be a position of almost problematic depth.
Harper suffered a calf strain on Nov. 2, while Fox has yet to suit up due to an offseason hamstring injury. That leaves Castle, perhaps the least point guard-y of the trio as far as floor mapping and passing instincts, as the only option. Jordan McLaughlin has performed well in spot duty as a shooter, but he'll be overtaxed as a backup until all hands are on deck.
Toronto Raptors: Immanuel Quickley's Slow Start
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Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett are all cooking to start the season, combining to haul the Toronto Raptors' offense into the league's top half through their first seven games. It's a good thing those three are all hitting over half their shots from the field and taking on a heavy collective load because Immanuel Quickley is stumbling out of the gates.
As his top three teammates have surged, Quickley is shooting under 40.0 percent from the field, under 30.0 percent from deep and amassed a minus-25 in his first 220 minutes of court time. Coming off a 33-game, injury-hit 2024-25, the Raptors point guard had more to prove than anyone on the roster but Ingram, who didn't even suit up for Toronto last season.
Head coach Darko Rajakovic hasn't lost faith in his point guard, but Quickley will need to find his footing soon. Barnes, Ingram and Barrett can't run this hot forever.
Utah Jazz: Too Many Wins?
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We have to throw a question mark into the header here because the Utah Jazz are dealing in probabilities. They could finish just outside the Play-In and technically keep the 2026 first-round pick they owe the Thunder if it still lands inside the top eight. To guarantee retention of that pick, though, the Jazz have to be much worse than that. A bottom-four record would do it.
So far, Utah doesn't look like one of the four worst teams in the league.
Lauri Markkanen has been on a heater since opening night, Keyonte George is quieting questions about his status as the team's point guard of the future and Walker Kessler added three-point marksmanship to a repertoire that already included rim-protection and elite rebounding.
New Orleans is a disaster, Brooklyn looks terrible, Indiana is losing starters to injury every night and the Wizards seem destined for bottom-five finishes on offense and defense. That's four teams enduring much worse starts than the Jazz, and all of Phoenix, Boston and Sacramento have plenty of new depths to explore.
Utah claimed no tank would take place this season, but it might want to throttle back a bit. This wouldn't be the first time a strong start wrecked its lottery odds.
Washington Wizards: Free-Throw Disparity
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Through their first seven games, six of which were losses, the Washington Wizards effectively spotted their opponents eight points per game. That's roughly the difference in the average number of free-throws Wizards' opponents hit per contest versus the foul shots Washington made.
This is a very sporting gesture by Washington, but probably one it would like to stop making. The Wizards are led by early-20s projects and prospects with a couple of trade-candidate vets sprinkled in, so they're in no position to be giving away such a major advantage.
Washington has six players averaging at least 4.0 personal fouls per 36 minutes, and four of them—Marvin Bagley III, Kyshawn George, Khris Middleton and Bub Carrington—are major pieces of the rotation. Middleton, in particular, should know better. Youthful mistakes often lead to fouls, but the veteran wing certainly doesn't fall into the inexperienced category.
Theoretical defensive anchor Alex Sarr is only hacking opponents 2.2 times per 36 minutes. Then again, the Wizards are getting outscored when he plays, so maybe he should be the one getting a little more aggressive on D.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.
