10 NBA Teams in Desperate Need of a Franchise-Altering Change

It seems that basketball, more than any other sport, is fully cyclical when it comes to teams being good or bad. Just look at almost any team out there and you will see throughout their history a pattern of a high level of play followed by a lull in production.

There are exceptions of course, as places like Boston and Los Angeles (the Lakers) always seem to be on top of the world, while teams like Los Angeles (the Clippers) and Grizzlies always seem to be stagnant.

The main reason basketball is like a wheel of fortune is because there is no clear-cut way to rebuild if your team becomes bad and you have no way of luring a superstar to your franchise via free agency.

When a team starts to go downhill, the best thing to do is completely blow the team up, load up on draft picks and good young players and get ready for a few seasons of bad basketball, followed by a slow ascent back to the top.

They need that period of "bottoming out" so that they can have the chance to nab a franchise-altering player. The only problem with that is that you don't know that a franchise-altering moment has happened until a good amount of time afterward unless it was painfully obvious, like when the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted LeBron James.

The best way to have that franchise-altering moment is to get a player in the draft, but there are plenty of other ways it could happen.

10. New Orleans Hornets

Sometimes, the worst part of being a basketball fan, or a sports fan in general, is not knowing what is going to happen to your team.

Personally, I spent nearly a year dealing with people speculating what LeBron James was going to do when he became a free agent in 2010, and in a way it was refreshing to not have to deal with the doubt after he made his decision. It was disappointing, sure, but it also gave me an opportunity to look to the future.

That's where the Hornets are right now.

For better or worse, I'm sure their fans would just want to know what 2012 is going to look like just so they know.

Knowing right now if Chris Paul is going to leave or stay would be their franchise-altering moment, as it would enable them to move forward from the past season of speculation.

9. Golden State Warriors

How long is it going to take before people start to realize that a high-octane offense, no-octane defense team just doesn't work unless you have an exceptionally good point guard? Stephen Curry is good, but he's not there yet.

Golden State, as it is currently put together, is going to have troubles with getting better if it doesn't develop a defensive mind, which could come with the arrival of Mark Jackson as the new head coach.

If the Warriors stay as they are, they'll continue to draw fans because of their exciting style of play, but that may start to dwindle if they wallow in mediocrity for too long, which can be devastating for the development of a franchise.

8. Toronto Raptors

If you go look at the Raptors' current roster, it's a bit hard to pin down exactly what they are trying to do. The best I can tell is that they are tying to put together an all-international squad where they have a player from as many countries as possible.

Toronto has a center who should be playing power forward, but they have four to five guys running a power forward committee which makes it impossible for them to try to put Andrea Bargnani at the position.

On top of that, they have four guys populating the small forward spot. That's nine of 15 possible spots occupied by forwards or guys who should be forwards.

Now, they do have DeMar DeRozan, who is one of the most promising young talents in the game, and are awaiting the arrival of Jonas Valanciunas who should end up taking the center spot and bumping Bargnani down to the 4, but even then they are a question mark.

They need to get some luck in 2012's draft lottery in hopes of nabbing one of the many good young players expected to come out in next year's draft.

7. Phoenix Suns

I ask you, who is Phoenix's best player after Steve Nash?  Grant Hill? Channing Frye? Marcin Gortat?

Yeah, I'd say they're in trouble.

The Suns have counted on Steve Nash to keep them a level above what they actually are ever since he came back from Dallas, turning a mediocre team into a good team, a good team into a great team and, as the situation was last season, a terrible team into a decent one.

They must realize now that Steve Nash is not the future of their franchise, and even if he does stick around after he becomes a free agent in 2012, how much longer can he play at the level he's playing at now?

It's painful, but it seems obvious to me that the Suns need to trade Nash and stock up on draft picks. From there, they will likely be one of the five worst teams in the league and have a shot at the top pick in the 2012 draft, giving them the best shot at a franchise-altering moment.

6. Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavs may have already experienced a franchise-altering moment, but it's impossible to tell at this time.

They gambled back in February, trading away Mo Williams for Baron Davis and a draft pick that ended up being the No. 1 pick, leading to them having two picks in the top four in the 2011 draft—Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson.

That may be enough to turn them around, but it's not likely.

Whenever this season does start up, it seems as if the Cavs are going to be one of the worst teams in the league again, giving them a shot at another top draft pick, which could end up being their franchise-altering moment.

5. The Team That Doesn't Yet Exist in Seattle

We all know the story of how Seattle got screwed out of its team that had been there for 41 years. Now it is waiting in the wings until it can get a new franchise.

It is just sitting and waiting for a team to collapse enough for its owners to want to move, and then it'll have to convince them to move to Seattle.

Right now, it is hoping that New Orleans or Sacramento (most likely New Orleans) make one mistake big enough for their owners to want to get out of town.

4. Minnesota Timberwolves

It seems as if the Timberwolves may have already had their franchise-altering moment with Derrick Williams getting drafted and Ricky Rubio finally coming over, but it's too hard to tell as of yet.

Williams and Rubio are certainly a good start, but we won't know if they have turned it around until at least the end of next season, and even then we may have a blurry vision at best.

It may take another young talent to fully see them turn their team around, but in the end I think it will take David Kahn getting fired to truly alter their franchise.

3. Charlotte Bobcats

The Charlotte Bobcats have been a miserable team in the short time they've existed. I mean, their peak was a season where they made the playoffs and promptly got swept out of the first round.

They then backtracked the next season and decided that it was time to rebuild their franchise after one winning season.

Charlotte certainly rolled the dice in the draft this year, which could end up changing their franchise for the better. They drafted Kemba Walker, the point guard who is too small and has too many other questions (but is also a natural-born leader), and Bismack Biyombo, who is too raw and unproven (but has the tools to be the next Dikembe Mutombo).

We will know if this moment changed the Bobcats' history for the better in a few years. Until then, we'll have to assume they're still in need of a franchise-altering moment.

2. Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons are the hottest of hot messes in the NBA, and that's saying something when you have two teams on the verge of moving and another still owned by Donald Sterling (sorry, Clippers fans).

The Pistons are a team that is too good to get a top-three draft pick, but too bad to lure any big-name free agents to their team to put them over the top. They're stuck at the bottom of lottery land.

When your best player (Rip Hamilton) doesn't want to be there, and the two guys taking up $18, $20 and $21 million over the next three seasons (Barlie Gordanueva) started only 38 combined games last season, you know you're in trouble.

1. Sacramento Kings

Whether their franchise-altering moment is the team getting sold to a billionaire who actually has money to spend or a complete 180 in the team's mentality, they are the team most in need of a change.

They weren't a horrible team last year, and they have some good players, but it's hard to say how they will be put together.

They have a team that potentially has up to five black holes on offense with Tyreke Evans, John Salmons, DeMarcus Cousins, Marcus Thornton (if he is re-signed) and Jimmer Fredette (if he gets playing time).  

That's not exactly a formula for a successful team.

If the Kings don't start winning sooner rather than later, people aren't going to come out to support them consistently and the team will end up moving to another city. If they don't get a new owner who is willing to spend money, then they could be a penny-pinching franchise for a long time.

And if they don't evaluate exactly what they are trying to accomplish with the team they currently have put together, then they could be mediocre for a very long time, a death sentence for NBA teams.

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