No fancy theme this week for the NBA Tier List, just plain old rankings.
The season is still young and there’s not a ton of separation among most of the teams yet, but one thing that does appear to be happening is that the NBA’s basement could be taking shape already, something that, depending on your perspective, could be a blessing for these bottom-feeder teams as the direction of their squad this season will be clear: Get a high draft pick.
Here’s how the tiers shook out this week:
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Cream of the crop
Without question the injury to Gordon Hayward should be of concern for the Boston Celtics, but if there’s any team that can replace the loss of a 19-points-per-game scorer, it’s definitely the Celtics. Winners of seven straight after dropping their opening game, Boston can more than make up for the loss of Hayward thanks to explosive contributions on a nightly basis from Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
And out in the west, the Denver Nuggets have not only been playing very well, but, most importantly, appear to have their superstar Nikola Jokic back on track in some regards. Jokic hasn’t been nearly as effective this season as last as he has struggled with his shot. The accuracy still isn’t where it needs to be yet, but over the past two games Jokic as shown he has some clutch ability in him in nailing a pair of game-winners for Denver.
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Really good, but not quite top-end
The Toronto Raptors currently possess a 7-2 record with the fifth-best net rating in the entire league, two important factors that should make them one of the NBA’s top-tier teams. Which might make you wonder why we haven’t placed them at the top.
The answer is simple: With the injuries the Raptors have sustained – Kyle Lowry (thumb), Serge Ibaka (ankle), Patrick McCaw (knee) – it’s hard to place them right at the top because it’s still unclear how these injuries to significant rotation players will affect the team.
Obviously, Sunday’s victory over the Los Angeles Lakers was a tremendous accomplishment, and offered a glimpse into how the Raptors might be able to weather the storm, but those players who stepped up – Chris Boucher, Terence Davis, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, etc. – are still very much unproven, and for all we know Sunday was just a one-off anomaly.
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Stuck in the middle
The Houston Rockets have racked off three straight victories and currently rates as the second-best offence in the NBA, however, their putrid defence (they give up 110.1 points per possession) is what’s really holding this team back. Additionally, the Russell Westbrook experiment is not bringing with it very good early returns as the Rockets sport a net rating of minus-1.1 when he’s on the court and plus-7.8 when he’s on it.
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma City Thunder, Westbook’s former team, might feature a sub-.500 record, but have appeared to play better than that 4-6 mark indicates, as their plus-1.9 net rating (a mark better than Houston’s) indicates.
Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks like a rising star, leading the team in minutes played in scoring, while Chris Paul has looked like the consummate professional, playing effective basketball and allowing Gilgeous-Alexander to blossom despite being the much bigger name.
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On the crossroads between mediocre and bad
Though it’s still early, these five clubs already appear to be teetering on the edge of being truly terrible and clubs that will be in the mix for the No. 8 seed of the playoffs, mainly because they’re all Eastern Conference teams and outside the obvious top teams in the conference, everything else is very muddled.
The Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets and Orlando Magic, in particular, could all be pretty good squads as they each have decent enough talent to threaten and frighten just about every team in the league. Thus far, they’ve disappointed, though.
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The growing basement
Lastly, we have the bottom of the NBA’s barrel right now, and unless things really change – we’re looking at you, possibly, Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings – it’s unlikely any of these teams will be exiting this area any time soon.
In particular, the New York Knicks are, once again, in total and complete disarray, as the team’s president and GM, Steve Mills and Scott Perry, called an impromptu news conference to, essentially, throw head coach David Fizdale under the bus for not being able to perform with the team they so shoddily put together.
So, like clockwork, the Knicks are on the verge of firing another head coach because management is unable to provide said coach with the necessary talent to build a contender. The Knicks never change.