Last week we looked at the top five teams, this week we’ll concentrate on the bottom five. Step right up future tankers! Or are these teams trying but failing? [ ODE Ratings 2019 ]
TOR (8-19)
Before the season, we had stated that TOR would be one of the better teams around, at least according to Son’s projections. Instead, a team featuring LeBron James has sunk to the bottom of the standings, even though King James and Kemba Walker have both been stellar. TOR actually has an excellent seventh rated offense — PTS, 3PT, AST — and an almost average defense at eighteenth. While their efficiency is at the bottom third (21st), they aren’t terrible there either. So what’s going on?
Unlike the other teams on this list, TOR is actually top ten in Games Played, which means it hasn’t been lack of effort that they’ve been losing. Slow starts or injuries to Dewayne Dedmon and Jeremy Lamb have been painful, and only Evan Fournier has been healthy and playing well. Losses to PHI, DEN, and BOS have revealed strengths in FT%, AST, and BLK, but aside from that, TOR needs to step it up — especially in its low ranking STL and BLK — to return to its preseason position as one of the better teams around.
MIL (8-19)
One of the most active owners on the trade market, GM Zev has already been a part of five trades and dealt away their next three RD1s, while also recouping a few RD1s themselves. One look at the roster reveals that this team is clearly on the tank job. They’ve played the 29th highest GP and have injured guys like Victor Oladipo, Jusuf Nurkic, Klay Thompson, and John Wall out for quite awhile.
While Fred VanVleet is doing his damnest to keep this team competitive, he should probably just get in line and understand that MIL is likely gunning for a top pick in 2020. Their recent trade of Draymond Green was interesting, as Green doesn’t quite fit into this timeline, but at the cost of Markelle Fultz and Davis Bertans, could be a buy low for next season. It’s impressive that MIL even went 4-5 versus ORL in WK2, as they aren’t really trying to win. It looks like we’ll see how many FT% and TO losses this team can take this season!
PHX (7-20)
Chad’s team is bad, but how bad? They’re rated 27th on offense and 28th on defense. In addition, they are 27th in GP too, and have only a top ten FG% and TO rate to boast of. The question is: are they doing this on purpose?
Well, not having Zion Williamson hurts of course, and even though rookie RJ Barrett has proven to be much better than expected, the rest of this roster is pretty barren. There’s only so much Ben Simmons can do, and even he hasn’t been his usual triple-double self to start the season. After the big three of Simmons, Barrett, and Williamson, there’s not much on the roster worth talking about. Justin Jackson anyone?
It’ll be interesting to see how much Zion’s comeback can impact this team but for now PHX hasn’t been trying very hard and the results have reflected that. The good news is that this team can be very efficient, especially when Zion makes his return, and we can see where a few more category wins could come as a result of his efforts. For now it’s just grin and bear it!
ATL (5-21-1)
It’s been two straight 1-8 beatdowns for ATL in recent weeks, and most of the roster is on injured reserve. Blake Griffin has yet to see the floor, Marvin Bagley III has played one game, and Reggie Jackson has seen two. Trae Young has been outstanding, and Cody Zeller a shocking nightly double-double, but they haven’t been enough to keep Derek’s team out of a last place offense. Pair that with a second-to-last defense and it’s no wonder ATL has been bad.
The good news is that all those injured players should be returning eventually, and as their 26th ranked Games Played rises, so will ATL’s fortunes. Once Blake and Bagley can join Trae, Cody, and JJ Redick, this offense should find its way and we’ll get to see what a fully formed ATL looks like. Until then it’s just Trae and pray! 🙏
CLE (5-22)
CLE stumbled out of the gates with a 1-8 loss to NYK but have been putting up pretty decent numbers across the board in recent weeks, even as they suffered dual 2-7 losses -- to CHI and DEN. They seem competitive in PTS, AST, STL, and BLK, and even though their percentages have been bad, there’s likely a case that they’ve just faced a few tough opponents. After all, NYK and DET are two of the three top teams right now and CHI isn’t far behind at eleventh.
So while CLE is currently in last place, there’s a strong case to be made that Zach LaVine and crew should be higher. GM Michael has been active, bringing in Josh Richardson, Markelle Fultz, Davis Bertans, Jaxson Hayes, Ky Bowman, and Ivan Rabb on three separate trades — while moving out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Draymond Green, and DeAndre’ Bembry. The all-offense stylings of Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Kuzma should have CLE starting to rise up there as well.
Overall there’s quite a bit of like about this team, and even though there’s a severe lack of bigs, there are a lot of young veterans ready to take CLE out of the cellar.
TOR (8-19)Before the season, we had stated that TOR would be one of the better teams around, at least according to Son’s projections. Instead, a team featuring LeBron James has sunk to the bottom of the standings, even though King James and Kemba Walker have both been stellar. TOR actually has an excellent seventh rated offense — PTS, 3PT, AST — and an almost average defense at eighteenth. While their efficiency is at the bottom third (21st), they aren’t terrible there either. So what’s going on?
Unlike the other teams on this list, TOR is actually top ten in Games Played, which means it hasn’t been lack of effort that they’ve been losing. Slow starts or injuries to Dewayne Dedmon and Jeremy Lamb have been painful, and only Evan Fournier has been healthy and playing well. Losses to PHI, DEN, and BOS have revealed strengths in FT%, AST, and BLK, but aside from that, TOR needs to step it up — especially in its low ranking STL and BLK — to return to its preseason position as one of the better teams around.
MIL (8-19)
One of the most active owners on the trade market, GM Zev has already been a part of five trades and dealt away their next three RD1s, while also recouping a few RD1s themselves. One look at the roster reveals that this team is clearly on the tank job. They’ve played the 29th highest GP and have injured guys like Victor Oladipo, Jusuf Nurkic, Klay Thompson, and John Wall out for quite awhile.
While Fred VanVleet is doing his damnest to keep this team competitive, he should probably just get in line and understand that MIL is likely gunning for a top pick in 2020. Their recent trade of Draymond Green was interesting, as Green doesn’t quite fit into this timeline, but at the cost of Markelle Fultz and Davis Bertans, could be a buy low for next season. It’s impressive that MIL even went 4-5 versus ORL in WK2, as they aren’t really trying to win. It looks like we’ll see how many FT% and TO losses this team can take this season!
Chad’s team is bad, but how bad? They’re rated 27th on offense and 28th on defense. In addition, they are 27th in GP too, and have only a top ten FG% and TO rate to boast of. The question is: are they doing this on purpose?
Well, not having Zion Williamson hurts of course, and even though rookie RJ Barrett has proven to be much better than expected, the rest of this roster is pretty barren. There’s only so much Ben Simmons can do, and even he hasn’t been his usual triple-double self to start the season. After the big three of Simmons, Barrett, and Williamson, there’s not much on the roster worth talking about. Justin Jackson anyone?
It’ll be interesting to see how much Zion’s comeback can impact this team but for now PHX hasn’t been trying very hard and the results have reflected that. The good news is that this team can be very efficient, especially when Zion makes his return, and we can see where a few more category wins could come as a result of his efforts. For now it’s just grin and bear it!
ATL (5-21-1)
It’s been two straight 1-8 beatdowns for ATL in recent weeks, and most of the roster is on injured reserve. Blake Griffin has yet to see the floor, Marvin Bagley III has played one game, and Reggie Jackson has seen two. Trae Young has been outstanding, and Cody Zeller a shocking nightly double-double, but they haven’t been enough to keep Derek’s team out of a last place offense. Pair that with a second-to-last defense and it’s no wonder ATL has been bad.
The good news is that all those injured players should be returning eventually, and as their 26th ranked Games Played rises, so will ATL’s fortunes. Once Blake and Bagley can join Trae, Cody, and JJ Redick, this offense should find its way and we’ll get to see what a fully formed ATL looks like. Until then it’s just Trae and pray! 🙏
CLE stumbled out of the gates with a 1-8 loss to NYK but have been putting up pretty decent numbers across the board in recent weeks, even as they suffered dual 2-7 losses -- to CHI and DEN. They seem competitive in PTS, AST, STL, and BLK, and even though their percentages have been bad, there’s likely a case that they’ve just faced a few tough opponents. After all, NYK and DET are two of the three top teams right now and CHI isn’t far behind at eleventh.
So while CLE is currently in last place, there’s a strong case to be made that Zach LaVine and crew should be higher. GM Michael has been active, bringing in Josh Richardson, Markelle Fultz, Davis Bertans, Jaxson Hayes, Ky Bowman, and Ivan Rabb on three separate trades — while moving out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Draymond Green, and DeAndre’ Bembry. The all-offense stylings of Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Kuzma should have CLE starting to rise up there as well.
Overall there’s quite a bit of like about this team, and even though there’s a severe lack of bigs, there are a lot of young veterans ready to take CLE out of the cellar.