Continuing with our RDA look at each franchise after five years. With two new owners--featuring a much watched dispersal draft--there's some exciting room for improvement from the teams in this conference.
Team headings are: All time record ranking -- team abbreviation -- all time winning percentage.
[ RDA Historical "Regular Season: All" | Past division by division reviews | Five Years: West ]
EAST: Central
#3 IND (0.583)
New owner Bryan inherits an IND franchise that has a storied history of success. IND posted a combined 0.671 record over their last two seasons, and they’ve been knocking on the championship door as a top-five team each of those years. Following a successful inaugural 2019 season, IND did have a horrific 2020, but since then has taken giant leaps up the standings, going from thirteenth to third in just three years—2023’s 0.707 record is good for sixth-best regular season mark of all time. Despite having to suffer in Indianapolis as a Knicks fan, Bryan should be able to continue IND’s success following the results from RDA’s first ever dispersal draft.
#8 DET (0.558)
A bit of a mercurial team, DET has had two outstanding seasons, buttressing a middling 2020-2022 that saw them dip from 0.593 to 0.464 to 0.450 and down toward the bottom third of the league. However, Tony has DET pointed back toward the top as they finished 2023 just outside of the top five. Great seasons from CHI and IND have coincided with DET’s best years in 2019 and 2023, but a Central division title could be within DET’s reach if they can sustain their upward trajectory and put together two winning campaigns in a row.
#16 MIL (0.523)
Our original last to almost first storybook franchise! MIL finished dead last in RDA’s first season but the rapping Dr. Zev resuscitated the franchise rather quickly. In a stunner, MIL went from thirtieth to third in one year and then rode that 2020 rocket all the way to a Finals appearance, almost taking home RDA’s first ever trophy in the process. MIL proved that it was no flash in the pan either, as 2021 produced an even better regular season. However, all that adrenaline would wear off—rumors suggest white powder was the fuel?—as MIL slipped back to the pack in recent years, becoming more of a playoff presence than an actual title contender. And uh, then Zev jumped ship and newish owner Brandon was left to pick up the pieces. Is this a case of franchise malpractice?!?
#20 CLE (0.481)
The Land has mostly been cloudy with a chance of sunshine for most of Michael’s tenure. CLE has notched two playoff appearances—in 2019 and 2022—but the seesaw effect of regular season ranks of 14, 21, 25, 12, and 20 have made it hard to evaluate CLE as a franchise. Sustained success has not been their strong suit, and even though getting into the postseason is always a cause for celebration, it’s hard to gauge which direction CLE is going year by year. Overall, that has put CLE as the twentieth best team historically, with the non-advanced numbers giving CLE more upside than that potentially, even if there’s unlikely to be a championship on the horizon.
#24 CHI (0.440)
There’s an honor in taking your shot, narrowly missing, and then knowing exactly when your time is over. CHI was the second-best regular season team in both 2019 and 2020 but never made it into a Finals—only one was played due to COVID, unfortunately. Then, when 2021 came around, the Great Chicago Fire Sale was instituted. Since that year, CHI has posted a 0.287 in three runs and given RDA a 34-144-2 (0.194) 2022 season that is now the nadir for regular season records. Oh, CHI also owns the fourth-worst regular season record ever too, from their 40-119-3 work in 2023. “Let it buuuuurn!!!!” Sources say Tad knows what he’s doing though, and a franchise that has tangoed at the top is bound to aim for those heights again. We’re watching this rebuild closely and wondering when CHI will rise again!
EAST: Atlantic
#9 BOS (0.556)
The cream of the Atlantic division started off as a losing team, posting the eighth worst regular season record back in 2019. However, Kostas quickly righted the ship and BOS vaulted up to fourth overall in 2020, followed by a top-eight finish in 2021. Slipping into the playoffs in 2022 with a sub-0.500 finish, BOS went nearly all the way, reaching the Finals before falling to eventual champion HOU in the last round. With a top-five regular season record in 2023, it’s clear BOS has found the blueprint for continued success--using a roster consisting of depth in lieu of having any top end stars--and will remain the class of the division until proven otherwise.
#14 NYK (0.531)
There’s an empty place in the rafters at Madison Square Garden where the 2019 NYK championship banner should have hung. After compiling a 0.725 regular season record that season—still tied for second-best ever—it looked like NYK Brian would easily win RDA’s inaugural title and establish New York as RDA’s Mecca. Alas, that COVID shortened season was as high as NYK would ever rise. After two more successful campaigns, and even a top-three regular season record in 2021, NYK plummeted over the last two years, falling all the way to the very dredges of RDA as bottom three-ish team. The bill for all that early success may have come knocking too hard for Brian, but new owner Henry could have an easier path to restore NYK’s winning ways through the recent dispersal draft, landing De'Aaron Fox as his first pick.
#15 BKN (0.530)
Steadily mediocre, BKN had a top-ten first season in RDA but since then has finished every subsequent regular season in the thirteen to seventeen range. With only one sub-0.500 campaign in 2022, BKN fans have had a taste of bland success but haven’t really had much else to get excited about. Was there a semifinals appearance in there somewhere? Who can remember? In 2023, co-owner Trieu also moved on to manage his own franchise in UTA, leaving Jon behind to tread water as the most average RDA team around, evidenced by BKN’s fifteenth regular season ranking all time. Average is, um, okay? In exciting news, BKN is slated to make their first ever round one pick in 2025, so that's something!
#26 TOR (0.414)
These Raptors have never been good, as they’ve consistently been a bottom ten regular season team, minus a 0.504 season in 2020—I believe TOR may have made the playoffs due to tie-breakers that season. Usually in the seventy-five category wins range season-to-season, TOR’s bottom dropped out last year, as they put up a 46-114-2 record in 2023, good for the league’s second-worst record. Newish owner Chad--who replaced Ghita--will have plenty of work ahead as they look to take this bottom five franchise out of the cellar. Of course, winning the Victor Wembanyama lottery in 2023 should put TOR on the fast track to success, as they now have an asset that is incomparable.
#27 PHI (0.412)
Coming off their first ever playoff appearance, 2023 was a great success for PHI after some very down years. PHI flirted with the postseason in 2019 but then flatlined in 2021-22, winning at only a 0.325 clip over those two years before building some momentum in 2022 with a 0.433 campaign. With some of their division mates in collapse, it’s possible PHI’s successful 2023 could lead to more, as they could challenge for an Atlantic title soon behind rising star Paolo Banchero and a deep treasury of second round picks--PHI has seven of those in 2026-27, plus all their own foreseeable firsts.
EAST: Southeast
#7 WAS (0.559)
The first two years for WAS was a story of being right in the championship conversation, as they made the semifinals in year one, and then had a top five team in year two. Like a steady veteran, WAS continues to win but is slowing down as the years tick by, from twelfth in 2021 to sixteenth in 2022 and then to just outside the playoff picture in 2023. A lot of that decline likely has to do with the absence of Ja Morant for essentially two years so it’s likely WAS could return to their just outside contender status pretty easily. However, until they prove it, WAS has technically been surpassed as the class of the Southeast in recent seasons.
#11 ORL (0.553) 🏆
Our defending champs! Coming off a banner raising season, ORL is the lone co-owned organization left, and Jason and Jim are proving that two heads are better than one! Having started slow in RDA, ORL was only the seventeenth and twenty-second ranked team in 2019 and 2020, respectively. However, with a bounty of draft picks, ORL drafted well and traded well, and they vaulted from the bottom third of the league to the top third in 2021. Then, 2022 saw them knocking on the championship door as a top-four team, before they won it all last season—eking out a thrilling win against DEN. From here on out, ORL has to be the shining star of the division--and the conference, since they're the only East team with a ring--and they’ve created a stable infrastructure that is looking to stay good, well, forever?
#21 ATL (0.467)
Early returns for the ATL franchise was not good, as previous ownership had left them essentially a bottom five team in 2019. Then, a new owner showed up in RDA’s sophomore year—perhaps our first replacement owner?—and instituted a tanking season to set up a foundation for success. Pulling all the right levers, Evan then moved ATL quickly up the standings. The results speak for themselves, as ATL has vaulted from the cellar all the way up to the ninth best team last season, with stops at respectability in-between. Ensconced as a stable organization now, ATL should now challenge for bragging rights in the Southeast, and look to push themselves even further into the championship picture.
#23 CHA (0.443)
This befuddled franchise has already made history in RDA, despite being mostly a losing organization… That record: CHA has churned through the most owners in RDA, starting with Joe, to Luke, and now Giannis. As anyone would guess, that has meant CHA hasn’t been very good. Starting off as a 0.500 team in our inaugural season, CHA has slipped from a playoff showing in year one to three bottom ten-ish seasons, and then finally to sixth-worst team last season. While a breath of fresh air is always nice in a stale environment, this much change at the top means CHA will need to find stability before they can think about winning again--and without their own first rounders in three of the next four years. Best of luck to one of our newest owners, Giannis!
#29 MIA (0.326)
With their first four seasons in RDA fully entrenched at the bottom—including as the worst and second-worst team in 2020 and 2021, MIA has been in the doldrums for a long time. Their vaunted Heat culture is one of tanking, and tanking, and tanking. There was a slight ray of light in 2023 however, as MIA was only the ninth-worst team last season, giving them a pulse at the very least. Unfortunately, the architect for the MIA Process has left the building, it is now up to new owner JJ to clean up this mess. Note: Founding MIA owner Kevin’s enduring legacy to RDA remains however, as he was the one who suggested we tie our lottery odds to the actual NBA.