It wasn’t supposed to be like this for John Wall and the Washington Wizards. 2015-2016 was a lost season in the nation’s capital thanks to injury and chemistry issues, but with Markieff Morris in the fold over a full campaign and the infusion of what was supposed to be an improved bench unit, Washington entered 2016-2017 with real expectations of a playoff run.
Through nine games, those expectations appear grossly overaggressive. Wall has been fantastic, averaging 22.3 points, 8.3 assists, and 2.1 steals per game while posting a PER north of 22, but the rest of the squad has come up short in a quest to pick up the slack. All told, the starting lineup featuring Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter, Markieff Morris and Marcin Gortat has been a (slight) positive when on the floor together, but essentially every other combination has bordered on disaster, and the big-ticket acquisition of the summer (Ian Mahinmi) has yet to take the floor due to injury.
Nine games isn’t nearly enough to evaluate the Wizards, or any other NBA team, but we are reaching the point of no return when it comes to Wall’s tenure with the club. In an Eastern Conference that appears wide open beyond the Cavs and, to some extent, Raptors, Washington still maintains the opportunity to make a playoff push after a slow start, but the rest of the squad would be required to take a step forward and, at this point, why should we expect them to do so?
As for the rest of the league, here is this week’s edition of our Power Rankings, beginning with a change at the top.
1. Los Angeles Clippers (10-1, Last week — 3rd)
This feels weird. Yes, the Clippers have the best record and the best net rating (+16.1) in the NBA, but placing Los Angeles above Golden State and Cleveland, even after 11 games, isn’t natural. At the same time, Chris Paul is probably the early leader for MVP, the team is defending at a level we haven’t seen with this collection of talent, and the Clippers are looking very, very real in mid-November.
2. Cleveland Cavaliers (9-1, Last week — 1st)
LeBron and company haven’t done anything to actively facilitate a drop in the rankings and, in fact, the Cavs might be playing their best basketball of the season. Cleveland toppled both Charlotte and Toronto this week and their stranglehold on the top of the Eastern Conference remains incredibly strong.
3. Golden State Warriors (8-2, Last week — 2nd)
When you have Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant (in addition to Draymond Green and Klay Thompson), you are probably supposed to have the NBA’s best offense, and the Warriors are just that while scoring 112.9 points per 100 possessions. The defense is a work in progress, to put it mildly, but Golden State is still abjectly terrifying and that is likely going to be the case throughout the season. Oh, and they aren’t trading Klay Thompson.
4. San Antonio Spurs (8-3, Last week — 4th)
The Spurs lost one game at home during Tim Duncan’s last ride and this year’s edition has already fallen three times in their own building. There is no reason to be worried yet (and that is reflected in their ranking here), but some of the mystique will be shattered if San Antonio continues to struggle in the AT&T Center.
5. Atlanta Hawks (8-2, Last week — 8th)
Some of Atlanta’s early-season success can be attributed to a (very) favorable schedule, but the Hawks do own a road win over the Cavaliers and the Dwight Howard era is off to a blazing start. Mike Budenholzer has already adjusted his defensive tenets to maximize Howard’s efforts, and while they aren’t fantastic offensively, you don’t have to be when you don’t allow the opponent to score. It wouldn’t be a shock if this was Atlanta’s peak this season, but they’ve been surprisingly effective through ten games.
6. Toronto Raptors (7-3, Last week — 9th)
Within their last four contests, the Raptors have impressive road wins over the Thunder and Hornets, but it was actually their recent loss to Cleveland that cemented this rise in my mind. Dwane Casey’s bunch pushed the Cavs to the limit in a four-point loss and Toronto trails only Golden State and Cleveland in terms of offensive efficiency. This is a good basketball team … again.
7. Utah Jazz (7-5, Last week — 6th)
I’m going to ride with Utah until I just can’t take it anymore. Yes, the Jazz lost to the Grizzlies at home this week, but that so-so performance came without George Hill (who missed the game with a sprained thumb) and Utah needs him on the floor. This is a deep and talented squad and their +4.7 net rating is much more indicative of performance than the 7-5 record would lead you to believe.
8. Charlotte Hornets (7-3, Last week — 5th)
It is (very) unfair to drop the Hornets based on this week, but this is a cruel world. Charlotte’s two losses came against Toronto and Cleveland in close-fought fashion, and the Hornets also knocked off Utah and Minnesota (on the road) impressively. Steve Clifford still has this team defending at a top-five level and there is a certain level of trust associated with the Hornets that most NBA teams simply can’t match right now.
9. Chicago Bulls (7-4, Last week — 13th)
The Bulls went into Portland and throttled the Blazers on Tuesday night, and Chicago did it without their full complement of talent. That was an impressive victory for a team that continues to exceed preseason expectations, and while I think this is the beginning of a new tier based on what we’ve seen, there is no reason that Chicago shouldn’t be at the head of it.
10. Boston Celtics (5-5, Last week — 11th)
Candidly, there is no “correct” way to rank Boston right now. The Celtics have received a combined seven games from Al Horford and Jae Crowder, and playing without two of the best three players on a team doesn’t allow for overarching judgments to be made. Boston is staying afloat and that is a credit to Brad Stevens, but at some point, they are going to have to win games (and get pieces back) to justify this perch.
11. Detroit Pistons (6-5, Last week — 12th)
It was a nice week for Detroit in breezing past both Denver and Oklahoma City, and Reggie Jackson will be back soon. Any Pistons fan would have to be overjoyed with a record above .500 without their central playmaker in the fold, and Detroit’s defense ranks third in the NBA right now with Andre Drummond as the anchor. The future is very, very bright.
12. Houston Rockets (6-4, Last week — 15th)
It is really hard to win consistently with a porous defense, but Houston has climbed out of the bottom five in that category and, non-coincidentally, risen in these rankings. James Harden has been obscenely good this season, and if the Rockets can figure out how to tread water when he leaves the floor, they become terrifying to just about any opponent.
13. Portland Trail Blazers (7-5, Last week — 10th)
When the Blazers lose, they lose. That is how a 7-5 team can line up with a -3.9 net rating, and Portland has been an utter mess on the defensive end. With Terry Stotts’ pedigree, it is easy to trust that the defense will bounce back, but the personnel changes (here’s looking at you, Evan Turner) haven’t worked and Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are carrying a massive workload yet again.
14. Oklahoma City Thunder (6-5, Last week — 7th)
The Thunder have dropped four straight and that is simple explanation for their precipitous fall here. On one hand, only one of those defeats (Orlando) was particularly ugly, but OKC now boasts a bottom-10 offense and that leads to a negative net rating overall. That end of the floor was always the concern, and the cracks began to show a bit this week. We’ll see how Billy Donovan and, perhaps more importantly, Russell Westbrook respond.
15. Milwaukee Bucks (5-4, Last week — 18th)
Home losses to the Pelicans aren’t exactly ideal given where New Orleans lands in the NBA’s pecking order, but aside from that, the Bucks are beginning to look trustworthy. Milwaukee is league-average offensively and slightly better than that defensively, and the Giannis Antetokounmpo + Jabari Parker pairing is settling in quite nicely. Moreover, Jason Kidd is doing a solid job in coaxing production out of players like Greg Monroe. The Bucks just might be the team we thought they would be a year ago.
16. Indiana Pacers (5-6, Last week — 17th)
Paul George and company nicely held the Magic to 69 points in their last outing and that helps to buoy their defensive rating into respectability. Make no mistake, though, this has been a bad defensive team that also displays real issues in scoring consistently, and I remain highly skeptical of the overall product.
17. Memphis Grizzlies (5-5, Last week — 16th)
When Marc Gasol and Mike Conley play, the Grizzlies are good at basketball. It’s really that simple, and we saw their upside in a road win over Utah this week. Creation continues to be a problem for the NBA’s fourth-worst offense, but they are (much) better than the numbers indicate right now and they’ll dig out of the hole by pecking away slowly.
18. Minnesota Timberwolves (3-7, Last week — 21st)
I have no idea. The Wolves have a positive net rating despite a 3-7 mark and it would be hard to ask for more from Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. The defense remains bad, and that is almost certainly driving Tom Thibodeau insane, but Minnesota’s offense is extremely scary right now, and Thibs will have the opportunity to mold things on the other end. I’m strangely encouraged.
19. Los Angeles Lakers (7-5, Last week — 19th)
We are getting more and more data concerning the Lakers’ hot start, and most of it is good. Their record and point differential still seem fluky based on the roster, but it is conceivable that the offense might be good and Luke Walton has this group playing respectable defense. If asked to predict whether Los Angeles would finish higher or lower than their current position, I would go with lower, but that might not be a lock anymore.
20. Denver Nuggets (3-7, Last week — 14th)
The Nuggets are being punished for four straight losses here, but a closer look indicates that may be the wrong decision. Denver’s defeats came at the hands of the Grizzlies, Warriors, Pistons and Blazers and, frankly, that aren’t supposed to beat any of those teams. This has not been a kind schedule, and we’ll learn a lot more about Denver in the coming days.
21. Sacramento Kings (4-7, Last week — 20th)
With Darren Collison back, the Kings aren’t such a tire fire offensively, but this is one of the five worst defensive teams in the NBA and it is hard to see beyond that. The Boogie Cousins trade rumors are back in earnest, and the Kings remain the Kings.
22. Dallas Mavericks (2-7, Last week — 23rd)
Harrison Barnes has been a revelation … and the Mavs are still bad. Part of that is the absence of Dirk Nowitzki and that has to be mentioned, but whatever Dallas gains offensively when the legend returns might be given back on the defensive end. This roster just isn’t very good and, with a five-game hole by mid-November, Rick Carlisle has his work cut out for him.
23. Brooklyn Nets (4-7, Last week — 25th)
The Nets are one of the better stories in the league to this point because they are exceedingly competitive. The recent sample, including back to back losses to the Clippers and Lakers, isn’t quite as encouraging, but they are playing a brand of basketball that is easy to support.
24. Washington Wizards (2-7, Last week — 27th)
The Wizards face off against the 76ers on Wednesday night. Maybe that will be the elixir this team needs.
25. New York Knicks (4-6, Last week — 24th)
This is probably a bit harsh, but the Knicks continue to be horrific on the defensive end and I can’t see a reason to send them shooting up the rankings. Beating the Mavericks (woof) and the Nets (sigh) is fine, but New York’s brand name pieces don’t appear to be gelling just yet and the clock is ticking.
26. Miami Heat (2-8, Last week — 22nd)
Six straight losses isn’t a great look for anyone, but Miami is making it look even more painful than you’d expect. Only the Sixers have been worse offensively than the Heat (95.8 points per 100) and they are also dealing with injury issues for Justise Winslow and Goran Dragic. On the bright side, Hassan Whiteside is doing Hassan Whiteside stuff, but they just can’t score consistently.
27. Orlando Magic (4-7, Last week — 26th)
Orlando’s record paints a rosier picture, but the Magic have been brutal. Frank Vogel’s bunch own the second-worst net rating (-10.1) in the NBA and they own only one quality win (over the Thunder) on the season. This is an unwatchable team offensively that has the pieces to be good in preventing the opposition from scoring but, well, they haven’t done that very well either.
28. Phoenix Suns (3-8, Last week — 28th)
The Suns did pick up a win this week (over the Pistons), but a lopsided home loss to the Nets won’t do much to send Phoenix climbing in these rankings. Devin Booker, Eric Bledsoe, and (especially) T.J. Warren have been encouragingly good in the early going, but Phoenix might continue to slide if they throw more minutes at young guys like Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender who just aren’t ready yet.
29. New Orleans Pelicans (2-9, Last week — 29th)
New Orleans has claimed two (!) victories over the past week and Jrue Holiday is scheduled to return on Friday against Portland. When that occurs, the Pelicans will very likely rise given the presence of their second-best player, but until then, New Orleans claims their rightful place as the worst non-Philly team in the league. My apologies to Anthony Davis.
30. Philadelphia 76ers (1-9, Last week — 30th)
On the bright side, the Sixers aren’t winless anymore after toppling the Pacers at home. Philly still owns the league’s worst record, though, and on nights when Joel Embiid isn’t available, there is absolutely no doubt about which squad should occupy this slot in the rankings.