Much is said about the top of the NBA pyramid these days, and rightfully so. The Warriors and Spurs have distanced themselves from the competition in the Western Conference. The Cavaliers and Raptors are in the process of doing the same in the East. But lest we forget the team’s scraping and clawing for the opportunity to face either of their respective conference powers in the first round of the playoffs. As this is being put together, there are eight teams with realistic expectations of getting that final place between the two conferences. But truthfully, is that a fate that any team would truly want?
For a team with no first round draft picks like the Knicks or Nets, making every concerted effort to get to the postseason makes sense. Missing out provides no potential pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Even if they get swept in the first round by Cleveland or Toronto, they had a chance. And isn’t a chance at glory the reason every team suits up every night? These teams want to be the next on the list of giant killers like the 1993-1994 Nuggets or 2006-2007 Warriors. Some may even have delusions of replicating the Knicks improbable run to the NBA Finals in the strike shortened 1998-1999 season. But that isn’t happening this year. The eight seed is getting stomped in both leagues and not only is that breaking the club’s spirit, it is taking them out of the Ben Simmons/Brandon Ingram sweepstakes.
So who are these eight teams with the unenviable charge of being cannon fodder as the ungrateful eight seed in both the East and West? We’ll start with the Wild West. (Apologies in advance for the horrendous “photoshops” inbound)
HOUSTON ROCKETS
The Rockets have been one of the disappointments in the NBA this season. They entered the 2015-16 with title aspirations, but have instead found themselves clinging to their playoff lives for the majority of the campaign. There is no cloaking the inner turmoil within the organization. They fired head coach Kevin McHale in November and tried everything under the sun to trade both Dwight Howard and Ty Lawson at last Thursday’s trade deadline. But still, the Rockets should be more than talented enough to make the playoffs. James Harden is the league’s second leading scorer and even with all their warts they can go toe to toe with the game’s elite when they are on. Finding that switch though has proven tougher though as the season has progressed.
UTAH JAZZ
While the Rockets have done nothing but trend downward this season, the Utah Jazz have been one of the NBA’s biggest surprises. They are the Western Conference’s second best defensive team, led by “The Stifle Tower” Rudy Gobert. But they need every stop they can get because they are also one of the lowest scoring teams in the league as well. They have six players that average in double figures, but Gordon Hayward is the only one with any consistent scoring punch, especially late in games. If Utah is to make it they’ll need to take care of business against the teams around them in the standings. They narrowly lost to Portland on Sunday night, but play Houston twice more along with Dallas and Sacramento one time apiece over their final 27 games.
PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS
The Blazers are sitting just above the eighth spot at the moment, but have a brutal schedule down the stretch which could just as easily put them out of the playoffs altogether. Then again, isn’t that where we all thought Portland would be this year after their mass exodus in the summer? LaMarcus Aldridge, Robin Lopez, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, and Arron Afflalo all found new homes during the offseason, leaving Rip City in a state of flux. Nevertheless, Damian Lillard has further asserted himself as one of the league’s stars by hoisting this team on his back and escorting them to relevance again. Him and C.J. McCollum each average over 20 PPG, and both have multiple late game daggers on their resume this season. Their lack of depth inside leaves them vulnerable in a matchup against the Spurs or Thunder, but as they showed on Saturday night against the Warriors, they can small-ball with the best of them.
SACRAMENTO KINGS
The true long shot for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference in the Sacramento Kings. The NBA’s most dysfunctional family has been a mess all year. Head coach George Karl’s imminent dismissal never came. DeMarcus Cousins still calls the Sleep Train Arena home. They are included in the chase for the eight seed because of all the teams remaining in plausible contention, the Kings have the easiest go of it. They get the Suns, Timberwolves, and Nuggets twice as well as the Lakers, Pelicans, and Wizards once each. Boogie Cousins is in All-NBA form and Rajon Rondo has a winning pedigree, so despite their flaws, they aren’t a team to count out until they are mathematically eliminated. Now on to the East…
CHICAGO BULLS
Similarly to Houston in the West, the Bulls have fallen below expectations this year. Unlike the Rockets, Chicago’s injury woes, not discontent, has been their undoing. Unsurprisingly, Derrick Rose has found himself beaten up over the course of the year. But injuries to Jimmy Butler and Nikola Mirotic have proven the bigger hurdles to jump for Fred Hoiberg’s men. There were conflicting reports heading into the trade deadline as to whether Pau Gasol was on his way out, but the Spaniard still finds himself in black and red today. That proves that Chicago is hoping for full recoveries from their walking wounded before the playoffs and are going for it rather than blowing it up. Whether or not that proves to be the wisest strategy remains to be seen, but Cleveland can attest to the fact that a healthy Chicago Bulls team is one of the NBA’s most talented.
DETROIT PISTONS
This year’s edition of the Detroit Pistons doesn’t allow their fans to conjure up images of the glory day Bad Boys, or even the early 2000’s Finals teams. But what this club does better than any team in the NBA is rebound the basketball on the offensive end, and that small statistic keeps them in more games than one can imagine. With rebounding terminator Andre Drummond and the less disruptive twin Marcus Morris, along with newly acquired Ersan Ilyasova and Tobias Harris, Detroit basketball is all about second chance points these days. Even though Drummond is a prime candidate for defensive player of the year, the Pistons still lack a certain cohesion on the defensive end of the floor. That is what makes their rebounding so valuable and them so dangerous to their division rival Bulls, the team directly above them in the standings at the moment.
CHARLOTTE HORNETS
The Hornets took one step forward in 2013-14, making the playoffs and finishing over .500 in their final year as the Bobcats. They took one step backward last year as their offense went into the toilet to the tune of just 94.2 PPG (3rd worst in the NBA). This year the Hornets look to be back on the good side of their see-sawing existence (102 PPG) behind a career year from Kemba Walker (20.6 PPG on 42.4% FG). The Hornets have won five games in a row and should continue on the path of success over the season’s final months as their schedule is more than favorable. Three games against the putrid 76ers and two each against the Magic and Nets will give them ample opportunity to avoid the 8th seed altogether. If not, they can take some confidence from the fact that they’ve beaten both Cleveland and Toronto once this year. That probably won’t do them any good over a seven games series though.
WASHINGTON WIZARDS
The final member of the NBA’s Ungrateful Eight is the Washington Wizards. Like the Bulls, the Wiz has seen a fall from grace this season due to ill timed injuries. Starters Bradley Beal and Nene have combined to miss over 40 games for the club this year, putting even more pressure on point guard John Wall to do it all. Wall is almost averaging a double-double (19.9 PPG, 9.8 APG) as of now, but he’s hardly had to do it all. Marcin Gortat (13.7 PPG, 10 RPG) has been a more than solid deputy to the Wizards general, but he tends to fade late in games. Washington is hoping that the volatile Markieff Morris can help inject some fire into the club’s playoff push, if not at least giving the inexperienced Otto Porter Jr. some much needed rest late on.
The NBA Playoffs are still months away, so there is plenty of basketball to be played. But the drama surrounding these eight clubs will be the draw of those final months of the regular season. You can follow along with these games and then some with the GameView right here at Sports From The Basement, keeping tabs on what each of your favorite club’s rivals are doing simultaneously. As always you can follow me on Twitter @TREVORutley and the site @sportsftb for NBA commentary, podcasts, and insights as we head towards the league’s playoffs.