The 2018-2019 NBA season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting years in recent memory. What it won't be is surprising. The league is top heavy, meaning there are a few contenders and then the rest of the league, which can be broken out into "good but not great teams," and just plain bad teams.
One way to view the expectations of each team is by looking at their future odds to win the 2018 - 2019 NBA championship. As you can see, it's Golden State at 5/8 and everyone else. However, I won't count out a few other serious contenders who are building their franchises into championship threats, even if it won't happen for them this year.
Today I'm going to discuss the teams that are in "basketball hell," a term coined here locally by sports talk show host Dan Bernstein from AM 670 WSCR in Chicago. Dan describes basketball hell as when a team is not good enough to compete for a title and not bad enough to land a top draft pick or retool in free agency to have a better shot at competing with the top teams in the league.
When a team is stuck in basketball hell, they'll struggle along while the great teams continue to dominate and the very bad teams have a chance to improve, like the Celtics and 76ers have been able to do over the past few years with draft picks and trades.
Here are the teams that are currently a long way from winning a championship, and even a significant distance from being able to rebuild through the draft or free agency. The teams in basketball hell are:
Detroit Pistons
A team with two dominant all-stars should be right on the brink of competing for a title, right? Not in this league. We saw last year with the Pelicans tandem of Davis and Cousins, and we also witnessed the mediocre play of the Pistons with Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond, that having two all-stars on a team otherwise void of top talent isn't nearly enough.
The Pistons, finishing four games under .500 last season, have no hope of finishing near the top of the Eastern Conference, and barring a sell-off of Drummond and Griffin to tank, are too good to finish with a record bad enough to earn them a top 5 pick.
Toronto Raptors
It sounds ludicrous to say that a team that finished first in the Eastern Conference and acquired Kawhi Leonard in the offseason is in basketball hell, but I believe their membership in this club is completely justified. The Raptors lost SG DeRozan in the trade with the Spurs and have a decent supporting staff at best with Danny Green an aging Serge Ibaka, Greg Monroe, and other team's scraps. It looks like a year where the Raptors will be bounced early in the playoffs by the Celtics or 76ers.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Russell Westbrook can't beat the Warriors on his own, and even with Paul George, it looks unlikely that the Thunder will once again reach the top 4 teams in the Western Conference with the Rockets, Warriors, and Lakers all improving in the offseason.
The Thunder need young talent in a big way in order to move forward in the toughest conference we've ever seen in the history of the NBA.
San Antonio Spurs
When was the last time the Spurs were 66-1 to win the NBA Finals? I have no idea, but those are their odds this year, and they'll struggle to make the playoffs. After going 47-35 last season, good enough for 7th in the Western Conference, the Spurs traded away Kahwi Leonard and Danny Green, and lost Tony Parker to free agency.
Still, the Spurs won't be bad enough to rebuild, so it looks like they'll be stuck in NBA purgatory at best, and basketball hell at worst, for the foreseeable future.
Utah Jazz
The Jazz are on this list without being at fault for their position here. Utah has rising talent and a stable base of strong players, but their core simply can't compete with the top teams in the West. The Jazz finished 5th in the conference last year and they look likely to repeat that performance even with an improving Donovan Mitchell. The Jazz would need to make a massive move to compete, and with an aging group of players in Rubio, Favors, and Gobert, they'd need to make that move fast.
Indiana Pacers
The 2017-2018 Indiana Pacers were one of the feel-good stories of the NBA with an unexpected run to the 5th seed at 48-34 led by talented journeyman Victor Oladipo who improved his game this past season, averaging 23.1 PPG, 4.3 APG, 5.2 RPG, and more than 2 steals a game. Their issue is that the supporting cast just isn't strong enough. I do love their guards in Oladipo, Tyreke Evans, and Darren Collison (when he's healthy), but Thaddeus Young and Myles Turner just aren't a winning frontcourt, even when Turner is hitting from outside the arc.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Are there any teams in worse shape than the Minnesota Timberwolves right now? After finishing in 8th in the West last season, the team looked to be on the rise. That no longer seems to be the case with star SG Jimmy Butler no longer wanting to be part of the team. He is demanding a trade and the market isn't that interested, meaning they will either have to accept a mediocre offer, or just sit him out, which is probably the worst option available.
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are firmly placed inside basketball hell with no end in sight. They have a mix of good players young and old, but are lacking great players who can stay healthy. This is a team that seems to be constantly fielding 8 healthy players each game. Even at 100% health, I doubt Dragic, an old Dwayne Wade, Josh Richardson, and Hassan Whiteside, who is always injured, could lead the Heat to an Eastern Conference title.
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are continually promising and disappointing at the same time, and their time to strike is running out if it hasn't already. The Wizards were the final team to make the playoffs in the East, but they are trying desperately to move forward by adding a big man in Dwight Howard. Is this enough to make them a contender? No, but they should be able to finish 6th or 5th in the Eastern Conference. Good enough to watch, but not good enough to be a contender anytime soon, leaving them in basketball hell.
What do you think? Are there teams in this list closer to a championship that I think? Are there teams that should be added to this list? Please comment below.
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