Not every team in the league can boast a pair of top-five NBA players like the Los Angeles Lakers. Not every squad remains fully healthy throughout the course of an 82-game season. And not every roster can fit well with their head coach.
Some cream rises to the top, but all too often there are a number of teams that fall well short.
The 2019-20 NBA season has already given some insight into the teams that are likely to pick at the top of the 2020 NBA Draft this summer. The Golden State Warriors have gone from a legitimate NBA dynasty to an afterthought, while teams like the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers continue to suffer from dysfunction. But who is the very worst team in the NBA this year?
Laying the groundwork
By technical measures, the Warriors are the worst team in the NBA. They have been decimated by injuries, and there is a strong likelihood that neither Klay Thompson nor Stephen Curry will return this season.
The Warriors rank dead-last in the NBA in terms of simple rating system, which measures teams according to points above or below average (according to Basketball Reference).
But, is it really fair to quantify them as the worst team? Obviously, the superstars have not played. But Draymond Green and D'Angelo Russell have both missed a lot of time as well. So has Kevon Looney, one of the instrumental glue guys on that roster.
The Warriors actually rank 27th in expected win-loss record, despite the fact that they are relying on the likes of Glenn Robinson III to be a legitimate scorer.
For the sake of fairness, let's take the Warriors out of the conversation.
Worst of the rest
If not the Warriors, then who?
The New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers have almost certainly been the most disappointing teams in basketball, but injuries have also played a large part in their respective struggles. Maybe Zion Williamson and Jusuf Nurkic can boost these squads when they return.
What about the Cleveland Cavaliers? The two-guard experiment with Collin Sexton and Darius Garland has not worked, and Kevin Love is almost certainly gone by February. Simultaneously, the Cavs are still in full rebuild, they never had a chance.
The Knicks have been a mess, though that is hardly a surprise. David Fizdale is out after a brutal start to the year, but the Knicks rattled off a pair of wins to start the Mike Miller era. Plus, New York's season was already labeled a disappointment once they missed out on marquee free agents this past summer.
The very worst
Which brings us to… the Atlanta Hawks.
Of course, the absence of John Collins has hurt them tremendously. Collins is not exactly an elite defender, but he is the one and only true rim protector and interior threat on the roster.
Still, it is hard to ignore the fact that the Hawks have a bona fide superstar in Trae Young, and they still are tied for the worst record in the Eastern Conference, as of Saturday.
The Hawks rank 28th in expected win-loss, and their offense has been an abomination in spite of Young's brilliance. Atlanta turns the ball over at the highest rate in the league while also having the worst three-point percentage of any squad in the NBA.
Lloyd Pierce has not been able to shift the defensive culture, as the Hawks are still one of the very worst defensive teams in the league. DeAndre Hunter has been asked to do too much as a rookie wing, and too often the Hawks are overexposed.
Cam Reddish has been a true disappointment, and both he and DeAndre' Bembry have been two of the worst offensive players in the league in terms of offensive rating.
The Hawks entered this season with borderline playoff expectations. They had hoped to build on their strong second-half run last year and build some momentum for the future.
Instead, they have had utterly embarrassing losses to fellow bottom-dwellers like the Chicago Bulls, and they are holistically the worst team in the NBA at present.
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