NBA Power Rankings Update: Trade Deadline Fallout
Teams Ranked 30th to 21st
The Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons move up incrementally, the New York Knicks are somehow not our worst team post-Porzingis, and the Brooklyn Nets backslide into the bottom-10.
| Ranking | Team | Record | nERD | Last Ranking | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 11-43 | 19.0 | 30 | 0 |
| 29 | Phoenix Suns | 11-45 | 20.1 | 29 | 0 |
| 28 | Chicago Bulls | 12-42 | 21.8 | 28 | 0 |
| 27 | New York Knicks | 10-43 | 25.0 | 26 | -1 |
| 26 | Atlanta Hawks | 18-36 | 25.6 | 27 | 1 |
| 25 | Orlando Magic | 23-32 | 39.7 | 25 | 0 |
| 24 | Memphis Grizzlies | 22-34 | 41.1 | 23 | -1 |
| 23 | Detroit Pistons | 24-29 | 41.4 | 24 | 1 |
| 22 | Washington Wizards | 22-32 | 42.6 | 22 | 0 |
| 21 | Brooklyn Nets | 29-27 | 48.5 | 17 | -4 |
Risers
The Atlanta Hawks are easily the best of the NBA's five worst teams (congratulations?). That means they are bad enough that they have absolutely no shot at making the postseason -- they're eight games out and we give them a 0.2% chance of making it -- but also have very little chance of getting into the bottom-three for an equal share of the top odds in the Zion Williamson sweepstakes.
The Detroit Pistons have won three of their last four and now sit only a game and a half out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. We give them a 39.9% chance of making it at this point, which puts them firmly in the hunt.
Fallers
The New York Knicks are 2-27 since December 3rd, have the NBA's worst record at 10-43, and just traded a 23-year-old potential franchise cornerstone in what essentially amounts to a salary dump. It's amazing that there are still three teams lower than them in our power rankings, but that's just how bad the bottom-four is right now.
The Brooklyn Nets were soaring just a couple of weeks ago, but they've lost four of their last six, and have dropped back into our bottom tier as a result. In their defense, however, they've had a pretty rough schedule over that span, and it's about to get a bit easier.
