27. Brooklyn Nets
They’re sooooo close to being out of hell and at least moving back into purgatory.
Since they’ve rebooted their franchise and focused on player development and smart asset acquisition, Brooklyn has shown signs of turning into a model NBA franchise. They’ve done well to get a real, honest to goodness young asset in D’Angelo Russell, and there are a few more interesting pieces on the roster.
They’ll be bad again this year with no pick to show for it, but if Russell shows some signs, they’ll at least have a building block. It’s not inconceivable that players will start to see Brooklyn as a place they want to be. Their cap won’t clear up until 2020, but they should have two more high-lottery talents on the roster by then.
In the meantime, they’ll keep bringing along the kids and start counting the days until draft night 2019.
Path to Glory: Keep developing youth, emphasize and then resign Russell, and draft a few studs between now and 2020 when they’ll finally be able to make a splash in free agency.