14. Portland Trail Blazers (14-16)
The Portland Trail Blazers‘ season has strangely been saved – to a certain extent – by Carmelo Anthony. Perhaps his simple presence in the depth chart is what it needs to be chalked up to, but there’s no question that the Blazers have been an all-around better team since Melo was added to the roster.
The Blazers have recovered after a lackluster start, and have the looks of a team who could make a late-season push and possibly make some waves come playoff time.
13. Brooklyn Nets (16-13)
The Brooklyn Nets are just about where they were projected to be once it was announced that Kevin Durant would miss the season. The loss of Kyrie Irving has certainly thrown a wrench on this team’s plans, and the theory that suggests the Nets are better without Kyrie is still alive and well.
Is it true? At this point, I’m not sure we can answer that plainly.