6. Houston Rockets
The young Houston Rockets continue to prove everyone wrong. While everyone (or at least most) across the league continues to wait for the fallback to reality, the Rockets continue to turn in winning result after winning result. As the NBA Trade Deadline quickly approaches, they're going to be a team worth keeping a close eye on. The front office is going to have to decide whether they are in a position to make a big win-now move via trade. While there are some who believe they deserve to, that's far from a foregone conclusion.
The next few weeks could go a long way in dictating how this team approaches the deadline overall and how willing they may be to make that expedited move via trade heading into the future. The front office has to love what this team has been able to do of late on the court and you can't help but wonder how high of a ceiling they could end up having this season.
5. Memphis Grizzlies
Heading into this season, it was easy to doubt the Memphis Grizzlies. After a lost season a year ago, mostly due to injuries, no one quite knew what to expect from this team. And their rocky start to the season seemed to reinforce that. However, since about the middle of November, there have been more signs of promise for the team. They're currently on a two-game losing streak but overall, this is a team that deserves more credit and respect than they've gotten through the first few months of the season.
The Grizzlies are one of the few teams in the league that have a top 5 offensive rating, defensive rating, and net rating. The Grizzlies are also ranked in the top 3 of the Western Conference standings at the moment. Considering the experience that this team has in the postseason, I'd favor them slightly over a young team like the Houston Rockets (assuming they don't make a big move at the NBA Trade Deadline) heading into the postseason.