18. Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an interesting team. On various occasions this season, they've proven to be good enough to compete with any team - they proved that with some impressive wins over the likes of New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Boston. At the same time, they're also a team that could lose on any given night. They have some equally bad losses against the likes of Washington and Portland so far this year. All in all, the Hawks are a team that could go either way heading into the second half of the season.
In fact, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Hawks carve out a top 8 spot in the East standings heading into the postseason. They could also take a tumble down the standings to finish as a lottery team. That's how much of a variance the Hawks have on any given night. All that said, what they elect to do at the NBA Trade Deadline could be a good indicator of what we can expect from this team for the remainder of the season. At this point, I don't know what awaits this team but they certainly deserve some of your attention as we enter a key part of the schedule.
17. San Antonio Spurs
At least in my opinion, the San Antonio Spurs are truly fascinating to watch heading into the second half of the season. Playing over .500 basketball at the moment, the Spurs are currently sitting in the top 8 of the Western Conference standings. To be perfectly honest, I did believe that San Antonio was still another year from being in the postseason conversation. I was clearly wrong on that, at least through the first half of the year. Sure, things can certainly change but it does look as if San Antonio is going to be in the postseason conversation for the majority of the season.
Does that mean they're going to finish with a Play-In Tournament spot? That's hardly a guarantee, especially when underachieving teams like the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns, and Sacramento Kings are sitting behind them in the standings. However, there's no question that this team has taken a strong step forward in their progression as a franchise. With the strides the Spurs have made this year, how this season ends is not that important. What moves the team makes next (at the trade deadline or during the offseason) will help shape what the future holds for this team.