12. Milwaukee Bucks
Don't look now, but the Milwaukee Bucks may finally be alive and well. After much was made after their rocky start to the season and many were quick to eulogize this core, it appears that the Bucks may have finally snapped out of their early-season funk. Over the last few weeks, the Bucks have looked more and more like their championship-contending self. The Bucks have won eight of their last nine games and are officially streaking up the Eastern Conference standings. If the Bucks continue to play at this high level, this is a team that could shake up the standings.
To make matters even better for the team, there's an expectation that Khris Middleton is on the verge of making his regular-season debut. After missing all of training camp the the first quarter of the season while recovering from offseason surgery, this is great news for a Bucks team that is still trying to hit their stride this season. Even after their bad start to the season, it's pretty amazing that the Bucks are just two games (in the loss column) out of the third seed. It's amazing what a hot couple of weeks can do for a team.
11. Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers have had some good moments so far this season and then they've had some bad ones. Overall, I'd say it's been a pretty positive first quarter of the season for Los Angeles. Right now, the Lakers are trying to shake off some recent struggles as the team has dropped four of their last six games and narrowly escaped with a one point win over the Utah Jazz Sunday night. If they had lost that game, it would've been their most disappointing loss of the season. Perhaps most importantly, there probably would've been plenty of panic this morning.
Nevertheless, the Lakers have been more good than bad so far this season. And that's always a positive for the team. But despite that, this is still a team that will almost certainly have to make a splash move before the NBA Trade Deadline if they want to keep pace with the rest of the Western Conference. Whether they'll be able to find the right move remains to be seen but the framework for a potential deal is there for the Lakers. What the front office will have to answer is whether they believe this core is good enough or not.