Portland Trail Blazers
Mid-season grade: C
Even though it's not surprising that the Portland Trail Blazers are still struggling to emerge as a relevant team in the Western Conference, it's almost difficult to not be a little underwhelmed by how little this team has developed over the past two seasons. And most of that falls on the shoulders of Scoot Henderson. As a player who was viewed as the primary piece of the team's build moving forward, it is unfortunate that Henderson has not developed at the pace that perhaps the Blazers were hoping he would.
Couple that with the hesitance from the front office to part ways with the likes of Jeremy Grant, and a few other veterans on the roster, and it makes this entire situation all that more all the more confusing. It's difficult to predict where this team is headed moving forward and it feels as if this front office doesn't have a solid plan in place. And when there's confusion stemming from the front office, it's never a good sign for a team.
Sacramento Kings
Mid-season grade: C+
A few weeks ago, the argument could be made that the Sacramento Kings were the worst good team in the NBA. On paper, the Kings should be a playoff team in the West that has the ability to make some noise. However, up to a few weeks ago, the Kings were one of the most disappointing teams in the league. After firing head coach Mike Brown, it's almost as if something has begun to click for the Kings. They've played better up late and have won eight of their last 10 games.
I'm not going to say that the Kings have successfully fought out of the early season hole they found themselves in, but there are certainly some positive signs that the team should feel good about heading into the second half of the season. There's so much at stake during these next few months of the season for the Kings' future and I can't stress that enough. It will be interesting to see how this team finishes the season and how that catapults them into some big offseason decisions that need to be made.