There are no perfect teams. We know this. Even the greatest regular-season team of all time, the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, had a flaw -- namely, Draymond Green's temper, which cost them in the Finals. And most NBA teams are far from perfect.
Some need everything; some only have one or two missing parts.
So I'm going to name myself NBA Santa Claus and grant each team one Christmas wish -- the one thing that would make each fan base in the NBA giddily happy on Christmas morning.
For this year's version of the Warriors, for example, their Christmas present has to do with Green, but not with his temper. It's his God-awful 3-point shooting. He's shooting 23.9 percent from 3, the lowest since his rookie season. It's gotten so bad that he seems afraid to shoot wide-open 3s. The best thing the Warriors could hope for right now is for Green's 3-point shooting to improve to even league-average level. He's shown signs recently; after making one 3 in his previous nine games, Green has made four of nine in his past couple games.
For the Dallas Mavericks, they got the ultimate Christmas present last June, when two teams passed on future superstar (and maybe even current superstar) Luka Doncic before the Mavericks made a gutsy trade with the Hawks to snag him at No. 3. My present for them is for Doncic, already well ahead of schedule, to make the playoffs in his rookie season, putting the Mavericks -- back in action on Wednesday against the Pelicans (8:30 p.m. ET; watch on fuboTV with the NBA League Pass extension) -- well ahead of schedule as a franchise.
For the Detroit Pistons, their Christmas present is obvious; they only had one thing on their list, so I granted their wish of a competent point guard to take some of the offensive load off Blake Griffin.
Happy holidays, NBA fans. May NBA Santa Claus grant you exactly what you're wishing for.
Below are this week's Power Rankings:
Biggest Movers
6
Nets
6
Pistons
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | The Warriors' present: A better shooting touch for Draymond Green. I know he's said that he is enjoying teams sagging off him at the 3-point line, but come on: He seems terrified to even take those wide-open shots. Forget about Green being lethal from deep; if he's even close to league average, that makes the Warriors absolutely lethal. | -- | 14-11 |
| 2 |  | The Raptors' present: Perfect management of Kawhi Leonard's health through the regular season so he can be MVP-level Kawhi during the playoffs. I'm not sure what perfect maintenance for Kawhi looks like. Maybe the news that Kawhi will start playing both ends of back-to-backs is a positive development; the race for the one-seed in the East will be tight, and home-field advantage could mean the difference between making the Finals and not. Or maybe erring on the side of caution and rest would be the smarter idea. Side note: I'm stunned that the Raptors are ranked only ninth in defensive efficiency; I expected that adding Kawhi (and Danny Green) while losing DeMar DeRozan would turn this into an elite defense, one of the best in the NBA. Maybe that's what we'll see once Nick Nurse fully unleashes Kawhi. | -- | 7-20 |
| 3 |  | The Bucks' present: A dose of confidence -- among their players and among the pundits -- that their regular-season greatness will continue into the playoffs. The Bucks' reinvention this season has been remarkable and well-documented, but doubt remains whether this team can keep it up in the playoffs. They aren't exactly filled with winning playoff experience. Brook Lopez, who has been absolutely remarkable, could become more of a liability in the postseason. And Mike Budenholzer's playoff history isn't the greatest. But it would be fantastic for the NBA if Giannis and the Bucks were to make a playoff run: An exciting, modern team with an exciting, modern superstar. | 2 | 14-11 |
| 4 |  | The 76ers' present: That the honeymoon with Jimmy Butler continues. Butler is a warrior, an enormous personality, an alpha dog among alpha dogs, smart and funny and hard-working -- and also incredibly difficult to get along with for extended periods of time. So much of what he brings to the table is the type of stuff you want in a superstar. His killer mentality is like Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan -- but, though Butler is awesome, he is not half the player as Kobe or M.J. It's less about toning himself down -- Butler's fire is what every coach wants on the court -- and more about not grating on his teammates as the months wear on. Butler is an incredible rags-to-riches success story, but if he wants his success to include a Finals appearance, his development as a leader and as a reliably positive locker room force may be the most important parts of his game. | 1 | 8-16 |
| 5 |  | The Nuggets' present: Better health. I'm amazed they've been able to continue as the best team in the West despite their rash of injuries -- to Paul Millsap, to Gary Harris, to Will Barton. (That doesn't even include players who haven't played at all this season: Isaiah Thomas, Michael Porter Jr., Jarred Vanderbilt.) Any one of those injuries could have sunk, or at least greatly diminished, a team with less depth, but the Nuggets have plowed through. We'll see how they keep up over the next month while their injured bodies recover. | 1 | 14-10 |
| 6 |  | The Thunder's present: That their surge in the first third of the season, when they've played one of the easiest schedules in the NBA, continues through the rest of the season, when that schedule gets a lot harder. But if Paul George keeps playing MVP-level basketball, the Thunder will make it through any tough stretches of a schedule just fine. George has been unbelievable, the best two-way player in the game. | -- | 20-5 |
| 7 |  | The Pacers' present: Some much-deserved love from the national media (ahem ... guilty as charged here, folks) for the franchise's big-time wins in the front office the past few years. It's wild to think that the Paul George trade was so derided less than two years ago as highway robbery; the Pacers got an All-Star in Victor Oladipo and a player who is in the running for Sixth Man of the Year in Domantas Sabonis. Myles Turner, while his offense leaves plenty to be desired, has helped anchor one of the NBA's best defenses. I don't think the Pacers can top the East in the regular season or make the NBA Finals; perhaps that's why the media in this championship-obsessed league haven't given the Pacers their due. But let's call this what it is: The Pacers were in an awful situation when their superstar asked for a trade. The front office turned that awful situation into a quick-turnaround rebuild. | 1 | 12-15 |
| 8 |  | Al Horford is so important to the Celtics' success. They'd lost three in a row -- including a perplexing home loss to the Phoenix Suns -- before returning from injury Sunday, when the Celtics beat Charlotte. The Celtics' present: Shot-making, especially close to the rim. The Celtics have been great from 3 -- only two teams take more 3s than the Celtics, and only six teams make them at a higher rate. But getting to the rim has been a major struggle. The Celtics rank 27th in the NBA in field-goal attempts in the restricted area and 22nd in the NBA in field-goal attempts in the paint but outside the restricted area. This team is loaded with talent, but seems to struggle finding a hierarchy for that talent. It's a team filled with tons of excellent second or third options. But do you really think Kyrie Irving can be the No. 1 guy on a title contender? | 1 | 21-5 |
| 9 |  | The Lakers' present: Anthony Davis, all wrapped up in a bow under the Christmas tree. I know the recent media speculation around the very idea of LeBron James and Davis being paired together has been overhyped and somewhat silly, but it's also illuminated several ways that a Brow-to-Lakers trade could happen. It would be the Christmas present LeBron has always wanted, and the Lakers would become an immediate title contender. | -- | 14-12 |
| 10 |  | The Clippers' present: The continued development of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as a very good young point guard. The Clippers have several nice young pieces -- Montrezl Harrell being the most surprising -- but Gilgeous-Alexander has by far the highest ceiling. The Clippers look like a bona fide playoff team, but they also have a ton of cap flexibility next offseason. How about a young point guard in Gilgeous-Alexander being able to develop under the guidance of 2019 free agent acquisitions Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant? Yeah, that'd be pretty cool. | -- | 15-12 |
| 11 |  | The Blazers' present: Depth on the wing. Any team that's starting Jake Layman or Mo Harkless on the wing, as the Blazers have done this season, can't have realistic championship dreams. But I don't think the Blazers are all that far away. They haven't hit a major win in the draft since CJ McCollum (although I love what Zach Collins can become). One big-time wing could really elevate this team. | -- | 8-18 |
| 12 |  | The Grizzlies' present: A magic potion that keeps Mike Conley and Marc Gasol young and healthy for the next five seasons. I'd love to see what the Grizzlies could become if Jaren Jackson Jr. becomes the two-way star that he looks like he'll become. But their timeline is kind of off because Conley and Gasol, who have been both fantastic this season, will be one year older next season, and another year older the year after that. | -- | 18-9 |
| 13 |  | The Jazz's present: A breather. And that's exactly what they will get. While there have been plenty more issues with the Jazz that haven't had to do with their brutal schedule -- one source told me the NBA's freedom of movement emphases this season have hurt the defense-focused Jazz as much as anyone, and the lack of scoring options has reared its ugly head plenty -- nothing has hurt the Jazz more than their toughest-in-the-NBA beginning to their schedule. It's been tough on paper and tough with travel. That will change starting with a four-game homestand that started just before Christmas. The Jazz have been a disappointment, certainly, but it could be painted as a success that they've been able to hover near .500 with that brutal, road-heavy schedule. | -- | 5-20 |
| 14 |  | The Rockets' present: A new hamstring for Chris Paul. I don't think doctors are able to do hamstring replacement surgeries, but Santa can do anything, right? As Chris Paul's career heads toward his downward slope -- and he's already been well into that slope this season, even before last week's injury -- it appears that his poorly timed injuries will be one of the things we'll remember most from his Hall of Fame career. None was more devastating than the Game 5 injury in last season's Western Conference Finals; the Rockets could have -- would have? -- upended the Warriors if Paul hadn't pulled his hammy. But the most recent injury sure did come at a crappy time, too, as the Rockets, who'd struggled all season, were finally finding a rhythm. | 2 | 17-9 |
| 15 |  | The Kings' present: Serenity now. How is it possible that there's been so much drama during a season when the Kings have had as much success as any season in recent memory, and have been one of the most surprising teams in the NBA, and have done it with a young point guard who seems primed to become an All-Star sooner than later? For the first time in who-knows-when, the Kings actually have a bright future. Yes, I understand that future would have been exponentially brighter if they'd selected Luka Doncic instead of Marvin Bagley III, and perhaps Dave Joerger feels the same way deep down (or not all that deep down). But take away the comparison to Doncic and Bagley is still loaded with potential. There are plenty more nice, young pieces in Sac-Town, too: Willie Cauley-Stein, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Buddy Hield. Why can't you guys just enjoy it when you have nice things? | 4 | 13-14 |
| 16 |  | The Spurs' present: A turning of the page toward a new era. I get what they were doing with the Kawhi trade, even though I didn't like it. The Spurs were trying to maintain relevance as Gregg Popovich nears the end of his career. And they are relevant, in the middle of the jammed-up Western Conference playoff mix. And we can't talk about the big picture of the Spurs without talking about what might have been if point guard Dejounte Murray hadn't torn his ACL in the preseason. But San Antonio is a great basketball town, and it deserves more than just relevance. The only way to do that will be to engage in an abbreviated sort of rebuild, and -- it's sad even saying this -- pass the torch from one of the greatest coaches we've ever had to a new Spurs generation. This team, as currently constituted, isn't going anywhere impressive anytime soon. | 4 | 13-13 |
| 17 |  | The Pelicans' present: Perfect health for the rest of the season, because their margin for error is so, so small. The DeMarcus Cousins injury last season was a gut punch for the Pelicans; they'd given up a lot in that trade, and never fully got to optimize what the Boogie-AD combo could have become. But this version of the Pelicans -- when healthy -- can be near the top tier of the West, even though that means playing Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday insane minutes. A mid-season trade or buyout signing could give the Pelicans some much-needed depth, but without perfect health, especially among their stars, the Pelicans aren't heading anywhere soon -- which means Davis might be heading elsewhere soon. | 3 | 5-22 |
| 18 |  | The Mavericks' present: A rookie playoff appearance for Luka Doncic. I was all-in on Doncic during the run-up to the draft. What's one step further than being all-in? Double all-in? Because that's where I'm at now, and where you should be too. His play as a rookie -- as a rookie who has yet to develop a true NBA body -- has been incredible. He seems not just like a Mavs' franchise cornerstone but like a future MVP candidate, and like one of the future faces of the NBA. Being the author of the Mavericks' incredible turnaround and getting a playoff appearance as a rookie will be a wonderful ending to the first chapter of the Legend of Luka. They'll have to set things straight soon, though; the current six-game losing streak sure isn't helping the Mavs stay in contention in the brutal West. | 3 | 17-9 |
| 19 |  | The Nets' present: To keep on keeping on. Sean Marks inherited a load of lemons when he took over as general manager several years ago. Despite having terrible records, Nets have been hamstrung without high draft picks since that terrible Boston Celtics trade, but they are now out from under those trade obligations, and Marks has built up an impressive culture with head coach Kenny Atkinson and players the Nets have picked up off scrap heaps or drafted shrewdly in lower parts of the draft: Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie, Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert. Their recent seven-game winning streak was not a fluke; the Nets are a solid, deep team. Keep on keeping on, and hopefully, add a major piece or two in the 2019 offseason. | 6 | 10-16 |
| 20 |  | A five-game winning streak for the Heat, including some pretty impressive wins: the Bucks and Rockets at home, the Pelicans and Grizzlies on the road. The Heat's present: Some salary cap relief. Pat Riley, one of the best basketball minds there ever was, has been hamstrung in recent years by the Heat's bloated payroll. I don't care how awesome South Beach is (and it is awesome): The Heat won't be able to attract superstars if they don't have the cap space to fit in a superstar salary. The Heat have some nice players, but they'll always be a mediocre team as long as they have these bloated contracts -- Dion Waiters, Tyler Johnson, Hassan Whiteside -- on their books. | 4 | 13-11 |
| 21 |  | The Hornets' present: A behind-the-scenes handshake agreement that Kemba Walker will definitely, certainly, 100 percent re-sign with the Hornets come July 1. Walker has been incredible this season, putting himself into the MVP discussion for the first time in his career. If he leaves, the Hornets will go into full tank-and-rebuild mode. With him, they'll be a playoff team, and a smart couple of additions away from being more than that. | 3 | 7-19 |
| 22 |  | The Wolves' present: A more aggressive Andrew Wiggins on the offensive end. Yes, this seems like asking for a Christmas miracle, and something that, if it hasn't happened yet, will never happen. But can you imagine if you took Josh Okogie's motor and installed it in Wiggins? It's all such wishful thinking. Adding a philosophical change in a player is harder than adding a competent 3-point shot, or adding 20 pounds of muscle. Wiggins does not seem wired for offensive aggression; just look at his abysmal free-throw rate, which has declined each of the past several years. Ultimately, unless he changes his offensive approach, giving that max contract to an often-passive player will hamstring the Wolves for years to come. The fact he's gotten to the free-throw line a season-high 10 times in each of the past two games is a huge positive sign. | 1 | 14-11 |
| 23 |  | Losing at home to the Hawks, eh? That'll knock you down a few pegs. The Pistons' present: A Linsanity-like midseason acquisition in the backcourt. Blake Griffin has been awesome; you could argue that he's having the best season of his career. Andre Drummond has been good. But the Pistons' backcourt will always put a limit on their ceiling, in the regular season and certainly in the playoffs. Players have come out of nowhere before in the middle of seasons, Jeremy Lin being the most obvious example. Something like that at the point guard position would be a Christmas miracle in Detroit. | 6 | 11-16 |
| 24 |  | The Magic's present: A point guard. The Magic certainly may make the playoffs without much of a presence at the point. But a midseason upgrade in the backcourt, or nailing a 2019 point guard draft pick -- Tre Jones is a winner, though the Magic may be too high in the draft to consider Jones -- could increase this team's ceiling quite a bit. I like a lot of their young pieces. But a team without great, or even good, point guard play automatically has a pretty low ceiling. | 2 | 17-11 |
| 25 |  | The Wizards' present: Clear eyes and a clear head going into the offseason. A .500 regular-season record and a seven- or eight-seed in the playoffs could cloud the Wizards' thinking heading into the offseason: Hey, we're almost there! Sitting around .500 is NBA purgatory, and the Wizards, despite having two stars in John Wall and Bradley Beal, seem positioned to stay right there for the foreseeable future. The Wall contract is enormous, and potentially untradeable, but the Wizards have to do something to change things in a major way going forward. Maybe point guard-hungry teams like the Phoenix Suns or Orlando Magic would take on his monster deal? Only a jarring move like that could take the Wizards out of neutral. | 2 | 3-21 |
| 26 |  | The Knicks' present: A little bit of lottery luck to ensure that the guy who was sitting at Kevin Knox's locker at Madison Square Garden a few nights before Christmas will call the Knicks locker room his permanent home for the 2019-20 season. Can you imagine Zion Williamson in New York? The young man, 18 years old and with the body of a defensive end and the basketball athleticism of an NBA slam-dunk champ, was born to play at Madison Square Garden. The NBA is better when the Knicks are relevant. I'm no advocate of cheating, but if the NBA wants to rig the 2019 draft lottery to give the No. 1 pick to the Knicks, I will happily turn my head. | -- | 16-10 |
| 27 |  | The Suns' present: A string of consecutive losses between here and April. I mean, congrats on this surprising winning streak and everything, you guys. It's nice to see Deandre Ayton make enormous progress since the beginning of the season and put himself in the conversation with Doncic in the Rookie of the Year race (although if you're picking anyone other than Doncic, you're nuts). It's great to see Devin Booker continue his progress as a superstar and franchise cornerstone. And beating the Celtics in Boston? Damn, guys. That was one of the most unexpected wins of the season. But: YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO LOSE. Seriously! Maybe it will all come down to luck on lottery night. But a few wins here could mean the difference between a last-place Suns team and a fifth-from-last-place Suns team, which could mean the difference between drafting a future superstar and not. | 2 | 14-11 |
| 28 |  | Three wins in a row for the Hawks! Weird league, the NBA. The Hawks' present: That they get a superstar with their 2019 draft pick -- that would mean either Zion Williamson or R.J. Barrett. Because otherwise, Trae Young's career -- which I expect to be a very productive NBA career where he may lead the NBA in assists and ought to turn into an excellent 3-point shooter, despite this season's results -- will always be measured in a negative way against Luka Doncic's career. I get that the Hawks are in the asset-hoarding business, and getting an extra first-round pick in the Doncic trade is smart asset-hoarding business. But the greatest asset in the NBA is a superstar, and that's what Doncic appears heading toward, sooner instead of later. The Hawks need some luck in the draft lottery in 2019 in order to not be seen as the clear-cut losers of the gutsy but flawed Doncic-Young trade. | -- | 14-13 |
| 29 |  | The Bulls' present: Pressing the reset button in the front office and resetting one of the NBA's worst cultures. It is remarkable how far one of the NBA's most iconic franchises has fallen -- how they have been one of the most consistently bad teams in the NBA -- since Michael Jordan left. The buck stops in the front office. These Bulls have a nice core of young talent with Lauri Markannen, Wendell Carter Jr., Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine. A culture reset in the front office -- and, presumably, with the head coach -- could afford those players to develop in a more positive environment. (Side note: I'm still trying to process the timing of the Fred Hoiberg firing. It makes zero sense to me.) | 2 | 12-15 |
| 30 |  | The Cavaliers' present: Finding a suitor who will take on what certainly appears to have been an ill-advised contract extension for Kevin Love. It's not just that Love got injured soon after signing that extension, or that he's aging, or that he'll never be a foundational superstar for a winning team. It's that the Cavaliers signed Love for so much money that anything short of him returning to his dominant Timberwolves self would make that contract virtually untradeable. Teams will get desperate to make the playoffs in the coming months; the Cavaliers need Love to return to perfect health, return to that beast-mode Kevin Love from five or six years ago, and make 3s at a 40-percent-plus rate so that another team can bankrupt their future on the hope that Love is their missing piece. That sounds like some incredibly wishful thinking, even for this time of year. | -- | 23-4 |
