Week 19 NBA power rankings: 10 biggest dumpster fires right now, including the Philadelphia 76ers

The Portland Trail Blazers have a roster that should be able to contend for a play-in spot this season. However, the first few months of the season were rough for Chauncey Billups and his team. They had no player that even sniffed an All-Star game invite or talents other teams are kicking down the door to trade for. Nevertheless, they played better heading into February. However, a slew of injuries derailed that recent hot streak.

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The San Antonio Spurs have been much better than they were last season. With the help of NBA league legend Chris Paul, the team was above .500 for much of the season. However, they started to struggle in January, and the absence of head coach Gregg Popovich has surely had an effect. However, their chances of reaching the postseason are now on life support after an issue related to a blood clot has sidelined top star Victor Wembanyama for the rest of the season.

While they may now have a better chance to get Cooper Flagg in the NBA Draft, Wembanyama’s future being uncertain is a franchise-changing problem for the Spurs.

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The Brooklyn Nets were the first team this season to punt on the campaign and look ahead to the summer. After some competitive play to begin the year, an extended slump was all the organization needed to go into full-on sell mode and trade off a couple of their better veteran players. Fortunately for the organization, the Eastern Conference is very weak and they actually have the chance to reach the play-in tournament despite not aiming to be a truly competitive squad this season.

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On offense, the Chicago Bulls were one of the league’s best and a headache for opponents. But on defense, only the Wizards have been worse. One can only imagine where they might have been if they were just a middle-of-the-road team on defense. But, it doesn’t matter now because the front office threw up the white flag on the season when they traded Zach LaVine before the trade deadline.

Nevertheless, they still might reach the play-in tourney due to the weakness of the back half of the Eastern Conference.

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The Philadelphia 76ers have been the biggest disappointment in the NBA this season as injuries and in-fighting have severely hindered this group’s potential. The big concern heading into the season was whether stars Joel Embiid and Paul George could stay healthy. Unfortunately, they have not been able to do that as Embiid has barely played for much of their campaign.

In a year where they might miss the playoffs, the lone bright spot is Tyrese Maxey has turned into one of the league’s legitimate great young stars.

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The Toronto Raptors have been a disappointment this season. Sure, injuries have hurt them at times this year, but there is enough talent on the roster that they could have a better record in what has been a very weak Eastern Conference this season. Yet they have struggled on both sides of the ball throughout the season. However, because the back half of the conference is wide open, they still have a chance to reach the play-in. But they need veteran acquisitions Brandon Ingram and PJ Tucker to get back on the court to have any chance to do that.

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While LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller have put up some pretty good numbers this season, it has not made the Charlotte Hornets a competitive team. Despite the strong play from their backcourt, the Hornets have one of the worst records in the NBA. While they are a solid defensive team (giving up 112.9 opponent’s PPG), they are near the bottom of the league in points per game (105.4) despite having a pair of 20-plus-point scorers.

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It has been a rough season for New Orleans Pelicans fans. They were ravaged by injuries to many of their best players over the first couple of months. And just when it seemed like they might be rounding the corner, DeJounte Murray suffered a season-ending injury. The organization saw that as a reason to wave the white flag and finally moved Brandon Ingram before the trade deadline.

The Pelicans have had some bad years, but this is one of the worst considering the talented team they started the campaign with.

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In year three as head coach, Will Hardy and his team have taken another step back. Making matters worse for the Utah Jazz is despite getting a massive contract extension in the summer, top star Lauri Markkanen has seemingly regressed further in his third season in Salt Lake City. The team’s rebuild into something competitive continues, but Jazz fans are suffering as they are forced to endure watching a team with one of the league’s worst defenses (119.4 points against) and offenses (112.2 PPG).

Despite a head coach change to begin the season, the Washington Wizards remain one of the league’s worst teams. Last season they had the Detroit Pistons take the spot for the worst record in the NBA. However, that now goes all to the Wizards as their league-worst defense (121.2 points against) and nearly just as bad offense (108.3 PPG) is why the Wiz are just playing out the string to land as many ping-pong balls as possible for the lottery in May.

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