Rosters solidified! Discover which elite NBA teams are poised for championship contention as the All-Star break spotlights top contenders.
The NBA trade deadline has passed. Aside from a few possible uninspiring buyout candidates, rosters are mostly set. Giannis Antetokounmpo is staying in Milwaukee and no playoff teams plucked any needle movers like Trey Murphy from a tanking team.
So which teams have established themselves as true contenders at the All-Star Break? The Oklahoma City Thunder obviously top the list, but the field is filled with teams who will pose a threat to the defending champs.
Honorable Mentions: New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets.
5. Cleveland Cavaliers. The biggest trade deadline move was the Cavs swapping young star point guard Darius Garland for old star point/shooting guard James Harden. While the long term viability of the deal may be questionable, Cleveland does indeed improve their roster in the short term. Harden is both a better player and a much more available player currently than Garland. Donovan Mitchell's squad is the hottest team in the East.
4. San Antonio Spurs. This team was supposed to be a year or two away from contending. Apparently, nobody told them. San Antonio's 4-1 season series record over the Thunder officially put the league on notice. The Spurs are only 3 games behind OKC in the Western Conference Standings and own the tiebreaker. Youth, playoff inexperience and 3 point shooting issues are the only real concerns for a long postseason run.
3. Detroit Pistons. Well, it's taken about two thirds of the NBA regular season, but it seems everyone collectively is finally taking the Pistons seriously. Cade Cunningham has led Detroit to the best record in the league by winning percentage at the break. Detroit may have some questions offensively heading into the playoffs, but defense translates. And JB Bickerstaff's squad is second best in the league on that side of the court.
2. Denver Nuggets. Never mind that they are 6.5 games behind OKC and 3.5 games behind San Antonio. Forget the fact that they have struggled, especially defensively, since Nikola Jokic returned from his knee injury. Focus instead on the fact that the Nuggets are the #3 seed in the West despite missing Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun, Cam Johnson and Jokic for significant stretches of the season. At full strength, this is still the second best team in the NBA.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite their recent struggles, the defending champs have more wins than any other team at the break. And while the aforementioned Nuggets injuries have been substantial, OKC has had it as bad or worse on the health front. The Thunder won it all last year and did not lose a single rotation player from the title run. They have added a Sixth Man of the Year candidate in Ajay Mitchell and another sharpshooter in Jared McCain. On paper, the Thunder are even better and will enter the postseason with championship experience. We just need to see OKC finally fully healthy to see how that translates to the court.