Philly Front Office

There is no league that gatekeeps the top of the heap more than the NBA. While there are only a few legitimate contenders each season, that doesn’t stop some teams from legitimately thinking that they could be next to be let past the velvet rope and into the club. Realistically, there are only two ways to live in the NBA: be a contender or have hope. If you are in either of those camps, you are very much alive in your fandom. If you don’t have a path to the Finals or are in talent/financial hell, you are dead. Don’t be dead.

East

• Atlanta Hawks – ALIVE
  • I know, I’m shocked too. The Hawks have built themselves into an annoying young team with upside. They are a middle of the playoff hunt team in the East as is, but they have so many movable contracts and draft picks that they could make a move for a star at some point, someone to pair with the ascending Jalen Johnson. Did you know he averaged 22.5 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists per game this season?!? If he levels up again, he will be in the MVP race.
• Boston Celtics – DEAD…for now
  • I will never pour dirt on the Celtics, but trading Jaylen Brown to the Sixers is not a move contenders make. Yes, in theory they can trade for the next unhappy star, but they needed to get more talent and did just the opposite. They will still be a playoff level team this year, but the window to a title is currently closed and they know it.
• Brooklyn Nets – Still DEAD
  • Ever since Kevin Durant’s enormous shoe was on the 3 point line against Milwaukee in the playoffs, the Nets have been dead. They gutted the roster, stockpiled draft picks, and have absolutely nothing to show for it. Each passing year as the lottery gets more and more unkind, they are left floating deeper and deeper into the netherworld.
• Charlotte Hornets – ALIVE
  • The Hornets have traded away two of their best players and are somehow looking great for it. Coby White and Naz Reid is an upgrade over Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball in my book in terms of competitiveness. They have also added to their incredible stockpile of draft picks that will only help them add to a brighter future of Brandon Miller and Kon Kneuppel. This is the best time to be a Charlotte Hornets fan since the 90s.
• Chicago Bulls – DEAD
  • What is there to be excited about other than Caleb Wilson? They need him to become a star because it is just year after year of poor decisions and bad luck with this team. They FINALLY have new decision makers so that helps the old pulse a little bit, but not enough to be considered alive. They have to show actual brain function first.
• Cleveland Cavaliers – DEAD
  • Let me get this straight, the Cavs saw James Harden die in the playoffs with the Rockets, Nets, Sixers, Clippers, and themselves last year and have decided that they still want to be in the Harden business? Yeah, they dead. Why in the world did they want him anyway? If they get LeBron James, it would make things happier around The Land, but they aren’t prepared to do anything come playoff time.
• Detroit Pistons – ALIVE
  • This is much more of a tossup than you would think considering they just went wire to wire in the Eastern Conference and have a still ascending MVP candidate leading things. Why? Not only did they badly miss on Top 5 picks Ron Holland two years ago (what a terrible draft) and Jaden Ivey two years before that, but they are about to go very wrong with Jalen Duran. If they give him a max contract, they are crippling Cade with a 2nd banana who no one has playoff confidence in. If they trade him, it sets them back but probably dodges a bullet. Still, they were the 1 seed last year and still have the ability to make a number of moves. The Pistons are the best thing Detroit has going right now by a lot.
• Indiana Pacers – ALIVE
  • They got beat up pretty hard over the last year by first losing Tyrese Haliburton then losing the #5 pick in a draft trade gamble, but this team went to the Finals two years ago playing some of the most fun basketball possible and we are all hoping we see that again. They are alive until they are actually dead.
• Miami Heat – ALIVE (Zombie)
  • Truth be told, I started writing this 2 weeks ago and had labeled the Heat Zombies before the Giannis trade went down. They are always hanging around thanks to Pat Riley, Eric Spoelstra, and being one of the top destinations in sports (weather, beautiful people, no state income tax). Aside from that, ownership is never down for a tank. Now that they landed Giannis, and you see why. Everyone says they gutted their roster to get the Greek Freak, but that ignores that the Heat develop role players on an assembly line. Getting the star was the hard part. Now they need depth, but don’t sleep on them.
• Milwaukee Bucks – DEAD
  • They’ve been dead for years and no one knew it, they just finally decided to bury the corpse. I don’t think this even needs explanation, but here’s one anyway.
• New York Knicks – ALIVE
  • The Knicks just won the title in totally dominant fashion. Even when the Spurs built big leads, a comeback always felt inevitable. They may have a bit of a money crunch right now and will probably overpay KAT when the time comes, but I’m not here to disparage a very alive team that has felt mostly dead over the last 50 years.
• Orlando Magic – DEAD
  • Orlando has a maxed out payroll and no star. While they do have tradeable players, there is no way this team is even coming close to competing as assembled.
• Philadelphia 76ers – ALIVE
  • When I started writing this, it was just a cover to write about how dead the Sixers were. What a difference 24 hours makes. We were staring at the very least another year of going nowhere before we could even hope to package Paul George in a trade but even that would have been another year off the life of Joel Embiid. With Jaylen Brown in the mix though, the Sixers starting 5 rivals the Knicks for the best in the East. I have my fingers crossed for Lebron too, even if that is a pipedream.
• Toronto Raptors – ???
  • As a Sixers fan, I am not qualified to be objective about this one. On one hand, this is a flawed roster with bad contracts that just got fleeced by the Clippers for Kawhi Leonard. On the other hand, it is Kawhi Leonard with the Raptors and there are still demons there that I haven’t exorcised because he left so quickly. I don’t think they should have hope, but if I want nothing to do with playing them in the playoffs then their fans have to believe.
• Washington Wizards – ALIVE
  • Do they have a chance at contention? Of course not. They do have a whole lot of hope for the first time in as long as I can remember though. #1 pick AJ Dybantsa is the final big piece of a years long rebuilding process that has managed to produce a few decent players. They could all end up looking even better if Dybantsa is as advertised. The Trae Young signing was stupid though. Who knows what they do with AD.

It’s much easier to be alive in the East than it is in the West where OKC and San Antonio limit quite a bit of hope for the future. That’s how we ended up with 8 (9 if you count Toronto) teams currently alive and excited about the coming season. As for the other 6, best of luck in the new lottery or trading away your problems.