Welcome to the NBA’s cellars.
In a season preceding one of the weaker drafts of the 21st century, a surprising revelation has been the number of NBA teams who outright suck. As the season begins to gear toward the playoffs, I will be publishing a weekly power ranking of the league’s true cellar dwellers: right now these teams are the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, San Antonio Spurs, Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers, five teams who have been brutally awful from the opening tip in October through today. With teams like the Nets and Rockets still theoretically in contention for a playoff spot, I’m not quite ready to add them to this list, but expect to see the remaining non-postseason teams here sooner rather than later.