Most disappointing teams of the NBA season so far

Obviously, everybody within the NBA community understood the Cleveland Cavaliers would struggle to compete after LeBron James took his talents out west to the Los Angeles Lakers. Perhaps those who didn't understand the Cavs would be this bad were merely lying to themselves. Losing Kevin Love to injury through the remainder of 2018, at least, and starting the season 4-15 was bad enough. J.R. Smith suggesting the franchise is tanking, which is what is happening regardless of what anybody within the front office says about the matter, was a unique twist of the knife in the stomachs of fans. 

The Houston Rockets exiling Carmelo Anthony after 10 games was the right call — the 34-year-old simply wasn't a good fit — but it wasn't enough to immediately fix the team's shooting woes. The good news, as pointed out by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle , is that the Rockets showed signs of righting the ship on offense in mid-November after a horrible 1-5 start. The bad news is Houston lost to the Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards, two of which are below-.500 teams, between Nov. 23 and Nov. 26.  

Oleh Kosel of The Bird Writes was correct in saying that the New Orleans Pelicans need to do more to lighten the load for Jrue Holiday. Trading for some help likely wouldn't eliminate the team's biggest concern: New Orleans loses when superstar Anthony Davis isn't in the lineup. Through 21 contests, the Pelicans were without Davis on four occasions. New Orleans lost all four, and that stretch included defeats to the Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards. 

The 10-11 Minnesota Timberwolves deserve an "incomplete" grade since the team's season didn't truly get underway until the franchise traded Jimmy Butler to the Philadelphia 76ers on Nov. 12. The T-Wolves notched a 6-2 record following that transaction. Don't look now, but Derrick Rose was averaging 19.1 points per game as of Nov. 27. He buried roughly 48 percent of his three-point attempts, well above his career average of 30.6, in his first 18 appearances.   

Let's all be honest and admit the season unofficially ended for the Miami Heat when the team failed to land Jimmy Butler in a trade. The Dwyane Wade retirement tour is more sad than charming, and Hassan Whiteside isn't enough to power the Heat to even a .500 record with point guard Goran Dragic sidelined because of an injured knee. The 7-12 Heat should consider signing Carmelo Anthony once he's officially released by the Houston Rockets because, well, why not?

The 8-13 Brooklyn Nets are a different kind of disappointing because of what could have been. Third-year guard Caris LeVert became a revelation over his first 13 appearances. He was averaging over 18 points per contest and well on his way to a career season until he suffered a gruesome and ugly foot injury on Nov. 12. Without their leading scorer, the Nets lost five of seven games. Here's hoping the 24-year-old can return to the court during the second half of the campaign. 

The positives for the 4-15 Phoenix Suns involve the club tallying a win over the Milwaukee Bucks in November and not being blown out in the majority of losses since getting trounced by the San Antonio Spurs on Halloween. Devin Booker is worth the price of admission, and rookie Deandre Ayton is performing at the value of a first overall pick even if he's not shooting three-pointers for whatever reasons. Regardless, those hoping the Suns could make positive moves up the conference standings have, thus far, been proved wrong. 

Those "disappointed, but not surprised" memes are perfect to describe the 5-16 Chicago Bulls. Lauri Markkanen suffered a sprained right elbow in the first week of training camp, and the Bulls have been one of the worst teams in the East without the forward who averaged 15.2 points per game as a rookie. Only when the 21-year-old returns in December will we know what the 2018-19 Bulls will and won't be. Chicago was last in offensive rating, per NBA.com, as of Nov. 27. 

The 4-16 Atlanta Hawks will likely finish with the worst record in the East if Kevin Love features for the Cleveland Cavaliers and isn't traded in early 2019. Trae Young appeared to hit the rookie wall during the team's 10-game skid in November, which is alarming since that occurred before the halfway point of the campaign was in view. On Nov. 27, the Hawks ranked dead last in points per game differential. 

What's worse than being an awful team? Being stuck in NBA purgatory, which is where the Charlotte Hornets are headed after beginning the season with a 10-10 record. The Hornets aren't good enough to go all in on Kemba Walker, as suggested by Sammy Said of Hashtag Basketball. But trading the 28-year-old, who is averaging over 28 points per game as of Nov. 27, wouldn't sit well with pockets of the fan base even though he can enter free agency next July. The harsh reality is that Charlotte straddling the fence is more disappointing than the Hornets losing at least 60 percent of their games. 

As Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post explained in July, the Washington Wizards responded to John Wall's demands for a big by signing Dwight Howard. Howard wasn't and isn't the answer for the franchise. The Wizards won only eight of the team's first 20 games, and the club may now be shopping both Wall and Bradley Beal en route to destroying the roster as it existed on Thanksgiving. Wall's future won't include starting for the Wizards, but he may have to wait until the summer to be dealt to a team willing to pay for his services. 

In August, The Ringer's D.J. Foster asked if the Utah Jazz were the second-best team in the Western Conference. In late November, that website's Paolo Uggetti wondered if the 9-12 Jazz needed a "rewrite" to the season. Life comes at you fast in the NBA. Donovan Mitchell's shooting regressed after his stellar debut campaign, and Rudy Gobert has not been a defensive force underneath. As of Nov. 27, only two teams are surrendering higher shooting percentages to opponents than the Jazz. 

After starting the campaign 0-3 and later, 2-5, it felt as if it was only a matter of time before LeBron James (allegedly) began making significant decisions as the face of the Los Angeles Lakers. Even the Lakers improving to 11-8 couldn't prevent individuals such as Michael Shapiro of Sports Illustrated from asking if James and Lonzo Ball can coexist on the court. Until the Lakers pair the King with a guard who can shoot the rock with any consistency, this is a middle-of-the-road playoff team waiting to improve via free agency next summer. 

You know the part in Rocky IV where Rocky lands a punch that cuts Ivan Drago? The Golden State Warriors appear to be in a similar situation heading into December. Sure, the Warriors are second in the Western Conference as of the typing of this sentence, but we've grown to expect more from the reigning dynasty. The drama hovering over whatever is going on between Draymond Green and Kevin Durant is arguably the biggest story in the NBA this season to date, and that will continue to be the case unless the Warriors revert back to their world-beater ways in early 2019. Then again, maybe those in the locker room are merely coasting to April. You couldn't blame them for doing so. 

Before notching a victory over the lackluster New Orleans Pelicans on Nov. 26, the Boston Celtics sat at 10-10 with a healthy Kyrie Irving and a healthy Gordon Hayward in the lineup. Even after that win, Boston ranked 27th in field-goal percentage, and any idea that players' shots will magically begin falling as much as the outdoor temperatures is based on little more than blind hope. As John Karalis of Boston.com pointed out, something outside of talent is wrong with this roster as it pertains to focus and effort. At what point can fans logically begin to ask serious questions of coach Brad Stevens?