QUINIX Sport News: NBA midseason grades for every West team: Clippers join OKC, two more in ‘A’ tier, Lakers and Wolves struggle

The middle class is thriving in the Western Conference. The Oklahoma City Thunder lead the pack by a mile. The New Orleans Pelicans, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers are comfortably in the rear. But everybody in between is still plausibly in the hunt for a top-six playoff seed, and perhaps even home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. This has become the norm out West. Last season, the difference between No. 4 and No. 10 was a meager five games. Right now, No. 5 and No. 11 are separated by just three.

Of course, just because everybody has wound up in more or less the same place doesn’t mean they’re all happy to be here. Expectations varied wildly across the conference, and some of these teams are doing a far better job living up to them than others. If you told the Suns before the season that they’d be tied with the Timberwolves in the loss column at the halfway point, they might’ve been happy about that. If you told both they’d be lagging behind the Clippers? That would raise some alarm bells.

So now that we’ve reached the midway point in the season, let’s grade the first half of the season for all 15 Western Conference teams. These grades will take into account how each team’s season has gone, yes, but also how those teams are doing relatively to both internal and external expectations.

NBA midseason grades for every East team: Cavs earn ‘A+,’ Knicks and Celtics have same mark, one team gets ‘F’

Jasmyn Wimbish

• Record: 23-20
• The basics: 8th in offense, 11th in defense, 9th in net rating (+3.2)
• One reason for optimism: Luka Doncic should be back soon.
• One reason for pessimism: Doncic’s conditioning.

The Mavericks have lost nine of their last 12 and are 4-9 without Luka Doncic during this most recent absence (they’re closer to .500 all told without Luka this year). Kyrie Irving has missed time as well; in conjunction with Doncic’s absence, it compounds the effects, and Dereck Lively II will be out for at least two months. It wouldn’t be genuine to call this team disappointing given the fact that Doncic has only played in half the games, but having said that, Dallas has played at just below a 51-win pace with Doncic. That’s good, but right about what Denver is playing at; Dallas was expected to be better than Denver. 

In addition to his injuries, Doncic isn’t having a great shooting season; his 58.4 true-shooting mark is his lowest mark since 2021-22. He has looked especially lethargic on defense, even by his low standards, and it must be considered that his lack of conditioning could be affecting his shot and defensive effort. Hopefully he comes back off this injury in good shape and rested and can pick up on the 41% he shot from 3 in December. Doncic’s absence also factors heavily into any evaluation of the support staff, especially Klay Thompson, who is pretty much completely reliant on shots being created for him at this point. Thompson has been decent as a 3-point shooter, if inconsistent, while more or less worthless inside the arc. He has been benched in some fourth quarters, but if Dallas is going to make it back to the Finals he probably needs to find a groove upon Doncic’s return. 

The defense is again stout; although it should be noted that defense is is stouter across the board this season, so the relative impact of Dallas’ 111.5 rating, which would’ve been a top-five defense last season, isn’t quite the same. All told, Dallas did good work early to at least somewhat cushion the blow of this stretch without Doncic. Two games back of a playoff spot and four back of a top-four seed surely isn’t ideal, but it’s a more-than manageable spot from which to launch a second-half run. — Brad Botkin

• Record: 27-16
• The basics: 4th in offense, 16th in defense, 7th in net rating (+5.3)
• One reason for optimism: The real Jamal Murray is back!
• One reason for pessimism: The non-Jokic minutes are still rough.

Had you told Michael Malone that the Nuggets would be without Aaron Gordon for half of the team’s first-half games, and that they would have one of the league’s worst benches, and that Jamal Murray would make just 32% of his 3s through the first five weeks of the season, he would’ve been in a quiet panic. However, despite all that, here the Nuggets are as a top-four seed with the best player in the world having the best season of his career and contender vitals in terms of offensive and net rating. 

All of that, and now Gordon is back and so is the real Murray, who is averaging 21 points per game on 47/42/93 shooting splits since Dec. 1. All along, Murray has been the barometer for this team. Nikola Jokic needs a partner in crime more than ever if Denver is to have a realistic shot to compete for a title, not just as a wingman but as the top dog when Jokic sits. When Murray wasn’t cutting it, the only avenue to that reality seemed like a trade. Possibly for Zach LaVine. Now? Maybe Denver will choose to focus on trading for support rather than a second star. Because the Nuggets do need more support off the bench. Russell Westbrook is having a late-career renaissance if he ends up flipping with Aaron Gordon back to the second unit, but Peyton Watson is a 30% 3-point shooter and Julian Strawther lacks defensively. 

The bottom line is the Nuggets still gasp to stay above water when Jokic goes to the bench. In terms of championship contention, that’s a problem short of the Nuggets obliterating opponents when Jokic is on the floor, which, again, becomes a more reasonable postseason blueprint when Murray is cooking. But in terms of how the Nuggets are playing to this point with what they have, and have had, to work with, it’s been a real accomplishment to be a top-four team that many expected to decline in a brutal Western Conference. — Brad Botkin

• Record: 21-21
• The basics: 20th in offense, 10th in defense, 15th in net rating (-0.4)
• One reason for optimism: Lineups with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga have a net rating of nearly plus-13, with an offensive rating of almost 120.
• One reason for pessimism: Despite a deep roster of capable talent, a clear No. 2 offensive option has yet to materialize around Curry, and it’s hard to see where that will come from given the Warriors’ urgency and lack of financial flexibility.

This is a tough one because if you looked at the Warriors before the season, it would have been perfectly reasonable to say “this is a .500 roster.” But their 12-3 start makes an even record at the halfway point seem borderline catastrophic. Curry said there’s no need to mortgage the future for a big win-now move, which made headlines, but he stressed that he in no way meant they had given up on the season. The top-10 defense gives them a puncher’s chance against anyone, and essentially they’ll need Kuminga to continue his pre-injury production when he returns (maybe?), or they’ll have to trade for a superstar (less feasible). Neither is a guarantee at contention, however. — Colin Ward-Henninger

• Record: 28-14
• The basics: 10th in offense, 3rd in defense, 5th in net rating (+6.1)
• One reason for optimism: Jalen Green has been on fire.
• One reason for pessimism: Green’s hot streaks don’t tend to last.

The Rockets are way ahead of schedule as the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed at the halfway point. With depth to spare, big, trade-able salary (namely in the form of Fred VanVleet), and all sorts of young talent in which almost every team would be interested, they’re ripe for a consolidation trade but in no rush to do it. 

Unless this season completely falls apart, which is unlikely barring a rash of major injuries, it’s already been a huge success. The Rockets are going to make the playoffs, potentially as a top-four seed, and start cutting their postseason teeth on what feels like a short path to contention. Hell, it’s entirely reasonable that they make serious postseason noise this season, even as currently constructed. Alperen Sengun is an All-Star. The defense, led by the amazing Amen Thompson, is loaded. Green holds the key to the ceiling, and if this recent stretch that has seen him score at least 25 points on 60% true-shooting in eight consecutive games (a shooting-guard feat matched only by Michael Jordan in all of NBA history) continues, they can beat anyone, anywhere, any time. — Brad Botkin

• Record: 24-18
• The basics: 22nd in offense, 2nd in defense, 10th in net rating (+3.1)
• One reason for optimism: The Clippers have established themselves as one of the league’s best defenses and landed in the top half of the Western Conference postseason picture without the benefit of a healthy Kawhi Leonard or an absurd offensive season from James Harden.
• One reason for pessimism: When it comes down to it, the Clippers are going to have to score more, and relying on Leonard to return to his Finals MVP form, even if healthy, is unrealistic. 

Even though he probably won’t win it, Ty Lue belongs on every Coach of the Year shortlist currently being formulated for what he’s done with a team most picked to finish in the middle of the pack — at best — once news of Leonard’s indefinite status came down the pipeline. Harden is averaging a pedestrian 21 points on 39% shooting (34% from deep) and this team is six games above .500. How? Norman Powell has become one of the NBA’s most efficient bucket-getters, putting up 24 points per game on 49/44/83 splits, and the team defense has been nothing short of spectacular. Shout out to Ivica Zubac, having one of the league’s best under-the-radar seasons with 15 points and 13 rebounds per game while serving as one-half of the team’s bread-and-butter pick-and-roll combo alongside Harden. — Colin Ward-Henninger

• Record: 23-18
• The basics: 13th in offense, 24th in defense, 21st in net rating (-2.9)
• One reason for optimism: Austin Reaves has blossomed into a legitimate, starting-caliber point guard over the past two months.
• One reason for pessimism: The Lakers are allowing more points in the paint (52) than they are scoring (49.5) for just the second time in the LeBron James-Anthony Davis era.

When it goes badly for this team, it goes badly. San Antonio’s plus-33 second half. A healthy loss to a Mavericks team featuring neither Luka Doncic nor Kyrie Irving. Everything about this team feels rickety, like it’s just about to collapse. The roster is too small. Its effort is inconsistent, and when you combine those two factors, the defense is laughable against any competent opponent. JJ Redick’s dream of 50 3-pointers per game has fallen to the wayside. It’s unclear what exactly the guiding principles here are beyond hoping that LeBron James, Anthony Davis or, increasingly lately, Austin Reaves, can save them. 

Yet you look at the record and see that they’re winning more games than they’re losing. Is it fluky? Well, yeah, it seems that way. They’re the only top-10 team in the West with a negative net rating as of this writing, and that’s with James and Davis being mostly healthy this season. They’re perpetually one tweaked hamstring away from pandemonium. But for a team with a rookie head coach that has thus far been unwilling to invest first-round draft capital into significant roster improvements, it would be hard to ask for much more than this. The Lakers are a competent enough low-end playoff team right now, perfectly capable of sending James off with a competitive roster but miles away from the sort of contention he’d surely prefer. — Sam Quinn

• Record: 28-15
• The basics: 5th in offense, 6th in defense, 4th in net rating (+7.4)
• One reason for optimism: The Grizzlies are one of three NBA teams in the top six in both offensive and defensive efficiency. The others are the West-leading Thunder and the defending champion Celtics.
• One reason for pessimism: Ja Morant hasn’t played more than five consecutive games all season, and they’re surely going to need him at 100% if Memphis is going to make a real postseason run.

With Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. on the floor, the Grizzlies outscore opponents by a laughably astronomical 21.8 points per 100 possessions — the best in the NBA for any trio which has played at least 250 minutes together. The problem is, those minutes have been accrued in just 19 games. Health has been the No. 1 detriment to the Grizzlies’ success, but it can also be seen as a bonus, as players like Scotty Pippen Jr., Jaylen Wells and Jay Huff are now seasoned enough to become key contributors in the postseason when called upon. Taylor Jenkins has a maestro’s grasp of exactly what this team needs, and when. Imagine what he’ll be able to do if he ever gets a complete roster at his disposal. — Colin Ward-Henninger

• Record: 22-21
• The basics: 16th in offense, 7th in defense, 12th in net rating (+1.8)
• One reason for optimism: Anthony Edwards is making the third-most 3-pointers per game in the NBA, and is doing so while shooting above 42% on both catch-and-shoot and pull-up attempts.
• One reason for pessimism: The defense, which was dominant last year and was gaining ground after a slow start, ranks only 17th in January.

It’s safe to call the Julius Randle experiment a failure at this point, right? Minnesota’s original starting lineup of Randle, Anthony Edwards, Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels hovered around a neutral net rating throughout the first half of the season. They moved Donte DiVincenzo into Conley’s place and the numbers got worse. But when either of those groups play with Naz Reid in Randle’s place, even in small samples, the net rating soars. 

The Minnesota offense is desperate for the spacing it lost in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade. Reid is a far better shooter than Randle, and if the defense is going to keep vacillating between last year’s greatness and the drek that came before seemingly on a game-to-game basis, the Timberwolves are going to have to rely more on their offense moving forward. Maybe the heights of last season are unattainable given the current roster, but there is certainly a better team buried in Minnesota than we’ve seen thus far. They’re just going to have to reorganize how they’re deploying their players. More Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Less Randle, and sadly, less of Mike Conley, who is seemingly aging out of the NBA before our very eyes. — Sam Quinn

New Orleans Pelicans: D-

• Record: 12-32
• The basics: 25th in offense, 28th in defense, 28th in net rating (-7.9)
• One reason for optimism: Trey Murphy is growing into a young star, averaging over 25 points per game in his last 14 appearances.
• One reason for pessimism: Dejounte Murray is having the worst 2-point shooting season of his career (43%) and the second-worst 3-point shooting season of his career (30.2%).

The seven highest-paid Pelicans have all missed at least 10 games this season. New Orleans has used 22 different starting lineups this season, and only one of them more than four times in total. The team’s fourth-leading scorer, Brandon Boston Jr., is not only on a two-way contract, but was only available to the Pelicans because the Spurs waived him after training camp. It just isn’t fair to judge this team’s performance with all of those injuries in mind. We have no idea how good or bad the Pelicans actually are. Of course, it seems as though we’re having some version of this conversation every season, and eventually, it’s on the front office to put together a more reliable roster. 

With Brandon Ingram nearing free agency and Zion Williamson’s contract now reportedly non-guaranteed, the time to make major changes is at hand. If David Griffin can’t construct a team of healthy players by next season, it’s hard to imagine him getting many more chances after that. — Sam Quinn

Oklahoma City Thunder: A+

• Record: 35-7
• The basics: 6th in offense, 1st in defense, 1st in net rating (+12.8)
• One reason for optimism: The Thunder currently have the lowest defensive rating since the 2019-20 Milwaukee Bucks despite never having Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren on the floor at the same time.
• One reason for pessimism: The Thunder led the NBA in 3-point percentage last season and rank 17th this season.

Is there a better grade we can give the Thunder? How many plusses are appropriate for a team whose only net rating peer historically are the very best of Michael Jordan’s Bulls teams? And those Bulls teams were healthy. The Thunder still haven’t gotten both of their big men on the floor at the same time yet. Everyone knows about the dominant defense. The offense, slowed by a few shooting slumps early in the season, has quietly risen to No. 4 since the beginning of December. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has claimed MVP favorite status by repeating everything that went right a year ago while dialing up his 3-point volume and defense to a new level. Jalen Williams is set to earn his first All-Star nod and he isn’t even making his 3s yet. There are five legitimate All-Defense candidates on this roster even if you assume the centers don’t reach 65 games. This has been as close to a perfect regular season as the Thunder could have asked for. There are no discernible flaws to be found here. — Sam Quinn

• Record: 21-21
• The basics: 11th in offense, 23rd in defense, 18th in net rating (-1.7)
• One reason for optimism: It certainly seems like Jimmy Butler is on the way.
• One reason for pessimism: How many .500 teams are one Jimmy Butler away from championship contention?

We came into the season wondering if the supporting cast could do its job next to perhaps the most talented trio of stars in the NBA. Well, we now know that the answer is no… but the stars haven’t exactly held up their end of the bargain, either. Devin Booker is having his worst shooting season since becoming an All-Star. Bradley Beal has been benched. Kevin Durant has really been the only veteran to live up to expectations this season, because just about everyone else has been a disappointment. Jusuf Nurkic is out of the rotation, and frankly, the rest of the centers would be too if the second apron-strapped Suns could do any better. The ballyhooed addition of point guards Monte Morris and Tyus Jones haven’t helped much either. The Phoenix offense is meaningfully worse when Jones is on the floor, and while the team-wide numbers are fine when Morris plays, his individual stats suggest he’s not contributing much to any success those lineups are having. This isn’t just a group of unlucky stars held back by the wrong roster. This is an entire team that doesn’t make any sense. What is their identity here? How does a team with Durant, Booker and Beal go half of a season in neither the top five for offense nor 3-point shooting? Maybe a Jimmy Butler trade can save them. More likely, this was just a poorly conceived roster built for an NBA that no longer exists. — Sam Quinn

• Record: 15-28
• The basics: 27th in offense, 26th in defense, 29th in net rating (-8.1)
• One reason for optimism: Scoot Henderson’s recent four-game run.
• One reason for pessimism: All of the other Scoot Henderson games.

OK, that last point of pessimism was a bit snarky. Scoot has mixed in a handful of good nights over the first 97 games of his career. But not many. The general point that Henderson, to whom the Blazers basically tied their future after they traded Damian Lillard, has been a pretty big bust stands. Four games doesn’t change that, but at this point, the Blazers will certainly take a week of Henderson averaging over 25 points, seven assists and four rebounds on 57/53 shooting splits. That run preceded Henderson’s pretty solid 11-point, eight-assist showing in a win over Miami on Tuesday, when he made 50% of his shot and two of five 3s. Where on earth Henderson’s recent 8-of-10 showing from 3 against Brooklyn a week ago came from is anyone’s guess. That is extremely unlikely to happen again this season, if ever. 

I’m focusing on Henderson here because he’s the key to the rebuild, which has felt stuck in the mud from the start, coming to any sort of fruition. The Blazers do have some other intriguing pieces, though, notably Donovan Clingan, who would profile as a potential multiple-time DPOY winner if he weren’t in the Victor Wembanyama era. There’s a modicum of hope to attach to a future lineup of Henderson, Sharpe, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija and Clingan. Avdija is locked up for four years on a pretty high-value, annually descending deal. Camara is a top-shelf defender. Sharpe probably isn’t going to be a franchise player, but you can’t rule out his 3-point shot eventually becoming more consistent. 

The best news is the Blazers are going to keep their 2025 first-round pick (owed to Chicago but protected for picks 1-14), and if they can find a way to trade Jerami Grant and/or Deandre Ayton, that would be even better. Still, Henderson is looking like a relative bust until much further notice. He’s probably never going to be a consistent shooter; his whole game is predicated on forceful downhill attacks but his finishing rate is atrocious. This season, more than anything else, was about Scoot’s development. And it hasn’t happened. Some of the other decent stuff, and his recent form (even if I have little faith in in sustaining) keeps Portland from being a total failure, but a D+ is as high as I can go if this is the Scoot Henderson, on average, that we’re going to get. — Brad Botkin

• Record: 22-20
• The basics: 7th in offense, 13th in defense, 8th in net rating (+3.2)
• One reason for optimism: Clutch games are starting to go their way.
• One reason for pessimism: Coaching-change energy tends to taper off.

After adding DeMar DeRozan alongside De’Aaron Fox, two late-game maestros, clutch advantages were supposed to be Sacramento’s calling card coming into the season. However, pre-coaching change the Kings were 6-13 in clutch games, meaning the score was within five points inside the final five minutes. That was the third-worst clutch winning percentage in the league. That’s another way of saying the Kings were probably always a better team than their record suggested, and once the close games swung back their way, which they were probably bound to do, that would be reflected. That’s exactly what has happened since Doug Christie replaced the fired Mike Brown, as the Kings have won nine of 11 since the coaching change including all five of their clutch games. 

Suddenly, there’s a whole new energy surrounding the Kings, who have been a top-five offense and defense in January. They’re the only team in the league with three 20-point scorers. They’re probably planning to buy at the trade deadline if they can get off Kevin Huerter. Could they possibly land Cam Johnson from Brooklyn? If so, that would go a long way toward filling the 3-point hole they find themselves in most nights. In the end, even after so many close games going against them through the first two months, the Kings are still just two games back of a playoff spot and four games back of a top-four seed. This is a good team. Not a perfect team, but a good one. And the record is just starting to reflect that. — Brad Botkin

• Record: 19-22
• The basics: 19th in offense, 18th in defense, 19th in net rating (-1.8)
• One reason for optimism: Over his last 25 games, Victor Wembanyama is averaging 26.5 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four blocks per game on 48/37/82 splits. He just turned 21 years old and he’s already a top-10 NBA player.
• One reason for pessimism: Offensive woes aside, you’d think that a team with the hands-down Defensive Player of the Year favorite would be better than 18th on that end of the floor.

There was some early excitement that the Spurs might be able to do a bit more than flirt with a Play-In Tournament spot, but reality has set in with a 4-9 stretch over their last 13 games. None of that really matters, however, since the sole determining factor of this franchise’s potential return to glory is the development of Wembanyama, who has been nothing short of breathtaking in his second season. He still needs a bona fide No. 2 offensive option — Devin Vassell has shown flashes but lacks consistency — but it’s clear that Wemby is ready to lead this team to a lot of wins, potentially in the postseason as well, once he gets the right pieces around him. –– Colin Ward-Henninger

Utah Jazz: D

• Record: 10-31
• The basics: 21st in offense, 29th in defense, 25th in net rating (-6.8)
• One reason for optimism: Lately, young prospects like Keyonte George, Brice Sensabaugh and Isaiah Collier have started to show their potential with added playing time and responsibility.
• One reason for pessimism: Lauri Markkanen has taken a significant step back in both production and efficiency — not great for someone set to make almost $50 million per season over the next four years.

On the bright side, things have gotten better for the Jazz since we last checked in around the quarter-season mark (4-17 at the time, 6-14 since), but the bad news is things still aren’t good. The next few weeks will be telling, as John Collins, Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton are among the league’s more enticing veteran trade pieces. If they get dealt, it will be full steam ahead on the tank train, as the Jazz allow players like George, Sensabaugh, Collier and Walker Kessler to develop unencumbered. If we’re talking about on-court performance, Utah is never going to win consistently unless it improves its horrific defense — which has actually been 10th in the NBA over its last 10 games. Momentum! — Colin Ward-Henninger