With the NBA's regular season just past its halfway point, it's the perfect time to hand out midterm grades to all 30 teams.
My grades, based on performance to date, are strongly influenced by a team's expectations entering the season. The same record that produces an A for a team that looked like an also-ran in September could be a C for another with realistic championship hopes.
For context, we've included ESPN BET's projected over/under win total for each team from the preseason alongside the current projection provided by ESPN's Basketball Power Index, which incorporates win-loss record and accounts for injuries.
Beyond wins and losses, I'm also considering how well teams are executing their goals, including developing young talent and securing lottery positioning. Generally speaking, a "B" grade means a team has met expectations thus far, meaning overperformance is required to get an A.
I've handed out six of those, plus one F, while also looking at how teams can improve their grades over the second half of the schedule.
Jump to a grade range:
A's | B's | C's | D's | F's
Jump to a team:
ATL | BOS | BKN | CHA | CHI | CLE
DAL | DEN | DET | GS | HOU | IND
LAC | LAL | MEM | MIA | MIL | MIN
NO | NY | OKC | ORL | PHI | PHX
POR | SAC | SA | TOR | UTA | WAS
