1 Thing Each NBA Team Must Improve Upon — Pt. 1

Every team has room for improvement, some more than others.

Atlanta Hawks

Transition Game: The Hawks were among the worst in the league when it came to converting defense impact into offensive contributions. Their transition offense was extremely stagnant last season, mostly due to their perimeter-heavy offense that revolved around Trae Young, DeAndre Hunter and Kevin Huerter, who all often opted for pull-up threes, rather than a safe drive to the basket. For every 100 transition plays that were produced off of a turnover, steal or foul, the Hawks placed dead last in point-production. While this may remain the same as long as Trae handles the ball often, the addition of Dejounte Murray should promote more calculated transitional possessions.

Boston Celtics

Ball Movement: Marcus Smart infamously suggested in an interview earlier last season that the star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were ball-hogs. Although Smart is relatively accurate in his prior claim, he is also not really one who should speak on the matter, as he ranks in just the 62nd percentile for the amount of scoring he produces off of his assists in relation to his position. Smart’s statement is still backed up by analytics though, as Boston ranked 24th in the league for the frequency of their half-court sets, as they often quickly let Brown or Tatum take over. Even though Brogdon facilities at around the same rate as Smart, having two distributors should serve them well.

Brooklyn Nets

Rebounding: The Brooklyn Nets’ two best rebounders from last season are gone. James Harden was one of them, and Andre Drummond was the other, the two of which accounted for almost half of the team’s total rebounds per game. The Nets top rebounder is now Kevin Durant, who is much more proficient at crashing the boards than Brooklyn’s actual true centers in Day’Ron Sharpe, who only played 12.2 MPG last season, and Nicolas Claxton, who struggled to make his presence known around the rim. Claxton generally had difficulty enduring the rigor of an NBA season, as he constantly fell victim to injuries and was restricted to about 21 MPG last season. Ben Simmons’ integration into the starting lineup should be vital in compensating for these shortcomings, but only time will tell.

Charlotte Hornets

Three-Point Defense: Instead of saying perimeter defense, three-point defense is more appropriate. LaMelo Ball is actually a relatively solid perimeter defender, but he is among the worst in the league at applying pressure. Ball ranks in the bottom 11% of all NBA players for the tendency of his perimeter contests, in addition to his lack of urgency which is indicated by how he places below the 60th percentile for defensive running (in miles) per 75 possessions. Next to him is Terry Rozier, who somehow is slightly more productive in the aforementioned stats, even with clear size discrepancies, which only emphasizes this weak aspect of Charlotte’s game. Being that Rozier and Ball are the only true guards that received playing time last season, both need to take a step up if the Hornets want to even compete for a play-in spot without Miles Bridges.

Chicago Bulls

Paint Presence: Chicago ranked 4th to last for the frequency of close-range shots contested, 2nd to last for offensive rebounds per 75 possessions, 6th to last for expected close-range opposition field-goal percentage in comparison to their actual rate, and 4th to last in BBall Index’s formulated post-defense ratings. In essence, the Bulls are atrocious at keeping threats outside of the color-blocking. The addition of Andre Drummond will further enhance their ability to restrict the opposition from racking up offensive rebounds, but it indicates further woes on the other side of the court.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Patience: Darius Garland’s development into the cog that runs the Cleveland engine has been a revelation. Garland’s 20.8 assists per 75 possessions puts him in the upper-echelon of NBA playmakers, but with a new role comes a natural propensity for recklessness. As a result of Cleveland’s tendency to feed the paint through assertive passess, the Cavs ranked 4th worst in the league for turnover percentage, meaning that they lost the ball in almost 15% of their total possessions last season. So, while the Cavs ranked 7th for APG, they also ranked 4th for turnovers per game. Donovan Mitchell’s ability to create his own space will relieve some of Garland’s playmaking duties to only having to focus on assisting his big-man duo, but as Garland matures as a player, so will his selectivity in his decision-making.

Dallas Mavericks

Interior Impact: After the trade deadline, the Mavericks were left with a front-court depth chart of just Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell. On one hand, there is Powell, who is one of the worst big-men in the league at completing defensive rebound attempts, as depicted by his 58% success rate which lands him in the bottom quarter of the NBA for the statistic. On the other is Maxi Kleber, who may as well be a 6’10 shooting guard with how little he penetrates the paint. Kleber is among the least proficient in the league for close-range shots, with his minuscule 1.7 attempts near the rim per 75 possessions. Although Kleber and Powell surely contribute to the Mavericks’ spacing, enabling Doncic to facilitate the offense at will, there are few teams who have been able to reach a championship without a considerably impactful force in the paint.

Denver Nuggets

Support for Nikola Jokic: Nikola Jokic has proven that he can carry a team when needed, but it is not sustainable. Jokic is particularly weak when defending against opponents his size, emphasized by his inability to deter shots from the inside. Jokic ranks in the bottom 5th percentile of the league for points saved off of close-shots that he contests. Understandably, Denver needed reinforcements, so they recruited an exponentially regressing DeAndre Jordan. Jordan is the polar opposite of Jokic, no offensive production, but relatively elite defensive impact. It is not totally out of the cards to occasionally play the two alongside each other, but it seems more reasonable to keep starting players such as Jamal Murray or Michael Porter Jr. in the game alongside Jordan, but these discrepancies might restrict the team from playing their stars together at a frequent rate.

Detroit Pistons

Scoring Efficiency: As is common in a team full of empty stats and led by rising potential, the Pistons were horribly inefficient to the fullest extent. Last in the league in eFG%, 28th for close-range field goal percentage, 29th for three-point shooting percentage, and 28th for mid-range shooting percentage. 9 players on the Pistons roster have been in the NBA for less than 3 seasons, so as they continue to adapt to the league as a unit, obviously they’ll improve in these areas, but for the time being, playmakers like Cade Cunningham should focus on creating high-percentage shots (likely near the rim) for players like Isaiah Stewart, Marvin Bagley Jr. and rookie Jalen Duren.

Golden State Warriors

Capitalizing On Second-Chance Possessions: Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson both had the worst season of their careers for three-point efficiency. Excluding Curry’s 5-game 2019–2020 season, the Splash Brothers were in a drought, relative to prior production. The playoffs offered an epiphany for the Golden State Warriors though in the seemingly unforeseen accelerated development of Kevon Looney as a beast down low. In the 2021 playoffs, Looney accounted for 13.9% of Golden State’s offensive rebounds, placing him in the 95th percentile for his position in the postseason. Surprisingly, Looney’s tendency to attempt shots within 4 feet of the basket decreased in the playoffs in comparison to the regular season. Additionally, the Golden State center only executed put-backs off of offensive rebounds less than 50% of when he had the chance to during the 2021–2022 regular season, suggesting that his instinct was to reset the play or kick it out to one of the many snipers on the squad. The Warriors have maintained a similar cast of characters for years now, and as the old get older and the young are still fresh, it may be time for Steve Kerr to implement a more egalitarian approach to their offense. Still, it’s hard to criticize a team that is coming off of a championship run because why fix what isn’t broken?