Tankathon Reverse Standings: Pistons Blow Out Thunder to Make Up Ground
While teams atop the NBA standings continue to grapple for playoff positioning, All-Star bids and the like, the ones near the bottom may already be positioning themselves for draft picks.
Here are the NBA's reverse standings, provided by Tankathon, as of Jan. 28:
1. Detroit Pistons, 6-40
With a massive 120-104 win over the white-hot, No. 1-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, Detroit moved to six wins on the season.
As alluded to in previous reverse standings posts, the Pistons are likely only the league’s worst team in record rather than on-court product right now.
With an upwards trajectory, they’ll likely soon be passed by other, more draft-focused teams.
2. Washington Wizards, 8-37
If it weren’t for a win over the Pistons earlier in the week, the Wizards would be closing in on the worst record in basketball.
There are reports that the Wizards have been ordered to go into asset-accumulation mode, and could look to tear down their roster even more after doing so in the offseason.
Be it now or later, look for the Wizards to push for the best odds at top picks.
3. San Antonio Spurs, 10-36
The Spurs are one of the teams at the bottom who truly could go either direction: prioritize current development or the 2024 NBA Draft.
On one hand, the Victor Wembanyama-led San Antonio squad is trending up, winning four of their last 10 games and showing real, tangible improvement.
On the other, they’re likely not going to make massive leaps without better draft picks, which would acquired by continuing the teams current trajectory.
They’ll be one of the more interesting late-season cases, assuredly.
4. Charlotte Hornets, 10-34
5. Portland Trail Blazers, 13-32
6. Toronto Raptors, 16-29
T7. Memphis Grizzlies, 18-27
T7. Atlanta Hawks, 18-27
T7. Brooklyn Nets, 18-27
10. Golden State Warriors, 19-24
11. Chicago Bulls, 21-25
12. Houston Rockets, 21-24
T13. Utah Jazz, 24-23
T13. Los Angeles Lakers, 24-23
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