2023-24 NBA Christmas Grades: Pacific Division
With New Year’s Eve just about upon us, we’re onto the last of our Christmas Grades series.
The NBA Christmas games have been run and won and every team is now give or take a third of their way through their respective schedules. So let’s see what grades every NBA team received for Christmas from the Jolly Fat Man (Santa, to be clear, not Mike Sweetney).
With every other division looked at, we will examine the Pacific Division today. You can go to Vendetta’s NBA page to see how Santa graded the other divisions.
(All numbers come via Basketball Reference unless otherwise stated)
Golden State Warriors – C-:
The numbers: 15-16 record, 12th in offense, 15th in defense, 14th in Net Rating
It’s inevitable: all empires crumble.
Despite the best efforts of the ageless Stephen Curry, this is a very average basketball team. Klay Thompson has rediscovered his jumper over the past few weeks but simply has no agility at either end of the floor as age and injuries start to show. Draymond Green is fighting – literally – against the dying of the light. After 18 months of being a patient in Awakenings, Andrew Wiggins has reverted to type. Chris Paul looks like a man hurtling towards his 39th birthday.
There are some positives to come out of the season up to Christmas, though. Jonathan Kuminga has stepped into Green’s starting role and though he remains somewhat inconsistent he certainly looks the part. Rookie Brandin Podziemski is well ahead of schedule as a mid-first-round pick. Moses Moody has improved and Dario Saric looks an excellent veteran addition.
Sadly though, the league appears to have passed the non-Curry Warriors by.
Los Angeles Clippers – B+:
The numbers: 18-12 record, 7th in offense, 12th in defense, 7th in Net Rating
They still play at a plodding pace, there is next to no movement away from the ball and they don’t pass unless they absolutely have to, but somehow everything is starting to fall into place for the Clippers.
Whilst the initial returns on the James Harden trade didn’t look great, which I covered in an edition of The Point, moving Terance Mann into the starting five in place of Russell Westbrook has put some order into the rotation. Ivica Zubac, struggling to start the season, has found a lovely chemistry with Harden whilst the Westbrook/Norman Powell combination off the bench is murdering their minutes.
Given their personnel, the Clips have encountered an unusual amount of injury fortune up to Christmas, with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard only missing five games between them so far; in fact, Kawhi made 27 consecutive appearances to start the season which is unheard of in his past, what, seven seasons?
The Clips look good right now, but you can’t help but feel that this could be a house of cards.
Los Angeles Lakers – B-:
The numbers: 17-15 record, 24th in offense, 9th in defense, 21st in Net Rating
Surely the Lakers get an A+++ for winning the inaugural In-Season Tournament … right? Right?!?
Back to reality now, where LeBron James has thumbed his nose at Father Time – again – to lead the Lakers in practically every sense of the word. The 39-year-old (Happy birthday, young fella!) remains the fulcrum around which the Lakers operate. As wonderful as he still is, that’s not healthy.
There is a plan, here: Defend like hell, score in the paint, hope the shooters are hot and let LeBron take over when required.
Defensively, Cam Reddish has been a revelation and Anthony Davis is in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year. They score well in the paint, and on the whole, the shooters are connecting. LeBron turned it on in the latter stages of the IST, as well. Yet the Lakers continue to struggle.
Injuries to a raft of supporting players haven’t helped and there is a definite overlap of skillsets amongst the role players. Christian Wood has proven incompatible with Davis. Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Reddish don’t really dovetail. The Austin Reaves/D’Angelo Russell Venn diagram is practically a perfect circle.
You can bet the mortgage that a trade is coming.
Phoenix Suns – C-:
The numbers: 15-15 record, 14th in offense, 18th in defense, 16th in Net Rating
The season sits on a knife’s edge in Phoenix. With a .500 record, a star acquisition who has barely taken to the court, a hodgepodge of rotation players and now a quietly whining Kevin Durant, this could all go south very quickly in The Valley.
To be clear, Durant has been outstanding on the court … he just hasn’t had a lot of support. Devin Booker has already missed nine games, Beal has only played 181 minutes over seven contests–literally all of the remaining rotation players have missed time.
So much of this Suns model relies on their Big Three being available and performing well. With a net rating of plus-126.2, though admittedly the smallest of sample sizes, there is a proof of concept. If they can maintain health (a huge “if” for all three) then the Suns could be very good. Grayson Allen has been superb filling in for Beal whilst Eric Gordon has been as advertised. Jusuf Nurkic has been fine, though the team could use an alternative at the five who isn’t Udoka Azubuike.
Sacramento Kings – B+:
The numbers: 17-12 record, 13th in offense, 22nd in defense, 19th in Net Rating
As expected, the league has caught up to the Kings’ record-setting offense from last season, which would rank a relatively lowly 7th this season. Whilst their offense has, by the numbers, regressed a touch this season, it has improved in recent weeks as Keegan Murray, Harrison Barnes and Kevin Huerter – only the three key floor spacers on the roster – have rebounded from slow starts to the campaign.
As for their main men, Domantas Sabonis is having another superb year though he’ll likely remain in the outside looking in where All-Star selection is concerned. De’Aaron Fox, though, will definitely earn honours. Turning 26-years-old just prior to Christmas, Fox has improved across the board from last season and is on track to be only the 7th man 6-foot-3 or under in NBA history to average 30 points over an NBA season.
Remember when Fox couldn’t shoot? Well, he’s only connecting on 40.4 percent of his treys on a substantial 8.9 attempts a night. In any other market, he’s a superstar.
The Kings are still a defensive sieve for such a high-level team. Davion Mitchell must be truly awful offensively if he can’t get into the rotation, given the need for his specific skill set. Still, they’re proving that last season was no fluke and after nearly two decades in the wilderness, that’s good enough.
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