Finding a Most Improved Player in the NBA this year is like finding a reasonable, stand-up politician in Congress.
It’s so tough to do, it’s almost sickening.
With so many teams so tremendously un-improved, there are precious few bright spots in a vast wasteland of awfulness.
Just take a look at the Eastern Conference standings. Actually….don’t do that. You can’t un-see the Eastern Conference standings. This, after-all, is a family-friendly website.
As we enter Tuesday night’s games, 12 teams in the East have losing records, which means that the only adjective that can accurately describe the conference is “crap-tastic.” Nearly everyone is worse off than they were last season.
Milwaukee is 3-13 after reaching the playoffs last year and splurging on O.J. Mayo. Cleveland is 5-12 despite bringing in Andrew Bynum and seemingly having all of the pieces to make a playoff push.
Brooklyn has tripped up (figuratively and literally) after the Pierce and Garnett trade, and the Nets have looked so bad that you could argue Billy King out-tanked Danny Ainge in a shrewd “Riggin’ for Wiggins” move — except for the fact that Brooklyn has to send its pick to Atlanta or Boston.
The Raptors, Hawks, Bobcats and Pistons all stink—yet somehow they’re all in position to make the playoffs.
And don’t even get me started on the Knicks.
Sure, the Western Conference has had its share of positive surprises. Who could have predicted Portland’s 15-3 start, or Phoenix’s Phoenix-like rise to mediocrity?
But so far this NBA season, crap is king.
And we didn’t even mention the Kings.
On to the rankings.