The Worst Teams of the NBA 2022-23 Season
Who were the worst of the worst this year? From the San Antonio Spurs to the Detroit Pistons, we ranked the five worst teams of the 2022-23 NBA season.
Welp, the NBA Finals are finally set, and the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat will battle it out to decide who reigns supreme in the National Basketball Association landscape. While the sports world will focus on that series, we here at Complex continue to focus on recapping the season as a whole. We’ve already shared our POV on the best guards and centers of the season, as well as our weekly power rankings for the season and the playoffs. Now, we will shine a light on the teams that absolutely sucked during the 2022-23 NBA campaign.
Hey, even the dregs of the league deserve some kind of coverage, right?
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Welp, the NBA Finals are finally set, and the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat will battle it out to decide who reigns supreme in the National Basketball Association landscape. While the sports world will focus on that series, we here at Complex continue to focus on recapping the season as a whole. We’ve already shared our POV on the best guards and centers of the season, as well as our weekly power rankings for the season and the playoffs. Now, we will shine a light on the teams that absolutely sucked during the 2022-23 NBA campaign.
Hey, even the dregs of the league deserve some kind of coverage, right?
5.San Antonio Spurs
Even though technically the San Antonio Spurs had the worst record in the Western Conference, they’re this high (or low, depending on your viewpoint) on this list mainly because their 22-win futility won them the NBA Draft Lottery—and will definitely select “once in a generation” wunderkind Victor Wembanyama with the number one pick. This was the fourth straight season the Spurs missed the playoffs, and at 22-60, is the worst season for legendary coach Gregg Popovich since his first season running the team in 1996. There were a few bright spots, of course. Keldon Johnson was the team’s leading scorer with 22 points a game, a high mark in his four-year career, and third-year guard Devin Vassell excelled with a career-high in points (18.5) and field goal shooting (43.9), but that’s about it. As a team, San Antonio was in the bottom 10 in points scored (113), field goals (46.5), three-pointers (34.5), and dead last in the plus-minus department (-10), and defensive rating, gave up the most points in the season (123.1) and had the worst point differential (-832). That last stat included giving up the most points in a game under Coach Pop when the Spurs were mollywhopped by the Minnesota Timberwolves, 151-131. Add to that, they were tied for first (or last, depending on your viewpoint) with the worst road record in the league (8-33) and had the longest losing streak of the season with 16 straight. But, hey, they have the number one pick in this year’s draft. So, small victories for the small market Spurs.
4.Portland Trail Blazers
Portland winning 33 games this season was an improvement from only mustering 27 wins the previous one, but when you have a team led by Damien Lillard, a year like this one deserves to be mentioned on a list like this. Despite Dame Time putting up the best scoring season of his 11-year career (32.2ppg), which included an insane 71-point game, the Blazers were near the bottom in field goals made (27th in the league), rebounding (28th), plus-minus (26th). They were also a defensive liability ranking 27th in rating and 29th in opponent three-point percentage. In a nutshell, outside of injuries decimating the team, Portland simply didn’t have enough talent to surround their loyal superstar with. That’s why this offseason is a pivotal one for the franchise. They own the third pick in this year’s draft, and whispers about them considering offloading that pick for a star to pair with Lillard are loud AF. The Blazers can also say farewell to Dame, trade him for more draft capital (like, say, to the Brooklyn Nets), and lean into their rebuilding with five-year guard Anfernee Simons (who averaged a career-high in points (21.1) on 44.7 shooting, also a career-high) as the new face of the team.
3.Charlotte Hornets
After Charlotte’s 43-39 record last season, their first 40-win year since 2015, there was some promise for the Michael Jordan-owned team leading up to the 2022-23 campaign. Highlights of this season centered around the continued growth of LaMelo Ball, who averaged career highs in points (23.3) and assists (8.4), as well as becoming the second-youngest player to rack up 1,000 points, rebounds and assists in his three-year career (behind LeBron James). Yet, Ball only played 36 games for the Hornets and was done for the season after suffering a fractured ankle. That pretty much sunk any hopes in the Queen City. Terry Rozier (21.1ppg), Kelly Oubre (20.3ppg) and the oft-injured Gordon Hayward (14.7ppg) tried to pick up the slack, but it didn’t matter. The Hornets finished the season with a 27-55 record, the second worst in the Eastern Conference, was next to last in field goal (45.7) and three-point (33) percentage and was the worst offensive team in the league with a rating of 109.2. But, great failures bring great rewards, and with the Hornets in possession of the second overall pick in next month’s NBA Draft, they could end up with a generational talent—either Alabama’s Brandon Miller or G-League star Scoot Henderson—to pair with a returning LaMelo.
2.Houston Rockets
The Rockets winning three straight games at the end of the season ruined their chances of landing the number one overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Full stop. And this was a team that had a 13-game losing streak during the season. By showing such gusto so late in the season, they ended the regular season tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the worst record in the Western Conference at 22-60. Sure, they ranked fourth in rebounds and number one in offensive boards—Rockets fans can thank rookie Jabari Smith (7.2 rebounds per game) and second-year big man Alperen Sengun (nine rebounds per game, a career-high) for their efforts—but they were either dead last or close to it in all other statistical categories as a team. Houston has the worst three-point percentage in the league (32.7), ranked last in assists per game (22.4), was 29th in defensive rating, 28th in points scored (110.7), field goal shooting (45.7) and plus-minus (-7.9), 25th in free throw percentage (75.4), and was next to last in turnovers (16.2). Now armed with the fourth pick in the NBA Draft, a new coach in defensive-minded Ime Udoka, promising production from Jalen Green (22.1 points per game) and Kevin Porter, Jr. (19.2 points per game), and the constant rumors of a James Harden return to H-Town, that gusto this young team showed at the end of the season could potentially yield positive returns next season.
1.Detroit Pistons
Sigh. You’d think having the worst record in the league would give you better odds of landing the first overall pick in the draft lottery. That wasn’t the case for the Detroit Pistons who put up only 17 wins this year, had a 14 percent chance of winning the lottery, and ended up with the fifth pick. The first blow to the team was when Cade Cunningham injured his shin twelve games into the new season and was out for the year. Up to that point, the two-year point guard was improving from his rookie year, averaging 19.9 points and six assists. But his loss affected the team, and they were putrid all year. Season lowlights included two (count them, two) 11-game losing streaks, the third worst in the league, ranking last in field goal percentage, next to last in field goals made, 28th in both offensive and defensive rating, 29th in points scored (110.3), 25th in turnovers (15.1), 27th in assists, and 29th in plus-minus. Such a poor showing on the court forced coach Dwane Casey to step down, and it doesn’t look like anyone is clamoring for the position at the moment. But, whoever inherits this mess of a franchise can look forward to developing a returning Cunningham and two-guard Jaden Ivey, who finished his rookie year with a solid 16.3 points on 41 percent shooting, as well as whoever they choose in next month’s draft.