Emphasizing positivity as part of NBA coverage is awesome—and, in many respects, a lost art. Rumor also has it honesty is the best policy, an admirable precept that can mean delivering and digesting tough truths about your favorite team.

Welcome to our attempt at prioritizing both.

Every squad has reasons to love and loathe their 2024-25 regular season so far. Sometimes, the good outweighs the bad. But there is always at least one silver lining.

And it works both ways. Even the most pleasant surprises and dominant squads have nits at which to pick. We are going to poke them, ever so gently, for the sake of balance.

Each team will have a spotlight shone on one lovable and hatable development apiece, with a couple of bonus tidbits peppered throughout our journey. These will not be the only sources of positivity or negativity. They are just the options standing out the most.

Atlanta Hawks

Love It: The defense is trending up.

The Atlanta Hawks defense is outperforming the offense...just like none of us predicted.

Getting amped up about league-average returns seems tongue-in-cheek. It's not. This lays the blueprint for Atlanta to obliterate expectations, and the team ranks ninth in points allowed per possession since its Nov. 12 victory over Boston.

Special thanks is owed to Dyson Daniels and Clint Capela, but also Jalen Johnson and even Zaccharie Risacher. If the offense ever taps the "more consistent" button, we'll need to have some unforeseen conversations about these Hawks.

Speaking of which...

Hate: Trae Young's efficiency

Much is being made of Young's downtick from long range. Rightfully so. But his efficiency from the perimeter in general is slumping.

Last year, Young posted an effective field-goal percentage of 52 on all jumpers. This season, that number has plunged to 45.5. His playmaking remains transcendent, but Atlanta's offense cannot peak until he starts hitting more shots.

Boston Celtics

Love It: Payton Pritchard is lighting it UP.

Yes, the Boston Celtics remain championship favorites. That deserves its own fanfare. It's also not surprising. Pritchard's incandescence is a different story.

The 26-year-old is clearing 20 points and four assists per 36 minutes on true shooting north of 67. Here is every NBA player who has done the same for an entire season

• Stephen Curry (2017-18)
• Kevin Durant (2022-23)
• Nikola Jokić (2022-23)
• Domantas Sabonis (2024-25)

Related: Holy f--k.

Hate It: Opponent shooting at the rim.

Feel free to go with Jrue Holiday's offensive decline. But his spotty shooting has not prevented the Celtics from fielding one of the league's two best offenses.

Though Boston continues to limit opponents' looks at the hoop, it's hovering around the bottom 10 in field-goal percentage allowed. Its rim protection doesn't improve with Al Horford (16th percentile) and is barely league average with Kristaps Porziņģis (53rd percentile).

Damning? Hardly. Worth monitoring? Absolutely.

Brooklyn Nets

Love It: Head coach Jordi Fernandez's offense.

The Brooklyn Nets had zero business challenging for a top-10 half-court offense even before the Dennis Schröder trade. From uncorking threes in droves to placing sixth in points scored per possession after opponent makes, rookie head honcho Jordi Fernandez knows how to implement offensive principles that suit his personnel and bridge gaps in talent.

Things will get worse without Schröder. Then again, Fernandez has already talked about blitzing opponents with Ben Simmons running the show. So, perhaps it won't get much worse.

Hate It: Top-four lottery odds may be out of reach.

Plucky offense has resulted in more wins than anyone expected—including Brooklyn itself. The front office doesn't pull off a Schröder trade this early if it's not concerned with optimizing lottery odds.

Unfortunately, that ship may have sailed. The Nets are just a handful of losses off bottom-four status, but that gap may prove mountainous with so many flagrant tank jobs below them. And while overachieving is cool, Brooklyn didn't re-acquire the rights to its next two first-rounders to select outside the top five.

Charlotte Hornets

Love It: Emergences on the margins.

Cody Martin is healthy and making things happen. His jumper remains iffy, but he continues to do all of the connective stuff adored by hoops heads.

Among everyone to finish at least 75 drives, just 11 other players are shooting above 55 percent while matching Martin's assist rate. Josh Green is the only other member of the Hornets shouldering a heavier workload, per BBall Index.

Moussa Diabaté is also proving to be a nice flier. His offense can skew toward clumsy, but he vacuums up shots at the rim on both ends of the floor. He currently joins Clint Capela, Jalen Duren and Walker Kessler as the only players posting a total rebounding rate of at least 20 with a block percentage of four or higher.

Hate It: Injury bugs.

LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Mark Williams and Miles Bridges finally played in the same game together during a Dec. 16 loss to Philly. Hooray!

Because this is the Hornets, though, they didn't all finish it healthy. Miller exited in the fourth quarter with an ankle sprain. This team isn't quite New Orleans Pelicans-level cursed, though it's pretty darn close.

Chicago Bulls

Love It: The offense is fun.

Holding a top-10 half-court offense this late into the season is a monumental accomplishment for the Chicago Bulls.

Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević default to on-fire. Coby White has hit a cold streak in December but continues to fill it up. Ayo Dosunmu is starting to find his stroke. Lonzo Ball's playmaking is back in our lives. Matas Buzelis is First Team All-Just-Try-Stuff, and we should appreciate him for it.

Most notably, only the Memphis Grizzlies play at a faster clip, per Inpredictable. So yes, the rumors are true: Chicago is watchable again.

Hate It: This team's direction...or lack thereof.

So, uh, where is this going? Do the Bulls even know?

Everybody has them pegged for a fire-seller at the trade deadline. That is the correct course.

And yet, Chicago is firmly inside the play-in picture, a mere stone's throw from the postseason bubble. We can't be sure they won't seek to sustain—or, worse, advance—bottom-of-the middle ambitions until Feb. 6 passes.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Love It: Basically everything.

Pretty much everything and anything about the Cleveland Cavaliers is worth your deep affection.

The stars are better together...and when staggered...and on an individual level. Ty Jerome (slumping) and Caris LeVert are both challenging for Sixth Man of the Year honors. Isaac Okoro is taking and making more threes than ever. Dean Wade's defense is receiving a national spotlight. The Georges Niang minutes are going well.

This list could go on. Because the Cavs are, without question, title contenders.

Hate It: Opponents three-point shooting.

Floating in the bottom five of accuracy allowed from beyond the arc can be all sorts of noisy. Cleveland does not give up a ton of threes. Nor does it allow a disproportionate number of wide-open looks.

Still, opponents are downing 40.7 percent of their triples after the Cavs miss at the other end, the third largest mark in the league, per PBP Stats. And while Cleveland is 1-1 versus Boston on the season, it has not shown a regular knack for warping its foremost competition's offensive shot profile.

Dallas Mavericks

Love It: Taking care of biz without actually peaking.

Fresh off an NBA Finals appearance, the 2024-25 Dallas Mavericks seem to be getting lost in the headline shuffle. And I'm not sure who needs to hear this, but that's weird.

Dallas is deep and big. Its Dereck Lively II-in-the-middle starting five is slaughtering opponents. Onset concern for Luka Dončić was fair. It isn't anymore. He is on a tear since returning from a right wrist injury. The Mavericks now have two serious All-NBA candidates as a result.

We can at once argue that we've yet to see the best iteration of Dallas, and that they're comfortably the second-best team in the West. That's wild.

Hate It: The defensive rebounding.

This team is far too gargantuan to rank inside the bottom 10 of defensive rebounding percentage. The only players who grade out as above average on the boards relative to their position are guards,

Blame can be dispersed far and wide. But it has to start with the bigs. Dallas is in the 45th percentile of defensive rebounding with Lively on the court. And it slips to the 20th percentile with Daniel Gafford.

Denver Nuggets

Love It: Nikola Jokić, Nikola Jokić-ing.

Good luck poking holes in Nikola Jokić's MVP case. The numbers are absurd even for him. On any given night, you find yourself wondering whether he can—and will—lead the league in points, rebounds and assists per game.

Concerns over whether the Denver Nuggets will win enough to help him bag a fourth MVP award ring oh-so-hollow. They outscore opponents by 12.8 points per 100 possessions with Jokić on the court, a mark in line with Boston's net rating during Jayson Tatum's minutes (12.5)—even though Denver has exactly zero other players who rank in the top 50 of Dunks & Threes' Estimated Plus-Minus.

Hate It: Jamal Murray's roller coaster.

Jamal Murray's career splits paint the picture of someone who improves as the schedule wears on. True to form, his December efficiency is already up from October and November.

Frankly, though, the uncertainty is getting old. It's been old.

Murray will continue hitting juuust enough big-time shots to make you appreciate his importance to Denver's ceiling. But we shouldn't be inclined to exhale when a team's No. 2 strings together consecutive quality outings.

Detroit Pistons

Love It: Cade Cunningham is an All-Star.

Cade Cunningham has improved in just about every facet of the game: three-point shooting, playmaking, defense, rebounding—the whole nine. (Mike Shearer has a fantastic in-depth breakdown that covers much of this over at Basketball Poetry.) It's a leap worthy of an All-Star bid.

Before you rush to discredit this, consider that Cunningham plays in the East. More importantly, consider that he's on pace to join Luka Dončić and Nikola Jokić (twice!) as the only other players to ever have seasons in which they clear 20 points, seven rebounds and nine assists while canning 38 percent or more of their triples.

Hate It: Absence of a secondary playmaker.

Jaden Ivey's encouraging start to the year is officially fading. Actualizing more of a plug-and-play style is admirable, but his efficiency started ebbing before dealing with injuries, and more critically, he's clearly not the answer to optimizing the offense—with or without Cunningham.

The Detroit Pistons rank in the 45th percentile of points scored per 100 possessions when both share the floor. That placement falls to the 22nd percentile with Ivey as the lead guard.

Meanwhile, Detroit's offense hits the 49th percentile when Cunningham goes it alone. And that climbs to the 69th percentile with Malik Beasley in the fold. It's probably time for some self-reflection in the Motor City.

Golden State Warriors

Love It: Acting early.

Celebratory rounds of applause should be doled out for the Golden State Warriors defense. But recent events take priority.

Golden State wasted little time attempting to juice an offense that plumbs the depths of futility whenever Stephen Curry catches a breather. Dennis Schröder will not solve everything, and the Dubs should still have their eyes peeled for a co-star trade.

But Schröder gives the team another downhill threat capable of generating his own looks and table-setting for others (if he's allowed to run pick-and-rolls). And while his off-ball usage isn't sky-high, he's an operable catch-and-shoot weapon.

Hate It: Lack of progression from the kids.

Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody have all failed to take appreciable steps forward. And among them, Moody is the only one who can cite (continued) inconsistent usage.

To what end this prompted the Warriors to act early on Schröder is debatable. But whether you view Kuminga and Podziemski, specifically, as cornerstones or trade chips, their lack of development complicates both the present and future.

Houston Rockets

Love It: Punctuality.

Expecting the Houston Rockets to build off last year's 41-win campaign was the default. Nobody predicted this.

Houston is vying for top-two positioning in a hellacious Western Conference. The defense is terrifying and battle-tested. The offense is managing to scrape by amid imperfections. Only four teams have a better point differential versus opponents with top-10 net ratings.

This isn't a happy-to-be-here blip. This is an arrival well ahead of schedule.

Hate It: Half-court spacing.

The Rockets sit inside the bottom seven of three-point volume and long-range accuracy, with a half-court offense that places in the bottom five. This may not be hamstringing them now, but it'll come back to bite them during the playoffs.

Pushing for a mega-consolidation trade is the natural impulse. Realistically, though, landing a higher-volume outside shot-maker who head coach Ime Udoka trusts more than Reed Sheppard could also make a huge difference.

Indiana Pacers

Love It: Pascal Siakam's shooting.

Almost 30 percent of Pascal Siakam's looks are coming as spot-up triples—a career high. And he's complementing this uptick in volume with personal-best efficiency (43-plus percent).

Siakam's catch-and-shoot numbers are a barometer for his overall usage. Fewer than 35 percent of his buckets are going unassisted, which is his lowest share since 2017-18. If and when this Pacers core figures it out, his capacity to fit within the larger context will be a big reason why.

Hate It: Confusion over what comes next.

On the surface, it seems like Indiana is figuring out certain things. Especially in December.

Tyrese Haliburton looks closer to his superstar self. Head coach Rick Carlisle is pulling the right lineup strings, particularly with Obi Toppin. Johnny Furphy, Bennedict Mathurin and Jarace Walker are all having moments.

To what end, though? The Pacers offense isn't yet noticeably above average, and the defense ranks 29th in points allowed per possession against top-20 offenses. Can this be remedied from within? Via trade? Does Indy have the gall and incentive to pursue immediate upgrades when it's so far under .500? The lack of a distinct path forward is maddening.

Los Angeles Clippers

Love It: Feisty defense, and Norman Powell's mid-career jump.

Going up against the Los Angeles Clippers defense is akin to 48 minutes of punishment. They are as relentless as they are versatile. And what they do scales to the toughest opponents. Only Memphis and Oklahoma City allow fewer points per possession against top-10 offenses.

Then, at the other end of the floor, we have 31-year-old Norman Powell. Averaging over 23 points while putting down an obscene number of threes is one thing. Branching out his usage to include more self-creation in the form of drives and pick-and-rolls is an entirely different leap—the kind that can win you Most Improved Player.

Hate It: James Harden's workload.

Losing Paul George and not having a healthy Kawhi Leonard without adding another tried-and-true creator has left James Harden to carry an in-his-prime workload. He has not averaged this many isolations per 75 possessions since 2019-20, and his shot quality at the rim is the lowest it's been since 2018-19, according to BBall Index.

Difficulty borne from necessity deserves latitude. But banking on the hardly-ever-available Leonard to streamline Harden's existence feels foolish. L.A. needs another from-scratch maestro to maximize this season's window.

Los Angeles Lakers

Love It: Dalton Knecht looks like an NBA player. And Anthony Davis' driving.

Chilly December shooting is not cause to disembark the Dalton Knecht bandwagon. He gives the Los Angeles Lakers a real threat in motion—a must-have relative to the rest of their perimeter personnel. The rookie ranks in the 86th percentile of movement points per 75 possessions, according to BBall Index, and it's easier to envision him hitting those looks at a higher clip than he is now.

Anthony Davis has fallen off from his surface-of-the-sun beginnings, but the downhill attacks persist at a higher rate. After averaging under four drives per 36 minutes last year, he's up to almost six this season.

Hate It: The defense.

Too much switching. Limited presences at the rim. And on the glass. Inertia in transition. A bottom-three defense after the offense misses a shot, per PBP Stats. Scant few wings. LeBron James' aging curve.

The list of the Lakers' defensive faults and foibles is extensive. And it's unlikely to get any shorter without making trades.

Memphis Grizzlies

Love It: Two-syllable duh-epth.

Covering the breadth of the Memphis Grizzlies' depth is not possible in this space. Contributions span from Ja Morant and a souped-up Jaren Jackson Jr. to rookies Jaylen Wells and Zach Edey to fliers-turned-potential-mainstays Scottie Pippen Jr. and Jay Huff to the familiar-but-better-now Santi Aldama as well as Brandon Clarke.

Sandwich all of these dudes and some others into the same rotation, and you get, apparently, the only team to rank inside the top five of both offense and defense.

Hate It: The outside shooting.

One of these years, the Grizzlies will rank in the top 10 of accuracy from beyond the arc. It has not happened since 2006-07 and is nowhere near within reach now.

To be sure, long-range marksmanship isn't everything. But it matters a great deal when you continue to be middle of the pack, at best, in first-chance offense.

Miami Heat

Love It: Tyler Herro's shot profile.

Tyler Herro has not so much reworked his shot profile as reinvented it. Around 77 percent of his looks are coming at the rim or from downtown. That combined frequency checked in at 56 percent last year and, previously, was never higher than 64 percent during his rookie season.

Better still, 30.9 percent of all his shots are coming as spot-up triples—by far and away a career high. This version of Herro is a superior fit not only for the Miami Heat of today, but also whatever form the team takes moving forward.

Hate It: Jimmy Butler hair color watch.

Monitoring Jimmy Butler's hair color would be oodles of fun if it wasn't wrapped in trade speculation. He is reportedly available and has interest in the Phoenix Suns, who count orange as part of their team colors.

Connecting the dots would be a reach...if Butler didn't have a habit of using his appearance for spectacle. And look, the most unnerving part of it all is what this says about Miami's direction.

Moving Butler ahead of free agency (player option) isn't necessarily the wrong call. But with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro in tow, and with two of the Heat's next three first-rounders headed elsewhere, the organization's long-term plans are getting harder to parse.

Milwaukee Bucks

Love It: Giannis Antetokounmpo's persisting transcendence.

Giannis Antetokounmpo's numbers bent brains even as the Milwaukee Bucks tallied an excessive number of losses. They have hit a new level of unfathomable as they turn things around.

Since Milwaukee dropped to 2-8, Antetokounmpo is averaging 33.4 points, 12.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.0 blocks while nailing 63.5 percent of his twos, including a 49.2 percent clip from mid-range. Everything from his foul-drawing to his defense has hit another gear during this span, and he's earned an NBA Emirates Cup MVP trophy to boot.

Hate It: Thin margins for error.

Milwaukee deserves a boatload of credit for righting a ship that appeared on the verge of capsizing one month ago. But there remains an inherent fragility to its operation. And no, this is not exclusively a reference to Khris Middleton's minutes limit and availability.

The Bucks are not exactly killing it during Giannis' minutes. Even through this resurgence, they are outpacing opponents by 5.3 points per 100 possessions of his court time—a mark that ranks 143rd among every player hitting his minutes threshold across at least 10 appearances. Milwaukee also ranks 20th in point differential during victories over this stretch, and its defense ranks 22nd on the year versus top-20 offenses.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Love It: Their supposed defensive demise was grossly exaggerated.

Uncomfortably low lows are part and parcel of playing Julius Randle heavy minutes. And the Minnesota Timberwolves have belched out some regrettable defensive performances.

That's not to assign blame to Randle alone. Jaden McDaniels (and others) got off to wonky starts.

Those warts appear (mostly) in the rear view. Minnesota is now third in points allowed per possession. And according to PBP stats, no defense is stingier after it misses a shot on offense

Hate It: Offensive fragility.

At its best, the trade for Randle and Donte DiVincenzo would boost the Wolves' on-ball creation while preserving or improving the outside shooting. That logic has so far not panned out.

Units featuring Randle without Anthony Edwards are seldom deployed and offensive calamities when they see the floor. Edwards himself has needed to dramatically increase his three-point volume to adequately open up the floor for himself and everyone else. DiVincenzo's 31.9 percent clip from deep is the second lowest of his career.

Relatively hot shooting from Nickeil Alexander-Walker most of the year has not offset the awkwardness. And Minnesota remains unsettlingly reliant on a 37-year-old Mike Conley. Mash it all together, and you've got a 20th-ranked offense that at once seems like it has the tools to be better and needs a shot-creating and -making infusion.

New Orleans Pelicans

Love It: Yves Missi, semi-untouchable.

Let's hand the talking stick to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, who wrote the following in his latest trade dispatch: "While naturally resistant to trade inquiries for their younger gems—Herb Jones, rookie Yves Missi and Trey Murphy III—word is that the New Orleans Pelicans are essentially open to trade pitches for pretty much anyone else on the roster apart from those three amid a 5-21 start and more injury woe than even Philadelphia."

Calling Missi actually untouchable would be a (ludicrous) stretch. But this sentiment underscores his performance.

Only one rookie has ever averaged over 25 minutes per game and cleared an offensive rebounding rate of 15 and block rate of four: Hakeem Olajuwon. Missi is on pace to become the second. Drop the minutes threshold down to 20, and you get the company of Andre Drummond, Greg Oden and, potentially, Zach Edey.

Make of this what you will. The point is, with Jared McCain injured and Stephon Castle all over the place on offense, Missi has a Rookie of the Year claim.

Hate It: The mass production and efficacy of Pelicans-player voodoo dolls.

We are nearly 30 games into the season, and New Orleans' top-five clubhouse leaders in total minutes are Missi, Brandon Boston Jr., Brandon Ingram, Javonte Green and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.

Enough said.

New York Knicks

Love It: Five-out offense is caps-lock WORKING.

OG Anunoby is scoring almost as much as ever. This may be the best (offensive) version of Karl-Anthony Towns we have ever seen. Jalen Brunson is in his playmaking bag and joins Anthony Edwards and Tyler Herro as the only players who've buried 40-plus percent of their pull-up triples on more than 100 attempts. Mikal Bridges is having a December to remember.

Oh, and the New York Knicks are jockeying with the Boston Celtics for the league's best offense. The five-out model is working as intended.

Hate It: The defensive ceiling.

So much of the Knicks' defensive struggles get attributed to Bridges. As Jonathan Macri unpacked for Knicks Film School, though, the 28-year-old is getting better.

Except what if that's not good enough?

Bridges is (mostly) being shoehorned into a full-time role for which he's not hard-wired. And his screen navigation on the season still rates in the 17th percentile, according to BBall Index—the worst placement of his career, and it's not even close. But he isn't the only problem.

New York simply might not be built for much better results. Talk of improvement falls flat when they rank 28th in points allowed per possession against top-20 offenses. Mitchell Robinson's return, if it ever comes, might help. But it will take an offensive toll. A trade could help, too. Then again, any deal is unlikely to change the complexion of the Knicks' go-to lineup, so maybe not.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Love It: Infernic defense and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's three-point volume.

Attempting to score on the Oklahoma City Thunder is a lot like exploring the seventh circle of hell, blindfolded, with both arms bound behind your back.

They are feisty, except for when they are ferocious, unrelenting in their disruption, forever giving two flying-you-know-whats about discrepancies of size and strength. If the season ended today, Oklahoma City would have one of the 10 best defenses of all time relative to the league average.

Oh, and shout-out to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for nudging up his three-point volume. Those extra looks matter even if he's hitting them at a sub-35-percent clip.

Hate It: Getting blown out in the NBA Emirates Cup Final is proof the Thunder aren't ready for the moment and they should probably blow it up and start over.

In case you can't detect snark, the above was written in sarcasm font.

We should actually hate that injuries have robbed us of seeing Chet Holmgren (out since Nov. 10) and Isaiah Hartenstein (debuted on Nov. 20) play together.

Orlando Magic

Love It: Their resilience is inspirational.

Surviving most of the season without Paolo Banchero and still holding a top-four record in the Eastern Conference is sicko stuff by the Orlando Magic. The defense remains smoldering, and Franz Wagner has piloted an above-average offense during his solo reps while flirting with back-of-the-ballot MVP consideration.

Wagner has now joined Banchero on the shelf, and Orlando still won't go down without swinging. It has since picked up a victory over the Phoenix Suns and nearly upended the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Cup quarterfinals.

What this team does isn't always pretty. But its scrappiness is real—and eminently likable.

Hate It: Ban oblique injuries.

Oblique injuries in the NBA aren't especially common. And yet, the Magic have lost their two best players to them.

Ban them. Ban them now. I beg you.

Philadelphia 76ers

Love It: Jared McCain's emergence.

Suffering a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee will likely cost Jared McCain Rookie of the Year consideration. The fact he entered, and may have been leading, that race at all is incredible and entirely unexpected.

McCain's shot-making is legit. He heads to the sidelines canning over 50 percent of his looks on drives, converting more than 53 percent of his pull-up twos and drilling almost 44 percent of his spot-up triples.

Hate It: This injury luck is bad...even for them.

Any team built around Joel Embiid and Paul George must pencil in swathes of missed time. But THIS?

George, Embiid and Tyrese Maxey have appeared in just three games together. On the bright side, the Philadelphia 76ers have won these (virtually nonexistent) minutes despite lineups spitting out an offensive rating south of 90. On the even brighter side, Philly plays in the Eastern Conference.

On the not-at-all-bright side, though, McCain is out indefinitely and Caleb Martin is dealing with shoulder issues. Bleck.

Phoenix Suns

Love It: Their record with Kevin Durant.

The Phoenix Suns have won 86.7 percent of the games in which Kevin Durant plays (13-2). It's almost like he's good at basketball or something.

This is an objectively mind-melting record. And it's even more brain-bending when you consider Durant is playing out his age-35 season and turning in some of the most disruptive defense we've seen from him to date.

Hate It: Their record without Kevin Durant.

Now, the thing about the Suns' record with Durant is that it means they're pretty terrible without him. Unless, of course, you do not consider winning 10 percent of your games pretty terrible (1-10).

Other noise is baked into that rash of futility. Suboptimal center minutes, Devin Booker taking longer than expected to play like Devin Booker, general smallness, etc.—it's all a factor.

Still, whether a macro or micro symptom, this absolutely matters. The Suns are not working with the largest margin for error. As it stands, they are 27th in net rating during victories. Excessive dependence on a 35-year-old is not exactly a comfortable spot in which to exist.

Portland Trail Blazers

Love It: Donovan Clinghan's enormity.

Donovan Clingan has returned from a sprained left knee sooner than seemingly expected yet also just in time. The Portland Trail Blazers were becoming progressively less watchable before close losses to San Antonio and Phoenix, and the rookie ranks among their most entertaining players due to his "Enormous and I know it" vibes.

Granted, it helps that he actually, you know, helps. Clingan is holding opponents to 49.3 percent shooting at the rim—a top-seven mark among 168 players to contest at least 50 point-blank looks. And if the season ended today, he'd have the highest offensive rebound rate and highest block percentage on record for a rookie.

Hate It: Scoot Henderson's current trajectory.

Out of 182 players averaging at least 25 minutes per game over the past two seasons, Scoot Henderson's true shooting percentage ranks...179th.

Reasonable excuses are available in ample supply. And the sample size isn't gargantuan. Youngsters deserve leeway. But genuine concern is fair game. Because if Scoot is going to be #TheGuy for Portland's rebuild, you'd expect him to be playing more like it by now.

Sacramento Kings

Love It: Domantas Sabonis on fire.

Sabonis would clearly like a word with anyone who thinks he didn't deserve either one of his two All-NBA selections.

Amid concerns about how the offensive pecking order would unfold amid another marquee name to feed (DeMar DeRozan) and questionable shooting, the 28-year-old has increased his scoring and three-point volume and efficiency. The end result?

Potentially the most efficient season in league history from anyone averaging at least 20 points and five assists per game.

Hate It: Crunch-time woes.

There is no shortage of things to hate about the Sacramento Kings season. Their rim-and-three frequency is dead last by a mile, per PBP Stats. The bench needs an infusion of depth. Keegan Murray and Kevin Huerter have spent ample time as offensive roller coasters. We have somehow already reached the "How important are Isaac Jones and Colby Jones?" portion of the season.

Nothing is more disappointing, though, than Sacramento's crunch-time record. The Kings have logged more minutes in the clutch than anyone but emerged victorious just 37.5 percent of the time.

Caveats abound. One of those caveats is DeRozan himself. He hasn't appeared in every crunch-time outing, and he's been uneven in the instances he's played—a truly bizarre development for one of the NBA's clutchest stars of the past few years.

San Antonio Spurs

Love It: Victor Wembanyama plus the vets.

When Wemby takes the floor alongside Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes, the San Antonio Spurs are outpacing opponents by 9.4 points per 100 possessions—with top-tier ratings on both offense and defense. Add Julian Champagnie to the equation, and the returns largely hold.

This is a monster deal when you consider these four populate San Antonio's most-used quartet. Not coincidentally, they also make up the meat and potatoes of a starting-five rotation that has routinely disemboweled rival squads.

Hate It: Certain rotation decisions.

Can we stop pretending a healthy Zach Collins deserves any sort of backup frontcourt minutes? Give us more Charles Bassey (whose minutes are up in December, but not nearly enough) and Sandro Mamukelashvili instead.

Oh, and if the Spurs are going to continue bringing Devin Vassell off the bench, can they at least not deviate away from the starting five with Stephon Castle (plus-18.1 net rating) in favor of the Jeremy Sochan model (minus-7.0 net rating)? Pretty please?

Toronto Raptors

Love It: The energy and overall development.

Don't let the Toronto Raptors' place in the standings fool you. This team is generally hell to face.

RJ Barrett (playmaking) and Gradey Dick (more dynamic shot-making) have leveled up. Ochai Agbaji has recaptured three-and-D mystique. Jakob Poeltl blurs the line between complement and hub. Jonathan Mogbo is posting Year 1 offensive rebounding, steal and block rates only ever hit by Vlade Divac, Shawn Kemp, Paul Millsap and Joakim Noah.

This team is fun! And also competitive! No other squad has played in more games decided by three or fewer points.

Hate It: Injuries.

No, Toronto is not New Orleans. But Barrett, Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley have yet to play together. Bruce Brown has yet to play at all. And Kelly Olynyk has barely seen the floor.

That kind of, sort of, most definitely sucks.

Utah Jazz

Love It: Those playoff odds.

ESPN's Basketball Power Index gives the Utah Jazz a—[wait for it]—0 percent chance of making the 2025 postseason.

Congratulations to team CEO Danny Ainge and general manager Justin Zanik for finally cobbling together a roster Will Hardy cannot coach to the No. 9 pick.

Hate It: Can Utah even spell deephence?

Make no mistake, the Cody Williams rookie-year arc is troubling. (He's currently in the G League.) But newbies need time before we travel down nuclear-sad rabbit holes. We also can't be too disappointed that the Jazz don't have a face for their rebuild when they've yet to draft in a position associated with yielding one.

And so, we journey onto the defensive end. Or, as Utah refers to it, nap time.

The Jazz do not force turnovers. Or get back in transition. Or adequately dissuade threes. They limit looks at the rim, but opponents shoot over 70 percent once they get there—the highest mark in the league.

Luckily for Utah, the Washington Wizards exist. Otherwise, their defense would be the league's preeminent billboard for futility.

Washington Wizards

Love It: Alex Sarr is hitting threes!

Bilal Coulibaly and Bub Carrington and even Jordan Poole have received plenty of kudos for extended stretches featuring positive developments. Coulibaly, specifically, remains tantalizing even as his efficiency has dipped.

Sarr wins out here because of how confusing he has seemed on offense. What is he long-term? None of us can be sure. But he's drilling 37.5 percent of his 4.0 three-point attempts per game in December.

Small samples aren't necessarily telltale of anything. Let's all agree, in this case, not to care.

Hate It: This team should be more watchable.

Bobcatsing around is fine, albeit unnecessary, for a Washington Wizards team not particularly interested in racking up wins. They should still be more entertaining than they are right now.

Between not expanding the usage of its most important kids nearly enough and slowing things down after (admittedly rare) defensive stops, this group fails to actualize its bad-but-fun potential.

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.

Unless otherwise cited, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass.