We’re nearing the halfway point of the 2014-15 NBA season and it has been as parity-filled as a season as can be. Things that we thought would come to fruition, like the Cleveland Cavaliers being a championship contender, have never come to fruition. At the same time, the unexpected has become a reality as the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks are the two conference leaders at this point – if you can believe that.
There’s been a changing of the guards in the NBA and while teams like the Cavs, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder have fallen, some new contenders have emerged, and they’re here to stay.
Golden State Warriors
This is a young, talented team that has undeniably made its case that it’s going to be a menace for awhile. The Warriors have a net rating of +12.7, which puts them over four points beyond the second best team, the Dallas Mavericks (+8.4). They lead the league in several shooting-based categories and are in the top three in a few others, including three-point field goal percentage, which lifts their other shooting totals.
Those are impressive facts but why Golden State appears poised to stick around in the league for the next several years is that the Warriors are not a one-trick team. Stephen Curry is the main star but Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are also strong scorers as well. And all of them are two-way players. Curry leads the league in steals, Thompson has developed as a wing defender and Green can defend either on the wing or in the post. The Warriors are an excellent team even without a healthy Andrew Bogut at center. If all the Warriors’ main players continue to develop, this franchise should remain in the top section of the Western Conference for years.
Atlanta Hawks
It is worth noting that head coach Mike Budenholzer is a former assistant to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. The Hawks are positioned for long-term success because they are the Eastern Conference version of the Spurs – at least in terms of structure. They don’t have Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, or Tony Parker, but they share the ball and get great movement and fluidity from their offense. The Hawks lead the league in assist percentage, a very Spurs-like trait, and they are fifth in assist-turnover ratio, which is also very much in the San Antonio mold.
Atlanta likes to shoot a lot of threes, and Kyle Korver hits a ridiculous 52.4 percent of them. With Al Horford healthy after missing most of last season and Paul Millsap and Teague playing at an All-Star level, the Hawks have balance and a lot of pieces. There are well-delineated roles on this team, which is why it is in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. That’s a sustainable long-term model.
Washington Wizards
The Wizards might have made a splash with their upset of the Chicago Bulls in last year’s playoffs, but they are now a “new contender” in that they’re staying in the top tier of the Eastern Conference. Some people figured that they skated by in that series as the Bulls were without Rose. However, this team has built off of that success and grown even more this season.
The main reason this is a contender with staying power is that they have what could be considered the best backcourt in the NBA with John Wall and Brad Beal. While they fuel the offense, this is really a team whose strength comes from their defense. Washington has the sixth-best defense in the league and is just one point per possession from being a top-10 offensive team. Wall, a foremost MVP candidate, has set new career highs in a number of advanced metrics such as PER, true shooting percentage, and win shares per 48 game minutes. Washington is in the top 10 in net rating at plus-3.8, and with Brad Beal joining Wall in the backcourt as a deadeye shooting guard, the Wizards have a perimeter tandem that is going to anchor them for a very long time.
