The 82-game NBA regular season is definitely a marathon, rather than a sprint. Each year, some of the teams who enter the year with championship dreams end up falling well short of those visions. The reasons can change, but one benefit of the long season is that teams will generally bounce back from slumps – unless a major problem has emerged. Many times this comes down to a crucial player going down to a season-ending injury or getting angry with his team and requesting a trade. When it’s a matter of unhappiness, the collapse can take longer than it will when a key injury is involved, but either way, the fan base (and those who rely on that team for a lot of their NBA betting) will be disappointed. Some of the NBA’s clubs have met and even exceeded their early expectations, but there are also some that have had disappointing seasons for multiple reasons. Read on to find several teams who have failed to meet expectations for the 2023-24 campaign.
NBA Betting Analysis: Most Disappointing Teams in the 2024 Regular Season
Philadelphia 76ers
38-31, 8th in the Eastern Conference
Joel Embiid won the MVP award last year and was well on his way to making it two trophies in two years. He dropped 48 points on Washington on November 6, 2023, and dropped 50 more on them on December 6. On January 20, he joined Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James as the only NBA players ever to score at least 30 points in 20 consecutive games. He was averaging 35.3 points per game when his season came to an end, at least temporarily, on January 30.
While playing the Golden State Warriors, Embiid suffered a lateral meniscus tear when Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga landed on his knee. Since then, not only has Embiid missed more than the 17 games that he could while still remaining eligible for the MVP award, but the 76ers have tumbled down the East standings. When he went down to injury, the 76ers were 29-17, in third place. Since then, they have gone 9-14 and dropped to eighth. Embiid does not have a timeline to return at this writing, but if the 76ers are going to make any sort of playoff run, they need him back.
76ers Betting Lines to Win Today
Atlanta Hawks
30-39, 10th in the Eastern Conference
The Hawks barely made it into the postseason last year, finishing at 41-41. They were bounced out by Boston in the first round in six games in what was largely seen as a disappointing season, given the first-time pairing of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray. Young had led the Hawks to a surprising berth in the conference finals in 2020-21, but the team had regressed the next season, losing in the first round. This past season was supposed to be different, but the Hawks got eliminated early once again. This season, the Hawks will be fortunate even to make it into the top eight after the play-in.
The numbers that Young and Murray are putting up are decent. Young scores 26.7 points and dishes out 10.9 assists per game. Murray’s numbers are just slightly behind Young’s (21.4 points, 5.3 assists). Chemistry may be an issue; both Young and Murray were available before the trade deadline, and Murray seemed to be on his way to New Orleans before the deal got canceled at the last second. The Spurs also discussed a possible trade for Young with the Hawks, but the two sides couldn’t agree on that either. Either way, the second season with Young and Murray is going even worse than the first.
Hawks Betting Lines to Win Today
Los Angeles Lakers
37-32, 9th place in the Western Conference
LeBron James and Anthony Davis. A rejuvenated D’Angelo Russell. How can this team not be 20 games above .500? LeBron and AD led the Lakers to a title in 2020 but have largely struggled just to make the postseason since then. What gives? This team has hovered right around the .500 line all season – and they didn’t make any big moves at the trade deadline. James and AD are averaging 24.8 and 24.9 points per game, respectively, so they’re producing. Could it be team chemistry?
Lakers Betting Lines to Win Today
Golden State Warriors
36-32, 10th place in the Western Conference
The Warriors had actually been outside the top ten in the West for much of the first half of the season; rising above .500 is a fairly new development. It’s not like the Warriors are plagued by injuries like they were in 2020, when they didn’t have Klay Thompson or Stephen Curry. They’re both back and healthy, and Curry is putting up 28 points per game and knocking down three-balls at a 42.1% clip. Thompson is having an off year, though, and Draymond Green really needs to figure out if the NBA is a place he still wants to work, as his outbursts led to a lengthy suspension early in the season, and his historically dominant play in the paint is becoming less and less effective. Thompson rejected a contract extension at the end of last season, thinking that his free-agent year would get him a big payday, but his play has been so subpar this season that he’s already come out and said he would sign a new deal at a substantial discount to stay in the Bay Area. Obviously, the Warriors can still flip a switch and go on a run, as we saw in 2021-22, when they decided to maximize effort in the playoffs and won a title. However, it’s hard to think that they can still just elevate their play like that after such a mediocre season this time around, especially given the tantrums that Draymond has thrown.
Warriors Betting Lines to Win Today
Memphis Grizzlies
23-47, 13th in the Western Conference
The Grizzlies have already been eliminated from postseason consideration, 26 games behind Oklahoma City for the lead in the West and 14 games out of tenth place, the last slot in the play-in. Currently, have lost four in a row and seven out of ten. Last year, they finished second in the West with a 51-31 slate before getting sent home in the first round by the L.A. Lakers. In the off-season, the Grizzlies traded for Boston point guard Marcus Smart to add more star power to their team’s core.
However, drama ensued just about from the start of the season. Star Ja Morant had to sit for the first 25 games of the season for showing a gun on a video he posted online. The Grizzlies started 0-6 and were the last team to get a win this season, back on November 5. Morant returned on December 18, but the hole the Grizzlies found themselves in was immense as the team’s record was just 6-19. Morant would go down on Juanuary 8 with a severe subluxation injury he suffered during practice, and now he’s done for the season. Injuries have also dogged Smart, Derrick Rose, Desmond Bane, and Steven Adams. There was a point this season when Memphis had 13 players ruled out due to health of the 18 on the roster. At the trade deadline, they didn’t sell, though. All of these issues, when taken together, have the Grizzlies looming as the biggest disappointment so far this season in the NBA.
Grizzlies Betting Lines to Win Today
Conferences Winners at NBA
Eastern Conference
| Boston Celtics -125 |
| Milwaukee Bucks +300 |
| New York Knicks +1100 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers +1200 |
| Miami Heat +1200 |
| Philadelphia 76ers +1600 |
| Indiana Pacers +5000 |
| Orlando Magic +8000 |
| Atlanta Hawks +40000 |
| Chicago Bulls +45000 |
| Toronto Raptors +70000 |
| Brooklyn Nets +70000 |
| Bet on the Eastern Conference |
Western Conference
| Denver Nuggets +160 |
| LA Clippers +300 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder +800 |
| Phoenix Suns +1000 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves +1200 |
| Dallas Mavericks +1500 |
| Los Angeles Lakers +2000 |
| New Orleans Pelicans +2500 |
| Golden State Warriors +2500 |
| Sacramento Kings +3500 |
| Houston Rockets +60000 |
| Utah Jazz +60000 |
| Bet on the Western Conference |
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