National Basketball Association

5 terrible NBA teams that will be fun to watch

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Which terrible NBA teams will be worth watching in 2016? We have five that could be entertaining.

The NBA season is quickly approaching and it should be one of the most entertaining seasons. While many seem to see this breaking down into the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, everything that happens from now until the potential finals should be a rollercoaster of a ride.

With that said, who are these unknown teams worth following on this journey? Who are the teams that will not make the playoffs, but will be appointment viewing every time they step on the court? Here are the five most fun teams to watch in 2016, despite how low their ceiling of success may be.

Jun 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers number one overall draft pick Ben Simmons (R) is greeted by center Joel Embiid (L) during a press conference at the Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

5. Philadelphia 76ers

The most recent 76ers teams have been little beyond doom and gloom. However, in 2016 it feels like this will be the year Philadelphia will have to take a step. It will not be a step to the playoffs, or to a .500 record, though. This step will be figuring out which of these top-five picks is going to stay on the core of this team into the foreseeable future.

The biggest news to emerge from Philadelphia is the return of Joel Embiid. Ben Simmons, the team’s No. 1 pick, has the greatest hype of any of the players on the 76ers. However, when it comes down to it, the third-overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft may be the one who turns out to the most talented.

It took Embiid a long time to get healthy. However, when he is healthy, he is a dominant 7-foot rim protector with back to the basket abilities and athleticism to run up and down the court. The NBA is becoming a small-ball league, but Embiid is a player who can fit any style and has a rare skill set for a center that can put him into the elite class.

Unfortunately, the second-most exciting player to watch would be Simmons, and he is sidelined for most likely the first half of the season.

The team still has Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. Okafor is dealing with an injury and is likely to come off of the bench. Embiid can get his minutes and the team can see what they have in him. The 76ers also have Dario Saric coming in from overseas who can play the stretch four and can complement Embiid or Noel.

This leaves the potential for the 76ers to have Okafor on the market in hopes of netting a shooter or ball-handler. Either way, this team should be shuffling five different lottery picks from the last four NBA drafts. Whether it be trades, injury or the success and growth of this youngsters, this team will be a must follow.

Apr 13, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) reacts after taking a jump shot against the Los Angeles Clippers at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns won 114-105. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

4. Phoenix Suns

The Suns should be looking at their roster and knowing that they are destined to be terrible. They are in a tough Western Conference, and any claim they have to future success seems to be in the arms of 20-year-old Devin Booker. With that said, this team should be selling hard to build around the young shooter, and it will be fun to see how they go about this.

To start, Tyson Chandler will certainly be on the block. Chandler was acquired to try to attract LaMarcus Aldridge in a win-now move. This team is not winning now and should look at young options to replace Chandler. They also have Brandin Knight and Eric Bledsoe, and almost certainly will not keep both this season. These are two or three pieces worth watching that could very easily be traded this year.

When those three veteran names go, it leaves all of the playing time for the youth movement. It creates all of the shots and minutes for this team to see just how high the ceiling of Booker is. It also opens spots for rookie Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss. Both players are under the age of 20, but both come into the league with some of the highest upsides of any rookies in the league.

Both are extremely raw, and the only way to see what they have is to give them minutes. Alex Len and T.J. Warren represent other names in their 20s that can add to the core of the team. By tanking in 2016, it opens up a future filled with potential star power, and to watch that star power emerge this season could be fun.

Oct 3, 2016; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Denver Nuggets guard Emmanuel Mudiay (0) controls the ball against the Toronto Raptors during the second quarter at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

3. Denver Nuggets

There is some small alternate universe where the Denver Nuggets take a big step in 2016 and are actual playoff contenders. However, that story seems more likely to take place in 2017. As of now, this is a young team that will go through a ton of ups but will also see those downs. When looking at the Nuggets potential starting lineup, their oldest starter would be Danilo Gallinari at age 28. Aside from that, the four starters of Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris, Nikola Jokic, and Jusef Nurkic have an average age of 21.

This does not even include Jamal Murray, a 19-year-old selected in the top five this season, and 25-year-old Will Barton, who is a Sixth Man of the Year candidate.

The Nuggets seemed to strike oil in acquiring the two foreign big men in Nurkic and Jokic. They now have two traditional big men in a league where that is rare, and the duo can feed off of each other as they grow together. They also saw an emergence from Harris at the two-guard spot as he settled in next to Emmanuel Mudiay in his 2015 rookie campaign. Denver now comes back and adds arguably the best overall shooter in this year’s draft with Jamal Murray.

Guys like Kenneth Faried, Wilson Chandler, Jameer Nelson and Gallinari give this team the leadership and experience to sustain an NBA season, and this team is closer to the playoffs than some may think. However, given that this is starting such a young core they are likely a year or so away, but the growth will be fun to follow.

Oct 13, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton talks with Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell (1) while playing against the Sacramento Kings during the first quarter at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports

2. Los Angeles Lakers

Now that Kobe Bryant is retired, the Lakers can finally focus on establishing a direction for the future. Right now, it looks like they have one given all of the young pieces they were able to acquire.

D’Angelo Russell had a poor rookie year but it can be explained. To start, he is a ball-handler that had to give the ball up to Bryant. Second, his coach is not one to start rookies and wanted Russell to show himself before giving him chances to learn and grow on the court. Third, we all remember the Nick Young incident.

However, now he is back, he has free reign of the offense, and most have gotten over his off-court fiasco. Russell should be a playmaking machine and should be running a new identity of a face paced Lakers team.

Russell is always up-tempo and that matches with players such as Jordan Clarkson, Lou Williams, Julius Randle, Larry Nance and others. This team should be looking to establish that identity, and as we move to the future should find the pieces to build around it.

One piece even better than Russell to build around will be Brandon Ingram. Ingram is only 19 years old and is raw, however, he is a wing that can shoot, he has big-time size, and arguably has the highest upside of any rookie. He gets the luxury of learning from a former Duke Blue Devil and established veteran Luol Deng this season.

At the end of the day, if the Lakers do not pick in the top-three this season, they lose their first-round pick. To avoid losing a key piece the Lakers should experiment with the youth. Russell will make his mistakes but will be fun to watch as the ball should remain in his hands through the best and the worst. Either way, to see this team with an identity and to see that they may finally be closing in on the playoffs in 2017 or 2018 finally gives Lakers fans something to watch in 2016.

Oct 4, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) during a game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

1. New York Knicks

Yes, this means the Knicks will be terrible this year. Nonetheless, it will be something to watch. If you play NBA 2K, you may even think this team has a chance to be good. Do not be fooled, the names are here, but this team is not.

To start, Derrick Rose, in his healthiest season since 2012 still missed 16 games. In those, he rated as one of the worst point guards in the NBA with the ball in his hands and was the least efficient point guard in the NBA. The next big move was Joakim Noah, who started in just two of his 29 healthy games last year and averaged four points per game in that role. The year before Noah dropped from 12 points per game down to seven and has seen his rebounds, steals, assists and blocks per game fall in the same three-year decline. Adding these two would have changed the landscape of the NBA in 2012, then you remember that it is 2016.

Carmelo Anthony spent his summer being the old man on the Olympic team and is now in a situation where he fits best as a stretch four.

Unfortunately, Kristaps Porzingis, the real future of this team has to be the team’s stretch four. While his rim protection and size give him the ability to be the very rare stretch five, the acquisition of Noah kind of all but ends that talk.

Courtney Lee and Brandon Jennings may be bigger additions than Noah and Rose this year, but at the end of the day what does that really tell you? The rest of the depth is filled out by names such Lance Thomas and Justin Holiday. The Knicks did a good job creating a hype machine to enter the season, but there are no real playoff aspirations here.

However, Rose is still a must-watch player. Anthony is a superstar and Porzingis has the potential to be a superstar. As far as watching this group of pieces who do not really fit in terms of age, style of play and ability, it will be entertaining. However, it would be unlikely to see winning basketball come from this thing.