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Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver (formerly of Blazers Edge), giving a letter grade to each of the 30 teams out there. Please read his article here, as it's 100% awesome. I put all the data (and some other stuff) into a table, and put all the teams in three different tiers (Top 10, 11-20, 21-30). Furthermore, I used this source to help convert the letter grade into a GPA value. As a result, the Jazz are a Top 10 team. Of course, he didn't say that, but by doing the math they end up being ranked there. BEHOLD!
| Team | Seed | W | L | % | OFF RTG | DEF RTG | NET RTG | Midseason | Final Grade | GPA | |||
| 1 | Warriors | 1 | 66 | 15 | 81.48% | 2 | 1 | 1 | A++ | A++ | 4.0 | ||
| 2 | Hawks | 1 | 60 | 21 | 74.07% | 6 | 8 | 4 | A+ | A+ | 4.0 | ||
| 3 | Rockets | 5 | 55 | 26 | 67.90% | 12 | 6 | 7 | A- | A | 4.0 | ||
| 4 | Spurs | 3 | 55 | 26 | 67.90% | 7 | 3 | 3 | C+ | A- | 3.7 | ||
| 5 | Grizzlies | 6 | 54 | 27 | 66.67% | 14 | 5 | 10 | A | A- | 3.7 | ||
| 6 | Clippers | 2 | 56 | 26 | 68.29% | 1 | 16 | 2 | B | B+ | 3.3 | ||
| 7 | Cavaliers | 2 | 52 | 29 | 64.20% | 4 | 20 | 6 | D+ | B+ | 3.3 | ||
| 8 | Bucks | 6 | 41 | 40 | 50.62% | 25 | 2 | 13 | B+ | B+ | 3.3 | ||
| 9 | Celtics | 7 | 39 | 42 | 48.15% | 20 | 13 | 18 | B- | B+ | 3.3 | ||
| 10 | Jazz | 11 | 38 | 43 | 46.91% | 15 | 12 | 16 | C+ | B+ | 3.3 | ||
| Team | Seed | W | L | % | OFF RTG | DEF RTG | NET RTG | Midseason | Final Grade | GPA | |||
| 11 | Bulls | 3 | 49 | 32 | 60.49% | 10 | 11 | 9 | B+ | B | 3.0 | ||
| 12 | Pelicans | 8 | 44 | 37 | 54.32% | 9 | 22 | 16 | C | B | 3.0 | ||
| 13 | Pacers | 8 | 38 | 43 | 46.91% | 24 | 8 | 17 | C | B | 3.0 | ||
| 14 | Trail Blazers | 4 | 51 | 30 | 62.96% | 8 | 10 | 5 | A | B- | 2.7 | ||
| 15 | Mavericks | 7 | 49 | 32 | 60.49% | 5 | 18 | 9 | B+ | B- | 2.7 | ||
| 16 | Raptors | 4 | 48 | 33 | 59.26% | 3 | 23 | 10 | B+ | B- | 2.7 | ||
| 17 | Wizards | 5 | 46 | 35 | 56.79% | 18 | 4 | 12 | B+ | C+ | 2.3 | ||
| 18 | Timberwolves | 15 | 16 | 65 | 19.75% | 26 | 30 | 29 | C | C+ | 2.3 | ||
| 19 | Pistons | 12 | 31 | 50 | 38.27% | 17 | 21 | 20 | C+ | C | 2.0 | ||
| 20 | Magic | 13 | 25 | 56 | 30.86% | 27 | 25 | 26 | B+ | C | 2.0 | ||
| Team | Seed | W | L | % | OFF RTG | DEF RTG | NET RTG | Midseason | Final Grade | GPA | |||
| 21 | 76ers | 14 | 18 | 63 | 22.22% | 30 | 14 | 28 | C | C | 2.0 | ||
| 22 | Suns | 10 | 39 | 43 | 47.56% | 14 | 17 | 19 | B- | C- | 1.7 | ||
| 23 | Nets | 9 | 37 | 44 | 45.68% | 19 | 24 | 22 | D | C- | 1.7 | ||
| 24 | Heat | 10 | 36 | 45 | 44.44% | 21 | 18 | 21 | C- | C- | 1.7 | ||
| 25 | Nuggets | 12 | 30 | 51 | 37.04% | 22 | 26 | 24 | C | C- | 1.7 | ||
| 26 | Thunder | 9 | 44 | 37 | 54.32% | 11 | 16 | 14 | C- | D | 1.0 | ||
| 27 | Hornets | 11 | 33 | 48 | 40.74% | 28 | 9 | 23 | C- | D | 1.0 | ||
| 28 | Kings | 13 | 28 | 53 | 34.57% | 16 | 27 | 25 | F | D | 1.0 | ||
| 29 | Lakers | 14 | 21 | 60 | 25.93% | 24 | 29 | 27 | F | F | 0.0 | ||
| 30 | Knicks | 15 | 17 | 64 | 20.99% | 29 | 28 | 30 | F+ | F | 0.0 |
As for the Jazz, Golliver writes:
At a glance: The Jazz stand as the perfect example of why the NBA's "eight teams from the West, eight teams from the East" format is unfair and, for lack of a more sophisticated term, dumb.
At 38-43, the up-and-coming Jazz have compensated for a rough start by playing exceptional defense since replacing Enes Kanter (traded to the Thunder) with rim-protecting extraordinaire Rudy Gobert (8.4 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 2.3 BPG). Since the midseason point, Utah has the NBA's top defense (!) and the league's fourth-best net rating (!!). The Jazz have posted a +6.3 net rating since Jan. 24, which is five points better than any of the other non-playoff teams (entering Wednesday's action). Keep in mind, Quin Snyder's club has made this run even though they have had nothing to play for, given how far back they were in the playoff race in December. This has been pure pride and, in Gobert's case, emerging, game-changing talent.
In the East, Utah would be in the mix for one of the final playoff spots. And, if Salt Lake City happened to be located in Maine or Maryland, Snyder would be getting some portion of the love that's been (deservedly) handed out to Celtics coach Brad Stevens. Utah would have become a popular bandwagon pick, as its hard-working young core is a lot more entertaining than Brooklyn's dreadful vets or Miami's MASH unit. Odds are, these Jazz could give a slumping team like the Raptors a real push in the first round of the playoffs.
Indeed, if the NBA simply had the proposed "16 best records make the playoffs" format in place this year, Utah would be exactly one win out of the 16th seed entering Wednesday. Their push not only would have mattered, but it would have gone down all the way to the wire.
Instead, this exemplary stretch of hoops is totally irrelevant to outsiders. They are a team that dug a hole so deep that it was never going to be ale to climb out in the West. Their recent success really only matters internally, in terms of how it affects the players' growth and the front office's planning. If the Jazz can come back significantly better next year, they just might have a shot at the playoffs under the current system. If not, they'll fall by the wayside again as everyone sits on the edge of his or her seat, breathlessly anticipating Deron Williams' latest postseason appearance in front of 1,200 fans who are so quiet they might as well be checking out books at the Brooklyn Public Library.
This was an awesome post that I didn't want to bunch into a Downbeat, and please read it all here, the write ups are worth it!