The NBA season has been in full swing for roughly a month. While teams like the Thunder and Lakers celebrate strong starts, the Western Conference is marked by notable underperformance. Pre-season favorites, playoff contenders and even title-driven teams have already faced turmoil, creating some of the most engaging and contentious storylines of the season.
These teams — the Grizzlies, Pelicans, Clippers, Kings and Mavericks — are particularly notable for their poor situations. They struggle with issues ranging from generational talents creating crises within their organizations to front offices panicking and sacrificing prospects. The sour spots in the league result directly from internal problems, poor roster management and the heavy burden of high expectations.
Grizzlies (4-10): Most notably, star Ja Morant is at the center of some issues. He was suspended for one game after a tense post-game exchange with their new Head Coach, Tuomas Iisalo, following their loss against the Lakers.
The coach questioned his “leadership and effort,” as well as his post-game comments, which included variations of “according to [the coaching staff], don’t play me.” Critics found it in bad taste, as many online recalled the similarities to the Jimmy Butler situation, in which he said he had “lost [his] joy for basketball.”
The entire exchange occurred after a game in which Morant shot 3-14 from the field, a career low of 8 points. So far this season, he’s shooting 16.7% from 3-point range and 38.5% from the field. It’s not a great start for a player who is adored by Memphis fans.
Speculation about him being traded has surfaced, but top NBA analysts aren’t sure there’s a market for him. Aside from how he plays basketball, questions about his attitude need to be asked by any team.
Clippers (4-10): After initially feeling optimistic despite the ongoing scandal surrounding the team, many fans realized, from watching the team’s performance, that it is old, both offensively and defensively. Ivica Zubac, 28, is the only starter for the Clippers under 30. Chris Paul (40), Brook Lopez (37), James Harden (36), Nicolas Batum (36), Kawhi Leonard (34), Bradley Beal (32) and Kris Dunn (31) are all either starting or key rotation players. Three of their four best players are over 34, and pushing older players to do more usually leads to more injury concerns.
After it was announced that Beal would miss the rest of the season due to a fractured hip requiring surgery, the outlook is even more bleak than before. Leonard has had multiple injury issues and has been a consistent topic of discussion regarding the Clippers’ success over the past couple of years.
Even now, looking to their future, they do not have control of any of their draft picks until the 2030s due to the infamous, poorly aging Paul George trade, which involved League MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the pick that became Jalen Williams. One could also argue that they traded a potential ring for a Western Conference finals appearance, and three playoff series wins. Many say the true championship was won in the 2019 offseason, when all the goading was done.
Mavericks (4-11): To my earnest surprise and Dallas’s relentless enjoyment, their cries were heard as general manager Nico Harrison was fired, essentially gutting the “two to three year vision” he had planted in Dallas. However, as I mentioned in an article I wrote earlier in the season, the Mavericks still don’t inspire confidence.
After the firing, Patrick Dumont issued a letter to the fans, which received a poor response from Dallas supporters, who claimed it was overdue.
Many around the league are now entertaining the idea of trading Anthony Davis, which may not work for several reasons. Davis, like Leonard, is an older player making a lot of money and is perpetually unavailable due to various injuries. There aren’t many scenarios that would make sense.
As far as their immediate future, they control their 2026 first-round pick, but anything after that until 2031, they do not control outright. The 2027 pick is top 2 protected, so if it’s a #1 or #2 overall, the Mavericks keep it. Otherwise, it moves to the Charlotte Hornets as part of the PJ Washington trade. The 2028 pick involves a swap with the Thunder. The 2029 pick, acquired from the Luka Doncic trade, will probably be a late first-round pick if the Lakers do well. The 2030 pick is a swap with the Spurs.
All of this complicates any long-term plans that they have. They have no choice but to lie in the bed that Harrison made and ride the wave.
Kings (3-11): I miss the “light the beam” days.
As far as their roster goes, since trading De’Aaron Fox, their team is built around Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, two scorers who are not known for defense or three-point shooting. This creates poor spacing on offense and weakens their defense. Dennis Schroder does not keep those problems, and all players above are 30 or older.
Both LaVine and Domas Sabonis have publicly criticized the poor personnel and roster construction, essentially throwing them under the bus. I often find myself at a loss for words about how the Kings continue to escape accountability for organizational failures, just as they did when they fired Mike Brown.
Pelicans (2-12): After a 2-10 start, which many fans called overdue, Head Coach Willie Green was fired. This team is a victim of systemic rot deeper than the man on the sidelines, as reports indicate that key players like Trey Murphy II and others within the organization felt that Green did not hold star Zion Williamson accountable enough for his frequent absences.
Williamson, like Morant, was drafted in the 2019 draft class and had immense hype coming out of Duke. There has been a cycle — he gets injured or has another health concern, and questions about his weight (as it pertains to his playstyle) usually come up. Technically, excluding the play-in, Williamson hasn’t played in a playoff game and has missed more games (268) than he’s played (214). The team is now stuck with a large contract for a player who is perpetually unavailable, killing their momentum and morale in the process.
The Pelicans are also missing Dejounte Murray, who has a ruptured Achilles tendon, and Jordan Poole, who has a quad strain, leaving the roster gutted. The absence of these players ensures the team has no real shot of competing in a competitive Western Conference.
The salt in the wound here is that the Pelicans traded an unprotected 2026 first-round pick to move up in the draft. With their current position, they’ve effectively given the Atlanta Hawks, who almost always make the Eastern Conference play-in, a high lottery pick. If luck swings their way, they could have a repeat of the 2024 draft, landing another No.1 overall pick. In this draft class, the Pelicans will feel that mistake.