(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
We are back after just under a week off for the All-Star Break. For this week, every team in the league has only played one or two games after the schedule resumed on Wednesday. They are all facing down the gauntlet of a back-loaded schedule compressed into under 70 days of real-time.
Before getting back to the week-to-week assessment of results, this week’s rankings will focus on one question for each team to heading into the second half of the schedule. These can range from discussing how certain players will perform, whether teams will be making drastic moves around the trade deadline or if they are really contenders.
As we head into the second stretch of the season, what questions surround each NBA team and where do they rank to start the second half.
Some questions are already starting to be answered as the buyout market takes shape early. LaMarcus Aldridge and PJ Tucker are the latest names to be sent home by their teams until something can be figured out with regards to their future. This growing trend has caught the basketball world off guard as the latest development in the player empowerment era.
The trade deadline is under two weeks away and of late the only swap that has been made is Hamidou Diallo for Svi Mykhailiuk and a second-round pick. Eventually, more moves will come but for the time being it feels like the calm before the storm. That calm brings about some questions.
Now, let’s start the Week 12 Power Rankings.