What does it mean to be stuck in NBA purgatory? The easiest definition is a team that isn’t good enough to win a playoff series, but also won’t be bad enough to get a crack at a franchise-changing prospect at the top of the NBA Draft.
In fairness, the flattened odds in the draft lottery have consistently failed to reward the tankers. Teams like the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, and New Orleans Pelicans threw away their seasons last year on purpose, and didn’t land a top-5 pick among them. The Pelicans won’t be tanking this year after trading their unprotected 2026 first-round pick to land Derik Queen in the most reckless move of the offseason, but the other two sure will be.
The worst place to be in the NBA is stuck in the middle without the ceiling to get better. Here’s six teams that personify that position.
Chicago Bulls
The Bulls are trying to rebuild without tanking or trading for future draft picks, which is a move so bold it feels delusional. Chicago was in a good position to tear it down after their promising 2021 team crumbled with Lonzo Ball’s injury, but lead decision-maker Arturas Karnisovas held onto his pieces too long and failed to return top value in trades. The Bulls’ Alex Caruso-for-Josh Giddey swap paved the way for Chicago’s next direction, which feels like taking one big shortcut to nowhere. The Bulls have some decent pieces on the roster, but Giddey and Coby White are due for new contracts, veteran big man Nikola Vucevic remains stuck here, and the depth pieces are high-floor veterans instead of upside swings on younger players. The only hope is here is that Matas Buzelis and/or first-round pick Noa Essengue turn into All-Stars, that Giddey can trim the fat from his game, and that the Bulls can finally land a star free agent in the coming years. Buzelis looked good as a rookie, but the Bulls need more outs to find their next franchise player. Karnisovas could finally achieve his dream of getting the 8-seed this year in a dismantled East, but that wouldn’t be the best long-term interest of a roster that needs a shot at landing a top-three pick in a loaded 2026 NBA Draft. The easiest way out of this for the Bulls is firing Karnisovas — an obvious move that should have happened this summer — but instead Chicago’s slumlord ownership group led by Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf gave him a contract extension. The Bulls will keep the arena packed and fight to be .500 again, but in the big picture, this likely isn’t going anywhere.
Miami Heat
The Heat are one of only two teams that can claim multiple NBA Finals appearances in the 2020s along with the Celtics. Miami has a reputation for always figuring out a way to land a new franchise star, but they’re going to have to pull a rabbit out of their hat to do it again. The Heat have won one playoff game total across the last two seasons as they’ve been blasted by the top seed following disappointing regular seasons. Tyler Herro made an All-Star leap last season, and Bam Adebayo is firmly in his prime, but they both feel more suited to be secondary co-stars next to a true primary option. Pat Riley, now 80 years old, has struck out chasing the last few superstars to hit the trade market. The young core here just isn’t that impressive, but I thought Kasparas Jakucionis was a steal at No. 20, while last year’s rookie Kel’el Ware has the size and athleticism to be an impactful center if he can figure out his awareness and motor at both ends. The Heat could probably use a full rebuild, but it’s a dangerous game when they owe an unprotected first-round pick to the Hornets in 2028 if they don’t make the playoffs in 2027. Would Riley walk away to let the Heat take more of a long-term view? If not, will he try to make another big splash on the trade market for a flawed star (maybe LaMelo Ball, Ja Morant, or Trae Young)? The Heat have no easy outs right now if they want to stay competitive save for a star leap from Ware or Jakucionis. This looks like a play-in team once again.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors are paying the price for botching their teardown. The trade returns for OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam just weren’t good enough, and it’s left Toronto in a situation where they don’t own surplus draft capital while trying to accelerate their rebuild. The Raptors have a ton of salary already tied to Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl, and only Barrett has fewer than three years remaining on his contract. It’s a decent collection of talent for the East, but there’s no true franchise star or primary option in the group. First-round pick Collin Murray-Boyles was a personal favorite of mine, but this feels like one of the worst landing spots for him because he operates from the same parts of the floor as Barnes and doesn’t have many good shooters around him. It’s possible Toronto could be sneaky-good this season in a down year for the conference if Quickley can have a bounce-back season and Ingram assimilates to the lineup with ease. It’s a high-floor group if everything comes together, but it’s hard to believe there’s any kind of realistic ceiling here worth chasing. With Masai Ujiri now out of the organization, it will be fascinating to see if the Raptors keep going down this road or try to do another teardown soon.
Sacramento Kings
The Kings had a good thing going a couple years ago when the finally broke their 16-year playoff drought and took the Warriors to seven games in the first round. Everything that has come since has been a big disappointment. De’Aaron Fox forced a trade to the Spurs, 2023 Coach of the Year Mike Brown was fired, and recreating the 2021 Chicago Bulls with DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine shockingly hasn’t produced many wins. The Tyrese Haliburton-for-Domantas Sabonis swap no longer looks like a win-win (it never did to be honest), and at this point a Sabonis trade and ensuing rebuild wouldn’t be too surprising. It fees like the Kings just never stop making mistakes no matter who is in charge, and now it’s Scott Perry’s job to change that after the team parted ways with Monte McNair at the end of this past season. The West is just so unforgiving. Sacramento will be better than the Jazz and Pelicans next season, but that might be it in terms of their conference opponents.
Phoenix Suns
The Suns pushed their chips to the center of the table and went bust. Phoenix had no choice but to trade Kevin Durant after missing the playoffs with one of the highest payrolls in league history. A more prudent move would have been trading away Devin Booker too, but Phoenix didn’t want to do that without control of any of their first-round picks until 2032. Instead, Booker signed a massive extension, and the Suns are going to try to build around him on the fly. Getting a talent like Khaman Maluach with the No. 10 pick (received in the KD trade) was a massive coup. If Maluach develops as well as I think he can — I had him as the No. 3 player on my 2025 board — it’s possible Phoenix could find a soft landing spot. They just don’t have any margin for error with so few future assets at their disposal. The short-term outlook feels bleak in the Western Conference even if they finally balanced out the roster a little more over the offseason, and the long-term outlook is even scarier. Booker got his money, and now the whole league will quietly wonder if he will ever ask out of town. It won’t happen yet, but a couple more seasons of missing the playoffs, and anything is on the table.
Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies were the league’s model small market franchise before the Oklahoma City Thunder took that crown from them. As new contenders have risen in the West, it feels like the Grizzlies are stagnating without a ton of room for improvement. Memphis is ready for a reset after firing head coach Taylor Jenkins and trading Desmond Bane over the summer, but the franchise still feels like it rests on the narrow shoulders of Ja Morant. Morant just hasn’t been able to stay on the floor for a few seasons, and he hasn’t looked like the top-10 player he was once believed to be. Jaren Jackson Jr. has become the best player on this team, and he’s now on a huge contract that limits their flexibility a bit. Getting four first-rounders was a nice haul for Bane, they’ve already burned two of them. The big prize from that haul was Phoenix’s 2026 pick, and Memphis has to hope that hits big in the lottery to save them from purgatory. The Grizzlies are clearly the best run team on this list. The front office does a fantastic job in the draft every year, and always works hard to uncover hidden gems. Quibble with the Grizzlies’ inclusion on this list if you must, but they either need some lottery luck or for Morant to roar back to All-NBA form if they don’t want to get lost in the West crowd.