At Elevator Doors HQ, we love stats and analytics as much as anyone. We admire and appreciate new and inventive ways to measure basketball performance, and we constantly strive to incorporate these metrics into our rigorous analysis.
But sometimes, we just go with our gut.
For me, watching basketball is primarily an emotional experience. The sober-minded analysis piece tends to come in much later, after we’ve had a moment to let our lizard brain first-impulse reactions subside. Occasionally, though, that knee-jerk reaction ends up being the correct one.
We’re just past the midway point of the NBA regular season, which gives us a strong enough sample size to check on certain teams and see whether the upcoming Feb. 6 trade deadline can help reset the vibes or keep the positive momentum rolling.
Immaculate vibes: Oklahoma City Thunder.
Obviously, it’s easy to keep the vibes flying high when your team has won more than 80% of its games. Winning equals good times. But in Oklahoma City, it’s the way in which they are winning that has them coasting to the top of the NBA vibes meter.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has turned the MVP race into a two-man contest. Nikola Jokic is putting up Wilt-era numbers in the most talent-rich pool in NBA history, but SGA has been every bit his equal in terms of what he means to his team. The team knows SGA is the oil that keeps the engine running, and SGA knows how best to pick his spots and when to keep his teammates involved.
Mark Daigneault’s squad has fully bought into this menacing, terrorizing defensive identity, with no member of this roster considered a defensive liability. Sam Presti has built a team with an identity and a purpose around like-minded athletes who never stray from their game plan. Even in losses, the Thunder don’t lose their identity.
Also contributing to the immaculate vibes: The core of this team is all roughly the same age. Everyone on this team plays like they’re all friends with each other. That matters in the vibes-only rankings.
Immaculate vibes, but…: Cleveland Cavaliers.
It’s all fine and good right now. The Cavs are still on pace for 70 wins. This is a regular season wins machine, and Kenny Atkinson has all but locked up Coach of the Year honors. The team has clicked into place. Everyone is playing at or near his career best.
I just want to see what happens in the playoffs.
This current iteration of the Cavs has had its ups and downs in the vibes department. Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland have it clicking now, but let’s see if the vibes remain high deep in the playoffs in a must-win road game. Mitchell is in the conversation for an All-NBA First Team spot and a possible top-five MVP appearance, but we’ve seen some funky vibes from Mitchell-led teams in the past.
Things are hunky dory know. They are the clear vibes champ in the Eastern Conference so far. Let’s check back in May.
Vibes over shooting: Orlando Magic.
Can vibes really keep a team over .500 when the team’s best scorers miss most of the season and everyone else simply cannot shoot the basketball with any kind of consistency?
This is the vibes-only column, so I’m not going to crowd this piece with stats/rankings. All those terrible shooting numbers are available to you. All I know is that when I watch the Orlando Magic, it seems like nobody can make a shot, but nobody seems to care.
This is a team built around its defensive identity. Dribble near these guys at your own peril. Whatever Jamahl Mosley is doing to continue to build belief during extended absences from Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs is working. The vibes in Orlando are good now, but they could be incredible in round one of the playoffs.
Vibes so toxic you need a gas mask: Philadelphia 76ers.
It’s been a season to forget in Philly. Anytime a bright spot emerges (Jared McCain), it is instantly taken away (meniscus tear). Joel Embiid’s swollen knee comes and goes from the lineup. Paul George talks about how “boring” it is to play center.
And the losses keep on mounting. Hey, at least the Sixers owe OKC its first-round pick (top-six protected). Woof.
It would be one thing if the 76ers could tank itself into Flagg/Harper/Bailey territory, but given the trash heap at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, it seems unlikely that this team could lose enough games to get into that mix. Instead, this team seems destined to hang around the play-in range and hope they can get everyone healthy enough for a puncher’s-chance run through the playoffs. The more likely scenario is that the Thunder will be drafting in the 8-11 range.
Seeking a vibe shift at the trade deadline: Phoenix Suns
Even though the Suns are getting healthy/productive seasons out of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, this team continues to hover anonymously in the thick of the play-in race. This is not the outcome Mat Ishbia intended when he set his cap sheet and draft capital ablaze.
Everyone seems unhappy here – especially Jusuf Nurkic. The Suns are the most hotly rumored destination for 2024-2025 Vibe-Killer All-Star Jimmy Butler, but that feels like a solution destined to create even more problems.
I’m not entirely sure how the Suns shift the vibes here. I was certain Mike Budenholzer would come in here and loosen up the offense, allowing Durant/Booker to cook while maximizing the surrounding role players. It has not played out this way.
Absent vibes: New Orleans Pelicans, Utah Jazz
The other night, the Pelicans set a franchise record with a 25-point comeback to beat the Utah Jazz in overtime. Judging from the highlights, it looked like a fun, competitive ballgame from two teams that are better off losing.
I can’t describe the feeling I get when I watch teams in this position play games like this. They each still have roughly 40 games to go before they can go on extended summer vacation. Their fans seemed checked out. Their seasons begin in earnest when the ping pong balls start bouncing in May.
Meanwhile, games – occasionally exciting games – continue to take place amid a vibe void. It’s strange to say the least.
Vibes build-up into next season: Detroit Pistons
The hardest thing to accomplish in the NBA is to figure out who your “guy” is. Without a “guy,” it’s impossible to develop an identity, a strategy, a reason for existing.
The Detroit Pistons finally have their “guy” in Cade Cunningham.
The Pistons may or may not make the playoffs this season, but that hardly matters. The vibes this season are such a stark difference from the black cloud that has followed this team for several seasons now. With Cunningham at the helm, a young, improving cast of role players, and several tradeable assets, the Pistons are in a position to enter next season as that Orlando Magic-esque “forgotten franchise on the rise.”
Other than “team on the verge of an NBA title,” this is the best spot for a fan, vibes-wise. The expectations aren’t out of control, but there are signs of a better future to come.
