NBA Teams That Will Turn Things Around After the 2017 All-Star Break

Ever wonder why the NBA has been so cranky over the past few weeks? Look no further than the All-Star break.

Those participating in Feb. 17-19's festivities might already be eying the fun that awaits them in New Orleans. For the vast majority who won't be living it up in the Crescent City, there are relaxing vacations with family and friends calling their names.

Regardless, there's a welcome reprieve from persistent trade rumors, endless road trips and the grizzly grind of the NBA schedule. Then comes the sprint to the finish, with teams spending the final third of the basketball calendar either tuning up for the playoffs or winding down for a trip to the lottery.

For the following squads, a host of factors—from the relative roster clarity that comes after Feb. 23's trade deadline to the healing powers of time—figure to bring brighter days in the near future.

Teams are listed alphabetically.

Miami Heat

The Miami Heat just missed the cut because they're way ahead of the curve. Their turnaround began Jan. 17, when they tipped off a 13-game winning streak that's put them within striking distance of a playoff spot.

For those without a dog in the East's No. 8-seed fight, wouldn't it be fun to see this Heat team—with just one holdover (Udonis Haslem) from the last championship run—go toe-to-toe with LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers in the postseason?

Minnesota Timberwolves

Tom Thibodeau's Timberpups were just figuring out how to play defense when Zach LaVine went down with a torn ACL. From New Year's Day until LaVine's injury Feb. 3, the Timberwolves had defended like a middle-of-the-pack team. That's nothing to write home about, until you consider Minnesota had a bottom-five unit in 2016.

Since their starting shooting guard went down, though, the Wolves have given up the second-most points per 100 possessions. Whatever progress they made with LaVine in the lineup may be tough to recover with Brandon Rush now in his place.

Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings have shown signs of life, beating three playoff teams during a recent four-game stretch, including a stunning 109-106 win over the Golden State Warriors. Having a one-man wrecking crew like DeMarcus Cousins helps. So does Ben McLemore's recent uptick—with four double-digit scoring efforts in his first five February games—and Darren Collison averaging nearly 20 points a night over the same span.

But can the inconsistent Kings—with Rudy Gay down on account of a torn Achilles tendon—keep this up long enough to sneak into the West's final playoff spot? That's a big ask for a team that last sniffed the postseason in 2006.

Is there any NBA team that needs the All-Star break more than the Cleveland Cavaliers?

Between LeBron James' public battles with the franchise's front office and Charles Barkley, the New York Knicks' push to swap Carmelo Anthony for Kevin Love—as first reported by ESPN's Marc Stein and Chris Haynes—injuries to J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert and the added burden that James, Love and Kyrie Irving have had to bear amid a banged-up roster, the Cavs could use time away.

They looked that way during a 2-6 stretch in January. Cleveland seemed to have put those struggles aside, winning six of seven, before following up a double-digit dance past the Indiana Pacers with a 118-109 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.

Odds are, the Cavs won't find the playmaker James has demanded via trade. General manager David Griffin is strapped for assets, having already sent out a first-round pick to add Kyle Korver to the league's highest payroll.

Cleveland should have better luck, though, once the buyout market materializes. The club plucked Derrick Williams off waivers in time to see the former No. 2 pick pop for 12 points off the bench in OKC and another seven at home against the Denver Nuggets.

In truth, the Cavs don't need any major additions. It's more important they get Smith and Shumpert healthy, keep their Big Three in working condition and get everyone up and running on both ends of the floor in time to defend their title come late spring. 

The stretch run of the Dallas Mavericks' 2016-17 season could look a lot like the final few minutes of their 114-113 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Feb. 7: big shots by Yogi Ferrell. Bigger ones from Dirk Nowitzki. A back-and-forth with Portland in pursuit of the West's No. 8 seed.

And to think, the latest catalyst for a once-downtrodden Mavs squad that's won six of eight came courtesy not of the front office's basketball brains, but of team owner Mark Cuban, per ESPN's Tim MacMahon: "Mavs executives Donnie Nelson and Michael Finley gave Mark Cuban a list of three D-League point guards and said they were pretty close in talent. 'The tie goes to the IU guy,' said Cuban, a proud Hoosier."

Ferrell—who recently signed a two-year deal with Dallas after wrapping up a 10-day contract—has emerged as not only an effective fill-in at the point, but also as a key cog in the Mavericks' new small-ball lineup. According to NBA.com, the starting unit of Ferrell, Seth Curry, Wesley Matthews, Harrison Barnes and Nowitzki has outscored its foes by 19 points in 100 minutes.

That's far from a dominant margin. But for a Dallas squad that stumbled to an 11-27 start, it marks a major move in the right direction. The Mavs will test their freshest arrangement against a remaining schedule that, per Playoff Status, is the softest in the West.

If Dallas' dalliance with downsizing holds up into the stretch run, the Mavericks could wind up playing for more than pingpong balls come March and April.

Pick just about any problem that's plagued the Los Angeles Clippers since mid-January, and you'll trace its origins back to one person: Chris Paul.

The Clippers' struggles shutting off dribble penetration? CP3 would help with that.

L.A.'s need to labor for its scores (15th in assist ratio since Jan. 17, per NBA.com)? Surely Paul, fourth in the league in assists (9.7 per game) would help with that, too.

Raymond Felton is banged-up? Austin Rivers is running on fumes? Those concerns wouldn't be quite so crippling with another guard—especially one of the best in basketball—in the rotation.

The good news? Paul remains on track to return from a torn thumb ligament by mid-March.

"Yeah, I was going to activate him," head coach and team president Doc Rivers joked regarding Paul's appearance at practice, per the Orange County Register's Dan Woike. "He looked good yesterday."

The better news: The Clippers will be well past their current stretch of 11 out of 13 games on the road by then, with plenty of home dates to work Paul back into the flow.

L.A. will need him to hit the ground running. The Clippers have already slipped to fifth place in the West and could fall further from any semblance of home-court advantage—and into a harrowing first-round matchup with the Houston Rockets or San Antonio Spurs—by the time Paul returns.

Kevin Durant's return to the Sooner State on Saturday was only the cruelest reminder of what the Oklahoma City Thunder are up against in his absence. While Durant gets to run roughshod over the NBA alongside three other All-Stars, Russell Westbrook has to squeeze out every ounce of energy he has to uplift a young supporting cast from night to night.

"I think what he's doing is outstanding, myself, especially with a team that's been weakened since Kevin Durant left," Oscar Robertson—the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a full season—told USA Today's Sam Amick. "That makes a big difference. So therefore, he's taken it upon himself to try to do whatever he can to help his team to win."

Westbrook's help thinned considerably when Enes Kanter lost a fight with a folding chair against the Dallas Mavericks in late January. His frustration could cost him two months on account of a broken forearm and all but kill any hopes OKC had of avoiding the San Antonio Spurs to open the postseason.

To their credit, the Thunder have survived without Kanter's 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. They followed up a three-game skid sans their sixth man by winning three out of four, including a hard-earned 118-109 win over the Cavaliers, prior to another double-digit smackdown against the Golden State Warriors.

It helps that Joffrey Lauvergne (7.4 points a d 5.3 rebounds since Kanter went down) has been serviceable in a larger role. And it doesn't hurt that Westbrook's triple-double train is still rumbling down the track.

There's no indication yet that the Thunder have their sights set on a deadline deal, though general manager Sam Presti is crafty enough to concoct one. Either way, OKC will need Kanter back in the saddle for a stretch of seven out of 11 on the road to end the regular season before bracing for what figures to be a brutal first-round matchup.

It's deja vu all over again for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Their newfound fortune in January (10-5 during the month) flipped quickly to February blues (five straight losses prior to beating the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat in consecutive games). Joel Embiid, the runaway Rookie of the Year favorite, missed the first six games of the month—among a stretch of 11 DNPs in 12 Sixers contests—with a left knee contusion.

Philly isn't yet letting on as to when Embiid might be back, and it's taking a similar tack with its other prized asset, Ben Simmons.

"We're sensitive to...the health and the long-term performance ability of these players, and that's the most important thing," general manager Bryan Colangelo said during a recent radio appearance in Philadelphia, per Sixers.com's Brian Seltzer. 

"I think that by doing so, we're going to protect the best interest of this organization, and the fanbase, because if we can get Joel and Ben healthy, and let them play together, they're both going to be an attraction, and we're going to be adding to that attraction, and it's really something to get excited about for the future."

The Sixers could attract a few more wins, too, once those two finally see the floor together. Embiid's managed to average 20.2 points on 46.6 percent shooting (36.7 percent from three) with the likes of T.J. McConnell and Sergio Rodriguez running point. It doesn't take a vivid imagination to see Embiid taking his beastliness to another plane with a 6'10" point forward phenom feeding him the ball.

For now, Philly will keep flatlining without either of those studs. It'll soar when both are ready to roll.

 

All stats via NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and listen to his Hollywood Hoops podcast with B/R Lakers lead writer Eric Pincus.