NBA Top 10 Franchises of the 2010s

[Maestro84]

Which NBA franchises have performed the best this past decade? After looking at some stats, this would be my list:

1. Golden State Warriors
- 3 Championships (2015, 2017, 2018)
- 5 Straight Finals Appearances (2015-2019)
- 5 Straight Conference Finals Appearances (2015-2019)
- 505-299 overall record (62.8%)
- 19-4 playoff series record (82.6%)
- 4 top seeds in conference (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019)
- 5 Division Titles (2015-2019)
- 73-9 in 2016 reg season season (record)
- 16-1 in 2017 playoffs (record)
- 28 game win streak across 2 seasons (4 + 24)
- 51 wins/season
- Made playoffs 7/10 years (2013-2019)
- Best Player: Stephen Curry

2. San Antonio Spurs
- 1 Championship (2014)
- 2 Finals Appearances (2013, 2014)
- 4 Conference Finals Appearances (2012, 2013, 2014, 2017)
- 559-245 overall record (69.5%)
- 13-9 playoff series record (59.1%)
- 3 top seeds in conference (2011, 2012, 2014)
- 6 Division Titles (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)
- 19 game win streak in 2014 season
- 56 wins/season
- Made playoffs 10/10 years (2010-2019)
- Best Player: Tim Duncan

3. Miami Heat
- 2 Championships (2012, 2013)
- 4 Straight Finals Appearances (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014)
- 4 Straight Conference Finals Appearances (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014)
- 480-324 overall record (59.7%)
- 15-5 playoff series record (75%)
- 1 top seed in conference (2013)
- 6 Division Titles (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018)
- 27 game win streak in 2013 season
- 48 wins/season
- Made playoffs 7/10 years (2010-2014, 2016, 2018)
- Best Player: LeBron James

4. Cleveland Cavaliers
- 1 Championship (2016)
- 4 Straight Finals Appearances (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
- 4 Straight Conference Finals Appearances (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
- 388-416 overall record (48.3%)
- 14-4 playoff series record (77.8%)
- 2 top seeds in conference (2010, 2016)
- 5 Division Titles (2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
- 39 wins/season
- Made playoffs 5/10 years (2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
- Best Player: LeBron James

5. Toronto Raptors
- 1 Championship (2019)
- 1 Finals Appearance (2019)
- 2 Conference Finals Appearances (2016, 2019)
- 440-364 overall record (54.7%)
- 8-5 playoff series record (61.5%)
- 1 top seed in conference (2018)
- 5 Division Titles (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019)
- 44 wins/season
- Made playoffs 6/10 years (2014-2019)
- Best Player: Kawhi Leonard or Kyle Lowry

6. Oklahoma City Thunder
- 0 Championships
- 1 Finals Appearance (2012)
- 4 Conference Finals Appearances (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016)
- 515-289 overall record (63.7%)
- 10-9 playoff series record (52.6%)
- 1 top seed in conference (2013)
- 5 Division Titles (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016)
- 52 wins/season
- Made playoffs 9/10 years (2010-2014, 2016-2019)
- Best Player: Russell Westbrook or Kevin Durant

7. Boston Celtics
- 0 Championships
- 1 Finals Appearance (2010)
- 4 Conference Finals Appearances (2010, 2012, 2017, 2018)
- 456-348 overall record (56.7%)
- 11-9 playoff series record (55%)
- 1 top seed in conference (2017)
- 4 Division Titles (2010, 2011, 2012, 2017)
- 46 wins/season
- Made playoffs 9/10 years
- Best Player: Paul Pierce

8. Dallas Mavericks
- 1 Championship (2011)
- 1 Finals Appearance (2011)
- 1 Conference Final Appearance (2011)
- 420-384 (52.2%)
- 4-5 playoff series record (44.4%)
- 1 Division Title (2010)
- 42 wins/season
- Made playoffs 6/10 years (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016)
- Best Player: Dirk Nowitzki

9. Houston Rockets
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearances
- 2 Conference Finals Appearances (2015, 2018)
- 488-316 overall record (60.7%)
- 6-7 playoff series record (46.2%)
- 1 top seed in conference (2018)
- 3 Division Titles (2015, 2018, 2019)
- 49 wins/season
- Made playoffs 7/10 years (2013-2019)
- Best Player: James Harden

10. Los Angeles Lakers
- 1 Championship (2010)
- 1 Finals Appearance (2010)
- 1 Conference Final Appearance (2010)
- 363-441 overall record (45.2%)
- 6-3 playoff series record (66.7%)
- 1 top seed in conference (2010)
- 3 Division Titles (2010, 2011, 2012)
- 37 wins/season
- Made playoffs 4/10 years (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
- Best Player: Kobe Bryant (RIP )

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[Maestro84]

Won't lie this was a very difficult list to make in terms of where to rank the teams. The top 3 was easy with Golden State, San Antonio, and Miami in that order, but after that was anything but easy.

I was very tempted to put Toronto above Cleveland as they were more consistent throughout, and it was very obvious Cleveland was solely dependent on one player to deliver for them rather than actually building good all-around teams with a positive culture. Ultimately, I went with Cleveland given the 4 straight finals appearances (3 of which they beat Toronto en route).

Teams like OKC, Boston, and Houston were also very hard to rank as they didn't win a ring but boy did they consistently field some kicka** teams throughout the years with many similar and different faces on their rosters. I think OKC and Boston were consistently and all-around great enough to be ranked over Dallas despite the chip (Dallas didn't do a whole lot outside their awesome 2011 run), whereas Houston did not imo.

I also decided to include the Lakers at the 10 spot since any team that wins a championship has to be included in the top 10 franchises list even though they were horrid for the majority of it and their lone title came very early on in the decade.

 

[Howe Elbows 9]

Top 10 teams based on regular season winning percentage;

San Antonio, 559-245, .695
Oklahoma City, 515-289, .637
Golden State, 505-299, .628
Houston, 488-316, .607
Miami, 480-324, .597
L.A. Clippers, 464-340, .577
Boston, 456-348, .567
Portland, 451-353, .561
Toronto, 440-364, .547
Indiana, 437-366, .544

I really like your informative post as well as your list.

 

[Maestro84]

Since I got enough time on my hands at this moment to do the entire league's ranking, here I go (also wow, things got ugly after #20 or so, poor fellas). Anyways, following the top 10 I got:

11. Indiana Pacers
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 2 Conference Final Appearances (2013, 2014)
- 437-367 overall record (54.4%)
- 5-8 playoff series record (38.5%)
- 1 top seed in conference (2014)
- 2 Division Titles (2013, 2014)
- 44 wins/season
- Made playoffs 8/10 years (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
- Best Player: Paul George
12. Los Angeles Clippers
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 0 Conference Final Appearances
- 464-340 overall record (57.7%)
- 3-7 playoff series record (30%)
- 2 Division Titles (2013, 2014)
- 47 wins/season
- Made playoffs 7/10 years (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019)
- Best Player: Chris Paul
13. Portland Trail Blazers
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 1 Conference Final Appearances (2019)
- 451-367 overall record (56.1%)
- 4-6 playoff series record (40%)
- 2 Division Titles (2015, 2018)
- 46 wins/season
- Made playoffs 8/10 years (2010, 2011, 2014-2019)
- Best Player: Damian Lillard
14. Chicago Bulls
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 1 Conference Final Appearances (2011)
- 428-376 overall record (53.2%)
- 4-7 playoff series record (36.4%)
- 2 top seed in conference (2011, 2012)
- 2 Division Titles (2011, 2012)
- 44 wins/season
- Made playoffs 7/10 years (2010-2015, 2017)
- Best Player: Derrick Rose
15. Memphis Grizzlies
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 1 Conference Final Appearances (2013)
- 428-376 overall record (53.2%)
- 4-7 playoff series record (36.4%)
- 44 wins/season
- Made playoffs 7/10 years (2011-2017)
- Best Player: Marc Gasol
16. Atlanta Hawks
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 1 Conference Final Appearances (2015)
- 423-372 overall record (52.6%)
- 5-8 playoff series record (38.5%)
- 1 top seed in conference (2015)
- 1 Division Title (2015)
- 19 game win streak in 2015
- 43 wins/season
- Made playoffs 8/10 years (2010-2017)
- Best Player: Al Horford
17. Denver Nuggets
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 0 Conference Finals Appearances
- 437-367 overall record (54.4%)
- 1-5 playoff series record (16.7%)
- 2 Division Titles (2010, 2019)
- 44 wins/season
- Made playoffs 5/10 years (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2019)
- Best Player: Nikola Jokic
18. Utah Jazz
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 0 Conference Final Appearances
- 423-372 overall record (52.6%)
- 3-5 playoff series record (37.5%)
- 1 Division Title (2017)
- 43 wins/season
- Made playoffs 5/10 years (2010, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2019)
- Best Player: Gordon Hayward
19. Milwaukee Bucks
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 1 Conference Final Appearances (2019)
- 385-419 overall record (47.9%)
- 2-6 playoff series record (25%)
- 1 top seed in conference (2019)
- 1 Division Title (2019)
- 39 wins/season
- Made playoffs 6/10 years (2010, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019)
- Best Player: Giannis Antetokounmpo
20. Washington Wizards
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 0 Conference Final Appearances
- 353-451 overall record (43.9%)
- 3-4 playoff series record (42.9%)
- 1 Division Title (2017)
- 36 wins/season
- Made playoffs 4/10 years (2014, 2015, 2017, 2018)
- Best Player: John Wall
21. Orlando Magic
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 1 Conference Final Appearances (2010)
- 338-466 overall record (42.0%)
- 2-4 playoff series record (33.3%)
- 2 Division Titles (2010, 2019)
- 34 wins/season
- Made playoffs 4/10 years (2010, 2011, 2012, 2019)
- Best Player: Nikola Vucevic or Dwight Howard
22. Philadelphia 76ers
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 0 Conference Final Appearances
- 315-489 overall record (39.2%)
- 3-4 playoff series record (25%)
- 32 wins/season
- Made playoffs 4/10 years (2011, 2012, 2018, 2019)
- Best Player: Joel Embiid
23. New Orleans Pelicans/Hornets
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 0 Conference Final Appearances
- 335-469 overall record (41.7%)
- 1-3 playoff series record (25%)
- 34 wins/season
- Made playoffs 3/10 years (2011, 2015, 2018)
- Best Player: Anthony Davis
24. Charlotte Hornets/Bobcats
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 0 Conference Final Appearances
- 341-471 overall record (42.4%)
- 0-3 playoff series record (0%)
- 35 wins/season
- Made playoffs 2/10 years (2016, 2019)
- Best Player: Kemba Walker
25. New York Knicks
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 0 Conference Final Appearances
- 324-480 overall record (40.3%)
- 1-3 playoff series record (25%)
- 1 Division Title (2013)
- 33 wins/season
- Made playoffs 3/10 years (2011, 2012, 2013)
- Best Player: Carmelo Anthony
26. Detroit Pistons
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 0 Conference Final Appearances
- 333-471 overall record (41.4%)
- 0-2 playoff series record (0%)
- 34 wins/season
- Made playoffs 2/10 years (2016, 2019)
- Best Player: Andre Drummond
27. Phoenix Suns
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 1 Conference Final Appearance (2010)
- 326-478 overall record (40.6%)
- 2-1 playoff series record (66.7%)
- 33 wins/season
- Made playoffs 1/10 years (2010)
- Best Player: Devin Booker
28. Brooklyn Nets
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 0 Conference Final Appearances
- 300-504 overall record (37.3%)
- 1-4 playoff series record (20%)
- 30 wins/season
- Made playoffs 4/10 years (2013, 2014, 2015, 2019)
- Best Player: Brook Lopez
29. Minnesota Timberwolves
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 0 Conference Final Appearance
- 288-516 overall record (35.8%)
- 0-1 playoff series record (0%)
- 29 wins/season
- Made playoffs 1/10 years (2018)
- Best Player: Karl-Anthony Towns or Kevin Love
30. Sacramento Kings
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 0 Conference Final Appearance
- 287-517 overall record (35.7%)
- 0-0 playoff series record (-)
- 29 wins/season
- Made playoffs 0/10 years (-)
- Best Player: DeMarcus Cousins

 

[alko]

29. Minnesota Timberwolves
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 0 Conference Final Appearance
- 288-516 overall record (35.8%)
- 0-1 playoff series record (0%)
- 29 wins/season
- Made playoffs 1/10 years (2018)
- Best Player: Karl-Anthony Towns or Kevin Love
30. Sacramento Kings
- 0 Championships
- 0 Finals Appearance
- 0 Conference Final Appearance
- 287-517 overall record (35.7%)
- 0-0 playoff series record (-)
- 29 wins/season
- Made playoffs 0/10 years (-)
- Best Player: DeMarcus Cousins

Nice. Im a fan of this franchises from now. Any hope, it will be better soon?

 

[SillyRabbit]

As an OKC fan, feelsbadman.

In 2012 everyone and their mother were convinced we'd win multiple championships.

We never even made it back to the finals.

 

[Voight]

As an OKC fan, feelsbadman.

In 2012 everyone and their mother were convinced we'd win multiple championships.

We never even made it back to the finals.

I'm a massive KD fan so I was really rooting for OKC.

Not to put salt in the wound, but one day ESPN will be a 30 for 30 on them, same way they did one on the Penny-Shaq Orlando sqauds.

 

[SillyRabbit]

I'm a massive KD fan so I was really rooting for OKC.

Not to put salt in the wound, but one day ESPN will be a 30 for 30 on them, same way they did one on the Penny-Shaq Orlando sqauds.

And I hope they crucify the cheap OKC ownership for squandering a dynasty.

They were so concerned about saving money, they traded Harden over a 2.5 million dollar per year difference. Yep, Houston’s contract with Harden paid him 2.5 million per season more than what OKC offered. They could’ve easily free’d up 2.5 million in cap space by dumping a depth player or two.

They also refused to amnesty Perkins, which would’ve freed up 9 million in cap space because they didn’t want to pay both Perkins and the replacement center (even though only the replacement center’s salary would count towards the cap).

They also had a year until Harden’s new deal would’ve kicked in, so they had plenty of time to figure out their cap issues even if they did nothing.

Or you know, just go into the luxury tax in order to keep him, it’s not like Harden was the second youngest 6MOY in NBA history... oh wait he was.

Even worse is that the Warriors ownership learned from OKC’s mistakes, and when it came time for them to dip into the luxury tax, they happily did so, which resulted in a dynasty of their own.

Three MVP’s.

8 of the last 10 scoring champions.

At one point, 3 top 5 players in the world.

And the ownership squandered it all away for 2.5 million per year over 5 years.

Ironically, they would’ve made over 100x that amount had they kept Harden, as it likely means multiple titles for the franchise.

 

[tony d]

Thanks for ranking the teams. Raptors at #5 was great to see. I wonder if they can continue their success from the 2010's into the 2020's.

 

[b1e9a8r5s]

The Bulls being in the top half of the decade is at the same time both understandable and completely shocking. Those Thibs teams feel forever ago.

 

[MVP of West Hollywd]

1. Warriors - easy pick
2. Heat - 2 titles and 4 finals to 1 title and 2 finals to the Spurs, and they haven’t cratered without Lebron, they’re usually competitive
3. Spurs - 1 champion and another near one, and many other excellent regular seasons
4. Cavaliers - They have some dreadful years but they made the finals 4 times and won 1 which is more than a lot of teams can say
5. Raptors - 1 title and several other second or third round appearances
6. Lakers - Their lows are worse than the Mavericks, but they also made the second round a few more times after their title year.
7. Mavericks - They haven’t really been dreadful, but not great either outside of their 2011 run.
8. Thunder - Impressive non title run including a finals and 3 other CF, and relevant nearly every year.
9. Celtics - They made the playoffs nearly every year and had a finals and a few CF
10. Rockets - Regularly competitive team with a few CF