We have surpassed the 2025-26 NBA season’s 60-game mark for all 30 teams, which means you, my friends, are due for a third-quarter report card, grading their progress.

(For reference: first-quarter report card • midseason report card)

We grade here against expectations. Were you meant to be terrible and are terrible, all while developing young talent and/or maintaining a clear vision of a brighter future? You might deserve an A, even amidst a godforsaken season. (See: Pacers, Indiana.)

Were you supposed to be OK and instead are great, establishing yourself as one of the league’s true contenders? You could get an A for that, too. (See: Celtics, Boston.)

Were you designed to be good and instead are bad, lacking any true sense of direction? Is the best player on the team wavering on his commitment? Could everyone be fired at season’s end? You warrant an F. (See: Bucks, Milwaukee.)

Most everyone else falls somewhere in between.

We should note: Grades are for the season to date, not just the third quarter, because we wanted to give you a complete snapshot of the season so far. Had the Charlotte Hornets been assessed on their last 20 games, they would get an A, but that would ignore what has made them such a welcome surprise: They have steadily improved from a D in the first quarter to a C at midyear and a B now. What progress.

Maybe they will warrant an A by season’s end. See how that works?

OK, let’s get to the grades, starting in the Eastern Conference. (West to come.)

Atlanta Hawks • Boston Celtics • Brooklyn Nets • Charlotte Hornets • Chicago Bulls • Cleveland Cavaliers • Detroit Pistons • Indiana Pacers • Miami Heat • Milwaukee Bucks • New York Knicks • Orlando Magic • Philadelphia 76ers • Toronto Raptors • Washington Wizards

Atlanta Hawks (33-31)

• Three-quarter MVP: Jalen Johnson (23-11-8 on 49/34/78)

• Offensive rating: 114.0 (17th) • Defensive rating: 113.6 (14th)

• Best lineup: Johnson • CJ McCollum • Nickeil Alexander-Walker • Dyson Daniels • Onyeka Okongwu (+86 in 158 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 16-20 • Against losing teams: 17-11

With Trae Young in the fold this season, the Hawks were outscored by 6.8 points per 100 possessions, operating like the league’s worst defense. … Without him, they are now, slightly, outscoring opponents, performing like a top-10 defense. …. Which should give you an idea of why they dealt their All-Star point guard. … There is a statistical All-NBA case for Johnson. … The Alexander-Walker signing was a great one. … They are 3-0 with Jonathan Kuminga. … An interesting team full of interesting wings, including Zaccharie Risacher. … For all the change, back to the play-in tournament for Atlanta, though their current six-game win streak is an encouraging one.

Grade: C Boston Celtics (43-21)

• Three-quarter MVP: Jaylen Brown (29-7-5 on 48/35/78)

• Offensive rating: 119.8 (2nd) • Defensive rating: 111.6 (5th)

• Best lineup: Brown • Derrick White • Payton Pritchard • Sam Hauser • Neemias Queta (+76 in 487 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 21-14 • Against losing teams: 22-7

Jayson Tatum is back, and his return has been better than we could have anticipated. … He has looked a lot like himself, only in preseason form, understandably lacking a little lift off his legs, and he has a month to play himself into shape. … Jaylen Brown did his part, holding the fort in Tatum’s absence, even submitting a fringe MVP campaign. … The league’s deadliest wing combo again makes them betting favorites in the East. … Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson called Derrick White “a top-five player.” … They said the Celtics needed an upgrade at center, but how many would be better than Queta?

Grade: A Brooklyn Nets (17-47)

• Three-quarter MVP: Michael Porter Jr. (24-7-3 on 46/37/86)

• Offensive rating: 109.9 (26th) • Defensive rating: 118.2 (27th)

• Best lineup: Porter • Terance Mann • Egor Dёmin • Noah Clowney • Nicolas Claxton (+13 in 307 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 6-34 • Against losing teams: 11-13

The Nets used all five of their first-round draft picks this past June, and it is unclear if they would have drafted any of them if given the opportunity to do it again. … At least Dёmin and Nolan Traore look like keepers. … Porter has been a revelation, playing at an All-Star level, and he could become one of the league’s top assets if he hits the trade market this summer. … Will Detroit regret passing on the opportunity to add Porter? … Brooklyn’s next-best assets are named 1) Lottery Luck and 2) Cap Space. … When last a star chose the Nets, they were encouraging. Will anyone choose them in this state?

Grade: C Charlotte Hornets (32-33)

• Three-quarter MVP: LaMelo Ball (19-5-7 on 40/36/90)

• Offensive rating: 117.7 (4th) • Defensive rating: 114.2 (16th)

• Best lineup: Ball • Kon Knueppel • Brandon Miller • Miles Bridges • Moussa Diabaté (+188 in 322 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 14-25 • Against losing teams: 18-8

The Hornets started 4-14. Since then, they are 28-19 — a stretch that spans more than half the season — owners of the league’s fifth-best net rating (+7.1) in that timeframe. … That run includes a top-three offense and a top-seven defense. … They are a scary first-round playoff opponent for any of the top-four teams in the East. … Ball, believe it or not, has some of the best on/off numbers in the game. … Miller is a player. …. The case for Knueppel as Rookie of the Year is clear: He has played 12 more games than Cooper Flagg, and all of his minutes are in service of a postseason-bound team.

Grade: B Chicago Bulls (26-38)

• Three-quarter MVP: Josh Giddey (18-8-9 on 46/37/76)

• Offensive rating: 112.1 (25th) • Defensive rating: 116.7 (23rd)

• Best lineup: Giddey • Tre Jones • Isaac Okoro • Matas Buzelis • Guerschon Yabusele (-5 in 30 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 16-21 • Against losing teams: 10-17

Since the trade deadline, when the Bulls jettisoned Nikola Vučević, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu for a handful of second-round draft picks, they are 2-11 and nearly being outscored by double digits per 100 possessions. … All of those guys are now kind of integral pieces of competitive playoff rotations. … Chicago’s coach, Billy Donovan, was endlessly frustrated with the team’s lack of direction, so at least they picked one. … Except, by waiting so long to tank, the Bulls will, in all likelihood, draft somewhere around 10th again. … Who else is a building block for the future? Only Buzelis.

Grade: D Cleveland Cavaliers (40-25)

• Three-quarter MVP: Donovan Mitchell (28-5-6 on 48/37/85)

• Offensive rating: 117.2 (6th) • Defensive rating: 113.1 (13th)

• Best lineup: Mitchell • James Harden • Dean Wade • Evan Mobley • Jarrett Allen (+13 in 25 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 18-19 • Against losing teams: 22-6

With Harden in the lineup, the Cavaliers are now 9-2, outscoring opponents by 6.1 points per 100 possessions. … Harden’s honeymoon stage is in full bloom. …. The turnaround, though, really, began before he arrived. … Harden continues to own among the worst defensive on/off numbers of all NBA regulars. … Thank goodness for Mobley and Allen, who, when paired, perform like a top-flight defense. … Mitchell has been incredible once again. He is a surefire future Hall of Famer, among the most talented guards of his generation. … He, like Harden, just needs to win big.

Grade: B Detroit Pistons (45-18)

• Three-quarter MVP: Cade Cunningham (25-6-10 on 46/34/81)

• Offensive rating: 116.0 (11th) • Defensive rating: 108.9 (2nd)

• Best lineup: Cunningham • Duncan Robinson • Ausar Thompson • Tobias Harris • Jalen Duren (+134 in 490 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 24-10 • Against losing teams: 21-8

The Pistons lost to the Nets without Cunningham, their only game without him since January, which should tell you a lot about his MVP case. … I would give the award to him if ever Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama do not qualify. … The Pistons are 6.9 points per 100 meaningful possessions better when Cunningham is on the floor. … Duren is among the best roll men in the league. … It is the wing where we wonder about their ceiling. They either lean defense (Thompson), offense (Robinson) or average at both (Harris). … Their ceiling may be Thompson’s.

Grade: A Indiana Pacers (15-49)

• Three-quarter MVP: Pascal Siakam (24-7-4 on 48/36/68)

• Offensive rating: 108.7 (30th) • Defensive rating: 117.2 (25th)

• Best lineup: Siakam • Andrew Nembhard • Aaron Nesmith • Johnny Furphy • Jarace Walker (+17 in 47 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 6-32 • Against losing teams: 9-17

Pacers fans have to be celebrating Tatum’s return, if only because of what it means for Tyrese Haliburton’s comeback over an even longer rehabilitation period. … Indiana took a different course from Boston, leaning heavily into a tank job, and they have done so with great aplomb, taking the East’s worst record into the final quarter of the season. … Siakam, Nesmith, Nembhard and Obi Toppin are still the bones of a good team. … Add a high-end lottery pick in this loaded draft, along with Ivica Zubac, who arrived via trade, plus Haliburton, and the Pacers suddenly have a contender again.

Grade: A Miami Heat (36-29)

• Three-quarter MVP: Bam Adebayo (19-10-3 on 45/33/77)

• Offensive rating: 114.7 (13th) • Defensive rating: 111.4 (4th)

• Best lineup: Adebayo • Davion Mitchell • Norman Powell • Pelle Larsson • Andrew Wiggins (+62 in 110 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 14-22 • Against losing teams: 22-7

Man, the Heat just do not go away. I had written them off in the post-Jimmy Butler era, but here they are, still vying for a guaranteed playoff seed. … Adebayo is an automatic top-five defense. It’s unbelievable, really. … His partnership with Kel’el Ware is bearing fruit, outscoring opponents by 8.3 points per 100 possessions. … That unique offense, the one without many screens, is still the league’s fastest, though it has settled into an average outfit. … Tyler Herro is not average. What a scorer. … The Heat need Powell back from his groin injury. … Miami fields a group of good players in need of a great one.

Grade: B Milwaukee Bucks (27-36)

• Three-quarter MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo (28-10-6 on 64/36/65)

• Offensive rating: 112.4 (24th) • Defensive rating: 117.0 (24th)

• Best lineup: Antetokounmpo • Ryan Rollins • Kevin Porter Jr. • A.J. Green • Myles Turner (+44 in 173 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 11-27 • Against losing teams: 16-9

The seats are hot in Milwaukee, both on the bench and in the front office. … The Bucks are, apparently, trying to thread a needle, hoping to find some way they can convince Antetokounmpo to stay. … What would that require? A miracle, first in the draft lottery, where they receive the worse of their own pick or New Orleans’ selection, and then on the trade market, where only high-risk options may be available to them. … And still that may not be enough to convince Antetokounmpo to stay. … Look at the roster. Who moves a needle? Not Turner, who they are, essentially, paying $50 million annually.

Grade: F New York Knicks (41-25)

• Three-quarter MVP: Jalen Brunson (26-3-7 on 47/38/84)

• Offensive rating: 118.1 (3rd) • Defensive rating: 112.0 (7th)

• Best lineup: Brunson • Josh Hart • Mikal Bridges • OG Anunoby • Karl-Anthony Towns (+34 in 390 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 21-20 • Against losing teams: 20-5

After all the ups and downs this season, including concerns over Towns, the Knicks are right about where we expected them to be, around the top of the East standings. … Would they have taken a top-three offense and a top-seven defense to this point? I think they would. … The Brunson-Towns pairing is still a defensive concern, and the Knicks are operating closer to a middling outfit when they share the floor. … Bridges and Anunoby are rounding into form at the right time. … Josh Hart is always in form. … Jose Alvarado, another perfect Knick, is a savior in the absence of Deuce McBride.

Grade: B Orlando Magic (35-28)

• Three-quarter MVP: Paolo Banchero (22-9-5 on 47/31/77)

• Offensive rating: 114.0 (16th) • Defensive rating: 112.6 (11th)

• Best lineup: Banchero • Jalen Suggs • Desmond Bane • Franz Wagner • Wendell Carter Jr. (+39 in 126 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 14-21 • Against losing teams: 21-7

Banchero, the former No. 1 overall pick, is the opposite of an advanced analytics darling, ranking between Alexander-Walker and Alperen Şengün in Estimated Plus-Minus. … Wagner may be the greater floor-raiser, but he cannot stay on the court (an ankle injury is his latest ailment), making a partnership with Banchero all the more difficult. … Suggs, statistically, is the real key, as the Magic are 12.4 points better when he is on the floor, per Cleaning the Glass. … An upgrade at Carter’s center position feels like a necessity. Might Anthony Davis have been an interesting fit with Orlando?

Grade: C Philadelphia 76ers (34-30)

• Three-quarter MVP: Tyrese Maxey (29-4-7 on 46/37/89)

• Offensive rating: 114.2 (14th) • Defensive rating: 114.6 (17th)

• Best lineup: Maxey • VJ Edgecombe • Kelly Oubre Jr. • Dominick Barlow • Joel Embiid (+39 in 153 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 14-24 • Against losing teams: 20-6

Maxey is an offensive dynamo, but the 76ers are scoring only 115.4 points per 100 possessions — a middling figure — when he is on the floor. … Edgecombe is just as dynamic, and the Philadelphia faithful can hope to root for this backcourt for years to come. … Embiid is still a beast, when healthy, averaging a 30-8-4 since mid-December, but he cannot stay healthy. This time it’s an oblique injury. … When Maxey, Edgecombe and Embiid share the floor, the Sixers are outscoring opponents by six points per 100 possessions, operating like an elite offense. … With help needed on the wings, could Paul George’s return from suspension make them a frightening first-round opponent?

Grade: B

Toronto Raptors (36-27)

• Three-quarter MVP: Scottie Barnes (19-8-5 on 50/30/83)

• Offensive rating: 113.8 (18th) • Defensive rating: 111.8 (6th)

• Best lineup: Barnes • Immanuel Quickley • RJ Barrett • Brandon Ingram • Jakob Poeltl (+36 in 255 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 15-21 • Against losing teams: 21-6

Barnes has comparable numbers to Banchero, but he does not catch nearly as much grief. Maybe we expect more from a No. 1 overall pick. Or maybe it’s just the fact that the Raptors are 8.4 points per 100 possessions better when Barnes is on the floor. … It is still hard to believe Toronto put two players on the All-Star team, but Ingram has been that good, averaging a 21-6-5 on 45/42/74 shooting splits since the break. … Another guy to like: Jamal Shead, who does the dirty work on a team that needs it. … Credit coach Darko Rajaković for forging a top-10 defense from this group.

Grade: B Washington Wizards (16-47)

• Three-quarter MVP: Alex Sarr (17-8-3 on 50/34/69)

• Offensive rating: 109.6 (28th) • Defensive rating: 120.5 (30th)

• Best lineup: Sarr • Justin Champagnie • Bilal Coulibaly • Bub Carrington • Kyshawn George (+4 in 44 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 4-31 • Against losing teams: 12-16

Sarr is a player, and that is a start. It would just be nice to see how he might impact a winning environment, if at all. … It would be nice to see how all of the Wizards perform on a winning team, but they have to create one first. … Another start: Washington is outscoring opponents by 8.1 points per 100 possessions, playing like the league’s best offense, in the short amount of time that Trae Young has taken the floor for them. … Imagine what they might look like with Anthony Davis in the mix. Competitive even. … Tre Johnson, scorer — and floor-raiser? A rookie has the team’s best on/off numbers.

Grade: B

read more