Every NBA Contender's Most Troubling Flaw

Now over a third of the way through the 2022-23 NBA season, we're getting a clearer picture of the league's true contenders.

There's no dominant team this year, however, as even the once red-hot Boston Celtics have cooled to just 5-5 over their past 10 games. As good as some of these title contenders are, there are flaws to be found.

As we enter trade season and teams look to fix their weaknesses, this is the area every team should be most concerned about or look to improve. Some are quick fixes while others could require several weeks (or more) to get right.

All stats accurate through Sunday. Advanced stats courtesy of Cleaning the Glass.

Contenders are teams with +2400 odds or better to win the 2022-23 championship at FanDuel.

21+ and present in AZ, CO, CT, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA (permitted parishes only), MD, MI, NJ, NY, PA, TN, VA, WV, or WY. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MI, NJ, PA, IL, TN, VA), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700, or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), 1-800-522-4700 (WY), or visit www.1800gambler.net (WV).

The Cavs have been about what most expected this season, hovering just below some of the elite teams in the East with a 21-11 record with an offense carried by their All-Star backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.

Both have been really good individually, with Mitchell recording career-highs in scoring (29.5 points per game) and true shooting percentage (64.0 percent), while Garland's production (20.8 points, 8.0 assists) has barely fallen off from last year despite adding such a premier offensive talent beside him.

Finding the right time to share the ball and when to take over games has been a struggle, however, something the lineup numbers back up.

With both on the floor this season, the Cavs have an offensive rating of 111.4, which ranks in just the 36th percentile. There's far too much standing and watching from one when the other has the ball.

Cleveland has been much better when one of either Mitchell or Garland is orchestrating the offense and the other one sits.

With Mitchell on the floor and Garland off, the Cavaliers' offense jumps to 117.4 (84th percentile). When Garland runs the show and Mitchell rests, the Cavs score 113.9 points per 100 possessions (58th percentile).

Finding the answer at small forward has been a struggle as well, with Caris LeVert, Lamar Stevens, Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro all getting chances to win the job.

Cleveland needs to maximize the pairing of Mitchell and Garland while finding the best fit (not necessarily the best player) to help glue everyone together.

One of the biggest surprises of the NBA season has been the Pelicans' sixth-ranked defense, a big rise from their 18th-place finish a season ago.

With players like Herbert Jones, Jose Alvarado and Dyson Daniels, there are some strong perimeter stoppers on this team, and the Pelicans rank third overall in opponent three-point percentage (33.8 percent).

There is a hole in this defense to be exploited, however, as opposing teams have found success when they can get into the paint and test either Jonas Valančiūnas or Zion Williamson in the paint.

New Orleans is allowing teams to shoot a whopping 70.2 percent at the rim this season, a mark that ranks dead last in the NBA.

While the top rim protectors in the league typically hold opponents to around 50 percent shooting at the basket, players are making 67.8 of their attempts against Valančiūnas and 68.1 percent vs. Williamson, the Pelicans' frontcourt starters. Larry Nance Jr. is the team's best defensive big man, yet is still allowing players to convert at a 61.5 percent rate.

Adding a shot-blocking option off the bench via trade (Nerlens Noel?) would help shore up a leaky interior in what's otherwise been a very good defense overall.

It's unfair to completely judge these Sixers, as injuries to James Harden, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid have limited the opening night starters to just 226 total possessions this season.

As we wait for Maxey to return to the court, it's already clear that rebounding could be an issue for Philly.

The Sixers rank 29th in rebound percentage this season (47.8 percent) and are 23rd in contested rebound percentage (32.0 percent). After Embiid, Harden's 6.6 boards per game leads Philadelphia.

Obviously, this is an issue, especially when it comes to the offensive glass.

Philly is only generating 9.8 points per game off second chances, a mark that ranks dead last in the NBA. Even the rebuilding Houston Rockets are scoring 8.1 more points a night just by crashing the offensive boards.

With players like Embiid, Tobias Harris, P.J. Tucker, Montrezl Harrell and Paul Reed, this group should be far better than it is.

Denver's offense has been championship-worthy this season, ranking second only to the Boston Celtics. Nikola Jokić is putting up MVP numbers once again, while Jamal Murray has only gotten better as the year has progressed after returning from ACL surgery.

The problem, however, is stopping opponents from feasting as well.

The Nuggets are 26th in team defense (114.8 rating), with only the lottery-bound San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and Charlotte Hornets faring worse.

As good as Jokić is, he's not a rim protector by any means. His backup, DeAndre Jordan, is even worse, with Denver ranking dead last in opponent shooting in the restricted area (71.5 percent).

Outside of Bruce Brown, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Aaron Gordon, there are not a lot of plus defenders on a roster that's primarily made up of premier offensive talent.

The Nuggets need to be on the hunt for versatile defenders who can limit dribble penetration and/or contest shots at the rim via trade.

As good as this Jokić-led offense is, Denver probably isn't ready to win a title unless they can stop some teams along the way.

It took a while, but the Nets are officially back to being contenders now with a 17-7 record under Jacque Vaughn.

The offense has returned to an elite level thanks to Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, whose combined 56.5 points per game would be the 10th-highest mark by teammates in NBA history.

However, there's still a lot to figure out about the rest of the roster that's made up of a variety of skill sets.

Ben Simmons looks far removed from his All-Star version with the Philadelphia 76ers, and his continued refusal to shoot is creating some serious floor-spacing issues. His passing, rebounding and defensive switchability are enough to warrant a starting job, though.

Nic Claxton, the team's starting center and third-leading scorer, is also a non-shooter yet is the best big man on the roster and is needed for his rim-protection services.

When putting Claxton and Simmons on the floor at the same time, Brooklyn has a net rating of minus-5.3, ranking in the 22nd percentile overall. Both Claxton and Simmons are among the most important players on the roster but are essentially unplayable together.

Even the Nets' most-used lineup of Durant, Irving, Simmons, Claxton and Royce O'Neale is a net negative this season (minus-2.9 rating, 34th percentile).

Vaughn's biggest challenge will be trying to find lineups that work and can be trusted come playoff time.

For all of their differences, there seems to be a common theme among NBA contenders.

They can all shoot.

All 11 of the contenders on this list rank in the top 17 in the league in three-point accuracy, with just two (Cleveland Cavaliers and New Orleans Pelicans) ranking lower than 18th in made threes per game.

Outside of Desmond Bane, there aren't a lot of plus-shooters on this Grizzlies roster.

While Bane's 45.1 percent mark from deep ranks sixth overall in the NBA, the next closest player on Memphis' roster is all the way down at 42nd (John Konchar, 39.6 percent).

The Grizzlies rank just 16th overall in three-point accuracy (35.6 percent), the second-worst mark (Milwaukee Bucks) of any contender in the league. As good as Ja Morant is at getting into the paint, he's just a career 32.9 percent marksman from deep.

No team has struggled more than Memphis at the free-throw line this season as well, ranking dead last in the league with a 70.9 percent mark. Starting center Steven Adams is a complete liability at the line, making just 24 of his 72 attempts (33.3 percent). This kind of inefficiency could get him played off the floor in the postseason.

Bane alone can't save these marks when he returns from a toe injury. The Grizzlies have to get better from the charity stripe while looking at picking up another shooter at the deadline.

The defending champions have had a lot of issues this season.

From trying to get anything out of James Wiseman to getting killed when their starters need a rest, the Golden State Warriors are out of the Western Conference play-in picture with a 15-16 record.

What's been most puzzling of all is the Warriors' incompetence outside of San Francisco, as no team in the NBA has a worse road record (3-14).

Their home net rating of plus-9.9 free-falls to minus-7.0 on the road. Last season, Golden State was 22-19 when away with a net rating of plus-1.2.

This may not matter for a top seed that can lock in home-court advantage for multiple postseason rounds, but the No. 10 seed would be away from home for two play-in games (if it gets that far). And each of the Nos. 5-8 seeds would play four road games in a seven-game first-round series.

Maybe the team has a championship hangover, but whether the veterans need to lock in more or the young rotation members need to step up—or a combination of the two—Golden State simply needs to play better away from the Chase Center.

This might be the obvious answer, but nothing really matters for the Los Angeles Clippers unless Kawhi Leonard is healthy and available for the playoffs.

Limited to just 11 of Los Angeles' first 32 games, Leonard (who looks far from 100 percent) has made a huge difference.

Despite his averaging just 15.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game and shooting 44.4 percent overall and 23.3 percent from deep, the Clippers are beating opponents by 14.3 points per 100 possessions with Leonard on the floor (98th percentile). When Leonard is out, Los Angeles gets beat by 4.8 points (24th percentile).

The Clippers are also 9-2 when Leonard plays and 9-12 when he doesn't, including 8-1 in his last nine games.

The 31-year-old still looks like he can be an elite defender, and his offense (25.0 points and 2.7 assists per game with 51.8 percent shooting overall, including 35.7 from three over his last three games) is beginning to round into form as well.

The Clippers can win the title if Leonard is available, and they won't if he's not.

Part of the Phoenix Suns' league-best 64-18 record last season was their amazing play in the clutch.

Phoenix was 33-9 in close games with a net rating of plus-33.4, more than double that of the next-closest team (Milwaukee Bucks, plus-15.9).

This season has been a different story, however, as that late-game magic appears to be gone. The Suns are just 5-7 in clutch games with a net rating of plus-6.6, which ranks 13th.

Chris Paul, one of the team's closers along with Devin Booker, has missed time with a heel injury and is averaging a career-low 11.1 points on 38.8 percent shooting. He'll turn 38 on May 6, when the Suns may already be on vacation if their shaky close-game play continues.

It was once this team's biggest strength, but Phoenix should now be concerned whenever things get tight in the fourth quarter.

Khris Middleton missed the first 20 games of the Milwaukee Bucks' season while recovering from wrist surgery, and his return from the court has been anything but pretty.

While the Bucks went an impressive 15-5 before Middleton made his debut (and are 17-5 overall without him this year), Milwaukee is just 4-3 with its three-time All-Star forward.

We expected some rust, but the Bucks have to hope that's all this is.

The 31-year-old is averaging 11.1 points on 32.5 percent shooting, including a 1-of-12 performance for three points in a 41-point drubbing at the claws of the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday. The sample size is still small, but Milwaukee is getting beat by 3.9 points per 100 possessions with Middleton on the floor.

If he ends up looking like the player we've seen for much of the past decade, however, there's no reason to panic.

But because the Bucks rank just 18th in offense (111.7 rating) and 29th in isolation scoring (0.72 points per possession), they need Middleton to get back to 100 percent.

The Boston Celtics are the toughest team in the NBA to try to uncover flaws for.

The Celtics have the league's top offense (116.8 rating), are ranked eighth in defense (110.6 rating) despite just getting Robert Williams III back and have four rotation members shooting 42.0 percent or better from three.

Jayson Tatum is playing like an MVP with a career-high 30.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game, leading Boston to a 22-9 record.

Despite the talent on the roster, however, removing Tatum would make the Celtics unremarkable.

In 771 possessions without Tatum, Boston has a net rating of plus-1.4, ranking in the 59th percentile, or about league average. With its superstar, however, this figure jumps to plus-9.3 and is in the 93rd percentile.

Finding ways to still beat opponents shouldn't be this difficult, especially with another two-way force at forward in Jaylen Brown. Despite his almost equally impressive production (26.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.2 steals), Boston is actually 7.6 points per 100 possessions worse with Brown on the floor.

Trying to find ways to maximize Brown when Tatum rests will be crucial to the Celtics' success, especially in the postseason.