Nov 11, 2026 · 1h 50m
Sacramento tops the NBA’s list of franchise disasters
An Icy Tatum-Brown Reunion, Plus Most Screwed NBA Teams With Rob Mahoney
Bill Simmons and Rob Mahoney examine how bad contracts, weak roster planning, and second-apron economics can trap NBA teams for years.
- 1Paul George’s breakout makes Boston’s offseason reshaping look increasingly defensible, even as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown reunite awkwardly.
- 2Sacramento ranks as the NBA’s worst franchise situation because repeated mismanagement has left few credible short-term escape routes.
- 3Chicago and the Clippers look troubled but retain clearer paths through tradable contracts, young players, and promising roster flexibility.
Don't miss
The discussion settles on Sacramento as the NBA’s worst franchise situation, despite Braden Burries providing a meaningful silver lining.
The brief
Boston’s win over Philadelphia strengthens the case that Paul George justified the Celtics’ offseason reshaping, while the first Tatum-Brown reunion felt conspicuously cold.
The Tatum-Brown split becomes an NBA divorce story: nine years of success ending in a tense first meeting that NBC reportedly failed to capture.
With Rob Mahoney, Simmons ranks the league’s troubled teams through roster fit, spending, front-office decisions, and the second apron’s growing cost of contention.
Sacramento lands at the bottom after years of poor trades, draft failures, and questionable contracts, though Braden Burries offers one meaningful source of hope.
Chicago and the Clippers are also flawed, but Caleb Wilson, useful contracts, expirings, and young players give them more plausible routes forward.
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