NBA relegation zone predictions — When the NBA reformed the draft lottery, it did so with the hopes that all 30 teams would be somewhat competitive. But two weeks into the 2026-27 season, that isn't proving true. Five teams have just a single win so far this season, and in many cases, those wins are only coming when they play one another.

Key Developments and Main Event

The Los Angeles Clippers have only beaten the Sacramento Kings. The Chicago Bulls have only beaten the Milwaukee Bucks. The Kings' only win came when the Dallas Mavericks rested Kyrie Irving. No matter how the incentive structures are designed, the NBA will always have a handful of very bad teams. Some teams are poorly run.

Some teams are besieged by injuries. Some teams are simply in transitional stages of their roster builds. The old NBA was designed to make bad teams good quickly. The new one is designed to make it harder for teams to bounce back from the bottom. As part of last spring's lottery reform, the three worst teams in the league are now punished for losing.

Core Facts and Essential Highlights

In the new 3-2-1 lottery format, the seven best teams to miss the Play-In Tournament get three lottery balls each out of the 37 available ones, while the three worst teams each get only two. In theory, that should create an all-out war to avoid the bottom three. In practice, well, we'll get into that shortly.

For now, as the bottom of the league is starting to take shape, let's take a look at our relegation zone candidates. While injuries could certainly create more of them as we go, seven teams stand out as reasonable threats for a bottom-three record so far this season.

Broader Context and Market Implications

We're going to rank them from least to most likely to land in the relegation zone, with the top three teams being our official picks to take that lottery hit in May. Remember, this is not merely a ranking of the NBA's worst teams. It's who is likeliest to land in the bottom three of the standings, a necessary distinction for reasons you're about to find out.

There isn't a more dumbfounding team to watch in the NBA right now than the Jazz. For four years, Utah was a smart, well-run team that lost because the front office did everything in its power to deprive its coach of talent. Well, coach Will Hardy is allowed to win now. It just isn't happening. The inventive, flowing offense of years past is sputtering.

2 overall pick Darryn Peterson isn't making jumpers and can't get to the rim. Players needed for size and defense -- like Josh Okogie and Jaxson Hayes -- are killing the offense. Everything is running through Keyonte George because he's the only player on the floor creating consistent advantages.

He's not a true point guard, and the lack of passing on the floor right now is palpable. Their lone victory came by a single point at home against the New Orleans Pelicans. Not exactly inspiring. Any dreams of a 50-win, top-six seed season died with the Walker Kessler trade. This team is screaming for anyone who can screen and rebound.

Getting Jusuf Nurkić back will help, and eventually, Jaren Jackson Jr. will take the floor again, too. You'd hope Peterson eventually figures some things out. 2 overall pick. He's too talented to struggle this much unless the medical issues that plagued him at Kansas are persisting. There are reasons to believe this will get better.

The Jazz should eventually be at least competitive.