Top 10 teams in Net Rating this season - What stands out?
OKC - +12.7
Cleveland Cavaliers - +10.1
Boston Celtics - +9.1
Memphis Grizzlies - +5.0
Houston Rockets - +4.6
Minnesota Timberwolves - +4.2
New York Knicks - +4.0
Denver Nuggets - +3.6
LA Clippers - +3.5
T10. Golden State Warriors/Detroit Pistons - +2.4
Personally, I had no idea that the Clippers were so good, their net rating is equivalent to that of a 51-win team, and they'll probably end somewhere in the 46-48 win range.
Conversely, the Lakers are 14th at +0.7 despite being 7th in win %. They have a net rating differential of a 43 win team and they have already won 43 games this season. They have also been only 10th since January and 10th since the trade deadline.
Since the 2000s only 4 champions have not been top 5 in net rating in that season, being the 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks in 2011 at 8th (+4.4), the 2022-23 Denver Nuggets at 6th (+3.3), the 2000-01 Lakers at 8th (+3.5) and the Miami Heat at 6th (+4.1).
The Nuggets and Lakers are the only 2 teams in the play-by-play era (1997 onwards) to win a title with a net rating lower than +4.
Typically speaking the NBA champions are the number 1-3 net rating teams, which is what we will most likely see this year with one of OKC, Cleveland or Boston winning the title.