1) Phoenix Suns, 2004-2010

The “Seven Seconds or Less” Suns were maybe the most thrilling offensive team in NBA history and legitimate title contender for six consecutive seasons. But they never made it to the NBA Finals, falling just short with a Conference Finals defeat in 2005, 2006, and 2010. This era distinctively kicked off with the 2004 trade for Steve Nash, who was already a two-time All-Star but truly reached his full potential in the speedy Mike D’Antoni offense. Like Bill Walsh and Joe Montana, this was a perfect pairing of coaching philosophy and player talent. But while the Suns completely transformed NBA offensive strategy, their middling defense and injury luck always held them back in the biggest moments. In the 2005 Conference Finals, expectations were low and a respectable five-game loss to a stout Spurs team was a pyrrhic victory. In ’05-’06 they reached the Conference Finals despite Amare Stoudemire missing basically the entire season after knee surgery, but were run off the court by the equally offensively efficient Mavericks. An ’06-’07 second round series loss to San Antonio was likely the toughest pill to swallow for Suns fans, as a winnable game one was shifted by a nose injury to Nash and game five was lost after a dubious suspension for Stoudemire. After a first round loss in 2008 and missing the playoffs altogether in 2009, Phoenix made one last run in 2010 under new coach Alvin Gentry, reaching the Conference Finals but losing in six games to the Lakers. Setting off the current NBA offensive pace-and-space, efficient long distance shooting revolution is likely an honor for Nash, D’Antoni, and the other members of these Suns teams, but they’d probably trade it all for just one crack at the NBA Finals.

2) New York Knicks, 1982-1984

This Knicks era was kicked off by two saviors arriving for the ’82-’83 season: new coach Hubie Brown, and All-Star small forward Bernard King, acquired via trade. Not only did King lead the way with his scoring, he also revived the careers of veterans Paul Westphal and Truck Robinson, plus struggling youngsters Bill Cartwright and Rory Sparrow. The Knicks snuck up on everybody in ’82-’83, reaching the playoffs as a #5 seed and advancing to the second round, where they were overcome by the “fo’, fo’, fo’” 76ers. Expectations were much higher in Gotham in ’83-’84 and King delivered, finishing second in MVP voting after averaging 26.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. But the Knicks once again had to settle for the #5 seed in a competitive Eastern Conference. King absolutely went off in a first round upset over the Pistons, scoring 40+ points in four out of five games as the Knicks advanced. He almost single-handedly kept them competitive in the second round as well, going toe to toe with Larry Bird as the Knicks pushed the Celtics to seven games before losing. Though King picked up where he left off in ’84-’85, including a renowned 60 point performance on Christmas Day, the Knicks lost Robinson and Cartwright to injuries and slumped in the standings. When King tore his ACL in a March game, it was the end of a brief era, but it allowed them to tank, finish with the third worst record in the NBA, and win the draft lottery to start over again with Patrick Ewing.

3) St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks, 1965-1973
4) Atlanta Hawks, 1985-1989
5) Atlanta Hawks, 2007-2016

Ever since franchise legend Bob Pettit retired in 1965, the Hawks have had a cyclical habit of alternating several seasons of cellar dwelling with brief stints of exciting and fun but ultimately unfulfilling runs. The first was immediately after Pettit called it quits, with the young All-Star trio of Lenny Wilkens, Bill Bridges, and Zelmo Beaty stepping up and veteran Richie Guerin nicely settling into a player-coach role. Playoff disappointments came yearly, including Conference Finals losses to the Lakers in 1966 (in seven games), 1969, and 1970, and to the Warriors in 1967. ’67-’68 was arguably the biggest disappointment though, when the Hawks finished the season with the top seed in the West but were stunned in the playoff semifinals by the Warriors. During this time, they re-located from St. Louis to Atlanta and essentially replaced Wilkens, Bridges, and Beaty with Pete Maravich, Lou Hudson, and Walt Bellamy, but the results remained the same, with Conference Semifinal losses in 1971, 1972, and 1973. The Hawks struggled for the most part for a decade until Dominique Wilkins had his break out season in ’85-’86. With Wilkins flanked by Spud Webb and Kevin Willis, the Hawks were an entertaining team for the next few seasons but continually ran into superior opponents in the playoffs, losing in the second round to the Celtics in 1986, the Pistons in 1987, and the Celtics again in 1988. That final series was the real heartbreaker, with a game seven duel between Wilkins and Larry Bird ending with a two-point Celtics win.

Though the stars of those ’80s teams faded, the Hawks did remain competitive through most of the ’90s until a series of poor decision making tanked them in the early ’00s. A new ownership group bought the franchise in 2004 and completely rebuilt the roster around a dynamic group of youngsters in Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, and Al Horford. After adding veteran point guard Mike Bibby, the Hawks were a formidable lineup starting in ’07-’08, when they almost upset the eventual champion Celtics in a first round playoff series. That core group then lost in the second round three years in a row, displaying an obvious ceiling for the solid but superstar-less composition. They shook things up starting in 2013, surrounding Horford with Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver and Jeff Teague, and handing the coaching reigns to the innovative Mike Budenholzer. With one of the best offenses in the NBA, the Hawks made it to the Conference Finals for the first time in 45 years in 2015, but were swept aside by LeBron James and the Cavs, showing their ceiling once again. 

6) Charlotte Hornets, 1992-1995

Instantly popular thanks to their colorful jerseys and state-of-the-art arena, the Hornets struggled to give fans much to cheer about on the court for their first four seasons. Things turned around quickly in ’92-’93, when they drafted Alonzo Mourning second overall, slotting him immediately into the starting lineup with their 1991 first pick, Larry Johnson. Filling out the roster with colorful and unique players like Dell Curry, Muggsy Bogues, and Kendall Gill, the Hornets played an up-tempo, fun style that translated into wins, including a first round series upset of the Celtics. But that would turn out to be the zenith for this team. Johnson and Mourning both struggled with injuries in ’93-’94, and the Hornets just missed the postseason. They recovered nicely in ’94-’95, winning 50 games for the first time in franchise history and reaching the playoffs as the #4 seed. Bad luck intervened however, as they were forced to face a Bulls team featuring a recently returned Michael Jordan. The Hornets dropped that series in four games and management made a series of poor decision over the next couple years in response, trading away Mourning to the Heat, Johnson to the Knicks, and the draft rights to Kobe Bryant to the Lakers. The franchise has still yet to reach even the Conference Finals, and have in fact made just three playoff appearances in the last 15 years.

7) Philadelphia 76ers, 1988-1991

It’s not often that a team gets to transition from two aging legends into a new young one but things didn’t turn out as well for the 76ers as fans would have expected. Julius Erving was 34 and Moses Malone was 29 when the Sixers drafted Charles Barkley with the fifth selection in 1984. They had acquired that pick six years earlier, when they dealt World B. Free to the Clippers. Barkley slotted into the starting lineup immediately and they reached the Conference Finals in 1985, but the next few years were a struggle, ending with Malone traded to the Bullets and Erving retiring. It was Barkley’s team 100% starting in ’88-’89, joined by Erving-era holdout Mo Cheeks, plus the young and promising Johnny Dawkins and Hersey Hawkins. Freed from being forced to defer to the previous franchise legends, Barkley quickly established himself as one of the three best players in the NBA alongside Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, but would soon miss his former counterparts come postseason time. The Sixers lost in a sweep to the Knicks in the first round in 1989 despite three monster performances from Barkley, then dropped tough second round series to Jordan’s Bulls in 1990 and 1991, as the supporting cast failed to properly step up. When Philadelphia failed to reach the playoffs in ’91-’92, Barkley demanded a trade to a contender and got it, with a change of location to Phoenix. The worst stretch in franchise history followed, with the Sixers failing to reach the playoffs for seven straight seasons until Allen Iverson lead a turnaround in the late ’90s. 

8) Detroit Pistons, 1973-1976

In a 20 year stretch from 1963 to 1983, the Pistons made just five playoff appearances. Four of those came in a row starting in the ’73-’74 season, when All-Stars Dave Bing and Bob Lanier finally both stayed healthy and put it all together. They lost a tough first round series to the Bulls that year, but for the first time since the team had moved from Fort Wayne in 1957, Pistons fans were psyched up. Unfortunately, management was unswayed, refusing to renegotiate the contracts of Bing and Lanier, leading to holdouts and disgruntlement. Detroit still managed to reach the playoffs but after a first round loss to Seattle traded away Bing. Even with Bing’s replacement, Kevin Porter, missing most of the season with a knee injury, the Pistons still snuck into the playoffs and stunned the Bucks in the first round before losing to the Warriors in round two. They made one last go of it in ’76-’77, reaching the playoffs but losing again to the Warriors, this time in a first round series. Lanier’s final few seasons in Detroit from there were disappointments, due in large part to the egregious decision to select Marvin Barnes over Moses Malone in the 1976 ABA Dispersal Draft. After Lanier was mercifully traded to the Bucks in 1979, the team hit rock bottom and soon after rebuilt from scratch around Isiah Thomas.

9) Minnesota Timberwolves, 1996-2004

Kevin Garnett is one of the 20 greatest players of all-time by our metrics and a unique, singular player in Timberwolves history, but it was never enough to carry them to the NBA Finals. Not that he didn’t lead them to their greatest heights of success. When the Timberwolves drafted Garnett straight out of high school in 1995, the franchise was six years old and had no history of success. In fact, they had yet to win 30 games in a season up until that point, but things turned around quickly in Garnett’s second season. He led the T-Wolves to their first playoff appearance in ’96-’97, their first winning season in ’97-’98, their first 50-win season in ’99-’00, and finally their first playoff series victory in ’03-’04. That ’03-’04 season was both the peak and the end of this era, with Minnesota making a big splash by trading for Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell. Flanked by the best supporting cast of his career, Garnett had an MVP season and the Timberwolves won a franchise-record 58 games and reached the Conference Finals. They put up a fight against the Lakers in that series but ultimately couldn’t overcome Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, especially after a groin injury sidelined Cassell. The wheels fell off almost immediately in ’04-’05, with Flip Saunders getting fired as coach and his replacement, Kevin McHale, butting heads with Cassell and Sprewell. After the Timberwolves missed the playoffs that year, they released Sprewell and traded away Cassell for pennies on the dollar, leaving Garnett to toil away mercilessly for two more years before he was granted his own trade to Boston.

10) Seattle Supersonics, 1986-1989

The ’90s Sonics of Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton that reached the 1996 NBA Finals are still renowned to this day, but right before that the team had a wildly different group make a solid run in the late ’80s. Highlighted by the high scoring trio of Dale Ellis, Tom Chambers, and Xavier “X-Man” McDaniel, Seattle made a shocking run to the 1987 Conference Finals after finishing the regular season with a losing record. They stunned the Mavericks in the first round and the defending conference champion Rockets in round two, but ran into a Showtime buzzsaw in the Conference Finals and were swept by the Lakers. Seattle seemed to build on this momentum in ’87-’88, finishing with a winning record as their three stars all average 20+ points per game, but they fell in the first round of the playoffs this time to Denver. Even though Chambers left as a free agent that summer, the Sonics reloaded with Derrick McKey and Nate McMillan and actually improved their record in ’88-’89, but were swept again by Los Angeles, this time in the second round. They opted to rebuild over the next two offseasons, drafting Kemp and Payton and trading away Ellis and McDaniel. Though fans yearned at first for those high octane ’80s teams, they quickly got over it as Kemp and Payton developed into All-Stars.

11) Portland Trail Blazers, 1997-2001

It was one of the great high wire acts of the modern NBA, with Blazers president Bob Whitsitt throwing caution to the wind and acquiring as much veteran talent as he could without regard for chemistry or long-term plans. Whitsitt truly earned his nickname “Trader Bob” starting in 1995, when he dealt franchise cornerstone Clyde Drexler to the Rockets. From there, he signed, traded for, or drafted Jermaine O’Neal, Rasheed Wallace, Isaiah Rider, Stacey Augmon, Brian Grant, Damon Stoudamire, Scottie Pippen, Steve Smith, Detlef Schrempf, and Bonzi Wells over a four year stretch while unceremoniously ridding himself of Buck Williams, Terry Porter, and Jerome Kersey. The results were fascinating and thrilling, but ultimately disheartening for Portland fans. At the center, literally and figuratively, of this “Island of Misfit Toys” roster was Arvydas Sabonis, with the Lithuanian finally joining the team in 1995, nearly a decade after they acquired his draft rights. With all five starters averaging double-digits, and one of the best benches in NBA history, the ’99-’00 Blazers reached the Conference Finals, where they fell apart spectacularly against the Lakers. Sabonis and Stoudamire especially struggled in the series, while Pippen and Smith were instrumental in the game seven meltdown, where the Blazers blew a 16-point fourth quarter lead. Whitsitt dealt for Shawn Kemp and Dale Davis that offseason to try to throw more bodies at Shaquille O’Neal, but the constant roster churn and chemistry issues finally caught up to Portland in ’00-’01. They slumped into the postseason as the #7 seed and were summarily swept by the Lakers in the first round. The team then drafted Zach Randolph that summer, kicking off the transition into the “Jail Blazers” era.

12) Golden State Warriors, 1988-1994

There may be no greater gap between a team’s reputation and their actual accomplishments than the Run-TMC Warriors. Centered around Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway, and Mitch Richmond, the Warriors were high-flying and high-scoring and delighted fans all over the country, especially young ones. But that team, with those three stars, lasted just two seasons: ’89-’90, when they missed the postseason altogether, and ’90-’91, when they were easily defeated in the second round of the playoffs. Richmond was then traded to the Kings and the Warriors actually improved in ’91-’92, with their first 50-win season in 16 years. This six year period from 1988 to 1994 would more appropriately be labelled as the “Nellie Ball” era for Golden State, as coach Don Nelson’s up-tempo offense functioned with or without Run TMC intact. In ’88-’89, Nelson’s first as coach, they made a 22-win turnaround thanks to a breakout season for Mullin. The 55 wins in ’91-’92 were good enough for the #3 seed in the West, but they were upset in a first round series against Seattle with Mullin and Hardaway struggling with their shooting. They made one last run to 50 wins in ’93-’94, with a veteran Mullin now teaming up with a young Latrell Sprewell, but the playoffs were once again a struggle, ending with a first round sweep at the hands of Phoenix. Richmond would eventually win a title late in his career with the Lakers, but Mullin and Hardaway never got to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy.

13) Denver Nuggets, 1981-1988

Using a dynamic passing system that he learned under Dean Smith at North Carolina, and applying it to an up-tempo, motion-based offense, Doug Moe helmed some thrilling Nuggets teams in the ’80s. He had a perfect front line in place for his system when he took over in 1981: shooting and slashing small forward Alex English, step-back specialist Kiki Vandeweghe at power forward, and reliable post threat center Dan Issel. The three stars all averaged 20+ points per game in the ’81-’82, ’82-’83, and ’83-’84 seasons, leading the best offense in the NBA. In fact, this Nuggets team set the record for most consecutive games scoring 100 points or more, and the record for highest points per game average for a season. Unfortunately, they also struggled on defense, and this came back to bite them in the postseason. They lost in the first round as a #4 seed in 1982, the second round as a #6 seed in 1983, and the first round as a #7 seed in 1984. Looking to shake things up and stouten their defense before the ’84-’85 season, the Nuggets dealt Vandeweghe to the Blazers for Fat Lever, Wayne Cooper, and Calvin Natt. The gambit paid off as the Nuggets won a franchise record 52 games that season, but they still hit the wall in the playoffs, losing to the Lakers in the Conference Finals. That would be the peak for this Nuggets era, with second round losses following in 1986 and 1988, sandwiched around another first round defeat in 1987. They attempted to rebuild again around English in the late ’80s but by then the star was in his mid 30s and quickly regressing.

“Befitting of almost any notable Cleveland pro sports franchise in the last half century, these Cavaliers were a talented but star-crossed bunch.”

14) Los Angeles Clippers, 2011-2017

Over the course of just two years and centered around just two players, fortunes change completely for the Clippers franchise in 2010 and 2011. It started with their drafting of Blake Griffin, who sat out an entire season with a knee injury but, to the relief of Clippers fans, was a revelation in his rookie campaign, ’10-’11, becoming the first player in 20 years to unanimously win Rookie of the Year honors. Then, they traded for Chris Paul right before the start of the lockout-shortened ’11-’12 season. In their first 33 years in California (they moved from Buffalo to San Diego in 1978), the Clippers had just four playoff appearances, and never more than two in a row. Starting in ’11-’12, they secured six consecutive postseason bids but each ultimately ended in disappointment. In 2012 they won a first round series over the Grizzlies but were summarily swept by the Spurs in the second round. The next year, they won the Pacific Division but had to settle for the #4 seed, and dropped a first round rematch against the Grizzlies in six games, as Griffin struggled. Sensing a need for new leadership, the Clippers hired Doc Rivers for the ’13-’14 season and held off a tough Warriors team in the first round, in the midst of the Donald Sterling racism scandal. But the Clippers just couldn’t overcome the Thunder in the second round in 2014, and in 2015 dropped a second round series against the Rockets, blowing a 3-1 lead and losing in seven games despite being the better team on paper. That would prove to be the beginning of the end, as Griffin broke his hand during the ’15-’16 season by punching a team employee and wasn’t at full strength in the playoffs, where the Clippers were unceremoniously dropped in the first round by the Trail Blazers. They made one last run of it in ’16-’17, winning 50 games for the fifth straight season (after never reaching that plateau once previously in franchise history, including their years in Buffalo) but with a similar playoffs result, losing in the first round to Utah as Griffin watched from the sidelines with a toe injury. Despite his extensive injury history, the Clippers granted Griffin a huge contract extension in the summer of 2017, while trading Paul to the Rockets. One year later, Griffin was gone too, traded to the Pistons as the franchise quickly rebuilt and reloaded.

15) Sacramento Kings, 1999-2004

In the age of social media and League Pass, NBA teams can gather fair weather fan bases pretty quickly these days. A predecessor to that phenomenon was the “Greatest Show on Court” Kings, whose legend began in the 1999 playoffs, when they pushed the defending conference champion Jazz to a full five-game series. Built expertly by general managed Geoff Petrie, the Kings had a roster tailor made to coach Rick Adelman’s Princeton offense, with expert passing big men Vlade Divac and Chris Webber paired with dynamic back court play makers Jason Williams, Corlis Williamson, and Peja Stojakovic. They also built one of the deepest benches in league history, which turned out to help a lot more in the regular season than the postseason. Following their near upset of the Jazz in 1999, the Kings then fell just short again in five games to the Lakers in 2000. They finally won a playoff series, their first such victory in 20 years, in 2001, only to get swept by the Lakers in the second round. Then came the controversial 2002 Conference Finals loss to Los Angeles, which was marked by questionable officiating, yes, but also horrendous performances in the clutch by several Kings players, especially Stojakovic. Despite a rapidly aging roster and that demoralizing loss, the Kings still made decent runs in 2003 and 2004, reaching the second round but losing in seven games to the Mavericks and Timberwolves, respectively. The sell-off came soon after, with Webber, Stojakovic, Doug Christie, and Bobby Jackson soon getting traded, while Divac retired and several other players walked in free agency. Sacramento managed to still reach the postseason and lose in the first round in 2005 and 2006, but haven’t returned since then.

16) Dallas Mavericks, 1983-1988

Just four years into their franchise history, the Mavericks were a surprisingly legitimate Western Conference contender, built around a solid young core of Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman, Sam Perkins, and Derek Harper. How shocking was their postseason appearance in 1984? So shocking that when they hosted the decisive game five of a first round series against the Sonics, they were forced to play on the home court of SMU, as their own own arena was already booked for a tennis tournament. The Mavs won that series but it was a rare playoff triumph in this era. They lost in the second round to the Lakers that year, then dropped first round series to the Blazers in 1985 and Sonics in 1987 (as a heavily favored #2 seed), sandwiched in between another second round loss to Los Angeles in 1986. ’87-’88 was finally a breakthrough, with James Donaldson and Roy Tarpley providing the apparent final pieces at the center position. They finally reached the Conference Finals and gave the defending champion Lakers all they could handle but ultimately were felled in seven games. Things fell apart quickly from there, with Dallas trading Aguirre to the Pistons for a rapidly aging Adrian Dantley (they would waive him only a year later), Donaldson suffering a major knee injury, Tarpley’s career falling apart due to substance abuse, and Perkins fleeing as a free agent for the Lakers.

17) Memphis Grizzlies, 2010-2017

Essentially drifting along at the bottom of the NBA standings for years after moving from Vancouver, the Grizzlies needed a fresh start and new identity and they got both in the “grit and grind” ethos. It started with a trade of the franchise’s face, Pau Gasol, to the Lakers in a package that included his younger brother, Marc, as a throw-in. The younger Gasol soon settled into the lineup alongside Blazers castoff Zach Randolph, promising young point guard Mike Conley, and perimeter defensive specialist Tony Allen. With a lunchpail attitude and swarming pressure defense, the Grizzlies stunned the Spurs in the first round in 2011, pulling off an upset in six games as the #8 seed. They followed that up with the first, and only, Conference Finals appearance in franchise history in 2013, where they were swept by San Antonio in a bit of revenge. Though injuries were a regular occurrence for their core players, and roster turnover was a normality for the supporting cast, the Grizzlies stayed competitive for several more years, almost upending the start of the Warriors dynasty in a second round series in 2015, then losing tough playoff series to their old nemesis, the Spurs, in 2016 and 2017. Though they tanked from there by stripping the veteran roster, it’s paid almost immediate dividends, with Ja Morant leading a new, much more dynamic era of Grizzlies basketball turnarounds.

18) Chicago Bulls, 1966-1975

In an era that produced the end of the Bill Russell Celtics dynasty, a Wilt Chamberlain-Jerry West team-up in Los Angeles, and the ever popular Willis Reed-led Knicks, many fans of the time still have a soft spot for this Bulls team. This is especially true for Chicago devotees of a certain age, who felt lucky to have any pro basketball franchise at all, let alone an instant playoff contender. Two previous attempts at NBA basketball in the city had failed (the Stags folded in 1950 and the Zephyrs moved to Baltimore in 1962) but the third time was the charm with the Bulls. They made the postseason in their first two seasons despite a losing record (to be fair, almost everyone made the playoffs back then) and by the early ’70s had a solid core of guards Norm Van Lier and Jerry Sloan, and forwards Chet Walker and Bob Love. They won 50+ games and reached the playoffs for four straight seasons starting in ’70-’71. Those first three postseason berths ended with first round losses to the Lakers, but the Bulls broke through and reached the Conference Finals in 1974, where they were swept by the Bucks. The seas parted in the West for Chicago in ’74-’75, with the Lakers and Bucks missing the playoffs and they entered the Conference Finals as slight favorites over the Warriors, though without home court advantage. The series was tight throughout but the Bulls ultimately blew a huge first half lead in game seven, with their lack of depth hurting them down the stretch as the Warriors advanced. The Chicago roster stayed mostly intact for the next couple years but aged quickly and could never recover the magic of ’74-’75. Though the Michael Jordan Bulls are obviously the kings of Chicago basketball history, this team still holds a special place in the hearts of Bulls fans.

19) Cleveland Cavaliers, 1987-1994

Befitting of almost any notable Cleveland pro sports franchise in the last half century, these Cavaliers were a talented but star-crossed bunch. The easiest explanation for why this Cavs team never reached the NBA Finals is obviously Michael Jordan, whose Bulls eliminated them in the first round in 1988, 1989, and 1994, the second round in 1993, and the Conference Finals in 1992. But injuries also played a major part, as did serious missteps from the executive wing of the franchise. It started with a coup in the 1986 NBA Draft, where Cleveland landed Brad Daugherty with #1 overall pick, plus Ron Harper at #8 and Mark Price via trade. They soon after added veterans Craig Ehlo and Larry Nance to fill out the roster, and by ’88-’89 the Cavaliers won a franchise record 57 games. They entered a first round playoff series against the Bulls that year as the #3 seed and favorite, but lost it in game five when Jordan hit “The Shot.” Things got only more ominous from there in ’89-’90, with Harper controversially traded mid-season while Daugherty suffered a major foot injury. They eventually did put it all together in ’91-’92, reaching the Conference Finals against Chicago and playing valiantly before losing in six games. The Cavs core stayed together for one more season under legendary coach Lenny Wilkens (losing in the second round in 1993) and one under Mike Fratello (losing in the first round in 1994) before further injuries to Daugherty and Price forced the team to try to rebuild around Terrell Brandon and Tyrone Hill.

20) Denver Nuggets, 2003-2010

After eight consecutive losing seasons, without a single playoff appearance, the Nuggets had a savior arrive in 2003 in Carmelo Anthony. The young star paired with Andre Miller and Marcus Camby to lead an immediate turnaround for Denver, winning 43 games in ’03-’04 and reaching the postseason. This pattern of success was sustained for seven seasons but a different pattern quickly emerged. While Anthony was proving himself to be one of the league’s biggest offensive threats, he was also maligned for his inability to lead Denver past the first round of the playoffs. They fell in the opening round to the Timberwolves in 2004, the Spurs in 2005, the Clippers in 2006, the Spurs again in 2007, and the Lakers in 2008. In none of those cases did the Nuggets even force the series to six games, let alone win, though, to be fair, they were the lower seed in four out of five of them. A breakthrough finally came in ’08-’09, when they traded Allen Iverson to the Pistons for Chauncey Billups, adding him to a supporting cast that now centered around Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith. The Nuggets won a then franchise record 54 games and entered the playoffs as the #2 seed. They finally advanced past the first round, defeating the Hornets, then knocked off the Mavericks handily in round two. Their Conference Finals opponent was the ascendent Lakers and the Nuggets gave them a fight before falling in six games. They won 53 games in ’09-’10 but had to settle for the #4 seed, and went back to their old ways, losing in six games to the Jazz in the first round. Anthony started to intone that he wanted out of Denver at that point, and management obliged at the trade deadline in ’10-’11, dealing him to the Knicks.

21) San Antonio Spurs, 1976-1983

Few expected much from the former ABA franchises that joined the NBA via merger in ’76-’77, but the Spurs were successful from the start. Though they had never even reached the ABA Finals despite being a charter franchise, the Spurs came to the NBA with a killer young scoring duo of George Gervin and Larry Kenon. They reached the playoffs in their NBA debut, but were swept by the defending champion Celtics in the first round. Gervin then won the next three scoring titles and the Spurs succeeded alongside him in the regular season. But the defensive deficiency of Gervin and the Spurs as a whole continually doomed them in the postseason. They finished as the #2 seed in the East in ’78-’79 in ’79-’80 but were upended both times by the Bullets, first in the second round, then a tough seven game Conference Finals series. They were shifted to the Western Conference in ’80-’81 and won a franchise record 52 games but were upset in the second round of the playoffs by the Rockets. After a shrew trade for Mike Mitchell, the Spurs managed to reach back-to-back Conference Finals in 1982 and 1983, losing the Showtime Lakers in a sweep in the former and in six games in the latter. The aging Gervin pushed along for three more seasons in San Antonio but the team struggled to contend in those years, allowing them to eventually land David Robinson with the #1 overall pick in 1987.

22) Indiana Pacers, 2010-2014

When LeBron James teamed up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami starting in ’10-’11, it was expected that Derrick Rose’s Bulls would be the team best positioned to challenge them for Eastern Conference supremacy. But as Rose struggled with injuries and Chicago fell by the wayside, a surprise contender emerged in Indiana. In the same summer that James made “The Decision,” the Pacers drafted Paul George and Lance Stephenson and traded for Darren Collison. The turnaround from four consecutive losing seasons was instantaneous, especially after they replaced Jim O’Brien at coach with Frank Vogel. Danny Granger was still the star in ’10-’11 and ’11-’12 before a series of knee and calf injuries left him sidelined and forced George to take over as the focal point. They lost to the Bulls in the first round in 2011 then reached the second round in 2012, where they gave the Heat a surprising struggle, forcing the series to six games thanks to their pressure defense and balanced scoring (in addition to Granger, Paul, and Collison, they also had double-digit scorers in David West, Roy Hibbert, and George Hill). The 2013 and 2014 Conference Finals match-ups against Miami were epic, with the Pacers going toe-to-toe with one of the greatest teams in NBA history and falling just short each time. George then broke his leg in the summer of 2014 while training with Team U.S.A., and the small market franchise couldn’t afford to keep the core group together. They made two more playoff appearances with George, both first round losses, before he was traded to the Thunder.

23) Milwaukee Bucks, 1979-1986

The lore of the NBA ’80s is dominated by the fo’ fo’ fo’ 76ers, Larry Bird Celtics, Bad Boy Pistons, and Showtime Lakers. And for good reason, as they all achieved sustained success and at least one title. The overlooked franchise of the decade is the Bucks, who won 50+ games for seven consecutive seasons and reached three Conference Finals, but could never break through to the NBA Finals. The team was centered around the great Sidney Moncrief, whom they drafted four spots after Magic Johnson in 1979, and Marques Johnson, their #3 overall pick from 1977. They also had an innovative coach in Don Nelson, matching his up-tempo “Nellie Ball” style with his development of a “point forward” that could run the offense and allow him to essentially play two shooting guards in the back court. Milwaukee was well-balanced and exciting, but kept getting denied in the postseason. They lost to the 76ers in the Conference Semifinals in 1981, 1982, and 1985 and the Conference Finals in 1983. That overlapped with losses to the Celtics in the Conference Finals in 1984 and 1986, and the Conference Semifinals in 1987. It was just an unfortunate time for the Bucks to be so talented and they would have arguably reached the NBA Finals multiple times in most other eras.

24) Miami Heat, 1995-2001

It’s hard to feel bad for Heat fans, not only because the franchise has already won three titles in just 32 seasons of existence, but also because their most infamous “near miss” era was one of the most unpopular teams in league history. Assembled by Pat Riley, who was named coach and team president in 1995 by new owner Mickey Arison, this Heat team took on an almost mirror opposite style from Riley’s Showtime Lakers. Taking advantage of then loose restrictions on defensive hand-checking and of having yearly Defensive Player of the Year candidate Alonzo Mourning at center, Riley built the Heat into a lean, mean grind-it-out machine. Starting in ’95-’96, the Heat finished in the top five in NBA opponent scoring for seven consecutive seasons. Their slugfests with the rival Knicks during that era were, well, probably the opposite of epic, but they were something (their first playoff game in 1997 had a final score of 88-79, which would turn out to be high scoring by their eventual standards). The Heat took the first match-up, a second round victory in 1997 that was followed by a Conference Finals loss to the Bulls. New York then stunned the Heat in the first round in 1998 and 1999, first as a #7 seed over a #2, then as a #8 over a #1. That second one especially hurt, as the Heat were considered one of the top title contenders in the wake of Michael Jordan’s retirement, and Mourning had just finished in second place in MVP voting. One last heartbreaking loss to the Knicks come in 2000, when a Clarence Weatherspoon buzzer beater just missed the mark in game seven of a second round series. Tragedy then struck Mourning, who realized immediately after participating in the 2000 Olympics that he had a rare kidney disorder which was expected to sideline him for the entire ’00-’01 season. He miraculously returned for the playoffs, but struggled from fatigue and rustiness as the Heat were upset in the first round by Charlotte. They traded Tim Hardaway that offseason and kicked off the rebuilding process that eventually nabbed them Dwyane Wade in the 2003 Draft.

25) Cincinnati Royals, 1961-1967

The success of Bill Russell’s Celtics from 1956 to 1969 massively overshadowed many other great teams and players. The most notable ones are the Lakers, who lost to the Celtics in seven NBA Finals during that stretch, and Wilt Chamberlain, who did sneak in one title in 1967 with the Sixers. But at least they had some NBA Finals experience. For Oscar Robertson and the Royals, the situation was much more dire. Starting in Robertson’s second season, ’61-’62, they reached the playoffs six consecutive years but fell short of the NBA Finals each time. In fact, they won just two playoff series during that stretch, a Conference Semifinals wins over the Nationals in 1963 and the 76ers in 1964, both of which were followed by crushing Conference Finals defeats to Boston. The 1963 Conference Finals was both the zenith and nadir. Led by Robertson’s 33.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 8.6 assists per game, the Royals won games one and three in Boston but also lost two games at home and ultimately were defeated in seven games. It was outwardly frustrating for Robertson, who managed to average a triple-double for the season and win the 1964 league MVP but lashed out publicly at his lack of support from teammates, coaches, and team management. When the team fell into complete disarray in the late ’60s and couldn’t even manage postseason appearances anymore, Robertson was granted his long-demanded trade request in 1970 and dealt to the Bucks, with whom he finally won a championship in 1971.