NBA Stock Up, Stock Down (November 29, 2025)

We are just a little over a month into the NBA season. Like any year in any sport, this season has had its fair share of pleasant surprises and disappointments so far. The identity of most teams are finally shaping. Some players are making leaps while others fade. Let’s get into some of the biggest stories in the league, as of right now.

Stock Up: Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons’ turnaround since that dreadful 2024 season has been incredibly fun to watch. The young players that were drafted from 2020-2024 (Cunningham, Duren, Stewart, Ausar Thompson, Holland) blossoming and continuing to make leaps in their roles after being surrounded by good, veteran supporting talent has turned this team from a bottom feeder to a real Eastern Conference contender and the current #1 seed out East. Jalen Duren’s defensive leap to go along with more offensive refinement has him playing at an all-star level, which was a huge swing factor heading into the season for Detroit. The duo of Cunningham and Duren has logged a 124.6 offensive rating when on the floor together this season, and the rest of the team is also getting healthier. The offensive pop brought in by Daniss Jenkins, Duncan Robinson, and Caris LeVert, and the toughness provided by Paul Reed were all great additions by Detroit this offseason.

Stock Down: Ja Morant

Coming into this season, it felt like a “make or break” year for Ja Morant in Memphis. Off-court issues, butting heads with the coaching staff, and overall regression in terms of his play have hindered Memphis’ long-term outlook and Morant’s current status in the league. Ja Morant has regressed year over year when it comes to his rim pressure and the jump shot has somehow become worse. Ja’s appalling 47.7% true shooting percentage and 16.7% from 3-point range have helped Memphis field one of the worst offenses in the NBA. A trade is inevitable, and it will likely be to a team who’s desperate for ball-handling talent and is willing to take a flyer on player who was once 2nd-Team All-NBA and one of the fastest rising stars in the league. If Ja Morant is ever going to turn it around, he needs to look in the mirror, be more professional than he has been in the last few years, and stay healthy.

Stock Up: Houston Rockets’ Offense

Everyone knew Houston would have one of the better defenses in the league (currently 8th in the NBA in defensive rating). However, for the team to leap into championship contention, they needed to take a huge leap offensively, which is why they traded for Kevin Durant during the summer. Well, that’s exactly what the Rockets have done. Alperen Sengun has taken a huge offensive leap and is creeping into top 10 conversations, and that has also helped create one of the better offensive duos in the league alongside Kevin Durant. Their offensive rebound rate of 40.9% is simply absurd – 3.1% better than the next best team in that metric (Portland Trail Blazers) – and Sengun’s ability to pass out of the post creates many good looks at the rim and open shots from 3. Reed Sheppard has done well, but Houston still needs another ball-handler in the long haul. Overall, this start for Houston’s offense is very encouraging for their championship hopes.

Stock Down: Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers may be the most disappointing NBA team in 2025. The team, simply out, looks slow and old. As should be expected, Kawhi Leonard has already missed significant time, so the offensive load is all on James Harden’s shoulders. Ivica Zubac has regressed from last season, especially on defense. The team’s offense badly misses Norman Powell’s self-creation, and Bradley Beal was still a poor replacement when he was healthy. The team also can’t get stops unless Kris Dunn is on the floor. The Clippers went all in on aging veterans and play finishing this offseason, and it’s not working out for them. They had the 4th best odds to win the Western Conference before this season started, and they might not even make it to the playoffs.

Stock Up: Ryan Rollins

Anyone who was paying close enough attention to the Bucks knew that Ryan Rollins, at the very least, would be a nice role player off the bench for Milwaukee. Rollins, though, has been much more than that this season. Ryan Rollins has quickly turned himself into one of the better pick & roll handlers in the NBA this season. His reads in the pick & roll have been exceptional and the overall scoring has been levels above last season, going from 6 points and 2 assists a game on 60% true shooting last season to 18.6 points and 6 assists on over 61% true shooting this season. This isn’t even factoring in the great defense that Rollins provides on a nightly basis. He should be the clear-cut favorite to win Most Improved Player in 2026, but the plot has been lost when it comes to the voting of that award.

Stock Down: Dallas Mavericks

The trade is the trade, and we won’t talk about it directly right here, but there’s a lot that has gone wrong for the Mavs in this season alone. Cooper Flagg looks good and Nico Harrison was fired, but the team’s best player has been injured and the team can barely put together wins despite being top 3 in defensive rating. The Mavericks without Anthony Davis are the worst offense in the NBA, and considering Davis has only played 5 games so far this season, it’s difficult to be optimistic about his health for the rest of the season when he comes back.

There’s rumors of AD potentially being on the move, but trading a player with his salary midseason is always difficult to do, and the trade package would likely be underwwhelming anyway. There are some young players to be excited about like Max Christie, Dereck Lively, and the aforementioned Cooper Flagg, but this season already feels lost for Dallas. While stuck between two timelines currently, the shift toward Flagg’s timeline is inevitable for the Mavericks. Luckily for Dallas, they own their draft pick in an extremely talented 2026 Draft, but they’ll have to trade away those veterans they gave away assets for in the past couple seasons.

Stock Up: Toronto Raptors

We at Title Runners were pretty optimistic about the Raptors heading into the season, but they’ve even surpassed our expectations. Toronto is currently playing some of the funnest basketball in the NBA. The aggregate playmaking talent throughout the roster has made for a lot of great shots out of drive & kick. Toronto is 1st in the NBA in fastbreak points, 3rd in opponent fastbreak points, and 1st in points in the paint. While winning in transition the way they do, Toronto is also top 5 in halfcourt offensive rating, top 10 in overall offensive and defensive rating, and top 5 in net rating.

Breakouts from players like Jamal Shead, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and rookie Collin Murray-Boyles have made the team substantially deeper on both ends. We’re this far into the write-up and neither Scottie Barnes nor Brandon Ingram have been mentioned yet. Barnes’ defense and versatility on both ends of the floor have been key for the Raptors. Brandon Ingram brings some extra length on defense while being a tough shotmaker in big moments for Toronto. This team is barely gelling and they can get even better. Darko Rajakovic’s team is playing some incredible basketball.

Stock Down: Sacramento Kings

Has the schedule been difficult? Yes. The Kings are indeed a top 10 offense in basketball right now, but they also have a bottom 10 defense and 4 wins through 17 games. Their best player, Domantas Sabonis, was recently injured and will be out for close to a month. Sacramento simply doesn’t believe in defense, as shown by Keon Ellis not playing nearly as much as he should on this team.

The Kings simply don’t have a strong identity outside of being a place for Russell Westbrook to rack up triple-doubles in the twilight of his career. No connectivity, players being underutilized, veterans rotting while they can be more valuable somewhere else. Coach Doug Christie is constantly blaming players in press conferences and trying to mask it as holding players accountable. The whole operation is a mess. It’s time for the Kings to try getting whatever they can on the trade market for players who they don’t see being there in a couple years. Playoff contention is over for the time being. This team has an extraordinarily low ceiling and it’s time to move on.