Beyond strictly looking at wins and losses, efficiency differential gives a clear picture of team performance. The following infographics show the trajectory of every team in the NBA in terms of how they rank in the category.

Atlanta Hawks 

The Hawks are in their third cycle over the past 10 years in rising up to the top shelf of the NBA. Depending on what happens in free agency with Al Horford, they could again slip down to the middle.

Boston Celtics

Danny Ainge has never been interested in anything beyond title contention and he has the support from ownership to dip all the way down to get good again. They're a good bet to improve on their eighth place spot next season to continue their upward trajectory.

Brooklyn Nets

The Nets have given up a lot in the trades for Deron Williams and later Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to top out as 10th in 2013. Their next 10 years could look a lot like the past 10 years of the Kings.

Charlotte Hornets

The Hornets had a difficult couple of seasons but they're now in that crowded middle.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls dropped quickly when the team that beat the Heat in 2007 and Kobe Bryant wanted to join cratered in 2008, but they at least won the lottery to draft Derrick Rose and Tom Thibodeau set them to overachieve. The way the front office operates, the Bulls will almost certainly never bottom out.

Cleveland Cavaliers

LeBron, No LeBron, LeBron.

Dallas Mavericks

Mark Cuban has no interest in tanking and he fortunately has a coach who gets the most out of whatever he's given in Rick Carlisle. 

Denver Nuggets

Carmelo Anthony left a stable situation with the Nuggets for the volatility that is The Madison Square Garden Company and Denver stayed good until George Karl, Masai Ujiri and Andre Iguodala left in 2013. That loss to the Warriors in the playoffs and subsequent injuries really changed everything but they have an interesting core around Nikola Jokic and get another lottery pick this year.

Detroit Pistons

All of the Eastern Conference Finals appearances and a rapid fall to the bottom of the league during the final seasons of Joe Dumars' tenure. The Pistons are working on a U-shape as they should take another step up in 16-17 in Year 3 of Stan Van Gundy's tenure.

Golden State Warriors

The dip to get Stephen Curry in 2009, staying bad long enough to draft Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green, becoming near-elite with Andre Iguodala and then an all-time great with Steve Kerr's system.

Houston Rockets

The Rockets have been on the cusp of truly contending for a title a few times, but haven't quite found the right combination.

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers admirably became a great team without dropping all the way to the bottom with how well they've drafted in the middle of the first round. The selection of Myles Turner last year is looking like the latest example.

Los Angeles Clippers

A clean J-curve that's beginning to trend in the wrong direction as the Clippers haven't built well around their Big 3 and Chris Paul can't continue to be this good forever.

Los Angeles Lakers

A complete fall to the bottom of the NBA but they very well could have the same J-curve as the Clippers within the next few years if they keep their pick.

Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies recovered exceptionally well after trading Pau Gasol, but it didn't really come from the draft beyond Mike Conley. A core of Conley, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph could have really been great with James Harden instead of Hasheem Thabeet.

Miami Heat

The Heat bottomed out in 2008 and it's scary to think of how athletic those LeBron teams would have been with Russell Westbrook instead of giving away Michael Beasley to create more cap space. The drop last year for Justise Winslow was well-timed but they'll have to stay good since they mortgaged future picks in the Goran Dragic trade.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks have been on an M pattern of alternating between being average and being bad. There is a combination of players out there that can surround the greatness that is Giannis Antetokounmpo to at least steadily become a playoff team.

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Wolves were trending in the right direction with Kevin Love, but their ceiling probably was as a 5-8 seed in the Western Conference due to limitations of their core and his own as a franchise player. The shorter contract length David Kahn gave Love ended up being the best thing to happen to the franchise since Kevin Garnett fell to them in 1995 as it setup the Andrew Wiggins trade and then winning the lottery for Karl-Anthony Towns and the possibilities that exist in building around him.

New Orleans Pelicans

The short-termism of the moves the Pelicans made around Chris Paul led to his trade and they've done the same early on around Anthony Davis. The situation can quickly change if they clean up their roster and get the right lottery pick.

New York Knicks

The Knicks went all-in on getting LeBron James in 2010 and their Plan B actually worked out relatively well until the Andrea Bargnani trade that is keeping them from an easy way of getting meaningfully better this year with a lottery pick to add to Kristaps Porzingis.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Like the Clippers, the Thunder have a fairly classic J-curve. The Thunder weren't very good at all in Kevin Durant's first two seasons and that allowed the Harden draft to put them on another level. For all of the endless Harden revisionist history, the Thunder did jump from third in the NBA in efficiency differential to first in the first season after the trade. Injuries along with the return of the Spurs and the rise of the Warriors have shaped their place as also-rans. 

Orlando Magic

The Magic were in clear decline when Dwight Howard was ready to move on after some bad trades. With how quickly Howard regressed, the missed opportunity of those deals doesn't quite feel as bad in hindsight. The Magic are moving back up after three bad seasons but they're doing so without a true franchise player and they are candidates for the mediocrity treadmill.

Philadelphia 76ers

The 76ers were close to being a truly great team and maybe they would have reached that level with a healthy Andrew Bynum. Selling everything off after hiring Sam Hinkie clearly made sense and they're clearly a J-curve candidate depending on Joel Embiid's health, their 2016 draft and how they balance out their roster. Hinkie's mark will be on this franchise either way for a very long time.

Phoenix Suns

The Suns' 13-14 season out of nowhere ended up really setting the franchise back unfortunately, but this could be a one-year dip since they already have some promising pieces in place.

Portland Trail Blazers

When you think the Blazers are in dangerous decline, they turn it around quickly as that's happened twice in the past few years. A high lottery pick to be added to Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum would have been nice but the success of this season has the Blazers on their own type of path with how Neil Olshey added pieces to replace LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez.

Sacramento Kings

The opposite version of the next franchise on the list. The disillusionment of the past decade for the Kings has been awful for their fan base but at least they kept their team and are getting a new arena even if their basketball ops has become even worse than the end of the Geoff Petrie era. 

San Antonio Spurs

The only thing more ridiculous than comparing the past 10 years of the Spurs to the ups and downs of every other team in the league is to extend this out to the 97-98 season.

Toronto Raptors

These guys really are inadvertent contenders; just when you thought they were going to start from scratch, they become the second best team in the Eastern Conference.

Utah Jazz

Even though they missed the playoffs, the Jazz could quickly take a step up to the top shelf of the Western Conference depending on how Dante Exum comes back from his lost season.

Washington Wizards

Like the Bucks' M, the Wizards are on a W of up and down.