John Berger
Senior Editor
This preview is a little off-schedule because of Hurricane Sandy. The NBA season started. For this NBA preview I am going to rank all 30 NBA teams in reverse order from 30-1 and also break the NBA teams into different tiers. Let’s face it, the NBA has never been big on parity, it’s a league full of haves and have nots. This season looks to be very interesting for one main reason: Dwight Howard. When he was traded to the Lakers this summer, he single handedly changed the power structure of the NBA. The aging Lakers also made a very good acquisition in picking up 38 year old Steve Nash, but Howard is in his prime, and he gives the Lakers a second superstar to go along with Kobe Bryant. This also looks to be a very good rookie class, and it will be fun to follow the new look Nets this year as they play their inaugural season in Brooklyn. With the season about to begin, let’s rank the NBA teams.
The “We’re so bad, we don’t even need to tank” Tier
30. Charlotte Bobcats- The Bobcats were the worst team in NBA history last year. They won 10% of their games. Everything about this team is atrocious. They drafted Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who’s a nice piece, with their first overall pick in June, but he’s not going to change the outlook of the team drastically. Last year’s rookies Kemba Walker and Bismack Biyombo have potential and they should be improved, but once again, the Bobcats need more. I really think that the Bobcats are the one team that LeBron James wouldn’t be able to lead to the playoffs.
29. Sacramento Kings- Tyreke Evans had a great rookie year by any standard. For one, he won rookie of the year, but he also became only the fourth player in NBA history to average 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in his rookie year. The others? Oscar Robertson, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan. That’s not a bad list to be on. Unfortunately for Evans, his performance has fallen off by a good margin in the last two years. His points per game have gone down as his field goal percentages have decreased as well. Evans will be a restricted free agent after this year, and the Kings need him to have a big year, be it at shooting guard, point guard, or wherever.
28. Phoenix Suns- The Suns will have their work cut out for them. They added Luis Scola over the offseason, but lost Steve Nash, a two time MVP and their franchise player over the last 8 years. Rookie Kendall Marshall is a very good passer, but he’s definitely not on Nash’s level. The Suns will try and push the pace and Alvin Gentry is a pretty good coach, but this is a team full of role players. That’s not what wins in the NBA.
27. Orlando Magic- Orlando went 37-29 last year, good enough to secure a playoff spot. But that was with Dwight Howard at center and Stan Van Gundy as head coach. Those two are gone, and it will be a struggle for a team with a bunch of new players and a new coach to do much of anything. Much like the Suns, there isn’t anybody on this team who’s even a fringe all-star.
The ‘slightly unknown yet still pretty bad’ Tier
26. Washington Wizards- John Wall will be out for at least a month with an injury, which isn’t good news for a team that was bad last year. Newly acquired Emeka Okafor and Nene will form a nice duo up front, but this team is really going to struggle to score. I’m not as high on Brad Beal as others, as his stats last year at Florida were pretty pedestrian for a #3 overall pick. If they can hold their own until Wall is fully healthy the Wizards have a chance to be somewhat interesting, but I don’t think that will happen.
25. Cleveland Cavaliers- The Cavs made a curious selection with their #4 overall pick in the draft back in June. They picked Dion Waiters, a guy who didn’t even start at Syracuse. And, Waiters didn’t work out for any teams before the draft, so literally the only thing the Cavs were evaluating him on was his sophomore season at Syracuse where he came off the bench. Cleveland had a chance to pair last year’s rookie of the year and #1 overall pick Kyrie Irving with another great talent. They may have missed the mark. Regardless, the Cavaliers will have a tough time having success this season. They’re still very young, and even though they’re in a generally weak Central division, I’m not expecting them to do all that much.
24. Toronto Raptors- Ever since Chris Bosh left the Raps to join the Heat, the front office in Toronto has been doing everything they can to build a contender through the draft. In 2011 they picked Jonas Valanciunas with the 5th pick. Valanciunas is a guy who has been very impressive in Europe, but I think he’s going to struggle a little bit. I liked the Terrence Ross pick this year more than others, but he’s more of a project that was selected because of his potential. Their guards are above average and they have some decent pieces in the front court to maybe challenge for a playoff spot. It’s still going to be very difficult for them to do well over an 82 game season because they have very little margin for error.
23. Houston Rockets- The Rockets should be very fun to watch this season, no matter how successful they are. GM Daryl Morey nearly traded his entire roster to try and get Dwight Howard, but that fell through and Howard went to the Lakers. Houston has three pretty good rookies in Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas, and Royce White. We’ll get a chance to see if Jeremy Lin is a legitimate talent or not, and that is one reason why the Rockets will be an interesting team to watch. Advanced metrics minded Morey was desperate for a superstar in order to be elite, and he ended up trading Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb to get James Harden a few days before the season started. Harden has been a fringe all-star the last couple years, but he is very talented and has started off the season playing very well.
The ‘Cautiously optimistic for a playoff berth’ Tier
22. Detroit Pistons- Detroit quietly went 21-21 over the last 42 games last year. The problem is that they were 4-20 to start the year. Over the offseason the Pistons flipped Ben Gordon for Corey Maggette in order to clear cap space. The Pistons clearly have their eye on making a big free agent acquisition some time in the near future, as they have a chance to amnesty Charlie Villanueva and his salary after this season, in addition to the money coming off the books from Maggette’s expiring contract. For now though, the Pistons will have to hope that they can ride last season’s decent finish for a solid year. They’re also hoping that rookie Andre Drummond can pair with Greg Monroe to form one of the league’s best froncourt tandems in a few years. Drummond’s already racked up his fair share of highlights in the preseason.
21. Golden State Warriors- The Warriors have swapped Monte Ellis for Andrew Bogut, traded for Richard Jefferson, and drafted Harrison Barnes, all in the last 8 months. Mark Jackson had to learn on the fly last year as a rookie head coach in a lockout shortened season and the Warriors were 23-43. I think they’ll be better this year, Stephen Curry has a good chance to return to his rookie year form, and the team is pretty deep. It’s going to be up to Jackson to tie it all together and make them a cohesive unit. I’m skeptical that it will work.
20. New Orleans Hornets- New Orleans won the lottery to get Anthony Davis, immediately changing their future outlook. Now they have a player to build around, and Eric Gordon and Ryan Evans are two pretty good players to start with. I think that Monty Williams is a really good coach, and it will be interesting to see what he does with this team now, and in the next few years.
The ‘Waiting to get Healthy’ Tier
19. Minnesota Timberwolves- Losing Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio for the start of the season may prove to be a death blow for the Wolves’ playoff hopes, as both will be out until December most likely. Love is one of the best big men in the league, posting a stat line of 26 and 13 last year. Rubio is a really fun player to watch with his extremely creative passing. Can the Timberwolves stay afloat without Love and Rubio long enough to stay in the playoff race?
18. Philadelphia 76ers- Andrew Bynum is very injuring prone, so banking on him to be the cornerstone of your team is risky at best. Bynum has been hurt for most of his career, and even at the young age of 25, it’s going to be difficult for his knees to hold up. Doug Collins did a great job coaching this team last year in the playoffs as they beat the Bulls and pushed the Celtics to 7 games. But now it’s going to be very difficult to win enough games if they have so much trouble scoring the ball.
The ‘Under the radar yet still dangerous’ Tier
17. Utah Jazz- The Jazz always seem to be underrated, and this year is really no different. Mo Williams seems eager to prove his worth as a starter again, and he’s gotten off to a good start, averaging 20 points and 7 assists so far on 49% shooting. The rest of the starting rotation is made up of above average to good players, like Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap and Gordon Hayward.
16. Portland Trail Blazers- Before the draft I thought that Damien Lillard would end up being one of the best rookies in the NBA. Through 4 games, he’s looked pretty good, averaging 19 points and 8 assists a game and he has a player efficiency rating of 18.5. Lillard and Lamarcus Aldridge will form a very good pick and roll combination for years to come. For this year though, they may not have enough to make the playoffs.
15. Denver Nuggets- After losing their first three games of the year on the road, the Nuggets have won their last two games. The common belief that many hold about the Nuggets is that they aren’t defensively oriented enough to win games. The addition of Andre Iguadola should help Denver a lot defensively. The other belief is that they don’t have a superstar, which means they will struggle to make noise in the playoffs. I think that one hold more truth to it. George Karl is a very good coach and the Nuggets have a high octane offense, but I think they’ll end up right around where they were last season-the 7th seed in the West.
14. Milwaukee Bucks- Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings are really fun to watch, even though they jack up an absurd number of shots. It’s weird to see defensive minded Scott Skiles start two guys who are very bad defensively, but the Bucks get up and down the court and Ellis and Jennings are a big reason why the Bucks currently lead the league in exist. Milwaukee has been stuck in NBA purgatory for awhile, but now they have a good enough team to make the playoffs.
The ‘Uncertain beyond this year, but still very capable’ Tier
13. Dallas Mavericks- The Mavericks and owner Mark Cuban made a big attempt to try and lure Deron Williams to Dallas in the offseason, but he declined, opting to stay with the Nets. Even after missing out on Williams and losing Jason Kidd to the Knicks, the Mavs still made some very good moves. Elton Brand and Darren Collison were good pickups, and Chris Kaman and OJ Mayo were also good acquisitions. Most thought that the Mavericks would struggle without Dirk Nowitzki, but a season opening win over the Lakers quelled those doubts.
12. Memphis Grizzlies- It seems like Rudy Gay has been on the trading block for about four years now. The Grizzlies have a new owner, and it will be very interesting to see if he looks to move Gay in order to give the team some cap space. For now though, I think Memphis should try and play this year out with Gay and see what happens. They’re certainly talented enough to go far in the playoffs.
11. Atlanta Hawks- New GM Danny Ferry pulled off a miracle getting the Nets to take on Joe Johnson and his huge contract. The Hawks have been rumored to be a potential landing spot for Chris Paul when he becomes a free agent this summer, and some think that Dwight Howard may want to return home to Atlanta if things don’t work out in LA. The Hawks’ front office will live with whatever happens this year, hoping to put themselves near the top of the East next year with some off-season magic.
The ‘Boring to watch, but still pretty good’ Tier
10. Indiana Pacers- Frank Vogel is a good coach, and the Pacers have a solid roster. Roy Hibbert emerged during the postseason as one of the best centers in the NBA, and there is a lot of hope for Paul George. David West and Danny Granger remain the team’s two best scorers, and George Hill is pretty good as a point guard. They still need to get better on offense, and Hibbert is a liability when it comes to defending the pick and roll, but a team that scared Miami last year in the playoffs deserves to at least be ranked this high.
9. Chicago Bulls- Even with Derrick Rose out with a torn ACL, the Bulls have the fourth best odds to win it all in June, according to Vegas. The Bulls lost some key pieces off of their bench that was so good the last two years, but Tom Thibodeau is a very, very good coach and the Bulls play really good defense. If Rose returns to his old form by the end of the year, they will be a really tough out in the postseason.
The ‘Bright lights’ Tier
8. Brooklyn Nets- All three of these next teams are in big cities, and will have a lot of people watching them. The Nets have suddenly become relevant thanks to a change in location and a reworked roster with a few big names. I’m higher on them than most because they have a lot of really good players, and over time that tends to lead to success in the NBA. Gerald Wallace, Brook Lopez, Joe Johnson, and Deron Williams are all very good.
7. Los Angeles Clippers- The Clippers are really fun to watch, even if it can be pretty frustrating at the same time, because you always feel like they are squandering such potential when they play. Any team with Blake Griffin and Chris Paul isn’t going to struggle to put the ball in the basket. The problem with the Clippers is defense, and getting by the other top teams in the West.
6. New York Knicks- It’s hard to ignore the start that the Knicks have gotten off to. They’ve outscored opponents by almost 20 points a game, and Carmelo Anthony seems to be improving in the leadership department. Still, it’s early, and I have to wonder if getting Amare Stoudemire back will end up disrupting the flow on offense and defense.
The ‘Old, but not completely over the hill’ Tier
5. Boston Celtics- The Celtics took the Heat to a game 7 last year, and even had a chance to eliminate Miami in Boston before LeBron completely took over. Losing Ray Allen hurts because I don’t think Jason Terry can completely fill that void. This may be the last chance for aging stars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to make a run. The Celtics just want to get to the playoffs healthy, and ideally they’d like to avoid Miami until the conference finals.
4. San Antonio Spurs- It seems like we’ve been saying that the Spurs are old for about 5 years now. But any team that has Greg Poppovich as head coach and Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker is going to be good. The Spurs have somewhat reinvented themselves as a pick and roll team, and they’re hoping that their chemistry will give them a chance to make it back to the finals.
The ‘True contenders’ Tier
3. Oklahoma City Thunder- The James Harden trade has to be tough to stomach if you’re a Thunder fan, but it makes sense on most levels. It’s going to be hard to make up for Harden’s playmaking ability, but Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are going to have to step up and hope that the other guys can provide just enough to get them back to the finals and have another crack at the Heat. k=
2. Los Angeles Lakers- Yes, the Lakers haven’t looked great to start the year. But I have a tough time believing that a team with the league’s best big man, a surefire hall of famer, and arguably a top 10 player of all time isn’t going to be right in the thick of things in June. I ‘m guessing that Kobe and company will get if figured out shortly and the Lakers will be battling the Heat in the Finals at the end of the year.
1. Miami Heat- He can be an easy guy to dislike, but LeBron James is simply the best player in the world. And I’m not sure it’s particularly close. He can do everything on the court, and in the last few years he’s really improved his defense. Until they surrender the crown, the Heat are the team to beat.
