NBA Preseason Power Rankings

With training camps just getting under way and most rosters nearing completion, we bring you the first of many NBA Power Rankings. As we move towards to beginning of the regular season on October 30th. What we give you now is a quick breakdown of where we feel the teams will fall into place, as well as giving you the date in which we will dive into much greater depths. Tomorrow we will bring you our first installment, where we will look at the Magic and the Bobcats.

30.) Orlando Magic – See 2010 – 2011 Cleveland Cavaliers. (October 7th)


29.) Charlotte Bobcats – When you were the worst team in league history a year ago, getting up 
to 29th in the league is an accomplishment.  (October 7th)


28.) Detroit Pistons – Still feeling the effects of spending $20 million on Ben Gordon and the cancer patient formerly known as Charlie Villanueva in the same off-season. (October 8th)


27.) Portland Trailblazers – A far cry from being the sneakiest good team in the league, a title they held for three years running not long ago. (October 8th)


26.) Phoenix Suns - Not only did they lose the face of the franchise, they got pennies on the dollar back for him. (October 9th)


25.) Toronto Raptors – I like the Kyle Lowry signing, but there is not enough talent on the roster for them to be a serious threat. (October 9th)


24.) Houston Rockets – Come July, Houston might be reconsidering their Luis Scola salary dump in a failed attempt at Dwight Howard. Have you ever seen a team with 12 seventh men? (October 10th)


23.) Atlanta Hawks – Josh Smith and Al Horford are still beasts in the paint, but they might be starting the worst wings in the league. (October 10th)


22.) New Orleans Hornets – A solid young core centered around Anthony Davis and Eric Gordon, but will have a tough time controlling the paint with no true enforcer. (October 11th)


21.) Washington Wizards – A starting five of actual NBA players will allow the dumbest named team in the league to work some magic. (October 11th)


20.) Sacramento Kings – Still a team full of black holes who play as if defense is optional, but the rest of the league better not forget to box out against an inside tandem of Robinson and Cousins. (October 12th)


19.) Golden State Warriors – If Bogut can stay healthy, which he won’t, the Warriors might be a dark horse for the eighth seed in the West. (October 12th)


18.) Cleveland Cavaliers – Although I’m not buying into their last two #4 overall picks (Thompson and Waiters), I will always trust in Uncle Drew. (October 13th)


17.) Milwaukee Bucks (East #8) – Their top two guards (Ellis and Jennings) can light it up and speed up teams, but their third and fourth guards are Beno Udrih and Marquis Daniels – Yikes. (October 14th)

16.) Utah Jazz – Any teams that think it is a good idea to trade for Marvin Williams doesn’t deserve to make the playoffs. (October 15th)


15.) Dallas Mavericks (West #8) – An absolute shell of the team that won the title two seasons ago – but that’s what happens when you have to tape Shark Tank instead of meet with Derron Williams. (October 16th)


14.) Minnesota Timberwolves ( West #7) – Brandon Roy with a healthy knee could finally bring stability to the Shooting Guard position which has been unstable since the supremely unstable Latrell Spreewell. (October 17th)


13.) New York Knicks (East #7) – Supremely talented in the back court with Anthony, Stoudemire, and Chandler but will falter due to a starting point guard who looks like Cedric the Entertainer. (October 18th)


12.) Memphis Grizzlies  (West #6) – Losing O.J. Mayo will not help the Griz, a team that already digressed a lot from the team that made it to the Western Conference Semi-Finals two years ago. (October 19th)


11.) Indiana Pacers (East #6) – Supremely athletic on the wings, but the Pacers were too quiet in the off season to better their position in the league. (October 20th)


10.) Philadelphia 76ers (East #5) – A solid team who could not find a go to scorer.  Add the most skilled offensive center in the league and that weakness has become a strength. Will he mesh with Doug Collins? Larry David says Eh. (October 21st)


9.) Denver Nuggets (West #5) -  I may be ranking them too high based on how fun they will be to watch, but with Lawson and Iguodala running the break, this team will be very fun to watch. With Javelle McGee finally being matched up with a real coach, he might give them unexpected toughness in the paint. (October 22nd)


8.) Chicago Bulls (East #4) – How fast does Derrick Rose return from injury? Will he be 100%? Those two questions could be the only thing that matters for a team that completely revolves around his play making abilities. They still suffer from Carlos Boozer crippling contract and a huge hole at shooting guard, but if Rose comes back healthy, this position might seem conservative. (October 23rd)


7.) Brooklyn Nets (East #3) – I usually hate teams that come together in one off-season, but the pieces Brooklyn compiled are very complementary. D-Will as the primary ball handler, Johnson as the off-ball scorer, Wallace as the pest on the wing, Humphries as the dominant rebounder, and Lopez as the scoring threat on the inside. There bench is one of the worst in the league, but their starters should negate that weakness. (October 24th)


6.) Los Angeles Clippers (West #4) – The Lamar Odom signing allows one of the more rigid teams of the past season to become much more versatile. They can play small with Odom and Griffin in the post and not lose much. While I think they over-payed for Jamaal Crawford, he still gives them much needed punch from the wing. This is not even mentioning Chris Paul, the best all-around point guard in the league. (October 25th)


5.) San Antonio Spurs (West #3) - A year older, the Spurs will once again fly under the radar as a team to contend with in the playoffs. Duncan may be a broken down Hyundai compared to the Bentley he once was, but if Tony Parker can play at last years’ level, this team is still one of the few teams that has a chance to make it out of the crazy west. They still have the best bench in the league and the veteran know-how to make a run. (October 26th)


4.) Boston Celtics (East #2) – This team gave the Heat the best series last season, and have added more fire power to the roster. Jason Terry will basically be a wash to what Ray Allen has given them the last few seasons, and will not complain about coming off the bench. Avery Bradley has come into his own as a Bruce Bowen-esque menace that can hit the corner three. Uncle Jeff Green is back from a heart condition that caused him to miss all of last season. With Rondo, Pierce, and Garnett still playing at a high level, this is the second best team in the East. (October 27th)


3.) Los Angeles Lakers (West #2) – The only reason this team in not number one on the rankings is the egos that will now try and mesh and create a juggernaut. With Nash and Kobe running the back court, teams will have a very difficult time stopping them, but at the same time, those two player are not exactly defensive savants. Luckily they have Dwight Howard, the best defensive center since the Dream, to clean up the mess they are more than likely to leave. Will Kobe, Dwight, Gasol, and World Peace (all divas in their own right) be able to coexist? I guess only time will tell. (October 28th)


2.) Oklahoma City Thunder (West #1) – OKC is home to the best pure scorer the league has seen since Jordan and an athletic freak that has the ability to score at will. Either can put up 30 in a game without breaking a sweat. That is without mentioning James Harden, who came into his own as a scorer last season, and Serge Ibaka who became a premier shot blocker who is slowly gaining an offensive game. Kendrick Perkins will anchor the team at the Center position – a player that morphed from an amnesty candidate to a bonafide asset the day Dwight went to the Lakers. He is one of the few centers that can guard Superman straight up, and I do not think the Lakers will be able to guard OKC on the perimeter. They should be the team to emerge from the West. (October 29th)


1.) Miami Heat (East #1) – Simply put, LeBron James made the leap to a bonafide all-timer last season. They’ve added depth in Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. Although they lack a true center who can tie his shoes, they are so good when they go small they force teams to shift to their game plan. Not only that, but in the words of D’Angelo Barksdale, “The king stays the king.” (October 30th)