NBA Power Rankings Week 1
By Tarun Sathish
With the NBA finally back in our lives, we can start looking at how the league’s 30 teams stack up against one another. I might as well just say that every description comes with the implied “but it’s still early” disclaimer.
- Golden State Warriors: They’ve had a dominant start already with three blowout wins against quality competition in New Orleans and Houston. It’s hard to put anyone else at the top, especially when Steph Curry is scoring at unheard of levels.
- Oklahoma City Thunder: With their stars back (knock on wood), and a new offense under Billy Donavan, this team looks back among the league’s best again. They already own a win against the Spurs.
- San Antonio Spurs: It’ll take time for the pieces to all gel, but the perimeter and front court are still very strong. Between Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan, and LaMarcus Aldridge, they have as many stars as anyone.
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Hard to judge them with so many key players already injured, but the Cavs offense is still as good as any in the league.
- Los Angeles Clippers: Now featuring a bench, the Clippers seem like a more solid contender than they were entering last season.
- Chicago Bulls: The front court rotation will be one to keep an eye on, as new coach Fred Hoiberg figures out whom to start among the Nikola Mirotic, Pau Gasol, and Joakim Noah trio.
- Toronto Raptors: The addition of Demarre Carroll and a skinnier Kyle Lowry seem likely to pay off huge dividends for the Raptors. This team is better in every way than they were last year.
- Miami Heat: They’re healthy now, which makes them one of the league’s best. A massive comeback win against Houston shows how well they are coached, but also how much sheer talent they have.
- Atlanta Hawks: They still need to figure out their wing rotation, but this team is still loaded with talent from top to bottom, and own one of the best forward combinations in the league in Al Horford and Paul Millsap.
- Washington Wizards: The shift to a pace and space three point shooting offense is huge for this squad. John Wall becoming an MVP candidate and Bradley Beal staying healthy is even bigger.
- Utah Jazz: A hot start for Utah isn’t surprising with how dominant they were after moving Rudy Gobert into the starting lineup after the trade deadline last year. Gordon Hayward is already a real star, and this Utah team will be scary all year.
- Detroit Pistons: Stan Van Gundy wasn’t lying when he said Andre Drummond could be great, he’s been almost unstoppable in the first week. The three teams Detroit has beaten are 8-0 in games against other teams.
- Memphis Grizzlies: An awful loss to Cleveland in their home opener is concerning. But it’s just one week, and Memphis has enough talent to keep it up.
- Boston Celtics: The Celtics still need to figure out their rotation, but they’re skilled enough, and are well coached under Brad Stevens.
- Dallas Mavericks: The question for the Mavericks is going to be the health of Wesley Matthews and Chandler Parsons, both of whom had major surgeries in the summer. If they are healthy it’s a pretty good team, but if not, they might stink.
- Houston Rockets: Houston looked completely awful to start this season. Blown out twice, and Harden is struggling early. It’s early, but teams that are in a funk after the first month rarely break out of it.
- New Orleans Pelicans: It’s rough to start the year facing the Warriors twice, and it’s rougher to have had so many preseason injuries. Unless the Pelicans can start to get healthy it’s hard to see them playing at a high level.
- New York Knicks: A good start for the Knicks as Carmelo Anthony looks healthy, and a lot of their summer additions are contributing. It’s not clear how good they will be, but they’re certainly a heck of a lot better than they were last season.
- Phoenix Suns: They’re hard to place after beating Portland twice but losing to Dallas. The Markieff Morris situation will be key to this teams success.
- Orlando Magic: With a double OT loss to OKC, a late second loss in Washington, and a very close loss to Chicago, this team has played better than their record. The young talent here already seems to be solidifying, particularly Victor Oladipo, and the church of rookie Mario Hezonjia is accepting all newcomers.
- Sacramento Kings: They fought the Clippers to a close loss, and DeMarcus Cousins just continues to be the best center in basketball. They have a tough couple of weeks coming up though, facing some of the best in the West.
- Milwaukee Bucks: A really bad start for Milwaukee, but they do get Jabari Parker back from his ACL surgery later this week (although it’ll probably take a while for him to be back at full strength) and Kris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo are still strong on the wings.
- Minnesota Timberwolves: A strong start for the young Minnesota squad. Rookie Karl Anthony Towns looked great, Andrew Wiggins is playing well, and Ricky Rubio’s offseason shot reconstruction might be paying dividends.
- Denver Nuggets: Rookie Emmanuel Mudiay had a nice debut, and Danillo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler look good as well.
- Indiana Pacers: Not a good way to start the year for Indiana, it’s unclear how good this team can be outside of Paul George and Monta Ellis.
- Charlotte Hornets: A close loss against the Hawks was their best performance. Cody Zeller had to undergo medical tests on Monday, but the lack of shooting on this team looks to sink them.
- Portland Trail Blazers: It’s hard to see the formula for them being good this year. Luckily CJ McCollum looks hot to start the year, something they will need to keep up.
- Los Angeles Lakers: The plus side, Jordan Clarkson is good, and Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell look to be good. The bad side, if Kobe’s on the floor, none of those guys get the ball.
- Brooklyn Nets: Really bad start for Brooklyn. Joe Johnson is the main guy, and even he struggled early on.
- Philadelphia 76ers: Both Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor opened the season well, and Brett Brown is a good coach, but it’s hard to see if the team has nearly enough talent to win many games.
