Top Ten NBA Power Rankings
1. The Bucks are the best team in the league right now. It’s not just that they’re elite on both ends of the floor –sporting top five offenses and defensive units- and have arguably the best player in the NBA. It’s not that they’re in the East, which does make life easier for them. It’s the fact that right now, today, they have a rising star in the head coaching ranks. Maybe I’m too generous here, but it’s hard not to be impressed with just about everything this team does…except their three point shooting.
2. The Lakers. Yes, the schedule has been easy. However, the Lakers just dismantled the Utah Jazz after a hard fought win against the Nuggets the night prior. Anthony Davis is unquestionably the best defensive player in the league right now. He made Joker, the best center in the game, look average. He made Rudy G. look like just another guy. LeBron is a defensive force, Dwight Howard is a defensive force, so on and so forth. The question for this team is how sustainable can their three point shooting be? And…health…but when you have an aging superstar and an injury prone guy like AD, that question never goes away.
3. The Clippers. Kawhi’s load management is the talk of the town. Paul George is reminding people as to how great he truly is. Sweet Lou does sweet Lou things. I don’t know if the load management route will or will not pay off. I don’t know if their lack of rim protection will really bite them. Here’s what I do know – this team will fight you until the bitter end, has three elite defenders, and can score buckets. They are an asterisk for all power rankings because they’ll never fully invest in the regular season. Hard to rank them.
4. Denver Nuggets. They hung with the Lakers until the bitter end two nights ago. They did that while getting a rough game out of Joker. They get a bump due to their excellent coach, depth, and this ranking is a bit more intuitive than factual. Their flaws feel less fatal than other teams. Philly can’t score, the Raptors don’t feel sustainable in the playoffs with a one man show, the Rockets and Mavs don’t play defense at all.
5. Houston Rockets. Harden is the MVP from a sheer ‘he is needed to win’ standpoint. We know the game though – his numbers are inflated and the system that inflates him is flawed- but what he is doing is marvelous and historic. Treasure him. Westbrook is meshing well. I don’t like their coach, I don’t like their lack of defense. But this is a regular season power ranking…
6. The Boston Celtics. So, imagine if Kyrie had bought in and wasn’t a malcontent last year. Kemba Walker is a diet version of Kyrie, from a talent and ability standpoint. However, Kemba is a unquestionably the superior locker room guy, and as a result the Boston Celtics are once again greater than the sum of their parts. That greater sum makes for a nice story.
7. Philly. They should be a top three team. They have the most talented center in recent NBA memory. Who happens to be taking too many jump shot? That talented center. Philly has arguably the most talented guard. We know the flaws with Simmons at this point, but he’s still a great player. They have Al Horford. They are underachieving. I blame poor coaching and egos. What else is new? Well, their defense will just embarrass you. High ranking and ran by a bunch of guys who are frustrated and have blood in their eye, Philly plays defense like a bunch of big angry men. Because they are a bunch of big angry men. They’re still a title contender. And big. So angry!
8. The Mavericks. So Luka is pretty good, right? Porzingis is up and down, but you can still be optimistic about him getting back to form, right? The roster is pretty solid overall, right? Coaching isn’t too bad, right? Why can’t they play defense? Why? It’s a young team with lots of energy. Try harder. Make no mistake, Luka is playing better ball than almost anyone on the planet, and his talent level is so, so high. His shots are crisp and clean. He has handles. He can create space for himself. He is a walking human highlight reel. He can pass. He can get a rebound. He is better at this game at the age of 20 than most first team all NBA players are at age 26. But the Mavs are going to struggle until their defensive output is at least average. If you try hard, you can usually be average.
9. The Raptors. This is another plucky team with a budding star player and head coach. They’re trying so hard to prove that of course Kawhi was a huge part of their championship run last year, but that it wasn’t all him. Here’s the problem in a nutshell: you have a budding star, maybe one or two nice supporting pieces, and that’s it. God bless the try hard teams. God bless the teams that care about defense in the regular season.
10. The…Timber…Wolves? Miami, Indiana, and Utah were all contending for this spot. So…why…the Timber…Wolves? Well, Karl Anthony Town’s is having a better season than the best player on those other teams. Utah’s best player…is…exactly. Indiana is still waiting for the return of Oladipo. Jimmy Butler’s 20 points a game isn’t going to get it done, either. Meanwhile KAT is dropping 25-26 a night, snatching a dozen rebounds, and is blocking some shots. Look, KAT is a great player, but not a truly great player. I don’t know if he can keep it up. I do know that right now he’s playing like an absolute monster.
Originally Posted by Jaded
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