Good news, fellow hoop heads; the wait is almost over. Before the night is over, the Houston Rockets will already have the first game of the NBA's 2019-20 preseason slate in the books. All training camps open by Oct. 1, and opening night tips Oct. 22. It feels like the Association has been hibernating forever, and the basketball landscape looks dramatically different now from when the Toronto Raptors secured their first NBA title just a few months back. So, it's the perfect time for a refresher on the league's hierarchy. We'll lay out our power rankings for the upcoming campaign below, then identify three teams poised to take massive leaps. 2019-20 NBA Power Rankings 1. Los Angeles Clippers 2. Milwaukee Bucks 3. Philadelphia 76ers 4. Los Angeles Lakers 5. Utah Jazz 6. Houston Rockets 7. Denver Nuggets 8. Golden State Warriors 9. Portland Trail Blazers 10. Boston Celtics 11. Indiana Pacers 12. Brooklyn Nets 13. Toronto Raptors 14. San Antonio Spurs 15. Dallas Mavericks 16. Detroit Pistons 17. New Orleans Pelicans 18. Miami Heat 19. Sacramento Kings 20. Orlando Magic 21. Minnesota Timberwolves 22. Atlanta Hawks 23. Chicago Bulls 24. Oklahoma City Thunder 25. Washington Wizards 26. Phoenix Suns 27. Memphis Grizzlies 28. New York Knicks 29. Charlotte Hornets 30. Cleveland Cavaliers Three Teams on the Rise Los Angeles Clippers Last season's Clippers were a gritty, hard-working group of underrated hoopers. This year, they might have the perfect blend of blue-chip stars and blue-collar support players. Summer imports Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are most responsible for catapulting this team atop the hoops' heavyweight ranks, on paper at least. Each is an All-NBA regular who has previously put a franchise on his shoulders. More importantly, each can also shine in a supporting role, as a lockdown defender, a spot-up sniper or a 100-miles-per-hour hustler. Their ability to balance leadership duties and share them with the incumbents could be key in helping this club realize its towering potential."We are all the leaders in our own little lane," Patrick Beverley told reporters. "We just try to be the [best] in our roles that we can possibly be." Los Angeles Lakers Judging by the collective star power, this season may be defined by Hollywood's finest. The critical question, then, is which L.A. team is best-equipped to chase the crown. Granted, the Lakers only sit fourth in our initial rankings, but their ceiling sits as high as any. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are both on this roster. Maybe that's reason enough for them to claim the top rung. "I think we got the best of them, of all the duos," new Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said. "We've got two top-five players, two guys that really just do it all. I'd put those two guys against anybody in the league." Maybe Vogel is a bit biased, but the stat sheet says he might be right. James and Davis sit second and third, respectively, in career player efficiency rating, per Basketball-Reference.com. Their pick-and-roll might be this season's most unstoppable play. The only question marks with this team come from the role players, starting with Kyle Kuzma's status. The scoring forward is out indefinitely with a stress reaction in his left foot. Since the Lakers never snagged a third star, they'll need the best version of Kuzma to help them complete their championship mission. New Orleans Pelicans Last season's Pelicans were blitzed by Anthony Davis' trade request and awkward part-time role down the stretch. This year's group has already been buoyed by the arrival of top pick Zion Williamson, plus recent top prospects Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, and sage veterans JJ Redick and Derrick Favors. This team needs shooting. The Pels were precariously short on snipers before losing Darius Miller, a career 38.2 percent three-point marksman, to a ruptured Achilles. Having Redick helps, but they'll need better-than-expected sniping from Williamson and better-than-we've-seen outside shooting from Ball and Ingram. But that might be the only problem area for these Pelicans. Coach Alvin Gentry's up-tempo system is perfect for this young, athletic roster. Lob passes should come early and often, as Ball and Jrue Holiday are gifted distributors and Williamson, Ingram, Favors and Jaxson Hayes are all above-the-rim finishers. If Williamson lives up to his billing as a once-in-a-generation prospect, New Orleans should zoom past last year's 33-49 record. https://bleacherreport.com/articles...aking-down-teams-on-the-rise-entering-2019-20
Bleacher Report is basically casual sports fan middle schoolers masquerading as analysts. It shouldn't be circulated here.
This. I think if they had been fifth, ahead of Utah, I would be fine with their placement. But I don't see how swapping Rubio, Crowder and Favors for Conley, Bogdanovic and Green makes them better than Houston. They're definitely better, but they're not better than a team that has owned them in the postseason the last two years.
Clippers will be without PG13 for a while and need to work in two new LEADERS and get everyone else to follow along happily. That'll take time. Lakers have no legit PG (Rondo blows) and are a knee-tweak away from missing the playoffs entirely. Jazz have to figure out how a 6'1" and 6'3" backcourt are going to guard anyone other than Kemba Walker. My WC looks like this: 1. Houston Rockets 2. Los Angeles Clippers 3. Denver Nuggets 4. Portland Trail Blazers 5. Golden State Warriors 6. San Antonio Spurs 7. Utah Jazz 8. Los Angeles Lakers 9. Sacramento Kings 10. Dallas Mavericks 11. New Orleans Pelicans 12. Oklahoma City Thunder Overall, only the '76ers and the Bucks are possibly better than us.
As usual, East Coast & California bias. 1. Clippers - Insane Defense 2. Bucks - Feast on weaker East 3. Rockets - Better than people expect 4. Jazz - Better, much needed offense 5. Sixers - Depends on health 6. Lakers - Will be good but a bust 7. Nuggets - Sophomore slump 8. Raptors - Pascal will make the leap to starting ASG 9. Warriors - Will hurt with new lineup, missing Klay 10. Blazers - Bubble contender, Dame is great
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-nba-predictions/ 538 still has us as the best full strength team. Although since the last time I have checked Philly has bumped up to a higher projected record.
too low. rankings are a terrible idea. tier systems make more sense. here are my tiers, with no particular order within each tier. tier 1 - contenders -clippers -rockets -sixers tier 2 - pretenders -lakers -bucks -jazz -nuggets -warriors tier 3 - playoff teams -blazers -celtics -nets -pacers tier 4 - on the bubble -spurs -raptors -pelicans -kings -pistons -heat -magic tier 5 - lotto -wolves -mavs -hawks -bulls -thunder tier 6 - bottom barrel -wizards -knicks -suns -grizzlies -knicks -hornets -cavs
Rockets are gonna get the 1 seed in the West and have to listen all year to pundits b****ing about how we're gonna be paper tigers come playoff time.
"owned" is a strong word. we beat them last year because they simply could not score. that problem is over with. if they only got conley i wouldnt think that much of it but adding bogdanovic is huge. he led the pacers in scoring while dipo was out and they were still in the fight for a top 3 seed right up until the end. adding two big threats to put next to mitchell is huge. you cant load up on him anymore, and they also still have ingles one of the more underrated players in the league. as long as they continue to be great on defensive end this indeed a scary team IMO and i could see them being rated higher than us simply because on paper they should be really good on BOTH ends. that is a question mark for the rockets. i really dont know if this defense can be at least top 10.
Go Astros!!! The real NBA season starts after all-star break when all the trades and waivers and buyouts are done. All these speculations are all over the place. The team with the best chemistry and healthy are gonna win. PG13 and Kawaii? They’ve never really played together. LeBron is gonna be LeBron... you’re gonna have a lot of finger pointing and passing the blame on all the other super stars and post super stars. There’s gonna be a lot of egos especially when he goes off on Dwight and Dwight turns into baby Dwight. Davis is just gonna collect his check untill he gets hurt again.
They should have a significant drop off defensively is the issue. Favors and Rubio were important on defense for them. If the manage to keep the same level of defense, they will be scary for sure. I seriously doubt it though.
