The NBA starts up tonight with two good matchups — Chicago at Miami and Phoenix at LA Lakers. But before we the season tips off, let’s take a look at how each team stacks up. This year, Zach Crizer will be doing the weekly NBA Power Rankings. Check out the rankings below and leave your feedback in the comments.
Rank (Pv) |
Team |
Record |
Comments |
| 1 (-) |  |
— | You cannot argue against a championship team that returns five starters. While Jason Williams is out until November, Gary Payton should be able to handle the point. Look for the maturation of Udonis Haslem as Shaquille O’Neal begins to wind down. Will they win another championship, probably not, but they have to start on top. |
| 2 (-) |  |
— | When a team has the players and scheme to relegate a recovering Amare Stoudamire to sixth man, it is probably going to be a favorite. Amare will start the season on the bench to get his legs under him. In his acclimation, they will send a starting five of Steve Nash, Raja Bell, Shawn Marion, Boris Diaw and Kurt Thomas out there. Also coming off the bench is big swingman Leandro Barbosa. Nash needs to come out of the game more to save his energy for the whole season. |
| 3 (-) |  |
— | This is the same team that went to the NBA Finals. That is good in that they are once again one of the top teams in the league. Now if they just had an offensive center to compliment Dirk and his gang of outside scorers, they would be unstoppable. Avery Johnson is a great coach, but Desagana Diop and Erick Dampier are not going to turn into scorers. |
| 4 (-) |  |
— | This offseason, the Bulls made themselves a team to be reckoned with by adding a formidable frontcourt to their stellar young guards. Former Pistons star Ben Wallace will man the middle along with the steady P.J. Brown. Brown will gradually give up minutes to young stud Tyrus Thomas, acquired with the second pick in the draft. Hinrich, Gordon, Duhon and Deng are all stars, but if one steps above the rest and becomes a superstar, this team will win a championship. |
| 5 (-) |  |
— | Who is Fabricio Oberto? Nobody knows, but he will be the starting center, playing alongside Tim Duncan. This team still belongs to Duncan, Ginobili and Parker. Those three will provide enough offense to keep the Spurs as contenders, and the defense of Bruce Bowen and bench led by Michael Finley makes them one of the elites. |
| 6 (-) |  |
— | The loss of Ben Wallace is obviously the big story. Nazr Mohammed is his replacement, and while Nazr will get some boards, he is not going to give this offense the fuel to continue its recent powerhouse style. They will not be thinking about 70 wins this season, but Antonio McDyess off the bench and 4 of the 5 starters back will keep this team afloat. |
| 7 (-) |  |
— | LeBron’s posse, aka the Cavaliers, forced a game seven with the Pistons last season and have their sights set on passing the Pistons in the division this season. While the Bulls may prevent them from winning it, a healthy Larry Hughes will automatically improve this team, maybe enough to get even further in the playoffs. One thing the Cavaliers should have learned from their series with Detroit is that Anderson Varejao deserves to have a bigger role. |
| 8 (-) |  |
— | The evolution of Nenad Krstic is certainly a good sign, as Jason Kidd will have a post man to go along with the great combo of Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter. Depth is a problem, but the starters should get plenty of rest in games against division rivals New York and Philadelphia. |
| 9 (-) |  |
— | Sterling gave in and gave Chris Kaman a worthy extension. Now the team is set for a while at every position. Sam Cassell brings leadership to a talented young group. Kaman and Elton Brand form a great frontcourt, with Tim Thomas coming in for backup. Cassell will split time with the future point guard, Shaun Livingston. This team will only go up. |
| 10 (-) |  |
— | Frankly, I do not know why they even list Marcus Camby in the starting lineup. This is one player the team would love to pay by the game. Carmelo Anthony has to carry this team, especially with Kenyon Martin’s hot headed attitude towards his coach. Fortunately for Denver, Melo proved capable of carrying team USA, but then again he will not have LeBron and Dwayne Wade to distract defenders. |
| 11 (-) |  |
— | Most would not call Shane Battier a key opposition, but you have to have at least one steady, consistent player in the lineup. McGrady and Yao are a great tandem, but they have both struggled with injuries and had no supporting cast. Now Rafer Alston is the point guard, Bonzi Wells is a bench player and Battier is a stable role player. |
| 12 (-) |  |
— | Jameer Nelson has developed into a very good point guard, capable of running the offense, but the story is Dwight Howard. He is a still developing monster. Now he is complemented by the somehow salvaged Darko Milicic, and everything will be more open for this offense with J.J. Redick shooting threes and Keyon Dooling driving off the bench. |
| 13 (-) |  |
— | If you are wondering how a team can make the playoffs with Trenton Hassell starting, stop wondering and start remembering that rookie of the year favorite Randy Foye will take over sooner rather than later. Also added to the mix is Mike James, a bonafide scoring point guard to help out the identity of the franchise, Kevin Garnett. |
| 14 (-) |  |
— | My sleeper team of the season has some major acquisitions to show off. Peja Stojakovic offers another small market team a big time three point shooter, and his numbers will only be improved by the defending rookie of the year, point guard Chris Paul. Paul will also have the former Chicago center Tyson Chandler to pass to down low. Paul will even make David West and Desmond Mason look like they know how to score. |
| 15 (-) |  |
— | Andrei Kirilenko’s offensive ascent halted last season. The supposed leader of a team really needs to get more than 15 points a game. Boozer has been a disappointment, but will likely get this season to try and contribute. Young point guard Deron Williams has been impressive but is not a scoring guard. That leaves the scoring duties to…Gordon Giricek. Yes, that was supposed to be anticlimactic. The defense is great, but this team’s most reliable offense is Mehmet Okur shooting the three, so therefore they are going to be battling for a playoff spot. |
| 16 (-) |  |
— | Teams are starting to figure out that Brendan Haywood may be taken lightly in order to stop Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. LeBron James beat this team alone, and Arenas is basically running this team alone. This team needs an inside threat to take some pressure off of Arenas. |
| 17 (-) |  |
— | Forget about the off the field commotion with Sebastian Telfair. He showed what he can do in the preseason, averaging 15 points per game, along with 4 assists. He is shooting 62 percent from beyond the arc and 79 percent from the line. Most importantly, Pierce is on board and the young players are looking good. Delonte West will go back to his rightful role as a 3 point specialist and Ryan Gomes will likely take over a starting role. Veteran Theo Ratliff will offer defense, and the death of Red Auerbach will add emotion. |
| 18 (-) |  |
— | Don Nelson is back for a second try, and he will have to try hard. You would be hard pressed to find a more useless frontcourt in the NBA. Murphy, Pietrus and Dunleavy might as well be strategically placed statues that Jason Richardson can use for picks. Baron Davis is a good point guard, but all of these guys are going to have to learn a whole new philosophy, defense. |
| 19 (-) |  |
— | If the USA’s showing at the World Championships is any indication, then Toronto should romp against the American’s with their international flair, but unfortunately, this is the NBA and traveling does not count. Chris Bosh is a star, and TJ Ford is a great point guard, but unless Bargnani gets his game going to look like a number one pick, Rasho Nesterovic and some guy named Anthony Parker (Former Euroleague MVP) are not going to get this team to the promise land. |
| 20 (-) |  |
— | I will refrain from making a Stephen Jackson joke, because they have all been made, but this team has some problems. Led by Jermaine O’Neal and Jackson, this jailbreak gang will at least have good defense…lawyers. |
| 21 (-) |  |
— | Suddenly Kwame Brown does not look so bad, but Kobe will be odd looking in the new number 24. However, other than those two, this team has no sure thing. Odom is a great talent, but has failed to be a useful sidekick for Kobe. Luke Walton and Chris Mihm are both just large, slow white men smiling for the camera, just like Jack Nicholson. Sasha Vujacic impressed me late in the season and could pressure Smush Parker for playing time. |
| 22 (-) |  |
— | Pau Gasol is out for a good portion of the season. That throws Mike Miller into the lineup and makes Jake Tsakalidis the inside presence, not a good sign for this season. It might just mean more practice for Rudy Gay and Hakim Warrick, the obvious future of the franchise. |
| 23 (-) |  |
— | Even though Andrew Bogut is out for a short time at the start of the season, the Bucks would be wise to continually feed it inside to super sophomore Charlie Villanueva. Michael Redd now has a good scoring partner, but this team gets the short end of the stick by playing in the Eastern conference’s best division. |
| 24 (-) |  |
— | If just one of their college superstar draft picks gets into shape along with Adam Morrison, this team will suddenly be able to think about the playoffs. However, Emeka Okafor and Sean May have been disappointments, and every NBA team needs a player in the paint. This year, the Bobcats may have to rely on the guard play of Raymond Felton, a pleasant surprise, and Adam Morrison to manage their wins. |
| 25 (-) |  |
— | In what will likely be Chris Webber’s final year in Philly, Mo Cheeks will simply try to avoid turmoil and let young guns Andre Igoudala and Rodney Carney gradually get on the court together. Igoudala is now a starter, but Carney will have to work his way into the lineup. Allen Iverson will still have to handle the point guard duties, with no good 2 guard to speak of. |
| 26 (-) |  |
— | The Rick Adelman era was ended by the Maloof brothers, tired of waiting for their team to go to the next level. Now the Kings have taken a step back and are counting on Eric Musselman to right the ship. The combo of Ron Artest and Bonzi Wells actually looked promising on the court, and Artest asked for the Kings to keep Bonzi. Wells is now residing in Houston, and Artest on a team likely headed for the cellar of the Pacific division, which is bad news for Musselman’s locker room. |
| 27 (-) |  |
— | The Blazers had the best offseason acquisitions of any team in the league. While the coaches could still be considered baby sitters, their job might be a little easier, as the team should be better behaved. Brandon Roy is the preseason favorite for Rookie of the Year, and will start immediately. Point guard Jarrett Jack looks promising, feeding to Roy and Zach Randolph. On this young team, it might not be long before LaMarcus Aldridge gets his shot to start over Joel Przybilla. It also may not be long before the Blazers move out of the cellar. |
| 28 (-) |  |
3-5-1 | Josh Smith is looking more and more like a superstar, but with a young group of talented scorers including Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams, the point guard combo of Speedy Claxton and Tyronn Lue does not get it done. |
| 29 (-) |  |
— | An aging Ray Allen and lack of defense could send this team to the cellar of the Northwest division. If Allen starts to slow, this will be the Rashard Lewis show, and while he is a great player, he is not good enough to keep this team afloat. |
| 30 (-) |  |
— | Their roster is not indicative of the NBA’s worst team, but it wasn’t last year either. With Isaiah Thomas running the show in every form now, it can only crash and burn. This team will be here until one of two things happens: a. James Dolan gets a clue and kicks Isaiah out, or b. Steve Francis and Stephon Marbury work as a team. I think it is pretty obvious that only one is conceivable. |