Read Basketball NBA Power Rankings: Post-Offseason
1. Golden State Warriors- It’s hard to dethrone a champion from the top of the power rankings, but the Kevin Durant addition pretty much makes the Warrriors unstoppable coming into next year.
2. Cleveland Cavaliers- They’re still the kings of the East and this is largely down to the fact LeBron James is the best player on the planet. They have lost some key players such as Matthew Dellavedova, but they’ll be back next year.
3. San Antonio Spurs- Tim Duncan’s retirement will send shockwaves around the franchise, but Pau Gasol is a good enough replacement for the Spurs. They’ll look to build on what they did last year and they’ll hope for a better postseason.
4. Memphis Grizzlies- This may seem high to some people, but they had a terrific offseason. They brought back Mike Conley and the addition of Chandler Parsons means they have a genuinely elite shot creator.
5. Utah Jazz- Utah didn’t make the playoffs last year, but they have added Joe Johnson and George Hill and their offensive capabilities push the Jazz up high in our rankings.
6. Boston Celtics- Brad Stevens continues to work wonders with an average roster, the signing of Al Horford gives him a genuine star to work with. There is no doubt Boston are an elite two-way team.
7. Los Angeles Clippers- Despite what many say, the Clippers are still a very good basketball team. They’d be higher if they had a better bench, but Doc Rivers can’t seem to find one.
8. Toronto Raptors- Bismack Biyombo is a big loss, but Masai Ujiri’s teams always find a way to replace lost talent.
9. Houston Rockets- This team will be really fun next year, James Harden leading Mike D’Antoni’s offence will be historically great. The defence is a huge question mark though.
10. Detroit Pistons- Stan Van Gundy is as good a GM as he is a coach, he has built a terrific roster to go round the all star center Andre Drummond.
11. Charlotte Hornets- Jeremy Lin is a big loss for the bench unit, but Ramon Sessions can come in and do a good job. Signing Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams was the major aim, they succeeded and because of this they keep a high ranking.
12. Oklahoma City Thunder- Sadly for OKC, they are the big losers of the offseason as they lost their best player to Golden State. Despite this, they still have Russell Westbrook and have surrounded him with nice role players. They aren’t to be underestimated.
13. Atlanta Hawks- I’m one of very few people who likes the Dwight Howard move, he is an upgrade on Horford in many ways. The big loss is Jeff Teague, Budenholzer must see something we don’t in Dennis Schroeder.
14. Washington Wizards- This team should have made the playoffs last year but fell victim to bad luck. They added Ian Mahinmi to their team and the additions of Andrew Nicholson and Tomas Satoransky make the bench unit dangerous.
15. Portland Trail Blazers- The Evan Turner signing is a huge question mark, but they didn’t really lose any key players so they should be contending again.
16. Dallas Mavericks- Despite striking out on key targets, the Mavs have salvaged their offseason by bringing in Harrison Barnes, Seth Curry and Andrew Bogut. The contract sizes are an issue, but this won’t effect the teams ability.
17. Minnesota Timberwolves- Tom Thibodeau’s introduction will undoubtedly cause Minnesota’s defence to improve, they also have a good offensive system in place from last year. These are a nightmare matchup for any of the big guns.
18. Miami Heat- The departure of Dwyane Wade is sad, but it allows Eric Spoelstra to play more small ball which suits this young group better. This ranking is banking largely on Chris Bosh being healthy.
19. Indiana Pacers- The Pacers are clearly emphasising physicality and athleticism based off of their offseason moves. Thad Young and Jeff Teague are ugprades on what they had before but this team lacks shooting.
20. Milwaukee Bucks- One of the bigger climbers in these rankings, the Bucks finally added some shooting to complement Giannis Antetokounmpo’s insane athleticism. They still have some issues, but they’ll be close to the playoffs.
21. Denver Nuggets- No one knows what to expect from the Nuggets, they have a good coach and some good young players but the lack of star play will be an issue in the loaded Western Conference.
22. Orlando Magic- Their front court of Bismack Biyombo and Serge Ibaka will be a formidable force for guards to play against and Frank Vogel is a clear improvement on Scott Skiles. Despite these positives, it’s hard to see where the offence is coming from.
23. Chicago Bulls- Their offseason was a total disaster, they didn’t commit to a rebuild and the moves they made don’t fit with Jimmy Butler in a win now type philosophy. They’ll have some good one on one offence but the spacing and defence will be problematic.
24. Sacramento Kings- Dave Joerger is the first great coach Sacramento have had since Rick Adelman left the franchise in 2006 and they have a perennial all star in DeMarcus Cousins. He will be good enough to get them to 30 wins, but they lack guard play on the roster.
25. New York Knicks- The Knicks roster is a ticking timebomb as nearly all of their starters are injury prone. The Courtney Lee pickup is great and the Joakim Noah pickup has high reward potential. However the Derrick Rose pickup is very strange, he hasn’t been good for four years.
26. New Orleans Pelicans- Dell Demps decided to actually use their first round pick for the first time since 2011 and the result was Buddy Hield. He provides a much needed shooter for the Gentry offence and they added nice pieces such as Solomon Hill and Etwaun Moore.
27. Phoenix Suns- The Suns are now fully committed to a rebuild despite having some good talent on the roster. They drafted two young power forwards in the form of Dragan Bender and Marquess Chriss but they aren’t fully ready yet. Eric Bledsoe will make this team fun to watch and they do still have Brandon Knight and Tyson Chandler.
28. Philadelphia 76ers- The process has finally worked as Ben Simmons is on the Sixers roster. He should become an all star for the team and with the likes of Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid on the roster this team should finally win some games.
29. Los Angeles Lakers- Byron Scott has finally disappeared which is great news for Laker fans, Luke Walton has the right offensive principles to get the best out of D’Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram, however this team isn’t ready to win many games yet.
30. Brooklyn Nets- The Nets sadly lost out on both Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson and this puts them in a very difficult place. The signings of Jeremy Lin and Trevor Booker are great, but it’s hard to see this team winning many games.