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26/30 rankers reporting this week. /R/NBA’s Power Rankings are published every two weeks which is a bit different from most rankings. Other than that we rank the teams the same way as our competition. If write ups are left blank the team rep decided not to submit. We encourage any user to fill in the blanks in the comment section. We are looking for Clippers, Pelicans and Raptors rankers, Apply Here.

#Link to 2023-24 Predictions Page

# Team Δ Record Comment
1 Nuggets 0-0 Sup y’all. This old fuck is back for year 10 of the rankings, and looking back, it’s insane to see the evolution of the Nuggets since 2014. Brian Shaw was entering his second and final season as head coach, and would be replaced by one Michael Malone the next year. Ty Lawson was the star of that team, and just three years later he was starting for the Shandong Golden Stars. Jusuf Nurkic and Gary Harris had just been drafted as future cornerstones, but they also chose a Quesarito at pick 41, who would spend one more year in Serbia before moving to the US and completely turning around the fortunes of this franchise. Championship aspirations had died when Danilo Gallinari tore his ACL just before the playoffs in 2013, and Andre Iguodala, George Karl, and Masai Ujiri all left town shortly after. Now the Nuggets enter the 2023-24 season as the defending champs, and with their core intact along with a retooled bench, “repeat” is the only possibility in mind this year. While many of their fellow contenders have built up their rosters this offseason, the Nuggets will rely on their chemistry and championship experience to get them to the finish line.
2 Celtics 0-0 Brad Stevens saw the reports every year of how Danny was this close to pulling a blockbuster trade, and decided enough was enough. This offseason he swung for the fences and traded for Porzingis, and then shocked everyone by then pulling off a trade for Jrue Holiday. The loss of Robert “TimeLord” Williams sucks, but he hasn’t been the same dominant defensive player that he was pre-injury that people remember. The only question marks going into the season are now about the Celtics bench. Their 1-5 is great. Their 6th in Horford should still be good. Their 7th and 8th men are Pritchard and Hauser, but then there’s a massive cliff. Who will step up? Will rookie Jordan Walsh? Will former Toronto PG Dalano Banton and PF Oshae Brissett? Will Luke Kornet continue to revolutionize how to contest shots and shock the world as a breakout MIP? Or will they end up having to rely on one of their 2-way contract players? Neemias Queta looked dominant in the Celtics final preseason game and could contend for the 3rd bigman spot over Kornet. Lamar Stevens looked promising too. This season, like every year, will come down to injuries. If the Celtics can stay relatively healthy, they should have a great chance at not only making the finals, but winning it. I swear to god if we have another night 1 Hayward-esque injury that derails the team, I’ll cry.
3 Bucks 0-0
4 Suns 0-0 There have been big changes in Phoenix this off-season. Monty Williams was replaced with Frank Vogel. Chris Paul was traded for Bradley Beal. Ayton finally found a new home in Portland. In total, there are 12 new faces on the 17-man roster. Will it work out for the better? Suns fans are excited to find out, and cautiously optimistic.
5 Warriors 0-0 After last season it was clear Poole was not his 2022 playoff self and there was still some semblance of a rift between the team. The trade for CP3 felt like the owners trying to dump Poole’s long term salary for CP3s short term but on paper it looks like an upgrade, at least for this season. Preseason means nothing but Kuminga is the total points leader and there is excitement to see if he can make the year 3 leap to being a rotational player, especially with CP3 potentially leading him in the second unit.
6 Lakers 0-0 It’s been refreshing to have a drama-free offseason while also having a legitimate title contending team, bringing back the core (except Dennis the Menace) that made an impressive run all the way to WCF, adding some fine pieces that complement the stars and having a full-training camp to congeal togther. Massive shoutout to Rob Pelinka for completely turning this team around since the Rui trade and has made extremely satisying moves all the way upto now. The most pleasing thing about this roster is that the 39-year old man will not have to grind out the entire regular season, the roster minus him is still capable of beating anyone with the exception of the top dogs. Anthony Davis might still have to play the defensive anchor role, but decent backup minutes from Hayes and Wood and surrounding him with competent defensive forwards should ease his job and hopefully allow him to bring back his jumpshooting game this year. Anything short of a Conference Finals appearance would be a disappointment this year as an exciting season awaits Laker land to see if it is fair enough to hope for more than just that.
7 76ers 0-0 What will this season be? There are nothing but questions about the Sixers right now. How much will James Harden play, and will long will he be a Sixer? Is Joel Embiid able to perform at peak capacity in the playoffs? What type of leap will Maxey take? Will Kelly Oubre somehow make the city of Philadelphia love him? The Sixers could be ranked anywhere from top 5 to 10th. It’s time to see what this team is made of, or else it may all fall apart.
8 Heat 0-0 We did not get Damian Lillard after a long and drawn out summer of hope and prayer. However, when life gives you lemons you make lemonade and the Heat are more than capable at making a quality lemonade. We added Thomas Bryant while also bringing back an old friend in Josh Richardson, while seeing Gabe Vincent and Max Strus depart on new adventures. Kevin Love was also added for 2 more years hoping to provide quality minutes in the twilight of his career. At the draft, we brought in Jaime Jaquez Jr who will hopefully develop into a great player but at the moment is nursing a groin injury. The Heat did lose a good amount of quality shooting wise with Strus and Vincent moving on, but in recent years they’ve been more than capable in developing it from UDFA players. For this season, I am going to once again have low expectations with us being a lower seed in the playoffs. I hope Tyler Herro can once again build upon past seasons and have a good season, especially since he’s been a perpetual fixture of trade discussions in past offseasons. However, most important hope is for there to be minimal injuries or surprises in the new season.
9 Cavaliers 0-0 The Cavs got destroyed by the Knicks to end their most successful season without LeBron since the early 90s. They underestimated the physicality of the playoffs, and their spacing flaw was exploited heavily. Experience will teach them that regular season physicality doesn’t cut it in the playoffs, but spacing required roster changes to fix. To illustrate the spacing issue, Mitchell and Garland combined for 414 3pm in 4,878 minutes played last year, while the rest of the Cavs combined for 536 3pm in the remaining 15,002 minutes. They’ve addressed the lack of outside shooting by signing Strus and Niang, who combined for 351 3pm in 3,784 minutes while playing forward positions where we desperately lacked spacing. Added spacing helps open up driving lanes for Caris LeVert, who is healthy and poised to have his best season with the Cavs in the sixth man role. An unknown is if Emoni Bates can get on the court after shooting a total 28/67 (42.7%) from 3 between the summer league and preseason while playing intense defense. While the Cavs will certainly have better spacing than last year, this season will determine if Mobley and Allen can be successful sharing the court and having snipers around them will give them their best opportunity to prove it.
10 Clippers 0-0 We are looking for a Clippers Ranker, Apply Here.
11 Kings 0-0 The Sacramento Kings start the year off with actual expectations. After entering the playoffs for the first time in 17 years with arguably the most entertaining round of playoffs the Kings find themselves fighting for respect as many believe they’re a one hit wonder. With what many would say was a quite Off SZN the Kings opted to re-sign players instead of chasing free agents. The biggest question is how a healthy Domas will look in this system… To win at a high-level floor spacing is critical and he will need to pull the trigger a lot more. The early SZN Hype for Kings fans are very real let’s see if the BEAM Mystique continues…
12 Knicks 0-0 “”"I don’t want to get any message saying, ““I am holding my position.”” We are not holding a goddamned thing. Let the Germans do that. We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything, except the enemy’s balls. We are going to twist his balls and kick the living shit out of him all of the time. Our basic plan of operation is to advance and to keep on advancing regardless of whether we have to go over, under or through the enemy. From time to time there will be some complaints that we are pushing our people too hand. I don’t give a good goddamn about such complaints. I believe in the old and sound rule that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood. The harder we push, the more Germans we will kill. The more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that. There is one great thing that you men will all be able to say after this war is over and you are home once again. You may be thankful that twenty years from now, when you are sitting by the fireplace with you grandson on your knee and he asks you what you did in the great World War II, you won’t have to shift him to the other knee, cough, and say ““Well, your granddaddy shoveled shit in Louisiana.”” No, sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say ""Son, your granddaddy rode with the Great Third Army and a son-of-a-goddamned-bitch named George Patton! That is all. Let’s Fucking Go Knicks "
13 Grizzlies 0-0 No Adams, no Morant, no Clarke…no problem? Expect this team to be very active at the trade deadline if the team can be anything close to 0.500 at that time. Still loaded with talent between JJJ, Bane, Smart, Kennard, and with promising young players in Roddy and LaRavia the Grizzlies rightfully still have championship aspirations, but if the center position can’t be addressed it will be a long season for this team.
14 Mavericks 0-0 The Mavs had an active offseason, drafting two rookies in the first round to address immediate needs to their defense. They are expecting better results from Kyrie Irving & Luka Doncic, but a large part of that depends on the defense improving from bottom 10 towards the top 10 they were just 2 seasons ago. The Mavs added depth across the board, something that plagued them post-deadline last season. If the Mavs can find a groove early and be more disciplined defensively, the Mavs have a chance to make damage again in the playoffs.
16 TWolves 0-0 New season and a mostly same roster hope’s to bring the Wolves success this year. After a disjointed last season the Wolves hope to bring cohesion into this new journey. Cohesion, depth, and the ascendancy of Anthony Edwards. Wolves look to shake up the top of the West.
16 Thunder 0-0 The ascension of SGA to stardom and the return of the NBA’s second wackiest slenderman, Chet Holmgren, has the NBA world going nuts and have expectations through the roof. However, this team still has more questions than answers and will take some time to grow and develop a solid identity with consistency. With that said, this season should be extremly fun with the highest of highs and lowest of lows!!!
17 Hawks 0-0 The beginning of the Quin Snyder era truly begins in Atlanta this week, and Hawks fans have a lot to be optimistic about. After being hired in the middle of February and using the rest of the season as a trial period for the roster, Quin now hs the opportunity to bring in his staff and implement his scheme. On offense, you should expect to see a lot more 3 pt shooting this season as we move from McMillan’s midrange-heavy system (28th last season in 3PA/G) to Quin’s offense. The departure of John Collins does leave a hole at the starting 4 position, but Saddiq Bey and Jalen “Literally LeBron” Johnson seem more than capable of filling it while providing more spacing (and ball handling in Jalen’s case) than John ever did in Atlanta. We finally have the coach and ball handlers to use Trae off-ball more often, so expect to see more highlights like this throughout the season. Defense will never be a strength of this team with the roster the way it is, but there are signs of light. The players have mentioned that the coaching staff has been almost exclusively focusing on defense this preseason, and if it results in even an average defense then the Hawks should make some serious noise in the east.
18 Pelicans 0-0 We are looking for a Pelicans Ranker, Apply Here.
19 Pacers 0-0 It’s an exciting time for the Indiana faithful. Last season - thought widely to be a tank - the Pacers surprised the rest of the league by not only being competitive, but also winning. A lot! The unfortunate injury to Tyrese Halibutrton derailed any playoff hopes, but now the Pacers have a positive foundation to build upon. With the acquisitions of Obi Toppin and Bruce Brown, and newcomers Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard, Indiana not only is looking to be in the playoff hunt, but maybe even make some noise next spring.
20 Nets 0-0 The Nets will enter the season with a defense first mentality. This is a new outlook for the organization as they retool around a solid core of Mikal Briges, Nic Claxton, Cam Johnson, and an amalgamation of young talent mixed with veteran leadership. For many fans, this team is poised to take a big step back and fall out of the playoff race but it will hinge on the development of their core. Will Mikal, Cam, and Clax take steps forward in their game or will we see the lack of offensive firepower hinder the team throughout the year? I expect an competitive season, as there is zero incentive to lose games (HOU owns our pick this year). Only time will tell what the future holds for this team.
21 Magic 0-0 A new season begins. The Wagner brothers return as FIBA World Champs and Paolo Banchero has hopefully learned some valuable lessons after his stint with Team USA. Very little changes to the roster but signing Joe Ingles and having a healthy Jonathan Isaac should shore up the Magic’s bench. Lottery picks Anthony Black and Jett Howard look to start the season deep on the bench, potentially signaling the Magic are ready to compete for a playoff spot, as opposed to another “evaluation” season.
22 Jazz 0-0 The Jazz enter 2023-24 with modest expectations in year 2 of rebuilding. Without playoff expectations, the following are some subplots of intrigue. The battle for point guard, between THT, Sexton, and Dunn is fascinating with each presenting their own case. To begin the year, THT who averaged 18/5/6 following the Conley trade will likely start. John Collins also aims for a rebound year after a career worst performance (13/7) and trade from last season. Monitoring if he can get back to his 20/10 level, or close to it, will have a big impact on Utah’s standing. Markkanen’s elite offense and Kessler’s elite defence offer potential for playoffs but I predict a bottom 5 in the West finish this year.
23 Raptors 0-0 We are looking for a Raptors Ranker, Apply Here.
24 Bulls 0-0 Not much has changed with the Bulls since last year. We were mediocore last year, and are on track to be mediocore this year. The team had no major losses, but had two solid pickups in Torrey Craig and Jevon Carter. With Lonzo Ball out for the season, Zach Lavine, Demar Derozan, and Nikola Vucevic will be the trio leading the Bulls yet again. Young players like Coby White and Patrick Williams will need to step up if we want any hope of making real progress this year. I’m looking forward to see how this team will suprise me this year!
25 Rockets 0-0 While the prospect of giving OKC a good draft pick is haunting, realistically the team is not a playoff team just yet. However, with reinforcements in the form of FVV and Dillon Brooks, and the youngsters getting some more experience, it wouldn’t be asking for a lot for this team to get 30 wins, to at least give the fans a “next year” kind of hope. The big unknown quantity this season will be how Amen Thompson’s Overtime Elite experience translates to the NBA. There’s reason to think that he could have superstar potential, just as there’s reason to think that he could be a complete bust.
26 Spurs 0-0 We are SO fucking back. Well, not back at the top of the West, not by a long shot. But man oh man is the city of San Antonio excited for basketball in ways we haven’t seen since 2017. It’s insane how luck can swing the fortunes of a franchise, and even a city, as wildly as they have, but San Antonio is better when the Spurs are good; they may not be good this year, but hope is back in the air. After the Spurs won the lotto, speculation grew about Pop’s starting lineup with Wemby and Zach Collins confirmed at the 4 and 5. Following a summer of fan debates and little intel from the Spurs’ tight-lipped FO, Pop put all the questions to rest last Wednesday against Houston: with Sochan, Vassell, Johnson, Wembanyama, and Collins, the Spurs will be playing big ball. I could rant for hours on why I think it’s a great move, but to summarize those thoughts in a sentence: with the Spurs’ current roster, you’ve gotta play your 5 best players. Quick fire reasonable predictions: The Spurs will win 34 games and miss the play-in by one spot, Keldon Johnson will look almost like a 3-and-D player if you squint a little, and Wemby will be a rookie all-star and make All-Defense 2nd Team on the way to ROY.
27 Trail Blazers 0-0 Portland will be exciting. Between Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Anfernee Simons, and DeAndre Ayton, they will be young, athletic, and should push the tempo - something Rip City is not at all accustomed to. And while they should lose a lot, I caution anyone who believes they’ll be an easy victory. This team is young, but it also has a lot of very good veterans. Between Jerami Grant, Malcom Brogdon, Anfernee Simons, DeAndre Ayton, and Robert Williams, they should have steady enough quality vets to be competitive on most nights.
28 Pistons 0-0 No doubt about it - we are a better team than before the 2021 draft. But, we were so talent devoid that even moderate improvement will leave us in the bottom tier of the NBA. Key factors to watch will be: 1) The return of Cade from injury and seeing what kind of development he has made. If he’s made a jump, we could be fringe play-in candidates. 2) How much will new coach Monty Williams lean on his vets? With guys like Bojan, Monte Morris, Alec Burks, and Joe Harris on board we could perform better than expected if he defers more to his vets than the younger guys. This may delay development of the younger guys so these are some of out prime trade assets as well. For my own sake though, there’s only so much Killian Hayes one can watch while continuing to hope he improves. 3) Can Ausar Thompson develop a shot? He looked good in almost every other facet of the game in preseason, but him developing a jumpshot that is NBA average or above may be what determines if he becomes All-Star level vs a very good utility player. Final record prediction: 28-54.
29 Hornets 0-0 This team won 43 in 21-22 and return 4/5 starters (with Bridges up in the air - personally want to cut him but Kupchak says he’ll play once his suspension ends). Kai Jones left after an ultimately sad mental health crisis saga. But Melo is a star, Williams/Richards good bigs, Terry/Hayward/PJ/Miller rounds out an underrated top 7. Season hinges on Melo’s health, what Miller becomes, and whether Bridges actually plays or not. I’m pessimistic on all 3 of the above, so my prediction is 34-48 incoming.
30 Wizards 0-0 The Washington Wizards enter a 2023-24 season like a recently single young adult walking into Thanksgiving. They ended their relationship with Bradley Beal – closing the chapter on what is arguably one of the more disappointing stories in the modern NBA with the “House of Guards” era. He immediately improves the case for the Phoenix Suns to win the title – deservingly so. Kristaps Porzingis found a new home in Boston – which means the sports media at large will be pushing the “Is Porzingis back narrative” after rehabbing his image (and his body) in DC and felt close to a snub for All Star recognition last season. Rui Hachimura is now seen as a clear piece of the future for the Lakers – which still feels like a stretch with his limited actual good performances and similar concerns that soured the end of his tenure in DC. It has led to a lot of “Aww, I really liked them” when at the time, they were seen as toxic pieces by the outside world. Oh, and Corey Kispert got married. That’s just a personal bummer. But now, the Wizards are in their flirtatious era. Cuffing season is dead, its Hot Boy Fall, shoutout to global warming. Jordan Poole is coming off of a season where he had to play with a teammate who (a) punched him in the face (b) had the video released to the public and © saw said player get a new contract. At some point, we have to question if maybe Draymond Green and Jordan Poole should have been separated sooner. He joins Kyle Kuzma who got a contract of his own but not the keys to the franchise just yet. Instead, he might be having to compete against Bilal Coulibaly for those honors, a draft pick that already feels good given the vibes of teams getting word out that they would have or wished they would have taken him. The Wizards also have a horde of tradeable assets – Gallinari, Wright, Landry Shamet (who is confirmed to be alive and aware that he is playing for the Wizards this season). Tyus Jones joins the team – filling a massive issue with the Wizards, the point guard role. The team has a lot of reasons to not necessarily make the play-offs but also not be the outright worst team in the NBA. We’re talking picks 3 through 5. A new front office points to the idea of a tank but nothing they’ve done really points that way so far. All the conversation surrounding it feels more like, “I just don’t want to watch the Wizards this season so I’m going to assume they’re bad.” I don’t blame them. But the team is fairly well coached with Wes Unseld Jr and has a ton of newfound freedom without a clear franchise guy. With not a clear generational guy in 2024’s draft and 2025’s draft (Cooper Flagg is a traditional power forward and everyone is going to be pissed when they realize this), it does make sense to test the waters and see what is possible with the understanding that they’ll have options still in the draft. This is an extensive write-up that much like Wizards basketball, will not get a bunch of eyes and honestly might not have been worth the effort. But the point is that the Wizards have done good things in recent years. It isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. Its now just about proving that to the public.
    • NotManyBusesBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Every Western Conference team is. I could legitimately see every single one of the Mavs, Pels, Wolves, Clips, Thunder, Lakers, Grizzlies and Kings in the top 3 or in the play-in. It will genuinely come down to injuries more than anything.