Here are my way too early and not too serious (but somewhat serious) NBA Power Rankings.
  1. Cleveland Cavaliers
  2. OKC Thunder
  3. Boston Celtics
  4. Golden State Warriors
  5. Phoenix Suns
  6. Denver Nuggets
  7. Dallas Mavericks
  8. Sacramento Kings
  9. Minnesota Timberwolves
  10. Houston Rockets
  11. Indiana Pacers
  12. New York Knicks
  13. Memphis Grizzlies
  14. LA Lakers
  15. Miami Heat
  16. LA Clippers
  17. Atlanta Hawks
  18. Brooklyn Nets
  19. Orlando Magic
  20. San Antonio Spurs
  21. Portland Trail Blazers
  22. New Orleans Pelicans
  23. Charlotte Hornets
  24. Chicago Bulls
  25. Detroit Pistons
  26. Toronto Raptors
  27. Washington Wizards
  28. Utah Jazz
  29. Milwaukee Bucks
  30. Philadelphia 76ers
Even though they are both better than many many teams ahead of them I have put the Bucks and 76ers last for being disappointing shells of themselves and because I don't like the 76ers.
Thoughts? Any stackers want to share their list. Or even just best and worst.
Sats for all, GR
This is list is trash. The Knicks are better than the pacers!!
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Haha tell us how you really feel?
Knicks might be a top 5 team, maybe even top 3 later in the year but they are still figuring it out early in the year.
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It really bothers me you feel good about the pacers this season. Maybe I’m bitter because they eliminated a banged up Knicks team in the playoffs last season
The pacers hit a lucky deep three that keeps that series from going 3-0 Knicks.
I just don’t see it! Then again I don’t watch a lot of basketball.
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I don’t really feel good about the Pacers. I like them because they are fun to watch and they played the Celtics really well last playoffs.
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I'll take a shot. I've avoided studying yours to avoid contamination.
  1. OKC
  2. Boston
  3. Cleveland
  4. Golden State
  5. Minnesota
  6. Dallas
  7. NYK
  8. Denver
  9. Indiana
  10. LAL
  11. Sacramento
  12. Houston
  13. Memphis
  14. Phoenix
  15. Miami
  16. Milwaukee
  17. Atlanta
  18. Orlando
  19. Charlotte
  20. San Antonio
  21. Detroit 22, New Orleans
  22. Utah
  23. LAC
  24. Philadelphia
  25. Toronto
  26. Brooklyn
  27. Chicago
  28. Portland
  29. Washington
This is very close to the order that teams came to mind, although I had to start working from the bottom up towards the end.
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I like this list!! Good work
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You sir are a gentleman and a scholar.
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Phoenix is 7-1 and you have them 14th?
Bucks are 1-6 and you have them 16th?
I also find Minny to be a little high for right now but I expect they will be in the top 6 later in the year.
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I haven't watched Phoenix, I don't believe in Phoenix, and I don't intend to watch Phoenix.
I would expect them to lose to the teams above them. They barely beat the Heat at home.
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I don't believe in them either but I have to give them credit. 7-1 is 7-1.
This should be a topic of discussion on the pod. Not phoenix specifically but the variance in our rankings for a few teams.
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That's fair, but I still think they're in the same tier as Miami and the Lakers.
If Phoenix plays Minnesota, do you expect Phoenix to win?
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Right now the way the two teams started, not sure. Later in the year probably Minny.
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To the extent I thought through my rankings, it was based on who I expect to win a hypothetical matchup.
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That’s a good way to look at it. I am sure some of mine would change if I did that. I definitely wouldn’t have Bucks second last.
100 sats \ 3 replies \ @gnilma 8h
I'm really late to the party, so late that it seems the party had already ended. Good thing is, the NBA is always changing, injuries happen. player and teams go through rough patches or go on good runs. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the party is on-going, and it's probably better late than never to chime in on this post. The following is my power rankings, as of today, factoring in injuries.
  1. Cavs
  2. Celtics
  3. Warriors
  4. Nuggets
  5. OKC
  6. Mavs
  7. Timberwolves
  8. Knicks
  9. Suns
  10. Rockets
  11. Lakers
  12. Pacers
  13. Kings
  14. Grizzlies
  15. Heat
  16. Bucks
  17. Magic
  18. Hawks
  19. Spurs
  20. Clippers
  21. Pistons
  22. 76ers
  23. Nets
  24. Hornets
  25. Bulls
  26. Trail Blazers
  27. Pelicans
  28. Raptors
  29. Jazz
  30. Wizards
I got the Suns so low because Durant got hurt. Would probably have put them at 6 or so if they were full strength. I would also have probably put OKC at 1 or 2 if Chet wasn't hurt, but now that Chet is hurt, I'm putting them lower on the list. Just caught wind that both Allen and Mobley were listed day-to-day on the Cavs injury list, so the list might change real soon, depending on if the Cavs Twin Towers play or not. Anyways, this is my take, had fun trying to come up with the list. Also made me wonder why the hell I burned the Knicks instead of using the Hawks for round 2 of the NBA Cup pool? Oh well.
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I like it but in my opinion the Bucks and 76ers are too high considering what they have shown. Bucks might be turning the corner but 76ers look bad even though Embiid came back. I think even though Chet is out OKC deserves to be higher but I won’t quibble with your reasoning.
Your list is much better than @Undisciplined’s.
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40 sats \ 1 reply \ @gnilma 7h
If you look at the 8 losses by the Bucks, 2 of them were Celtics, 2 of them were Cavs, and 1 vs the Knicks. Most losses against excellent teams. Yes, they also lost to the Bulls, Nets, and Grizzlies, but I don't think that puts them in the low tier teams. It seems the rest of the team don't know what they are doing, but having Giannis and Dame alone is enough to keep them as a mid tier team; that is why I got them at 16.
Yes, with all the load management BS, Embiid and PG playing sometimes and not playing sometimes, the 76ers really fell off a cliff in terms of threat. Maybe I still have it in my mind that they are a threat because they had been a "contending team" for so long. They can still win some games with PG and Embiid. You are probably right, maybe they belong somewhere below rank 25.
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Good analysis on the Bucks. I expect they will heat up soon. I made a small bet on Giannis to win MVP because the odds were just too good to pass up. If the Bucks play well and become contenders that would go a long way to help vault Giannis into the MVP conversation.
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