Wild’s Weekly NBA Power Rankings and Tiers - Week 2

The first week of the NBA season is complete, and there were quite a few surprises in team success this week. While there is still a clear distance between the top contenders, there was a lot of shakeup between teams found in the middle of the league.

Tier 1 – The Real Contenders

1. Los Angeles Lakers (-) (2-1 this week)

The L.A. Lakers opened their season with a 7-point loss to the Clippers. This would have been alarming except this came in a game where LeBron James played only 28 mins after an emotional ring ceremony. Since then, this team has dominated the Mavericks and Timberwolves. This team’s bench is as unstoppable as imagined to be during the offseason. The only reason they are now in a tier with the other contenders is because they have lacked intensity as the know they can coast through the season.

2. Los Angeles Clippers (-) (2-1 this week)

Yes, the Clippers did just lose by 51 points to the Mavericks in a game they played without Kawhi Leonard, but this team also handed both the Lakers and Nuggets some important losses. The Clippers are showing much more drive to win this season, so much so that it looks like they are playing games that matter to them. Even good teams are entitled to some bad games, and I believe the Clippers may have felt as though they could take it easy on the Porzingis-less Mavs. I would expect to see them bounce back with another big win when Leonard returns.

3. Brooklyn Nets (+1) (2-1 this week)

Brooklyn had looked dominant through their first two games against the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics until they got narrowly beat by the Charlotte Hornets. I think the Nets focused too much on their first two games, and assumed the Hornets would be easy to beat. Even then, they still almost pulled it out. This team did just lose spencer Dinwiddie, but amazingly, they are so deep that they will still be a top contender in the league this year.

4. Milwaukee Bucks (-1) (1-2 this week)

The Bucks have had an odd start to their season, with a heartbreaking loss to the Celtics, followed by a demolishing of the Warriors, and then getting beat by 20 by the Knicks. The big issue for me here is that Jrue Holiday’s scoring average has dropped by 4 points from last season, and he is shooting 1/9 from three-point range for the season. This may just be due to a small sample size, but having consistent shooting around Giannis is important, and the lack of it from Holiday so far could help explain why the Bucks have had a rocky start.

Tier 2 – Fringe Contenders

5. Miami Heat (+2) (1-1 this week)

The Heat began their season with a close loss to the Orlando Magic, but redeemed themselves with a Christmas-day win over the Pelicans. Although Jimmy Butler did injure his ankle, the Heat’s young core of Adebayo, Hero, Robinson and Achiuwa have all played extremely well so far, with Robinson tying the Christmas-day record for 3-pointers made. Their upcoming game vs the Bucks will be a telling sign of where this team truly stands without their star forward in Butler.

6. Boston Celtics (+2) (1-2 this week)

The Celtics began their season by pulling out a close win against the Bucks and followed that with two losses, to the Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers. It is clear the Celtics lack a scoring punch apart from Brown and Tatum. So far the Celtics have won the one game where Brown and Tatum combined for 63 points, but lost the other two when they combined for 47 and 43 respectively. This team will need to be at full strength to make a deep playoff run, as Jayson Tatum’s difficult shot-making is not ready to carry this team to wins.

7. Phoenix Suns (+3) (2-1 this week)

Phoenix began their season with a close win over the Dallas Mavericks, then went 1-1 in two games against the Sacramento Kings. This team will still need some time to gel, as Chris Paul struggled to score his first game and Deandre Ayton is averaging 11 points per game through the first three contests. The upside is that we have not see the best basketball from this team yet, and they have already beat another top-10 team in the league in the Dallas Mavericks.

8. Dallas Mavericks (-2) (1-2 this week)

Dallas got narrowly beat by the Phoenix Suns, and blown out by the Lakers before finally having their own fun in a record-breaking destruction of the Kawhi-less Los Angeles Clippers. The Mavs are clearly missing their other all-star player in Porzingis but have still been playing well. This team still needs some time to gel as Josh Richardson is integrated into last year’s number one offense in the NBA, but their lone win did look like a promising start.

9. Denver Nuggets (-4) (0-3 this week)

Denver has had a rough start to the season as they dropped a close game to the Sacramento Kings, then got outworked by the Los Angeles Clippers. It has been made clear that the Nuggets are lacking wing defense as when they played the Kings both Barnes and Hield put up at least 20 points, and when they played the Clippers, George and Leonard did the same. The Nuggets have also not been getting the production they likely expected from some of their players as Gary Harris is averaging 6 points per game, and Monte Morris is averaging 7.5 points per game.

Tier 3 – Playoff Race Bound

10. Indiana Pacers (+5) (3-0 this week)

The Pacers won all three of their games this week with dominating wins against the Knicks and Bulls, then pulling out a close win against the Boston Celtics. Sabonis and Brogdon have looked like a strong duo with Oladipo, Warren and Turner providing strong support as other options. This team is deep with all five starters being able to provide a scoring punch (less-so Turner), and some nice bench pieces in both Holiday brothers, McConnell, and McDermott. The Pacers are going to be a tough and gritty team as per usual. They may not have a star, but they are a good team

11. Utah Jazz (+2) (1-1 this week)

Utah gave the Portland Trailblazers a tough loss to start their season, then got closely beat by the Timberwolves. Utah, after having Bogdanovic back from injury, now has some more scoring punch in the starting lineup, and allows them to move Joe Ingles back to their bench. This gives Utah a bench tandem of Ingles, Clarkson and Favors which has provided 38.5 points per game for the Jazz. While another nice bench scorer could help catapult this team to contention, they are still a top defensive team with enough scoring to get them into a playoff seed.

12. Philadelphia 76ers (-1) (2-1 this week)

The 76ers went 2-0 to start their season (albeit against the Wizards and Knicks) before losing to Cleveland in a game they played without Joel Embiid. The 76ers have began to rely on Joel Embiid in the fourth quarter of close games. The 76ers fed Embiid the basketball in the 4th quarter when they played the Washington Wizards as Embiid scored 15 of his 29 points. The new shooting brought in by Daryl Morey has allowed for this. The only reason this team dropped a spot is because, as seen in their loss to Cleveland, when Embiid is not on the court they are not nearly as dominant, and this could be an issue with Embiid’s injury history.

13. Atlanta Hawks (+6) (2-0 this week)

The Atlanta Hawks opened their season with two wins against the Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies. While this may not be a surprise, the way in which the Hawks won was a surprise. Trae Young is averaging 36.5 points per game with 8 assists. This has all happened with the Hawks missing some key rotational pieces in Rondo, Gallinari, Capela and more. This team is stacked. If you still don’t believe this is a playoff team, remember, the Hawks were in playoff contention for the first 10 games last season before a Trae Young minor injury derailed the team’s chances.

14. Portland Trailblazers (-5) (1-1 this week)

The Portland Trailblazers opened their season with a loss to the Utah Jazz, then followed this with an overtime win against Houston. This team has not shown to be the improved roster that most had hoped of with the addition of Covington and Kanter. This was evident in the OT win, where Kanter and Covington combined for only 20 points while C.J. McCollum carried the team has he put up 42. This team is still deep, and has plenty of potential, but so far they are not as dominant as expected to be when taking the bubble Blazers team and adding these two key pieces.

15. New Orleans Pelicans (+3) (2-1 this week)

The Pelicans have looked really good through their first three games. They have come out with the intensity that we believed Stan Van Gundy would instill in them. So far, they are 2-1 with wins over the Raptors and Spurs, and a loss to the Miami Heat. Zion is averaging about 35 minutes and scoring 21.7 points per game while Ingram is averaging almost 27 points per game. These two have made the Pelicans competitive and could easily lead them to the playoffs given the depth of this team. The Pelicans have also been smarter as a team, with the league’s 2nd best defensive rating, in part due to giving up less turnovers than last year (less transition points) while also receiving the least personal fouls in the league.

16. Orlando Magic (+5) (3-0 this week)

The Orlando Magic have railed off three straight wins with one coming against the Miami Heat and the other two against the Washington Wizards. The Magic have played well as a team with five players scoring 10+ points in each of their first three games. Rookie Cole Anthony has not looked bad and could possibly contend with Markelle Fultz for the starting job (even though Markelle has looked food too). This team has a lot of upside with good shooting at each position even though they are going to miss Jonathan Isaac for the season.

17. Sacramento Kings (+6) (2-1 this week)

Sacramento beat both the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns before finally taking their first loss in a rematch with the Suns. This was extremely unexpected for a team that many had believed to be on the decline after their win total decreased last season so far that they finished 12th in the western conference. Now, Luke Walton has this team playing with a similar pace to that of the Kings team that almost made the playoffs two years ago. The Kings are a team that can easily run 10 players deep. This should allow them to make a playoff race push this season. However, they are the Kings, so there can be no promises of this success continuing.

Tier 4 – There is a Chance

18. Houston Rockets (-2) (0-1 this week)

Houston’s first game was postponed as Houston did not have enough players to play. Their second game was not much better as they lost a heartbreaking overtime game to the Blazers. The one point that stuck out was that even without John Wall, Demarcus Cousins and Eric Gordon, Harden and Christian Wood kept the Rockets in this game. This showed me that if Harden would just give this team another chance, they could actually make the playoffs. Unfortunately, it seems as though that won’t happen, and with a group of solid players but no star, it is unlikely we will see this team make it to the playoffs.

19. San Antonio Spurs (+5) (2-1 this week)

San Antonio surprised a lot of people with their play over the course of the first week of the NBA season. This team beat both the Memphis Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors, then lost a close game to the New Orleans Pelicans. A couple of bright spots for this team have been Demar Derozan averaging 21 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists per game with a 37.5% clip from three-point range, as well, Dejounte Murray is averaging 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists per game. Together, the team has combined to be third in assists per game, helping each other get easy shots. When Pop is coaching, this team can never be considered to be out of the playoffs, and I expect the Spurs to contend for a playoff seed.

20. Minnesota Timberwolves (+2) (2-1 this week)

The Minnesota Timberwolves have started their season off on a relatively good note. Apart from being beat by 36 in a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Timberwolves beat the Pistons and the Jazz. While the win over the Pistons does not mean much, the win over the Jazz showed this team has seven strong players who can put up points and contribute to winning basketball. If they could just get Jake Layman to score more than 3.3 points per game, this team would be a much more serious threat. Regardless, the combinations of Towns, Russell, Edwards and Beasley will consistently provide scoring for this team.

21. Washington Wizards (-1) (0-3 this week)

The Wizards lost their first game to the Philadelphia 76ers then followed this with two more losses to a surprisingly potent Orlando Magic team. I really would not take too much from these games. Integrating Russell Westbrook into the lineup is not easy, and while Westbrook and Beal have put up decent numbers, it is going to take time for this team, and the role players around the two stars to click. Also, these games have been close, and will continue to be with Russ and Beal driving the Wizards. This team will not be as bad as their current record suggests.

22. Toronto Raptors (-8) (0-2 this week)

The Toronto Raptors are now 0-2 on the season with their two losses coming against the Pelicans and Spurs. This team is clearly lacking a scoring punch as guys they expected to score more like OG Anunoby, and Norman Powell have not done so, averaging 9 and 6 points per game respectively. I would expect these two to turn it around soon, but it is evident that between Lowry aging and the loss of Gasol and Ibaka, this Raptors team is not the same team as seen in previous years. For their sake, I hope things turn around once their role players return to form, but a playoff spot would be a big victory for this surprisingly undermanned team.

23. Cleveland Cavaliers (+4) (3-0 this week)

The Cleveland Cavaliers are 3-0 to begin a season for the first time since LeBron left, all due to the duo of “SexLand” (Collin Sexton and Darius Garland). These two have been averaging 46 points per game through these first three games. It also helps that they have all-star teammates in Andre Drummond and Kevin Love to lighten the load. This team has been much better than expected so far as they won games against the Hornets, Pistons, and Embiid-less 76ers. While these teams are not necessarily much better than them, they won these games relatively easily, giving hope of a bright future to come.

24. Golden State Warriors (-12) (1-2 this week)

The Golden State Warriors got off to a rocky start of the season with blowout losses against both the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. The big issue for Golden State has been their lack of shooting. So far, apart from Damion Lee’s buzzer beater, the only good 3-point shooters have been Stephen Curry and rookie center James Wiseman. This, along with the fact that Kelly Oubre is yet to hit a jump shot should provide Warriors fans with little hope of a playoff spot this season. To put it in perspective, the Chicago Bulls are arguably the worst team in basketball, and Steph Curry had to drag this team to a buzzer-beating win. It does not look good.

25. Memphis Grizzlies (-8) (0-2 this week)

The Memphis Grizzlies started their season going 0-2 in their first two games against the San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks. The Grizzlies lone bright spot in Ja Morant has averaged 36 points per game to go along with 8 assists per game but it has not been enough for this Grizzlies team. Some key reasons for why this team is losing could be due to missing Jaren Jackson Jr., and the fact that their bench is relatively weak. Until Jackson is back, if he comes back at all this season, this team is going to struggle to win games, and could drop even further.

Tier 5 – Let’s Call it a Season Already

26. Charlotte Hornets (-1) (1-2 this week)

The Charlotte Hornets have done the unthinkable. They beat the Brooklyn Nets. While I am sure no one expected this result, it does not say much about the Hornets as a team and the success (or lack of success) they will have this year. The Hornets have decided to go into win-now mode, placing Devonte’ Graham and Terry Rozier into their starting lineup instead of their number 3 overall pick in LaMelo Ball. This is baffling to me as the Hornets have decided to prioritize winning over Ball’s development. Even with all this, the Hornets have still found a way to lose, and I would not be surprised to see this continue.

27. New York Knicks (+1) (1-2 this week)

The New York Knicks somehow pulled out a win over the Milwaukee Bucks this week after beginning the season losing to both the Pacers and 76ers. Overall, this has not shown much about the Knicks as they faced three teams better than them and luckily beat one. While Obi Toppin is out, a bright spot for the Knicks is the aggressiveness and confidence of R.J. Barret as he is averaging 17.7 points per game. While he may not be efficient, his shot-taking could help his development.

28. OKC Thunder (+2) (1-0 this week)

No one expected much from the Oklahoma City Thunder this season, a team who traded all of its veterans for picks and overpaid players. However, this Thunder team always seems to be better than expected and showed this with a clutch-time win against the Charlotte Hornets to begin their season after their game against Houston got postponed. In this game, the overpaid veteran players along with the Thunder’s young core of Shai Gilegous-Alexander, Darius Bazley and Luguentz Dort played harmoniously throughout the game to nab a win.

29. Chicago Bulls (-3) (0-3 this week)

The Chicago Bulls may be the most disappointing team in basketball as every year they draft another talented young player that will eventually become a cog in this system of producing merely average players who do not work well together to produce wins. A big issue for this Bulls team is defense, as while Wendell Carter Jr. and Patrick Williams are strong contributors on that side of the ball, the other three starters for the Bulls are not. Hopefully this team can figure it out, but I think it may be time to try and trade some young pieces for a veteran.

30. Detroit Pistons (-1) (0-2 this week)

The Detroit Pistons began their season with losses to both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland. While these teams are expected to beat Detroit, the Pistons have positioned their franchise to try and win now as they have pieces like Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose and an overpaid Jerami Grant on their roster. You know your team is struggling when your leading scorer is Josh Jackson (as it was against the Timberwolves).