NBA Season Preview Part 1

The borderland between the playoffs and tanklandia

Not going to do a regular intro, but I do want to note that these rankings are based on where I think the teams will finish in the playoffs, not a temperature check or regular-season finish. This will have become more apparent in part 2. I hope you enjoy it!

Post Season Dreams

15. Los Angeles Clippers

Starting Five: Reggie Jackson, Paul George, Nic Batum, Marcus Morris, Serge Ibaka

Bench Four: Terrance Mann, Ivica Zubau, Eric Bledsoe, Luke Kennard

Injured Star: Kawhi Leonard

Predicted Playoff Finish: 1st round

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 8th in the West

Elevator Pitch: Paul George has been here before as the number one player, and his teams have always made the playoffs, and some have made deep runs.

Questions: To be honest, I don’t know where to put the Clippers. Nic Batum and Reggie Jackson might be their second and third-best players. Yikes. They need Serge Ibaka to come back from injury and for Terrance Mann to become a great six-man or starter to have a chance. Paul George has been here before, but it’s hard to see the Clippers supporting cast this season being much more than a pit stop until Kawhi is healthy next season.

16. Indiana Pacers

Starting Five: Malcolm Brogdon, Caris LeVert, TJ Warren, Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner

Bench Four: Justin Holiday, TJ McConnell, Jeremy Lamb. Isaiah Jackson

Predicted Playoff Finish: 1st round

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 8th in the East

Elevator Pitch: Health and a new championship coach are the Pacers selling points. Can the Pacers get back to the good feelings they had going into the 2020 playoffs?

Questions: It’s been turmoil since the Heat swept the Pacers in the bubble in 2020. With two coaching changes in less than ten months, the players and the GM have run out of excuses. The starting lineup, if healthy (big if), are good enough to make playoffs outright. Unfortunately, their bench is very thin. Carlisle, who has traditionally loathed playing young players, will have to get quality minutes out of Jackson and Duarte for the Pacers to succeed. TJ Warren’s health is probably the biggest question in the starting lineup. Will he return to pre-injury form?

17. Memphis Grizzlies

Starting Five: Ja Morant, Dillon Brooks, Kyle Anderson, Jaren Jackson Jr., Steven Adams

Bench Four: Desmond Bane, Xavier Tillman, Brandon Clarke, De’Anthony Melton

Predicted Playoff Finish: Play-In.

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 9th in the West

Elevator Pitch: Grizzlies are young, and the victory over former champions Steph Curry and Draymond Green in last season’s playin means that this year’s expectations are even higher.

Questions: Many people will point to the trade of Valanciunas as a bit of loss, but it’s evident that part of the Grizzlies’ thinking was giving Jaren Jackson Jr more free-range in the post. What is less apparent is JJJ can capitalize on that. He has had glimpses but has not lived up to his potential yet. Another interesting question is will Desmond Bane grab Kyle Anderson’s starting job at some point? Bane taking a giant leap this year bodes well for the Grizzlies’ future. In general, it feels like the Grizz will end up in a similar place at the end of this season as they did last year.

18. Chicago Bulls

Starting Five: Lonzo Ball, Zach Lavine, DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Williams, Nikola Vucevic

Bench Four: Alex Caruso, Colby White, Derrick Jones Jr, Tony Bradley

Predicted Playoff Finish: Play-In.

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 9th in the East

Elevator Pitch: The Bulls will have as much offensive talent as any team in the league. Zach Lavine has the potential to be All NBA level player.

Questions: It’s hard to know how the Bulls will play defense this year unless Patrick Williams becomes Scottie Pippen, and even then, the rest of the team barring Caruso and Ball, go from below average to horrific on that side of the ball. The bulls have the talent to be the 6th seed, but no one would be surprised if they are the 12th either.

19. Charlotte Hornets

Starting Five: LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, PJ Washington, Mason Plumlee

Bench Four: Miles Bridges, Kelly Oubre, Kai Jones, James Bouknight

Predicted Playoff Finish: Play-In.

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 10th in the East

Elevator Pitch: LaMelo Ball was the best rookie last year and felt like a transcendent player. Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward are in the prime of their careers, and if the latter can stay healthy, the Hornets have a playoff big three.

Questions: The Hornets roster does not make any sense, I am putting Plumlee as the starting center here, but they could go small. While that would be fun to watch on League Pass, it’s probably a disaster long-term for their health and winning games. They have too many forwards and signing of Kelly Oubre when you want to get more starting Bridges and paying Hayward so much is perplexing. They don’t have any starting-level bigs and are pretty thin at guard after their starters. They need rookies Jones and Bouknight to pan out and pan out quickly if they want to get into the top eight.

20. Sacramento Kings

Starting Five: De’Aaron Fox, Tyresse Haliburton, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, Richaun Holmes

Bench Four: Davion Mitchell, Marvin Bagley, Maurice Harkless, Tristan Thompson

Predicted Playoff Finish: Play-In.

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 10th in the West

Elevator Pitch: With the development of Fox and Haliburton, the Kings have a backcourt that should offensively compete with the best in the league.

Questions: Will the defense be good enough to make a playoff run? They spent draft capital on Davion Mitchell, realizing that the three-guard rotation of Fox, Haliburton, and Hield is not good enough on that end. Holmes coming back from injury should also help the young Kings be in playoff/in contention.

21. New Orleans Pelicans

Starting Five: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Devonte Graham, Brandon Ingram, Zion, Jonas Valanciunas

Bench Four: Josh Hart, Jaxson Hayes, Garrett Temple, Trey Murphy III

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 11th in the West

Elevator Pitch: If Zion can a make jump to a true top ten player this year. This ranking might seem foolish by the Allstar break.

Questions: The Pelicans have a lot of questions for example it took me a while to guess what their starting backcourt is going to be. But the biggest is will their stars Zion and Brandon Ingram be passable on defense if they aren’t this prediction might be high, if they are they could be top six this year.

22. Washington Wizards

Starting Five: Spencer Dinwiddie, Bradley Beal, Kentavious Caldwell Pope, Davis Bertans, Thomas Byrant,

Bench Four: Kyle Kuzma, Rui Hachimura, Aaron Holiday, Thomas Byrant

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 11th in the East

Elevator Pitch: This is the best supporting lineup that Bradley Beal has ever had and should lead them to a play-in berth.

Questions: The Wizards have a lot of good role players but no real second banana to support Beal. Say what you will about Westbrook, but he could still win regular-season games by himself. One star might have gotten you a playoff birth a few years ago in the East, but now the Wizards need someone like Dinwiddie or Hachimura to take a considerable leap to compete in the East.

23. Toronto Raptors

Starting Five: Goran Dragic, Fred Van Vleet, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Precious Achiuwa

Bench Four: Malachi Flynn, Gary Trent, Chris Boucher, Scottie Barnes

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 12th in the East

Elevator Pitch: With Covid sticking them in Tampa Bay last year, the Raptors should be much better for the pure fact that they will have a home-court advantage.

Questions: Will Dragic stay? If he does, their starting lineup actually looks pretty good. I’ve made no secret that I don’t love the Scottie Barnes pick, and it’s hard to see where they will get consistent offense besides Van Vleet but the defense should be there. The Raptors will be better this year. Unfortunately for them, so will the East.

Tankland

24. San Antonio Spurs

Starting Five: Dejounte Murry, Derrick White, Keldon Johnson. Thaddeus Young, Jakob Poeltl

Bench Four: Lonnie Walker, Devin Vassell, Doug McDermott, Zach Collins

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 12th in the West

Elevator Pitch: The young kids finally develop without veterans like Alridge, DeRozan, and Mills talking up all the usage. So we will finally know their full potential.

Questions: Will any of these players best 1st or 2nd best players on the second-round playoff team? The answer is probably no, and that is the real issue for the Spurs. Without the vets, this is the year fans should hopefully feel a spark from one or two of these young players. If Spurs are smart they will try to grab a top four pick too.

25. Minnesota Timberwolves

Starting Five: D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, Malick Beasley, Jaden McDaniels, KAT

Bench Four: Patrick Beverley, Josh Okogie, Naz Reid, Taurean Prince

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 13th in the West

Elevator Pitch: The Timberwolves are banking that they can compete for a bubble spot with their top three players healthy. However, they also are counting on their number one pick Anthony Edwards to be more consistent in his second year.

Questions: Minnesota has one of the saddest rosters in the NBA. Unless Anthony Edwards makes a historic leap in his second year, it’s hard to see them even making the play-in. The Timberwolves are tanking. They just don’t know it.

26. Cleveland Cavaliers

Starting Five: Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Isaac Okoro, Lauri Markkanen, Jarret Allen

Bench Four: Evan Mobley, Ricky Rubio, Cedi Osman, Kevin Love

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 13th East

Elevator Pitch: The Cavs are excited about their starting lineup. The Marrkanen deal is not a deal of a team that thinks they are tanking.

Questions: Unfortunately, the reality is that Marrkanen is an enormous risk not only he has never performed up to expectations. He will be taking starting minutes away from Evan Mobley, which is bad long-term for the Cavs. That plus the 100 million dollar deal with Jarret Allen feels like a team that is sacrificing the development of their young players for a few more wins this year.

27. Houston Rockets

Starting Five: Kevin Porter Jr, Jalen Green, Jae’Sean Tate, Daniel Theis, Christian Wood

Bench Four: Eric Gordon, Danuel House, Kenyon Martin Jr, Alperen Sengun

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 14th West

Elevator Pitch: The young Rockets will be a fun league pass team this year. Jalen Green looks to be an odds-on favorite for Rookie of the Year.

Questions: The Rockets admitting that John Wall was not part of their future is a massive step in the right direction. Unlike the Cavs, the Rockets seem to have accepted that their future is well in the future. It’s hard to imagine Wall, Gordon, and House on the team by the end of the season. For that reason, they are going to lose a lot of games, but it will be fun watching these young Rockets.

28. Detroit Pistons

Starting Five: Killian Hayes, Cade Cunnigham, Saddiq Bey, Jerami Grant, Isaiah Stewart

Bench Four: Kelly Olynyk, Hamidou Diallo, Josh Jackson, Corey Joseph

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 14th East

Elevator Pitch: Behind the number one pick Cade Cunningham the future is very bright for Pistons for the first time in years.

Questions: The Pistons and Rockets are mirror images of each other. A lot of how you feel about them is how you think about their young backcourt. The Pistons are experiment putting Hayes and Cunningham next to each other. On the one hand, placing the ball into Hayes’ hands over your number one pick after he had “if we are very nice” an uneven rookie campaign could be disastrous. But, on the other hand, I think Cunningham’s natural NBA position should be shooting guard even if Hayes isn’t his ultimate running mate. The Piston much like the Rockets are taking the long view.

29. Oklahoma City Thunder

Starting Five: SGA, Luguentz Dort, Aleksej Pokusevski, Darius Bazley, Isaiah Roby

Bench Four: Josh Giddy, Theo Maledon, Derrick Favors, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 15th West

Elevator Pitch: We are building for the distant future.

Questions: Man, this is a horrible roster. Giddy and Poku may be good someday, but that day is probably not next season. How long SGA and Dort will accept that is an open question. The backcourt for OKC seems to be the only bright spot for this squad.

30. Orlando Magic

Starting Five: Markelle Fultz, Jalen Suggs, Terrance Ross, Johnathan Issac, Wendell Clark Jr.

Bench Four: Cole Anthony, R. J. Hampton, Franz Wagner, Mo Bamba

Predicted Regular Season Finish: 15th East

Elevator Pitch: Orlando getting Jalen Suggs looks to be huge stroke of luck the first potential superstar the Magic have had in a long time.

Questions: While Suggs maybe the star of the future, the Magic look to be a team with either players that might be good some day or players that are probably at replacement level now. Fultz and Issac did look good before their injuries. Clark and Ross are good vets. So it’s not all dark in Orlando but they definitely have more questions than answers right now.