NBA Power Rankings: LA Lakers fall, Chicago Bulls reach top-10
NBA Power Rankings Tier 4: The Bottom Feeders
24. Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings might be in purgatory. I legitimately do not know how they get better from this point. There’s a lot of interesting pieces on this roster: De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Harrison Barnes, Richaun Holmes. However, with that said, there isn’t much that would be attractive in terms of trying to trade for a second star alongside Fox. They’re stuck until proven otherwise.
25. Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers lucked out getting a player like Evan Mobley with the third overall pick. He looks like a unicorn early on – being able to display some perimeter skills despite being a high-level interior defender at 7-feet-tall. He is already arguably a top-2 player on this roster. Still, I’m interested to see what happens with Collin Sexton.
26. San Antonio Spurs
Well, the Spurs are who we thought they were – for the most part. They don’t really have anything more than average in their starting lineup – but the versatility and athleticism offered along the wings is fun to watch, at least.
27. Houston Rockets
Jalen Green is absolutely electric. Wildly inconsistent, but really fun to watch. Against Boston on Sunday night, he hit eight of his ten three point attempts. Alperen Sengun also looks to be solid for a rookie. Still, I expect a bottom five finish. They beat a lowly OKC squad – though I’ll give them credit for giving the Celtics a fit early on.
28. Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic are bad. Like, they’re really fun to watch, because they’re young. I just don’t know how much winning Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs, and Mo Bamba are going to be able to do this season. Things could be different once this roster is fully healty. But until then, it’s gonna be a rough watch.
29. Detroit Pistons
The Pistons have yet to see Cade Cunningham appear in a regular season game. It’s really sad over there. Hopefully he sees some game action soon, because I don’t know if Pistons fans can handle Killian Hayes playing 20 minutes again. (It’s a shame, I really liked him in the 2020 draft cycle).
30. Oklahoma City Thunder
Yeah, we knew this team would be bad. There’s just not much rotation-level talent on the Oklahoma City Thunder. They have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a lot of players that could be something. Josh Giddey looks like a contributor – but they need to add talent to this roster. There are several players that shouldn’t be on an NBA roster, frankly. OKC lost by over 30 points to the Rockets if that tells you anything.