PSL’s NBA Power Rankings
September 22, 2009
Who will reign supreme in the battle for the court in 2009-2010? Will last years MVP King win his first NBA crown? Will Kobe repeat without Trevor Ariza? Will Blake Griffin flip the switch for the Clips? While it might be a little early, I have composed the first set of NBA power rankings for the upcoming season that should help to answer a few of those questions. Throughout the season I will be updating the rankings accordingly with the performances of each team.
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RANK |
TEAM |
08/09 RECORD |
The SCOUTLOOK | |
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1 |
Spurs |
54-28 |
The addition of Richard Jefferson will fill the one void that the spurs had last year, scoring. With an already proven all-star cast on the court headed up by veteran Tim Duncan, the Spurs are the scariest team coming into this season despite losing in the first round of the playoffs in 2009. Tony Parker has emerged as one of the league’s best point guards and will lead his team deep into the playoffs with plenty of options to benefit from the drive-in and kick-out offense. |
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2 |
Lakers |
65-17 |
Coming off his first NBA Championship with out the help of “His-Shaqness” Kobe Bryant enters the league ready to push his team back into championship race. In the off-season the Lakers essentially shuffled Trevor Ariza for Ron Artest. While Artest has proven himself as an all-star veteran, I think this move will hurt the team chemistry of the Lakers that meshed so well last year. |
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3 |
Cavaliers |
66-16 |
The Cavaliers are coming of their most impressive season since acquiring Lebron James, finishing with the league’s best record at 66-16 and earning the MVP trophy for number 23. Enter Shaquille O’Neal. Despite his age, Shaq is nothing to sneeze at. With the best and most powerful player by his side in LBJ, Shaq is going to arise as a force to be reckoned with once again. |
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4 |
Magic |
59-23 |
The most dominant inside presence in the league, Dwight Howard, aka “Man-Child” will once again lead his team to a great season. The Magic lose some consistency in Hedo Turkoglu but fill the gap with All-Star Vince Carter. |
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5 |
Celtics |
62-20 |
Slightly older and a little rusty, the Celtics will attempt to reclaim their throne atop of the NBA assuming a healthy KG. The addition of Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels will add some good depth to this team. |
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6 |
Nuggets |
54-28 |
Under the leadership of Chauncy Billups, the Nuggets finish on top of the Northwest Division. |
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7 |
Mavericks |
50-32 |
This squad will be someone’s fantasy team this year. I’m interested to see how Shawn Marion will fit in, but I have no doubt that they will be good. |
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8 |
Trailblazers |
54-28 |
Finishing wildly beyond their expectations last year, the Blazers have now acquired veteran dime-man Andre Miller. |
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9 |
Jazz |
48-34 |
Deron Williams and Paul Milsap have shown that they are the real deal and will help Utah reach the playoffs once again. |
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10 |
Hornets |
49-33 |
If Okafor fits in well, these guys will be tough to beat. |
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11 |
Wizards |
19-63 |
With a healthy squad (finally) the Wiz look to break out this year with an all-star starting lineup with the recent additions of Mike Miller and Randy Foye. |
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12 |
Hawks |
47-35 |
Jamal Crawford coming off the bench? These guys are going to shoot lights out. |
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13 |
Pistons |
39-43 |
With some of the biggest changes to their team in 10 years, the Pistons have the potential to rise in the East once again. |
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14 |
Bulls |
41-41 |
ROY Derrick Rose will continue his impressive play as he leads his team back to the playoffs. |
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15 |
Suns |
46-36 |
Until these guys learn to play some defense they will stay right in the middle. |
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16 |
Raptors |
33-49 |
Hedo should bring some smiles to Canada this year. |
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17 |
Heat |
43-39 |
Dwyane Wade will single handedly carry this team to mediocrity. |
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18 |
Bobcats |
35-47 |
I didn’t think it would work but Raja Bell and Boris Diaw seemed to mesh in Charlotte last year. |
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19 |
Clippers |
19-63 |
These guys should be good. If Blake Griffin can’t improve them, nobody can. |
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20 |
Thunder |
23-59 |
Look to Durant to launch this team to the next level. |
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21 |
Rockets |
53-29 |
With no Yao Ming, no Ron Artest, and T-Mac most likely injured who is going to score? |
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22 |
Grizzlies |
24-58 |
Who knows how far Iverson can lead this team if he shows up to practice… |
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23 |
Warriors |
29-53 |
If Jackson stays put these guys could turn some heads |
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24 |
Pacers |
36-46 |
Despite the addition of Hansbrough, I’d expect the Pacers to finish right around last year. |
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25 |
Timberwolves |
24-58 |
With a handful of new young talent these guys could see a slight bump from last year. |
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26 |
76ers |
41-41 |
With Andre Miller gone, someone is going to have to step up to lead this offense. |
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27 |
Nets |
34-48 |
Now that Vince Carter is gone, Devin Harris might not want to pass so much. |
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28 |
Kings |
17-65 |
It looks like Kevin Martin will have to carry these guys to 20 wins this year. |
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29 |
Bucks |
34-48 |
These guys have some serious rebuilding to do. |
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30 |
Knicks |
32-50 |
Is Chris Duhon the star of this team? |
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5 Comments
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Adam Hutcheson
Adam Gori
David Brick
Josh Brick
Grant Howard
Alex Lopez
Joe Giglio
Thanks got me pumped for the season. I think the Nets will be better than people think with the emergence of Brook Lopez as a borderline all star and if Devo decides to play D watch out! They could win maybe 30-35 games. Also I recently read an article on ESPN about Tmac coming back to full strength and having the best athleticism he has hand in years if there is any truth to that could lead to an interesting season in Houston.
But hey keep writing articles and I’ll keep reading.
Brook Lopez is definitely an emerging star in the NBA but I think he will need some better role players around him to put the Nets back into the thick of things. I do like the acquisition of Courtney Lee, however, and I think that his presence on the team will bring a nice compliment to Harris’s style of play. I hadn’t heard about T-Mac coming back to full strength, but I’ve been watching him play long enough to know that there’s no such thing as a healthy T-Mac. This guys is possibly the most injury prone player in all of the NBA, well maybe with the exception of Gilbert Arenas. In any case the Rockets are going to have a tough time getting along without their franchise player in Yao and could very well fall to the bottom of the rankings.
I don’t think theres any reason to say the lakers shouldn’t be #1. Also don’t sleep on the Pacers. They’re gunna average about 200 points per game.
The reason the Lakers are number 2 is team chemistry. There’s no question that Artest is a bit of a hot-head and is bound to create some problems either on the court or in the locker room for L.A. Artest also likes to shoot, a lot. I’m sure that Kobe and the gang are not going to take to kindly to taking a back seat in the offensive sets. As they are the reigning champs they still deserve to be ranked highly but in my book they are not number one.
it is going to be a fun playoff year in the NBA, so many strong teams, East and West