New Year's Power Rankings (30-21)
Mar 19, 2021 13:56:20 GMT
Ian Noble, Walt Frazier, and 5 more like this
Post by Jerry West on Mar 19, 2021 13:56:20 GMT
30 – Phoenix Suns
29 – New York Knicks
28 – Denver Nuggets
27 – Washington Wizards
26 – LA Clippers
25 – Detroit Pistons
24 – Minnesota Timberwolves
23 – Dallas Mavericks
22 – Philadelphia 76ers
21 – Oklahoma City Thunder
Welcome to the 2021 Power Rankings, I’m sure you are excited to see where your team lands so let’s start by taking the trash out first.
It’s hard to put into words what the Phoenix Suns roster is, maybe the easiest way to put it, it’s that there’s G-League teams better than this. Honestly the most shocking part about all of this is not that their General Manager literally went on leave until the end of the season in order to be able to see their team play, but the fact that they managed to won 4 games being led by T.J. Leaf (who remind you, got cut for being to good) and Terrence Ferguson. We’ve seen teams tanks but never like this.
Is it worth it to put your fanbase through this pain for a 14.0% chance at the top pick? Personally I don’t think so, but you do you Phoenix, you do you.
The Knicks made the most recent hire for the General Manager position in the league in Arvydas Sabonis, and in true brand-new GM fashion, he decided to trade away every piece he had in order to start rebuilding. Goodbye Vucevic (although those days were extremely short lived) and Kyle Anderson, hello Hassan Whiteside and Sami Ojeleye. It’s not been an easy year for the fans in the Big Apple, being was once again seen using paper bags in Madison Square Garden. So what’s next for the Knicks?
Apparently trading Aaron Gordon 100 million contract, or that’s what most of you are led to believe. But I’ve got inside sources that they are planning a Martin twins show to keep fans entertained in this time of need, and honestly how bad would it need to be for you to prefer watching Knicks basketball over it?
This doesn’t feel right, last year’s championship finalists and possibly favourites show up early at number 28. After another disappointing ending to their season, Alex English decided it was enough and traded away his All-Star starting 5 in one of the most shocking moments in league history, and for once, it looked like Alex got the short end of the stick. In return he got his picks back to enable the tanking and picks multiple picks from both the Eastern and Western Conference. But do you think Alex would actually lose a deal? No chance. Those Toronto picks already look like a golden ticket, not to mention the Lakers 2023 1st and Houston 2023 1st in the mix as well. If you are going to rebuild, do it the right way, and the Nuggets are doing just that.
If you look at the Wizards roster, you think this would be the year they would finally turn it up and change their direction. Before the year started, you were looking at a possible starting five of Dragic, the worst contract in the league, Isaac, Larry Nance Jr and Bam Adebayo. Say what you will about the money values, but that team has a chance of making the playoffs their “above-average-3” are all still young. Unfortunately, Isaac got injured once again, and somehow the Wizards find themselves with the 2nd worst record in the league at 8-21.
It’s hard to figure out where this franchise is going. They have incredibly talented young players and this year added to it in the draft with Devin Vassell, but the team doesn’t look to be heading nowhere, and their All-time record for wins is 35, which makes you wonder if it’s ever going to change.
The Clippers are arguably the worst team in D5 the last 3 years without either player's or young prospects to show for. Just a retirement home for overpaid old players. But that was until this year draft.
Sure, the Clippers made their usual Clipper pick in Obi Toppin, but somehow they managed to trade RJ Barret for the 1st pick in the draft, and with it, they took the risk on the controversial prospect in LaMelo Ball. And what a pick it was, LaMelo looks ready to turn this team around in the future, question is if Mike Krzyzewski has the ability to turn that ship. Get it? Clippers? Ship?
The Pistons show up at 25 but they made long strides since being always at number 30 spot. They got the 2nd pick in the draft and with it Anthony Edwards to pair up with DeAndre Ayton and Damontas Sabonis. Not only that but last year’s 1st round pick Keldon Johnson got off to a quick start, although he quickly slowed down from it, it was still exciting to see what kind of player he can become.
That said it’s been a long time since we saw the Pistons in the playoffs and doesn’t look like a bonafide Star in Damontas Sabonis surrounded by a good supporting cast is going to be enough to do it either. With his contract coming up at the end of this season, it’s easy to question if he will be testing the Free Agent market to find a team where he could finally play the Center spot and have a chance at winning games.
After a year riddled with injuries, Minnesota decided he would give it one last go this season. But that was extremely short-lived in a competitive Western Conference, soon deciding to trade Clint Capela and making both John Wall and Blake Griffin available on the trade market. But somehow, despite not blatantly tanking the last past few seasons, the Wolves are starting their rebuild with more talent than most teams in Lonzo Ball, Deni Avdija and their brand-new toy and GM favourite, Quickley. The Wolves had a good run, but it’s time for them to move back to the end of the line.
After a truly shocking 42-40 finish last season and 6th place on the Western Conference standings, the Dallas Mavericks have seen to slow down, finishing the month of January with four losses in a row, and that’s despite their explosive backcourt duo averaging a combined 45 points a game, with 25 of those coming from DaVonte Graham. With lackluster wings and depth, it’s fair to ask if Dallas is interested in making some moves to improve this season, or if they are content on having a losing season and trying again later. Only time will tell.
The Sixers aren’t in a good spot. Sure they have their picks, but having players like Steven Adams, Dennis Schroeder and Gary Harris on the roster will never let them truly tank, which makes you think they would be fighting for a playoff spot. But with players like Steven Adams, Dennis Schroeder and Gary Harris making 74 million combined a season, the team will never be able to compete. It’s just mediocrity, and that seems Philadelphia direction for the near future given that those contracts aren’t going anywhere soon. Expect them to get loss in the shuffle, neither bad or good enough to talk about.
The Thunder are surprisingly high on our list, mostly because they went 8-7 in December, despite their best player being 36 year-old Carmelo Anthony, who’s playing like Hoodie Melo, averaging 20 points per game, and be sure to take note of this, on 49/48/90 splits. That’s right, that wasn’t a typo, that’s 48% from 3 point range.
How long can he keep this up? Only time will tell. But I’m not sold that General Manager Kevin Hollis is happy with the current Melo performance and might even cut him since he is on the last year of his deal, in order to prevent another month like December from happening.