2013-2014 NBA Power Rankings - Week 1

With the new season looming over us, the big question coming in is can anyone dethrone the two-time defending champion Miami Heat. And with the way certain teams are stacking their rosters (Knicks, Nets and Rockets) it seems that more teams are ready to win than not. There are more serious contenders in the NBA now than there have been the past 10 years. The talent pool in this league is loaded with superstars all over the map hoping to lead their respective teams to the Promised Land. But the only way to do so is beat the best and rise up the power ranks. So without further ado, the VAVEL NBA team of writers brings you the power rankings for the upcoming season.

1)      Miami Heat - As long as the greatest player in the world stays healthy and resides in South Beach, the Heat will have the best chance of winning it again. Nothing more needs to be said.

2)     San Antonio Spurs - You may think they are aging but you are dead wrong. Gregg Popovich is still a great coach, and young guns such as Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green are here to stay. Expect nothing less from the team that came one basket away from a championship.

3)      Indiana Pacers – The one thing everyone is asking is whether Paul George and Danny Granger can co-exist. Only time will tell. But on a team with no true superstars, they’ve found their success through strong team play, and that should make the process easier.

4)     Oklahoma City Thunder – Russell Westbrook is expected to miss the first six weeks of the season, and if you’re an OKC fan, that’s a big blow. They’ll get their share of wins without him, but this is another big test for Kevin Durant to show he’s the Batman on this team.

5)     Los Angeles Clippers – The expectations have never been higher for this team. With new head coach Doc Rivers, everyone is very excited, thinking this might be the year they finally get to the Finals. Rivers is definitely one of the best coaches in the NBA, but this roster has a lot of holes that need fixing. Chris Paul can’t do it all. But like I said, Doc Rivers is one of the best.

6)      Golden State Warriors – I like this team a lot. Mark Jackson is becoming one of the better coaches in the league. And with new guard Andre Iguodala adding more firepower to the best shooting team in the NBA, the sky is the limit for this young group.

7)     New York Knicks – Offseason acquisitions Andrea Bargnani and Metta World Peace do improve this roster a lot more than people think. They have yet to establish an identity, mainly because they only give the ball to Carmelo Anthony and hope for the best. Mike Woodson has his hands full but he has a lot of talent to play with.

8)      Chicago Bulls – After a long year off, Derrick Rose is back. The same guy that was supposedly afraid to come back from an ACL injury because he thought it could be re-aggravated. This dude is the real deal and he knows what he’s doing. If he stays on the floor, the Bulls will be playing late into the postseason.

9)      Houston Rockets – No more excuses for this team. They got their guy in Dwight Howard and now it’s time to execute. The transition shouldn’t be as hard as it was when he went to the Lakers, but Howard has a lot to prove if he wants the chip.  And with teammates like James Harden, Chandler Parsons and Jeremy Lin buying into his stock, all eyes will be on the big man down in southern Texas.

10)   Memphis Grizzlies – No coach in the NBA will be scrutinized early on more than Dave Joerger. The man took the seat from Lionel Hollins, who lead the franchise to their first ever conference championship. Stay tuned to see how he handles the pressure of a team expecting to improve off their previous season. It already sounds hard.

11)   Brooklyn Nets – The big story here is new inexperienced head coach Jason Kidd. It seems like a smooth transition for the future hall of famer, but switching four seats over to your left on the bench and sitting in the head coach seat is big. Lucky for him the Nets landed two all-time greats from Boston in Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. It’s hard for a head coach looking to earn his wings and lead a team to a championship all in one season. Tough part for him is, that’s what they expect.

12)   Denver Nuggets – From all accounts this team should be a lot higher on my list; they had a 38-3 record at home last season (#1 in the NBA) but with general manager Masai Ujiri leaving for Toronto and head coach George Karl no longer at the helm, I see a Nuggets team bound for a disappointment.

13)   Detroit Pistons – A lot of people questioned whether Josh Smith picked the right team during costless agency in Detroit. But with the addition of Brandon Jennings, he has a solid wing man that can play the one and two guard position. Second year center Andre Drummond had an impressive rookie season, and has all the makings of an All-NBA player three years down the road. Smith may have made a very good decision.

14)   Portland Trail Blazers – Rookie of the Year Damian Lillard looks to be the future franchise player, but this team lacks depth and consistency from their starters. They lost 13 in a row to end their season and killed a chance at a playoff berth this past April. The key here is consistency. I need to see it to be a believer.

15)   Minnesota Timberwolves – They have arguably the best all-around power forward in the league with Kevin Love and the spectacular playmaker Ricky Rubio playing the point. Don’t forget about 6-11 290lbs Montenegrin Nikola Pekovic, who is the most physically imposing presence in the NBA. The only question is can these players remain healthy on a regular basis.

16)   Dallas Mavericks - Out of all the teams in the league, this might be the toughest one for me to get a firm grasp on. The core from their 2011 Championship team is either gone or getting old. And new expected starters Jose Calderon and Monta Ellis are good players, but haven’t proven to be difference makers. There’s a reason why they’ve been jumping from team to team. Mark Cuban is a passionate owner that loves him team, but I don’t see much to like from this squad as a serious threat.

17)   Washington Wizards – The Wizards have a very young, talented team. John Wall, in my eyes, has the potential to be a future MVP. Bradley Beal was a top-three pick in last year’s draft and he’s living up to the expectations. There are a lot of kinks that need to be straightened out for this team to reach new heights. But I’m expecting them to contend for a playoff spot this season.

18)   Cleveland Cavaliers - On paper this team is very good; they are loaded with top five draft picks and bringing in costless agents Jarrett Jack and Andrew Bynum should be beneficial. But they have no identity and they lack team chemistry when the game is on the line. They proved it with only 24 wins last season. They should be a lot better and I’m hoping they are. The fans of Cleveland want a playoff team and they deserve it.

19)   Atlanta Hawks – Over the years, this team has annually remained above average in the weak Eastern Conference. But now with more power houses and contenders in the East, the Hawks need to prove they can contend instead of pretend. I’m not buying into this team just yet.

20)   Los Angeles Lakers – To all the Lakers fans out there – and I know a lot of them – you are no longer a title contender. You may think Dwight Howard leaving was a good thing, but it really wasn’t. Kobe Bryant is on his last legs and it will take time for him to get back to full speed. Even then he won’t be that effective without a reliable #2. Steve Nash isn’t playing 82 games, and Pau Gasol is wearing down. Look for the Lakers season to start when it ends – costless agency and the draft. They’re the New York Yankees of the NBA, expect a spending spree.

21)   New Orleans Pelicans – A new season for the first time Pelicans and fans down in the Bayou should be excited. Anthony Davis is a great young player, and offseason pickups in Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday help this team significantly. They’re going to make mistakes through the process but they look like a franchise headed in the right direction with a talented young foundation.

22)   Toronto Raptors – They are Canada’s one and only team and fans in Toronto love their Raptors, but they’re growing tired of same old story (close, but no cigar). I think the best players they have are their two bigs down in the post – Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas. If Kyle Lowry can reduce the turnovers on offense and spread the ball out to their good shooters, they’ll win ball games. They’re not going for hometown wonder Andrew Wiggins, they’re going for the playoffs.

23)   Boston Celtics – So everyone believes this team is tanking and if you are old enough to remember the 1997 NBA Draft, Boston was tanking in hopes to land top prospect Tim Duncan. We all know how that worked out – it didn’t. So giving up their franchise player and bringing in the 36-year-old Brad Stevens to coach this team means something, right? Well it all lands on Rajon Rondo. Do they trade him? We’ll see, he’s one of the best point guards in the game and without him they’re bound for a top pick.

24)   Milwaukee Bucks – I got them the lowest out of any playoff team from last season, and if you noticed what they did during the offseason you’ll figure out why. Four of their top five scorers are gone. Larry Sanders is the only thing the Bucks have to show that they’re not giving up on the season before it begins, but with the draft lottery looking very intriguing this year, their chances of that are a lot better than any aspiration of going back to the playoffs.

25)   Orlando Magic - Young guns in Tobias Harris and Nikola Vucevic are great assets for a team rebuilding. And 2nd overall pick Victor Oladipo is a strong preseason candidate for rookie of the year. I expect them to rise from the bottom end of the power rankings as the season moves on, but I have to see them work for it.

26)   Utah Jazz – This is a team that plays great at home and is well coach, but losing their top scorers in costless agency, Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap, leaves a void that I don’t believe they can fill. We’ll see how they handle it early on. But the Jazz are far away from being a playoff team in my books.

27)   Sacramento Kings - Welcome to “Shaqramento,” as new share holder of the organization Shaquille O’Neal put it. This apparently gives this franchise a new attitude. Well I don’t know about that. But, if he plans on helping this team grow into a contender, he has a long way to go.

28)   Charlotte Bobcats - Some sports aficionados believe Michael Jordan might just suit up in a game for his Bobcats, who knows? If Jerry Jones was 35 years younger I beat he’d do the same thing with his NFL Dallas Cowboys. It’s their team, who’s to say they can’t. But I think his airness needs to concentrate on putting a winner on the court, because what I see is an upcoming season full of loses.

29)   Phoenix Suns – So they got new head coach in Jeff Hornacek, who has never coached a game is his life. He was a good player in his day, but never won a championship. None of those will be coming out of the Sunset State any time soon.

30)   Philadelphia 76ers – Coming into this season, this team is spending less money on their combined player salaries then the minimum, and they might have to pay a penalty for it. Now let that sink in. Most teams spend too much in sports, whether it’s basketball, football or baseball, which result in luxury taxes and losing out on players they can’t afford. Philadelphia isn’t spending enough, and they just decided not too long ago to bring in a head coach, which was a position held vacant for almost five months. Bad might be too kind of a word. They’re far from even rebuilding.

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About the author
Constantine Tzemis
True Toronto kid who loves sports, and loves arguing over it.