Welcome back to another one of my power ranking articles. Despite the season starting yesterday, I’ll still be publishing these as if it didn’t. This segment covers the 8th and 7th best teams in the NBA and my criteria for ranking these teams is based on the coaching, talent of the roster, as well as how they all fit together. If you aren’t caught up on any of my articles, I highly suggest you do so.
8. Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns ended their 2022 season in a very disappointing fashion. They were heralded as the favorites to win it all after their remarkable regular season. With drama and uncertainty looming over their offseason, they look to redeem themselves this year.
Head coach Monty Williams is back for his 4th season in the valley. He’s a very innovative coach and I really like some of the offensive sets he runs for his team. His schemes are reliant on his team, as every player is involved in almost every action. However, there were times where he was too stubborn to adjust and it showed in the playoffs during both series. That’s probably my biggest gripe with him as a coach, but he’s still very solid.
Let’s face reality, Chris Paul is getting older and he only has so much gas left in the tank. However, he is still more than capable of at least two more productive seasons and I think he’ll take more of a backseat due to his age. There are some great things CP3 does for the Suns as a primary ball-handler and as a communicator on both ends of the floor. The remaining ball-handling duties will fall on Devin Booker’s shoulders. A lot of people don’t know that Booker is actually a capable primary ball-handler and we saw that in 2020. He just took a backseat because CP3 arrived. Booker is known as one of the league’s premier scorers, but he does so without dominating the ball. He’s a great off-ball player and makes timely movements to get open. On the ball, he has a beautiful isolation game and really can let it fly. He was a 47% mid-range shooter and a 38% 3PT shooter. Book is not an engine by any means, but in the right infrastructure, he can be a face of an elite offense. Mikal Bridges is one of the best 3&D players today and is an excellent cutter to the basket. There are instances in which he tries to do too much as a ball-handler but when he plays like himself, good things happen. Jae Crowder would be the team’s starting PF, but he wants out of Phoenix and won’t be seeing the floor for them. Instead, Cameron Johnson will take that role. He’s an offensive weapon, being one of the league’s very best shooters. Whether this be off the catch, off of movement, on spot-ups, over contests, at the corner, in transition, or above the break. None of that matters because he’s absolute money from deep. This brings so much value because it can cause closeouts, over-rotations, or defensive breakdowns. Both Johnson and Bridges are sneakily good offensive fulcrums because they don’t allow defenses to shade harder ball-side thus allowing the mid-range maestros in CP3 and Book to let loose. After a rumor-filled offseason which nearly saw him suit up for Indiana, DeAndre Ayton is back in Phoenix. He serves as a swiss army knife for the Suns on both ends of the floor. Ayton continuously improves his game, namely his defense. While not being the best rim protector, he is still a quality anchor. He can alter shots with his length and does so without committing many fouls. Ayton is also a nice weak-side help defender, being able to cover ground with impeccable balance for his size. It’s also cool that he’s a great post defender and PnR defender, being one of the only guys capable of giving Jokic and Embiid problems. Offensively, Ayton has all the tools to be a great post player. He’s got a nice turnaround jumper, hook shot, elbow jumper, and floater but he doesn’t do these consistently enough. He’s just too stiff sometimes, not being able to keep his handle alive while using his body. As a roll man, he’s one of the best and one half of the best PnR duo in the league (CP3 is the other half). Ayton rolls hard to the basket and can stop on a dime to fire off some nice short-roll passes or even popping from the mid-range. If he can shore up in the consistency department while continuing to improve, he can be an All-Star. The Suns boast a nice starting lineup, but I’m concerned about their bench. Javale McGee was a solid piece for them and Jae Crowder’s absence forces Cam Johnson to start. Their bench consists of Cam Payne, Bismack Biyombo, Josh Okogie, Landry Shamet, Torrey Craig, and Dario Saric. That’s a rather worrysome group of players but some of them provide some value. Okogie is a defensive specialist who’s very switchable. He doesn’t do much on offense, but he’s athletic enough to be a lob threat as a roll man. The Suns did need some defensive wing depth outside of Mikal, so signing Okogie was a smart move. Damion Lee is a fringe rotational player who can be an occasional spark plug off the bench. Bismack Biyombo is actually quite an underrated piece. He’s a competent offensive rebounder but that’s all the value he provides offensively. However, the Suns can really use that rebounding talent and he provides value as a rim protector on the defensive end.
This Suns team has boom or bust written all over it. I think they can be as good as the one seed again but wouldn’t be shocked if they fall out of a playoff spot. This is a pivotal year for Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and the Suns youngsters as this may very well be it.
Prediction: 56–26 (4th in Western Conference)
7. Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets are many people’s favorites to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals this year. After all, they’re getting back two of their stars and made some marquess acquisitions in the offseason. They also have the reigning back-to-back MVP leading the charge. All should go well for this team, right??? Well, let’s see.
Mike Malone is a creative offensive mind, but his rotations are so weird sometimes. He also believes in DeAndre Jordan’s ability to be a nice centerpiece off the bench for some reason. However, one thing I’ll give to the Denver coaching staff is that they’re very good at developing homegrown talent. A lot of the Nuggets core consists of players they’ve drafted. That’ll make it all the more sweeter if they do end up winning it all. I love how Malone has high standards for the Nuggets, setting a goal to be a top five defensive unit with that team is quite the ask.
Jamal Murray is back after an ACL tear in 2021. When healthy, he looked like a great ancillary offensive threat while vastly improving on defense. I expect Murray to take a while to regain his form which is a reason as to why I’m a bit lower on this Nuggets squad. They probably would’ve come out of the West in 2021 if he were healthy. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is their new shooting guard and he is a nice role player for this team. He’s a gifted shooter and a sharp cutter which pairs well with Nikola Jokic. KCP is also a very strong defender at the point of attack which is something the Nuggets have badly needed over the years and it’s a bigger need than ever since Jamal is still recovering from his injury. Michael Porter Jr also makes his return to the Nuggets and is one of the better play finishers in the NBA. MPJ is a silky smooth shooter, shooting 45% from 3PT land in his last healthy season. He also shot 47% off the catch, 48% from the corner, and 43% above the break. He can knock these shots down with defenders all up in his face as well due to his height and length. MPJ is also an elite off-ball player who doesn’t really create opportunities for himself with the ball in his hands. He eats off of screens and off-ball movement reminiscent of Klay Thompson. MPJ excellently cuts to the basket when defenders get physical which really strengthens his two-man game with Jokic. Like I said before, MPJ is almost exclusively an off-ball player who doesn’t generate opportunities with the ball and he’s a weak passer. Not to mention his atrocious defense. Aaron Gordon is a player on the Nuggets that doesn’t get talked about enough. He’s very important in the sense that the Nuggets would have historically bad playoff defenses without him. He doesn’t consistently make plays like a true anchor, but he’s definitely providing value. He’s versatile as they come and he pairs this with his size, vertical pop, and crisp lateral movement. Denver was so desperate for a point-of-attack defender that they employed AG at that area. I think having him take over as a helper will benefit both sides. His aforementioned vertical pop does help him alter shots at the rim after all. Offensively, AG doesn’t provide much spacing but is a nice finisher at the basket. He’s a solid post player thanks to his physical gifts. Lastly, AG is an oddly sound roll man for Jokic PnRs and a PnR with two bigs shouldn’t work, but it does in this case. The back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic is the Nuggets ace. He’s arguably the greatest offensive big man the game has ever seen and one of the very best passers to ever touch a basketball. He does almost everything offensively whether it be strong 3-level scoring, offensive rebounding, passing, or off-ball mastery. However, he doesn’t break down defenses by pounding the ball to the floor like your typical engine would (LeBron, Luka, Nash). Jokic is the one player in the league you don’t double because if you do, he’ll burn you with a pass that would leave you in utter disbelief. Even if you don’t send two, he’s still more than capable of torching you with a bucket from anywhere on the court. This Nuggets offense looks great on paper and all the guys fit with each other very well, but they’re just not good defensively. Your best defenders being KCP and Aaron Gordon will hurt come playoff time. Anyways, their bench does show some promise. Bruce Brown is the headliner signing for the Nuggets. He’s arguably the best cutter in basketball which we all know compliments Jokic very well. He’s also a quick decision maker with strong passing. BB was the one playing the role as the short-roll guy. Now Ben Simmons is in that role for Brooklyn. However, BB’s a much more adept off-ball player with impeccable timing and positioning. Bruce Brown also provides a POA defensive element for Denver, so woohoo! Bones Hyland was a surprise for many NBA fans. Bones is a maestro off the ball who’s always moving and can shoot the ball. What I really love about Bones is that he’s a good self-creator and off-ball player. He’s got a mean handle and is very crafty which creates space for him to let it fly from 3. Ish Smith is on his 11th team, I think. He’s merely a veteran presence in the locker room at this point of his career and will probably serve as a mentor to Bones. Zeke Nnaji is a big man who is another nice off-ball player that can stroke it from deep (I’ve only said that about a hundred times now). DeAndre Jordan is on the team too. Why?!?!?! He’s not good and hasn’t been good in the last six years. I will never understand what all of these coaches and front offices see in him. Well, he’s probably gone by the trade deadline whether he gets bought out or traded.
The Nuggets offense is absolutely lethal and I think they’ll be one of the greatest ever in that regard. They’ve got a good mixture of everything (scoring, off-ball movement, passing, etc). However, their defensive play will still be poor. It all starts with Nikola Jokic. The Joker is a solid regular season defender, having good hands which lead to steals and his size and positioning help him a little bit in the paint. However, he’s so unathletic and can’t jump more than 2 feet into the air. This severely hurts the Nuggets’ defense in the playoffs and renders Jokic useless as a rim protector as well as in the PnR. Guards have been feasting on him over the past few years. A center with clear defensive limitations does cap roster construction a little bit since it’s the most important position on that end. It also doesn’t help that Jokic’s defensive supporting cast isn’t doing him any favors either. To be fair, BB and KCP really do elevate this defense, but they can only do so much. However, I think their stellar offense is enough to guarantee them a home court advantage spot.
Prediction: 58–24 (3rd in Western Conference)
References: https://youtu.be/yfZi1B_PcX0
https://twitter.com/nba_university/status/1561502152878596098?s=46&t=vSPcBArvVNHM-4KUdwQcuQ
