Ranking Every NBA Team By Tiers
In today’s article I will be separating NBA teams into tiers so we can get a solid gauge of how everyone is looking so far and how I project their performance going forward!
The Contenders
- Boston Celtics
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Denver Nuggets
These teams are all rosters, and if they don’t make it to at least the conference finals, it is a bit of a disappointment. The Nuggets and Celtics, to me, are the squads most firmly in this tier based on their roster construction as well as how they have performed in recent years. The Bucks have major questions surrounding the health of Khris Middleton and the overall durability of an older roster. For Philly, they have yet to get over the hump, and Joel Embiid has not proven he can have a healthy playoff run where he is playing at his highest level. They have to be in this tier based on their early-season performance, but this is their last season to prove that they can be a true threat to compete for a championship. The Timberwolves are definitely the biggest wildcard out of these teams. There are questions about both of Minnesota’s bigs in playoff matchups, and it may be hard to convince yourself that this team is a contender based on previous results of losing in 5 games in the first round with this core, but I think this team is massively improved, and the wins against other contenders they have picked up are undeniable.
Dangerous Playoff Threats
- Miami Heat
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Sacramento Kings
- Dallas Mavericks
- Los Angeles Lakers
Any of these teams can upset the contenders if just a few things go their way. With Miami, it is somewhat difficult to label them not as a contender considering their ability to always overcome expectations, but I simply believe they are outmatched talent-wise by the top 3 teams in the East. Can never count them out, though. OKC is honestly a team that I was very tempted to group them in with the contenders. I am unbelievably high on what this Thunder core can achieve, and they have already proved it by being tied for the best record in the West, but they simply are too young and unproven for me to take the full leap of faith for them to be a true threat to the title. The Kings and Mavericks both are in the same light to me. Watching the game between the two, they are extremely exciting, but I cannot put them as contenders without having a solid 3rd option or a defense that won’t give up 120 a night against the league’s elites. LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been playing phenomenally, and as long as they continue to play that way, they will always have a chance, but the supporting cast still has far too many question marks for me to be confident about them beating Denver.
Playoff Teams With Huge Questions
- Phoenix Suns
- New York Knicks
- Orlando Magic
- Indiana Pacers
All these teams I feel pretty good about being playoff teams, but they all have massive reservations about how they will actually perform come April. The Suns: Is there any chance that the 3 stars are healthy come playoff time? The Knicks: Can Julius Randle put together a single good series, never mind a good run as a whole? The Magic: Can the offense catch up at all to their top-of-the-league defense? The Pacers: What is the ceiling for a team whose sole goal is to outscore their opposition every night?
Fighting For Play-In Positioning
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Atlanta Hawks
- Brooklyn Nets
- Toronto Raptors
- Houston Rockets
- New Orleans Pelicans
- LA Clippers
While all these franchises find themselves fighting for the 7–10 spots in their respective conferences, there are large variances for how these teams feel being in these positions. The Clippers and Warriors are both veteran rosters who have pushed a lot of their chips into making one last run for the championship. Both teams have been underperforming pretty significantly to their expectations, and tensions will be high if they don’t start to figure things out very soon. The Cavaliers, Hawks, and Pelicans are all young teams who looked to make the next step but have failed to do so to this point. Whether it be due to stars disappointing, young players stagnating, or injuries to key players, if these franchises fail to take a step soon, there could be major changes coming to the teams sooner than we may expect. The Nets and Rockets both are young in their respective rebuilds and are just happy to be competitive. Neither team may have a franchise player, but the development they have seen out of a lot of their young players is promising for the future outlook of the teams. The Raptors find themselves in a very weird middle ground of all these teams. Not too long ago, they won a championship, and they still have some players on that roster that remain on the current one, but they have also started to transition to a new era with young talent. Toronto needs to pick a direction, and I think the sensible one would be to build around Scottie Barnes with fellow young players.
Competitive But Far From Good
- Chicago Bulls
- Utah Jazz
The two franchises listed are in very different positions but both manage to be in a similar spot. For the Jazz, they overperformed early last year but fell back down to earth and look like the rebuilding team they are. I like many of the pieces Utah has, but it seems they are playing the long game with roster building, which I think is a good decision. The Bulls need to blow it up. Zach Lavine seems upset even after wins, and there is just no reason to hold on so tightly to a roster whose ceiling is a low-caliber playoff roster.
Waiting For Ja
- Memphis Grizzlies
This team sees themselves placed in one of the strangest positions out of anyone in the NBA. They seem too far behind the 8 ball to make the playoffs out West, but with Ja Morant coming back in 12 games, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be relatively competitive when he’s inserted back into the lineup.
Ping Pong Ball Prayers
- San Antonio Spurs
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Charlotte Hornets
- Washington Wizards
- Detroit Pistons
While I hoped to see teams like the Hornets, Pistons, and Spurs be a bit more competitive this year, the expectations were that all these teams would find themselves towards the bottom of their conference. All these teams have young pieces that I am very fond of, but most of them have organizational problems that supersede the talent of the roster. For all of these organizations, you would hope the rest of the season is focused on developing talent and avoiding building poor habits or bad culture. Come the end of the season, these teams will find themselves at home hoping a couple of ping pong balls land their way and help them draft a strong young player to add to their core.
