NBA Power Rankings a month into the 2020-2021 NBA season

Which teams have risen and which teams have fallen since my preseason rankings? How much better are the Nets with James Harden? Are the Knicks, Cavs, and Spurs legit?

Before the 2020-2021 NBA season started, I published an NBA power rankings and season outlook for each team article. I also published an article that had predictions for season standings, MVP, ROY, and other awards. I talked about how the Warriors would be good enough to secure at least the 5th seed in the Western Conference, even without Klay Thompson. Everyone called me crazy, but it’s looking like that prediction is going in the right direction. I also said that the Trailblazers wouldn’t make the playoffs and instead the Jazz, Warriors, Pelicans, and Suns would get the last couple of spots in the Western Conference. That prediction remains to be seen, but people heavily criticized that prediction of leaving the Trailblazers out of the playoffs.

I am not perfect. I made plenty of mistakes in my preseason predictions as well. I said that Lonzo Ball would be the most improved player this year. Yea, let that sink in. That’s obviously not going to happen, and we all know which three players will be up for that award(Christian Wood, Jerami Grant, and Chris Boucher). I also said that Dennis Schroder would win the sixth man of the year award, which isn’t looking like it’s going to happen either. My DPOY pick Anthony Davis and my ROY pick Lamelo Ball are both frontrunners for those awards a month into the season. Again, the NBA season is only 12-16 games in(depending on Covid postponements for each team), and it’s a long season still. A lot can happen in 56-60 games. Some teams have fallen due to players underperforming or chemistry issues, while others have risen dramatically due to breakout seasons from players that are playing well above expectations.

30. Detroit Pistons

    

    One of the few teams with no movement from preseason to now, the Pistons are an embarrassment. Even though Jerami Grant is averaging a career-best 24.9 PPG, it still isn’t enough to make this team compete. Derrick Rose, Mason Pumblee, and Delon Wright are also playing well, but Blake Griffin isn’t doing anything and their first-round draft pick, Killian Hayes, suffered an injury that will keep him out most of the season. Blake Griffin is playing terribly because he simply does not want to be there and therefore isn’t giving his all on the court. Why would he? This team is in a full rebuild, and this is a guy without a championship who is at a stage of his career where he would love to be on a team competing for a title. Also, what were the Pistons doing not giving Christian Wood his money? It’s not like they had to pay him over 100 million dollars. He signed a three year, 41 million dollar deal with the Rockets, which is a bargain considering his All-Star level playing performance this year. You're telling me they couldn’t pay Wood that kind of money? Of course they could have given Wood his money, and Troy Weaver is already on the hot seat after that and botching the 7th pick in the draft taking Killian Hayes over Tyrese Haliburton, Obi Toppin, and Tyrese Maxey. Please trade Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin so they don’t have to suffer any longer.

    29. Minnesota Timberwolves

        

This team wasn’t expected to be great. And I know it may be unfair to rank them 29th since KAT hasn’t played most of this year so far, but this team isn’t good with or without him. Russell has been playing well and role players such as Tyus Jones are stepping up. However, KAT has missed most of the season on the injury list(now Covid-19 list) and overall #1 pick Anthony Edwards isn’t shooting well at all, even if he leads rookies in scoring. Again, I am not going to criticize a 19-year-old for struggling to immediately translate his game to the NBA. He will be astronomically better in the future, but not this year. Even if KAT comes back healthy, they don’t have enough depth around him to succeed in a deep Western Conference.

28. Washington Wizards

    

    I had high hopes for this team. I thought a Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal duo would at least help the Wizards finish 9th or 10th in the Eastern Conference. Look it’s early, and they still can, but this team hasn’t had a shot of getting hot since Westbrook has missed substantial time with an injury. But, we’d all be lying to ourselves if we thought the Wizards weren’t one of the three worst teams in the league right now. Bradley Beal is still playing great as he’s leading the league in scoring, but that’s not enough to save one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA.

27. Houston Rockets

    

This team has fallen substantially simply due to the fact that they traded their best player and one of the best players in the game. They got Victor Oladipo and a ton of draft picks back so it was a huge haul for the trade. However, this team isn’t going anywhere without James Harden. John Wall had been playing great before getting hurt, and Christian Wood has ascended into one of the game’s young stars. Oladipo had a great first game with the Rockets, and DeMarcus Cousins will play better and better. They have some depth, and guys like Jae-Sean Tate, David Nwaba, Sterling Brown, Mason Jones, and even 2020 NBA draft second-round pick KJ Martin(in limited minutes) have all been performing better than expected. This team should be able to compete a little bit in the Western Conference, but since the conference is deep with talented teams, the Rockets will have to wait a year or two before being in the conversation of making the playoffs.

26. Oklahoma City Thunder

    

The Thunder have been overachieving if there is such a thing. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is becoming an All-Star in this league and has thrived as the leader and best player of this young Thunder squad. Al Horford and George Hill are playing well and taking the young guys under their wing. Luguentz Dort is continuing where he left off in the 2020 NBA playoffs where he terrorized people on defense. His scoring has gotten astronomically better too, which has allowed this team to win some games early on in the season. Darius Bazley has also been a positive for this team. But let’s be realistic. This is the least talented team in the NBA and even though they are playing okay right now, they will have tons of struggles throughout the rest of the season. They are young, inexperienced(besides a couple of guys), and have a new coach. This team plays hard and exceeds every expectation people put on them, but they should finish toward the bottom of the Western Conference.

25. Sacramento Kings

    

The Kings are off to a decent start with some positives. De’Aaron Fox is playing amazing coming off of an absurd 43 point, 13 assist performance a couple of nights ago. Richaun Holmes, Harrison Barnes, and Marvin Bagley are also playing great. Tyrese Haliburton is one of the steals if not the steal of the draft. He has shown maturity, high basketball IQ, playmaking, and scoring, which allows this team to be a little better in the backcourt than previously expected. The craziest story about this team this year is the feud between Hassan Whiteside and Luke Walton. Whiteside is coming off of a career year in Portland where he averaged over 15 PPG, 13 RPG, and 3 BPG, yet he never touches the floor in Sacramento. I know they want Bagley to grow into his potential and it seems to be working, but Richaun Holmes will never be as good as Hassan Whiteside. Everyone knows that, even Luke Walton. Whiteside’s work ethic and commitment to the team has been questioned by Walton and because of that, Whiteside isn’t getting any minutes not allowing him to continue his dominance from last season. This team is playing alright but don’t expect them to be any better as they will finish the year exactly where they are now…toward the bottom of the Western Conference.

24. New York Knicks

    

The Knicks have been overachieving, to say the least. They are 7-8 with the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference so far. A lot of this can be attributed to Julius Randle’s monster year so far(along with the fact a lot of role players are exceeding their expectations). Randle is averaging a career-best in the three main categories, 22.8 PPG, 11.1 RPG, and 6.1 APG. His All-Star level performance is leading this team to early-season wins over some good teams. R.J. Barrett and Mitchell Robinson are having great years as well. Elfrid Payton and Immanuel Quickley have also been heavily contributing to this team’s success. However, even though first-round pick Obi Toppin is still easing into the NBA season coming off of an injury, this team simply does not have the talent to make the playoffs even if Randle keeps up his All-Start level production. They don’t have enough depth and they are still in rebuild mode. Knicks fans will have to wait a couple more years for this team to compete in the playoffs, but at least they are moving in the right direction.

23. Memphis Grizzlies

Ja Morant is finally back from his injury and Jarren Jackson Jr. is not that far away from returning either. Those two guys are their best players and even though both of them were out for three weeks, they were still able to pull out wins in four out of their eight games without them. That’s mind-boggling to me as the next best player on their roster is either Jonas Valanciunas, Brandon Clarke, or Kyle Anderson. As both of their young stars will return, to go along with a ton of solid role players, the Grizzlies should compete for the 8th seed in the Western Conference. However, I just don’t see them doing that with the Pelicans, Suns, Trailblazers, and Warriors ahead of them in talent.

22. Chicago Bulls

    

The Bulls are much better this year than last and have risen in my rankings mostly due to Zach LaVine playing out of his mind and being able to take over games. LaVine is averaging a career-best 27.4 PPG and barring any favoritism toward selecting big names, Lavine should get his first All-Star appearance this season. Lauri Markkanen and Otto Porter Jr.’s bounce-back years to go along with Wendell Carter Jr’s and Colby White’s continued production puts this team in a good position to win some games this year. Patrick Williams has proven to be a great addition on both ends of the floor as well, but I just don’t think this team should try to even compete in the now stacked Eastern Conference right now. While LaVine is having another career year, they should trade him while his value is high so they can fast-track their rebuild. Most of their best players are still in the 20-24 age range, so receiving any sort of future draft picks and maybe some other young players in a package for Lavine would help this team tremendously in the long-run. Let’s be real, even if this team squeaks into the playoffs somehow they won’t be able to win even two games in a series against Brooklyn, Milwaukee, or Boston.

21. Orlando Magic

This team continues to exceed expectations. They find a way, somehow, no matter who they have, to be right in the mix for a playoff spot every year. Markelle Fultz and Johnathan Issac are out all season, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping the Magic from notching some quality wins over really good opponents. Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier, and Nikola Vucevic are playing great, not to mention the production off the bench from Khem Birch and Cole Anthony. However, this team is limited in its talent and upside even if they are able to stay in the playoff mix. I don’t see the Magic making the playoffs as the Hawks, Cavs, Hornets, and Raptors are still better than them in my opinion.

20. Toronto Raptors

Chris Boucher. That’s all I have to say. That guy completely changed this team once he finally received enough minutes to make a serious impact. Sure, he didn’t play great last game, but he’s still in the top 3 of win shares per 48 minutes, ahead of Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, and Joel Embiid. The dude can play and he is easily their best player this year. For a team that started out 2-8, they have won 3 out of their last four and will continue to win games and climb up the Eastern Conference standings. Siakam and Vanfleet are still elite, and Lowry is playing great too. Norman Powell needs to play better, but as long as Boucher and Siakam continue to lead this team, they will be able to be in the mix for the 7th or 8th seed, maybe even 5th or 6th. This team has serious upside…now let’s see if they can reach it.

19. Charlotte Hornets

    

    LaMelo Ball is the ROY and nothing is going to stop that from happening. You can book it. Gordon Hayward is playing like an All-Star and is slowly changing my mind about whether he deserved the big contract he got. Terry Rozier is having a career year and DeVonte’ Graham is finally playing great after switching his role on the team. Miles Bridges and P.J. Washington look fantastic as well and this team has some depth. If Hayward can keep his production up this team should be able to stay in the mix for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. T

    18. Cleveland Cavaliers

    

    The Cavs have lept from the #28 spot in my preseason rankings due to their hot start. The Cavs are coming off of a huge win in double overtime against the Brooklyn Nets in their debut of the big three(Harden, Irving, Durant). Collin Sexton is averaging 27.0 PPG and has proven that he can take over the game anytime he wants to. Andre Drummond is averaging an absurd 15.1 RPG and is averaging the highest PPG of his career in 18.8. Knowing the immediate outlook of this team, they may decide to trade Drummond as his value has risen exponentially and Jarret Allen is playing great. Drummond has proven that with a good playmaker(Darius Garland) and an elite scorer(Collin Sexton), he can thrive and take over games with his defense and interior presence. Even if Allen takes away some of Drummond’s minutes, his production should stay pretty consistent. In fact, I like Jarret Allen and Andre Drummond on the court together as they would dominate the defensive end and reek havoc over interior foes. This may sound crazy to say, but this team has a real shot at making the playoffs. Originally thought of as one of the worst teams in the league, the Cavs have shattered every expectation and if they keep winning against good teams, they will be right in the mix for an 8th seed all year long.

17. San Antonio Spurs

    

The Spurs have had a great start to the year because of production from every player getting substantial minutes. DeMar DeRozan is averaging 20.2 PPG and 6.8 APG, and Keldon Johnson has become a breakout star, even if sometimes he is inconsistent. Patty Mills, Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, and Lonnie Walker are having fantastic years as well, not to mention Devin Vassell is playing great defense in a limited role. They just have a solid team with a fantastic coach. LaMarcus Aldridge isn’t playing well, but realistically they haven’t needed him to. This team should hover around the 8th seed in the Western Conference the rest of the season but the Pelicans, Mavericks, and Nuggets are already coming from them.

16. New Orleans Pelicans

    

    The Pelicans haven’t been playing well as a team at all. Brandon Ingram is averaging 22.8 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 5 APG, while Zion Williamson is starting to heat up averaging 27.8 PPG and 7.4 RPG over his last 5 games. Eric Bledsoe and Lonzo Ball have both been terrible and need to play better, but I think they will be able to figure it out as they are both talented players. The key to this team is Lonzo Ball if they want to reach the promised land. They need him to be a more assertive scorer and rebounder to start winning games. Too often he is passive and unable to take over games when he should. It’s all a confidence thing with Ball, because he has all the talent in the world. He also needs to shoot way better. If this happens, to go along with Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson’s production, this team will easily be in the playoffs.

    15. Atlanta Hawks

    

This team has had its ups and downs. Trae Young and John Collins had a feud that hurt the team chemistry after a blazing hot start to the season. Since prominent media members started to criticize this team and their best player, Trae Young, Young, and the Hawks have started to play way better. Clint Capela, John Collins, Danilo Gallinari, and Kevin Huerter are all playing great. The injury to Bogdan Bogdonavic was a huge loss for this team and it has shown. They are still a top 7 team in the Eastern Conference and once they get their chemistry fully figured out, the Eastern Conference better watch out because this team is extremely talented.

14. Portland Trailblazers

    

    It’s the Dame Lillard show finally. After a slow start to the year, Dame is hitting on all cylinders. It is too bad that the Blazers’ 2nd and 3rd best players, C.J. McCollum and Jursuf Nurkic, got injured after having great starts to the year. McCollum was carrying the team at first as he was averaging a career-high 26.7 PPG before he got hurt. This team is bound to fall in these rankings as they will lose a lot of their upcoming games in the next couple of weeks with only Damian Lillard and role players.

    13. Dallas Mavericks

Kristaps Porzingis is finally back! Last night, Porzingis had 27 points and 13 rebounds in a win vs. the Pacers. Luka Doncic is playing like the league MVP people are expecting him to be someday, and with Porzingis back this team automatically becomes a serious threat in the Western Conference. Josh Richardson is still going through Coivd-19 protocol, but when he comes back, this team will be even better. Look out for the Mavericks.

12. Denver Nuggets

    

Nikola Jokic is the league MVP so far this season. Not Joel Embiid. Not Kevin Durant. Not LeBron James. Jokic is singlehandedly winning the Nuggets games as Jamal Murray has been awful this year, while their 3rd best player Michael Porter Jr. has been out on the Covid-19 list. Paul Millsap and Monte Morris have been great too, but Jokic is basically a one-man team right now with the subpar play of Murray and the absence of Porter Jr. Jokic is averaging 25.1 PPG, 11.4 RPG, and 10 APG so far this season. If he keeps this up and the Nuggets end up being a top 4 seed in the Western Conference, I think that they should give him the award. The Nuggets, when fully healthy, will be a problem for the Lakers and Clippers.

11. Miami Heat

    

This team is only 11th in the power rankings because Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and others have all missed some time due to either an injury or Covid-19 protocol. Duncan Robinson has taken even more of a leap this season averaging close to 15 PPG on 46 percent from 3PT range. When this team is fully healthy they will be a top 5 team in the Eastern Conference.

10. Utah Jazz

The Jazz are playing fantastic basketball behind Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and sixth man of the year candidate Jordan Clarkson. Clarkson has a serious case to be the 6th man of the year if the Jazz keep winning and if he keeps up his season average of 17.6 PPG. The Jazz are 10-4 and they are only in 10th place in the power rankings because of their limited upside. Even if Clarkson and other role players continue their production, this team is not winning a championship or even two playoff series with Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert as their two best players. Sorry, just not happening. This team, even with how good they are playing, will still lose in the first or second round. Expect Denver, Dallas, and Golden State to catch them in the rankings soon enough.

9. Phoenix Suns

   

Chirs Paul has drastically changed this team’s dynamic as expected. He has made DeAndre Ayton astronomically better, while Devin Booker is getting more open looks as well(even if he’s not hitting them as much as he should be). This team has depth as well, and they are overall just a very solid playoff team. Expect them to play like this the whole season and secure a 4th-6th seed in the Western Conference.

8. Indiana Pacers

   

   Domantas Sabonis is in the MVP conversation. He’s averaging 21.6 PPG, 12.6 RPG, and 5.6 APG and is leading this team to victory. It helps that Malcolm Brogdon has been averaging 22.5 PPG and 7.3 APG as well. Myles Turner getting hurt is a huge loss for this team as he was having a career year being a DPOY candidate with a league-leading 4.2 BPG. He will be out a month and the Pacers simply won’t be as dominant without him. Even though Caris LeVert and T.J. Warren are also out indefinitely, this team is still legit based on Sabonis and Brogdon’s insane All-Star-caliber production and they should be able to stay above .500 in the span when Turner and LeVert are out.

   7. Philadelphia 76ers

Ben Simmons is happy he isn’t traded, but the 76ers aren’t. Although Simmons' defense and playmaking skills are elite, he can’t shoot at all and he isn’t scoring as much as the team would want him to. Simmons is averaging 12.2 PPG, 9.2 RPG, and 8.0 APG to go along with 1.5 SPG. Simmons’ PPG average is a career-low and that isn’t good for the 76ers at all. Joel Embiid has been taking most of the scoring load having the best season of his career so far averaging 26.4 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 1.4 BPG and 1.4 SPG. Embiid has been winning this team games by putting them on his back. Tyrese Maxey is one of the steals of the draft and has been providing very valuable minutes off of the bench. However, this team really needs Seth Curry back ASAP so they can start winning games even easier than they are now. Curry is having his best year yet averaging 17.0 PPG on a whopping 60 percent from 3PT range. Once he’s back, with Danny Green, Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons, Tyrese Maxey, and Joel Embiid, this will be one of the top 3 teams in the Eastern Conference all season long.

6. Golden State Warriors

   

Coming off of a huge win against the Lakers, the Warriors are clicking on all cylinders. Steph Curry may be the MVP of the league right now. Draymond Green has opened up the floor for other shooters, which has allowed Kelly Oubre, Andrew Wiggins, and others to shoot better than earlier in the season. James Wiseman is also playing great, and the role players are producing as well. This is the 3rd best team in the Western Conference right now and I see no reason why they would lose their hot streak anytime soon.

5. Milwaukee Bucks

   

   Giannis Antetokounmpo is producing his usual MVP stats, and this team is better this season because of the addition of Jrue Holiday. Holiday is playing elite defense, and his scoring and playmaking has been able to open up the floor for Donte DiVincenzo, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Brook Lopez. This team has a better shot at getting out of the Eastern Conference this year than last year, mostly because of the addition of Holiday. There is no reason why this team wouldn’t finish 1st or 2nd in the Eastern Conference.

   4. Los Angeles Clippers

   

This team has become arguably the best team in the Western Conference behind an MVP type start to the season by Paul George. They were lacking this production from George last season and that hurt them, resulting in a playoff loss to the Nuggets. With Leonard and George playing at the level they are playing at, and role-players such as Serge Ibaka, Ivica Zubac, and Luke Kennard contributing at the rate they are, the Clippers are a serious threat this year and a completely different team than last season.

3. Boston Celtics

   

   The dynamic duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum has become a legitimate championship-caliber duo. Kemba Walker is getting back into form, and Marcus Smart, Tristan Thompson, Payton Pritchard, and Grant and Robert Williams are performing in their respective roles as well. This team is also great defensively and with two elite scorers and playmakers in Brown and Tatum, they will be able to make a huge run at a championship this season. This team is playing great and there is no reason why they’d slow down throughout the season.

   2. Brooklyn Nets

   

   Even with a loss to Sexton and the Cavs in the debut of the big three, the Nets look like the best show on television. James Harden has completely changed the dynamic of this team. He has taken the full load off of Kevin Durant which will allow KD to shoot even better than he is already shooting. In the loss to the Cavs last night, the three superstars played great, even if it took 51 minutes for James Harden to record a 21 point triple-double. They will be the Eastern Conference’s #1 seed by the end of the year, and they are only starting to figure out their team chemistry. The issue with this team is their depth. Besides Landry Shamet and Joe Harris, they don’t have any top tier players off of the bench. That’s why even with all of their talent, this team will inevitably lose to the Lakers or Clippers in the finals if they can get out of the East. This is easily the 2nd best team in the NBA right now, and given the Lakers’ inconsistencies at the moment, they have an argument to be #1. Give this superteam some time and they will come out of the East.

   1. Los Angeles Lakers

   

   Even though the Lakers aren’t playing amazing, they are still leaps and bounds ahead of every other team with their mix of superstars and depth. They have guys like Alex Caruso and Talen Horton-Tucker who are 9th and 10th off the bench and can drop 20 points on another team. This team is so deep and everyone is contributing, which has taken a hit to Anthony Davis’ production. LeBron James is still the best player in the world and he’s coasting to a 23.7, 7.9, 7.5 line through 15 games without really even trying. Montrezl Harrell and Dennis Schroder are playing great, and Kentavious Caldwell Pope and Kyle Kuzma are providing valuable minutes as well. Markieff Morris and Wesley Matthews have been great too, providing defense and 3PT shooting. Marc Gasol needs to play better and Anthony Davis needs to be more assertive and score inside more. Davis is shooting too many jump shots for his interior scoring talent. Again, more talent on this team has limited Davis’ production as he is having the worst statistical season since his rookie year on the offensive end. This can be fixed with more interior scoring for Davis, which is his specialty. Yes, Davis can shoot really well, but he’s also one of the best interior scorers in recent memory and he should use that to his advantage. Once Davis starts scoring more inside, and Marc Gasol plays a little better, this team will have almost zero question marks regarding whether they can repeat or not. Lakers in 6 against anyone.