Who Are The Top 10 Teams In The NBA?
Every single team in the NBA has played at least one game, and we know what we need to know. Some teams need more time to get better, and other teams have obvious holes. Today I will be ranking the 10 best teams in the league based on what we have seen so far, and how talented they are.
#10 – Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks have one of the best teams in the league, even though they aren’t that talented. Without Kristaps Porzingis, this team on paper isn’t that good, although they contended well with the Suns last night. Here’s their roster at full strength.
PG: Luka Doncic
SG: Josh Richardson
SF: Tim Hardaway Jr
PF: Dorian Finney-Smith
C: Kristaps Porzingis
Bench: Brunson, Cauley-Stein, Powell, Green, Terry, Bey, Burke, Kleber
The Mavericks didn’t play their rookies much in the first game, but I do think that they should play Josh Green, Tyrell Terry, and Tyler Bey more with Porzingis being out. Josh Richardson didn’t play particularly well last night, but he’s a solid scorer and defender. Tim Hardaway is always a good scorer and Finney-Smith is a great defender. Jalen Brunson was awesome last night of the bench, as they really missed him during the bubble.
This Mavericks team when healthy is very good on offense, and their defense did get better with the addition of Josh Richardson. I think that that they’ll be decent without KP, but amongst the best teams in the league when KP returns.
#9 – Portland Trail Blazers
I know that they got blown out in their first game, but I still see a lot of potential with their new additions. This Blazers roster is amongst the most versatile and lengthy in the league, and they have the potential and talent to be a top-4 team in the NBA.
PG: Damian Lillard
SG: CJ McCollum
SF: Robert Covington
PF: Derrick Jones Jr.
C: Jusuf Nurkic
Bench: Melo, Hood, Trent Jr, Collins, Kanter
This Blazers team can be very deep. Dame and CJ didn’t play well last night, but that won’t happen every single right. Robert Covington is great on both ends and him scoring 1 point doesn’t rub me the wrong way on his talent. Derrick Jones Jr. his 3 3-pointers, something that I thought he wasn’t capable of. He guarded Donovan Mitchell for the most part last night, and did an ok job. Jusuf Nurkic is a solid player out of the pick and roll and compliments Dame and CJ very well.
The bench is interesting. The bench doesn’t have as much defense, so here’s what the Blazers need to do. They have to have two of these players on the court at all times: Covington, Jones, Trent Jr, or Nurkic. These are their best defenders by far, and they struggle on defense without them. When Carmelo Anthony, Rodney Hood, and Kanter are on the floor, the defense is awful. Melo coming off the bench is something that I like, but there are times where he just jacks up shots. He needs to play more in the confines of the offense.
This Blazers team can be very good on both ends, and just because of one game doesn’t really change my mind on them. The defense still has a long way to go, but they do have some good defenders, and then once everybody starts to buy in, they could be a good team on both ends. When Zach Collins returns from injury, he will provide a lot more shot-blocking and hustle other than Jusuf Nurkic. I still see Portland as the top-4 seed in the West.
#8 – Utah Jazz
I wasn’t very high on this Jazz team heading into the season, mainly because of their limited depth. They don’t have any real x-factors, as they just have to rely heavily on their best 6-7 players, which isn’t exactly a recipe for success in the postseason. But their offense looked very good against Portland last night, and they looked good right from the get-go.
PG: Mike Conley
SG: Donovan Mitchell
SF: Royce O’Neale
PF: Bojan Bogdanovic
C: Rudy Gobert
Bench: Clarkson, Favors, Niang, Ingles
I’m still not in love with this Utah bench, but I definitely view them a bit higher than I did before. I don’t view them as talented as the Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets or even the Blazers when they get going. They would have to be very, very good just to be a top-4 seed, but I just don’t see that happening. The Jazz are still good, and they’ll win around 40 games, but I don’t see them as contenders. They just have a nearly identical roster to last season, meaning that they don’t have to do as much meshing as other teams.
#7 – Miami Heat
I viewed the Heat as one of the best teams in the East, and I think that they will be a top-4 seed in the East. But I wasn’t impressed with what I saw against the Orlando Magic. Mo Harkless’s offense is a clear downgrade from Jae Crowder, and their offense stalled in the 4th quarter. And I don’t really like them putting Goran Dragic on the bench, would much rather see him starting.
PG: Goran Dragic
SG: Duncan Robinson
SF: Jimmy Butler
PF: Mo Harkless
C: Bam Adebayo
Bench: Iguodala, Herro, Achiuwa, Bradley, Nunn
The Heat are going to have adjust. I definitely think that Dragic should be starting like they did in the bubble, and have Herro come off the bench. Kendrick Nunn, I don’t know what they’re doing with him. He was great last year, but didn’t play in the bubble at all. And he only played 8 minutes last night. But this Heat team is very well-coached, and they can be very good as a team when they are running at full-strength.
#6 – Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets did lose Jerami Grant and Mason Plumlee this offseason, meaning they lost some depth, but they were still one of the most talented teams in the league. With their dynamic duo of Murray and Jokic along with MPJ, Gary Harris, Millsap, and Will Barton, this team was very good on paper. And then they lost to the Kings on opening night, with some of the worst late-game execution I have ever seen.
PG: Jamal Murray
SG: Gary Harris
SF: Michael Porter Jr.
PF: Paul Millsap
C: Nikola Jokic
Bench: Barton, Morris, Hartenstein, Dozier, Green
The Nuggets depth isn’t as good as years prior, and that might hurt them down the line. Jamal Murray scored just 9 points last night, as he will have to average 20-22 points for this Nuggets team to be good. Jokic is by far the best center in the league, and MPJ played well last night, but still has a long way to go on defense. But that late game execution was terrible. Blocked layup, bad play to end the game, turnover, and then you let Buddy Hield tip in the game winner. I still think Denver is the top-4 seed in the West, but I really wasn’t impressed with that performance against the Kings last night.
#5 – Boston Celtics
Man oh man, this team is good even without Kemba Walker. This team was very good against the likely #1 seed of the East, the Milwaukee Bucks. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each had 30+ points, and Tatum hit the dagger 3 late to give the Celtics the win. The Celtics offense was very good even without Kemba Walker, but their defense couldn’t handle the bigger and longer Bucks. But I was still impressed by the talents of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, both likely All-Stars this season. Jeff Teague was excellent off the bench, but I wanted to see more of Aaron Nesmith. But a great way to start the season for Boston, able to survive without their 3rd best player against a top-4 team in the league.
PG: Kemba Walker
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Daniel Theis
Bench: Thompson, Teague, Pritchard, Nesmith, G. Williams, R. Williams
This Celtics team will be a lot better when Kemba Walker comes back in a month or two. I liked what they did on offense last night, and I like the idea of Tristan Thompson coming off the bench. I would have liked to see Aaron Nesmith play, but Jeff Teague had 19 points. Boston is a team that could be a top-3 seed in the East, but likely a top-4 seed. Excited to see more out of this team.
#4 – Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks new Big 3 of Middleton, Holiday, and Giannis were great on opening night vs the Celtics as they combined for 87 points. Adding Holiday was definitely the right move, and Khris Middleton and Giannis look really good in the 4th quarter. My problem with the Bucks is their bench. They don’t have many scorers off the bench, and that needs to change. DJ Augustin has yet to play, and he will help with that depth, but the Bucks only got 12 points off the bench last night. They’ll need to get more from their 2nd unit to win games.
PG: Jrue Holiday
SG: Donte DiVincenzo
SF: Khris Middleton
PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo
C: Brook Lopez
Bench: Augustin, Connaughton, Portis, Forbes, Wilson
This Bucks bench is amongst the weaker ones in terms of talent, but their starting 5 outside of Lopez is great. DiVincenzo was great last night, as he was scoring well and he plays good defense. Giannis… is Giannis and Middleton and Holiday looked good. They just need more than 12 points off their bench, and I would seriously consider them as title contenders. But that’s a pretty minor flaw to fix if you’re Milwaukee, and one that they should accomplish after the 72 game season.
#3 – LA Clippers
The Clippers won their opening night game, and people are seriously underrating their roster. They have their two All-Star wings, but they have nice role players everywhere else. Kennard and Lou Williams off the bench, and Ibaka and Beverley give you some great defense. They didn’t even have Marcus Morris on opening night, and he would be starting. Nicolas Batum did a lot in terms of playing defense and running in transition, taking pressure off of Kawhi and PG. This Clippers team is very underrated, and I like what they’re doing on both ends to start the season.
PG: Patrick Beverley
SG: Paul George
SF: Marcus Morris
PF: Kawhi Leonard
C: Serge Ibaka
Bench: Kennard, Williams, Zubac, Batum, Patterson
The Clippers PG situation isn’t great, but Patrick Beverley isn’t terrible and Lou Williams is still great on offense. Late games, just don’t put Lou in. Having Zubac off the bench is huge, as he was great as a starter last season. Kennard is a natural scorer who averaged 15 points last season with Detroit, and he’ll start to get things going. Nicolas Batum off the bench is nice as he can run the offense, and also provide some length. I really like this Clippers team and feel they fit better together than last season. But, we’ll just have to wait and see how far they go in the playoffs.
#2 – LA Lakers
I guess this is more 1B than #2, but I’ll put the Lakers here. The Lakers did the same thing last year. They lost the first game because they’re not used to playing together. And they did that this season because Lebron didn’t play much and they just haven’t played together much. But Schroder and Harrell played very well in the opening, and AD and Lebron won’t have those night often. Marc Gasol did literally nothing against the Clippers, and he’ll have to be better. Kuzma was ok, although he scored a lot when the game was out of reach. I would like for Talen Horton-Tucker to get some more playing time, as he is a natural scorer. Wesley Matthews also has to hit his shots off the bench. But the Lakers will figure out their hierarchy, and when they do they are arguably the best team in the league.
PG: Dennis Schroder
SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
SF: Lebron James
PF: Anthony Davis
C: Marc Gasol
Bench: Harrell, Matthews, Kuzma, Horton-Tucker, Caruso, Morris
This Lakers team is deep, and they have 6-7 guys who I’m ok with playing solid minutes off the bench. I think Dennis Schroder will be better than Rondo just because of his shooting capabilities. Marc Gasol didn’t do much of anything, and I’ll need to see more from him. James and AD are the best duo in the league, and they will only be getting better as time goes on. Harrell just needs to provide scoring and energy off the bench. Kuzma, Horton-Tucker, and Matthews are all guys who can score, and Matthews needs to play better defense as he was getting bullied by Kawhi and PG. But this Lakers team will be very dangerous when they start to get going, the favorites in the West and to repeat as champions.
#1 – Brooklyn Nets
The only reason I’m putting Brooklyn over the Lakers for now is because they looked great from the get-go against Golden State. KD and Kyrie look healthy and fresh, as they might be the 2nd duo in the league right behind AD and Lebron. Levert, Dinwiddie, Harris, Allen, Jordan, Shamet, Jeff Green, and Taurean Prince are all excellent role players, making the Nets one of the deepest teams in the league. Steve Nash’s offense has a lot of player movement and passing, which makes them even harder to guard. As of right now, Brooklyn has the best offense, and their defense is solid. The Nets are a team that should be looked at seriously as contenders in the East.
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Spencer Dinwiddie
SF: Joe Harris
PF: Kevin Durant
C: DeAndre Jordan
Bench: Levert, Shamet, Allen, Prince, Green
The Nets might have the most talented roster in the league, and easily the most talented offense. KD and Kyrie look very good, and Harris and Dinwiddie are very talented scorers, both of them being able to stretch the floor. DeAndre Jordan starting is a good move as he is a lob threat and excellent rebounder. Allen is a very good backup, a starter on most other teams. Levert is a very talented scorer, and he sets the tone for the 2nd unit. Shamet is and excellent 3&D player, and Jeff Green is a wildcard veteran. I really like this Nets roster and Steve Nash is a great coach. Watch out for this Brooklyn team, as they are a team that has a great chance to win a title this season.
What Are Your Top-10 Teams In The League? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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