https://ift.tt/RxnIV8J RoarFebruary 23, 2023 at 11:58PMhttps://cdn4.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/JH-GA.jpg
The NBA landscape shifted dramatically over the past couple of weeks but when the competition resumes on Friday but until Phoenix prove otherwise, there are only three teams that are true title contenders at this stage.
By that, the Bucks, Celtics and Nuggets are the only franchises as the the NBA enters the final quarter of the regular season who have no holes in their roster or weak links in their team that suggest they couldn’t lift the trophy as they’re presently constructed.
That’s not to say the teams in the tier below them couldn’t lift the Larry O’Brien Championship trophy but they’ve all still got something to prove.
Milwaukee, with Giannis Antetekounmpo and fellow All-Star Jrue Holiday getting Khris Middleton back from injury, have overtaken Boston as the hottest team in the league but Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, after cutting their teeth over the past few seasons in the playoffs, are well placed to deliver the first title to Beantown since 2008.
Denver are the clear favourites in the West but the Suns adding Kevin Durant, when he returns next week from his knee injury, should rocket back up to the top of the standings and likely face the Nuggets in the Conference finals.
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NBA post-All Star break Power Rankings
The Teams to Beat
- Milwaukee (41-17): Resuming with a 12-game winning streak with a championship-calibre squad that now has Jae Crowder for extra forward depth. Half a game behind the Celtics but half a nose in front when it comes to trophy prospects.
- Boston (42-17): The break came at a good time for them to rest and reset after a few of their stars were sidelined before All-Star Weekend. Snaring top spot in the East to get home-court advantage over the Bucks is top priority in the closing stretch of the regular season.
- Denver (41-18): Humming along with Nikola Jokic doing virtually everything. Need to prove they’re legitimate contenders by taking regular-season form up a notch, not flatlining like the past couple of years.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Could-be/Should-be Contenders
- Philadelphia (38-19): Should finish third in the East but have a tough remaining schedule. If it means Joel Embiid is at full capacity for the playoffs they can afford to take the foot off the pedal a touch to surrender third spot to Cleveland.
- Phoenix (32-28): The late-season addition of Kevin Durant can only mean they have their best chance since Charles Barkley’s squad in 1993 to win the franchise’s first championship.
- Golden State (29-29): Should be a tier lower judging by their 500 record but the final nail cannot be hammered into their coffin until they are officially out of the equation irrespective of where they finish.
Can’t be totally written off but title’s pretty unlikely
- Memphis (35-22): They’ve been going backwards lately after a hot start to the year. The absence of Kiwi centre Steven Adams for the past month has surprisingly jolted their momentum even though he’s nowhere near their main contributor.
- Dallas 31-29: Kyrie Irving’s addition raises the Mavericks’ ceiling to a theoretical championship alongside Luka Doncic but more realistically the NBA’s most talented agent of chaos will cause drama sooner or later.
- LA Clippers (33-28): Speaking of disrupters, Russell Westbrook will suit up for LA’s other side after being traded from the Lakers and negotiating a buyout with Utah. Like Irving, he will most likely have a honeymoon period where the needle’s pointing up before chemistry with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George becomes an issue.
- Cleveland (38-23): Despite their continued rise on the back of the Donovan Mitchell trade last off-season, it still feels like a year or two too early for the Cavaliers to go to their first LeBronless finals.
- Miami (32-27): Adding the ageing Kevin Love from Cleveland will help but the veteran forward is no longer a major difference maker so the fact that the Heat are reliant on a fading star like him tells you all you need to know about their status as false contenders.
Kyrie Irving and teammate Luka Doncic. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Play-in tournament or playoff cannon fodder
- New Orleans (30-29): It’s not yet a wasted season of Zion Williamson can return soon from his hamstring injury because Brandon Ingram is now healthy again but if their main man isn’t back in the next few weeks, they’ll be a first-round playoff exit at best.
- Sacramento (32-25): Big overachievers after the Domantas Sabonis trade a year ago turned out as well as could be expected. Ending the longest playoff drought in the four main US sports will be cause for celebration irrespective of what happens afterwards.
- New York (33-27): Another team that will be happy to get the monkey off the back just by being a solid playoff side. Likewise, the $100m signing of Jalen Brunson on a four-year deal has been a winner and now looks like a bargain.
- Brooklyn (34-24): They’ve got a couple of months to see how big a star Mikal Bridges can be after stepping into the main role. He’s probably best suited to being an accomplice rather than the main go-to guy but now they’ve restocked their roster and draft assets after the Durant trade, the Nets have time on their side.
- LA Lakers (27-32): They’ve got a deeper squad after all their pre-trade deadline maneuvers but they’re still only going to go as far as LeBron James can drag them because Anthony Davis’ reliability is not his best ability.
- Minnesota (31-30): Anthony Edwards is ascending to the superstar realm, Mike Conley’s arrival gives them the steady backcourt general they’ve craved and with Karl-Anthony Towns due back from his calf injury in a month they have the potential to finish the season strongly. But don’t bet on it. History suggests they’ll be going no further than the first round.
- Atlanta (29-30): Acquiring Saddiq Bey boosts their shooting and coach Nate McMillan was canned during the break in unsurprising news. The Dejounte Murray trade hasn’t worked and the short and long-term futures don’t look good in Atlanta. If they can get ex-Jazz coach Quin Snyder to take over, he won’t put up with Trae Young’s antics and will get the best of him or get rid of the polarising star guard.
- Oklahoma City (28-29): The Thunder’s forecast would be sunny based on the young talent in their current roster alone but they also have No.2 pick Chet Holmgren to make his delayed rookie season next year plus an enormous haul of picks up their sleeve from the Paul George trade which has already delivered big time in the form of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Damian Lillard drives to the net against OG. Anunoby. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)
Purgatory
- Portland (28-30): They’re supposedly trying to build a title team around Damian Lillard by substituting the same archetypes of players around him. The names on the back of the jerseys change but their chances of becoming contenders remain stagnant.
- Utah (29-31): Their surprisingly strong season will likely fizzle out after selling off a few assets at the deadline but it doesn’t matter if they don’t get the highest draft pick because they’ve already struck gold with most improved player lock Lauri Markkanen’s rise to All-Star level this season plus the rest of the draft bounty in their bulging stash from trading Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert last off-season.
- Washington (28-30): They don’t know what they’re doing so how can anyone else? They’ll be in the same position next year and the year after. Picking around 8-10 in the lottery and perpetually treading water.
- Toronto (28-31): One of the big disappointments this season, they have some tricky choices to make in the off-season about whether they’ll stick with the main cogs like Fred Van Vleet, OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam or see what they can get on the open market.
- Chicago (26-33): Another depressingly bad campaign for Bulls fans. DeMar DeRozan is good not great, Zach LaVine is shaping to be the same, Lonzo Ball doesn’t play ball because he’s always injured and whether Nikola Vucevic re-signs or resigns won’t matter much either way.
- Indiana (26-34): An encouraging season in that Tyrese Haliburton is now an All-Star but after losing two of their last 10, they’ve probably left their tanking run too late.
Already counting lottery balls
- Orlando (24-35): They’re in that sweet spot of knowing the future is bright given Paulo Banchero’s rookie year, Franz Wagner’s unexpectedly high production and a bunch of other young prospects hitting their straps, including perhaps most surprising of them all, the Markelle Fultz formerly known as a bust.
- Houston (13-45): They’ve got the makings of an exciting future squad but no surefire franchise cornerstones as yet.
- Detroit (15-44): Last year’s No.1 pick Cade Cunningham has been hampered by injuries but showed enough to indicate he can be the building block for the future but he needs a running mate.
- Charlotte (17-43): They flattered to deceive last season where as this time around they’ve just flat out deceived their fans by making them pay for tickets to watch this clown show. LaMelo Ball is another of the league’s young stars who needs to find a complementary cohort via the draft or he will start agitating for a trade before Charlotte know it.
- San Antonio (14-45): On a 14-game losing streak, they wrote the book on how to throw a season to get a bona fide star, just ask Tim Duncan. Landing a potential face of the franchise in Victor Wembanyama or Scoot Henderson will be enough to motivate Gregg Popovich to delay any retirement plans another couple of years.
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