NBA Power Rankings (#30–21) — 9/20/22
Some of these teams are tanking; and others are just bad.
30. San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs have officially entered the tanking race for top 2023 prospect, Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs lost Lonnie Walker, Jock Landale, and of course, Dejounte Murray. Their successors include Isaiah Roby, Gorgui Dieng, Alize Johnson and their two 2022 first-round draft picks, Jeremy Sochan and Blake Wesley. San Antonio received three future first-round picks in the Murray trade, so there is clearly a plan for the future that initially requires the ultimate degree of failure.
29. Oklahoma City Thunder
Before their second pick of the 2022 NBA Draft, Chet Holmgren, suffered an off-season injury that would take him out for his rookie campaign, the Oklahoma City Thunder were finally poised to finally progress out of Sam Presti’s grand rebuilding scheme. Although Holmgren’s injury is certainly a set-back, it gives the Thunder further opportunity to integrate Josh Giddey into their lineup, alongside their other 2022 draft pick, Jalen Williams. Furthermore, it’s another opportunity for a top 2023 draft pick.
28. Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets were one of the worst offensive teams and the worst defensive team in the league last season, but that is to be expected with as much raw potential as they wield. Josh Christopher, Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green all exhibit extreme athleticism that is waiting to be honed, while Alperen Sengun looks like he could develop into a versatile big-man, a la Arvydas Sabonis. Adding Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason honestly might complicate the organization of a structure further, but it’s also just more talent, so we’ll see.
27. Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic have virtually the same squad as they did last season, aside from their draft-day additions of 2022 first pick Paolo Banchero and second-round pick Caleb Houstan. With the uncertainty of the timetable for Gary Harris’ torn meniscus, as well as the seemingly indefinite sidelining of Jonathan Isaac, Banchero should see many touches. Other than all this though, the Magic have to figure out how to distribute front-court minutes between Bol Bol, Wendell Carter Jr., Mo Bamba, and Moritz Wagner.
26. Utah Jazz
Similar to the San Antonio Spurs, the Utah Jazz have decided to rid themselves of all star-power for the sake of rehabilitating their roster for the future. The Jazz pulled in an impressive haul for Rudy Gobert, but their package for Donovan Mitchell has left them in a gray area. Now that they are paying Collin Sexton as if he’s their leader, it’s hard to believe that they’ll be able to rebuild properly unless they trade away other important assets, like Jordan Clarkson and Bojan Bogdanovic.
25. Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers could probably scrape the play-in as their performative ceiling, but could entirely touch the bottom of the Eastern Conference depending on how Tyrese Haliburton can orchestrate their offense. A front-court of Jalen Smith and Myles Turner should be a brick-wall on defense, but unproductive on offense; and then they still need to decide what to do with Buddy Hield. Benedict Mathurin’s premature ending to the Summer League shouldn’t be of much concern considering his solid performances.
24. Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings crawled just a couple inches closer to the postseason with their prior mid-season acquisition of Domantas Sabonis, but their off-season additions should hopefully expedite that process. Drafting Keegan Murray solves their opening at the 4, and signing Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter finally adds some backcourt scoring that isn’t limited to De’Aaron Fox, but this just does not seem like enough to make a considerable jump forward.
23. Detroit Pistons
Saddiq Bey was the man-of-steel for the Pistons last season, playing all 82 games; and even though his production was quite inefficient, it served as a formidable complement to Cade Cunningham’s playmaking. The Pistons did great this offseason, pretty much filling out their starting lineup by retaining Marvin Bagley III and trading for Jalen Duren, while selecting Jaden Ivey, on draft night. The only conundrum is whether Ivey or Cunningham will dominate facilitation duties, but if Detroit can perform a good enough balancing act, they could easily be a dark-horse for a play-in spot.
22. Charlotte Hornets
Miles Bridges, deservedly so, does not seem to be returning to professional basketball anytime soon, following severe domestic violence allegations. On top of that, the Hornets were hesitant to re-sign Montrezl Harrell, their only true offensive big-man, because of off-court issues as well. They are now in a spot where their depth has gotten shallower, even though they weren’t winning in the first place. Essentially, the Hornets are in no-man’s-land; they aren’t bad enough to tank, but aren’t good enough to genuinely compete.
21. Washington Wizards
Kristaps Porzingis had an offensive surge when he was traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Washington Wizards, coinciding with the stark decline that Bradley Beal suffered from. Beal’s health has been of concern for the past few seasons, and Kristaps’ availability is always tentative, so it’ll be a matter of fitness for whether the Wizards can finally stop wallowing in mediocrity.