Thanksgiving. The word usually invokes turkey, mashed potatoes, biscuits, gravy, green bean casserole, and football. The Portland Trail Blazers, however, are always my focus (mostly because it’s a job now), and it’s time for a Turkey Day Edition of NBA Power Rankings.
If you haven’t read my preseason rankings, the reasons I don’t do this every week are basically: I despise doing it weekly because I’ve done it for other sites and hated it, and there are other, more prominent writers that do these kinds of things.
It crimps my creative freedom having to devote time to this kind of thing and do it right. I’m more comfortable doing a weekly preview on Mondays (shameless plug!) and devoting my other weekly article on whatever subject I can pull out of the ether.
I’ll list the teams that are trending up, the ones trending down, and the ones reeking like dead fish and rotten eggs every few weeks or so; holidays and the All-Star Break are handy markers people like me use to assess the state of the NBA, and Thanksgiving, despite it still being early in the season, is a suitable mile marker.
Without further blather, your Turkey Day Rankings!
1. Golden State Warriors: Frankly, I could put either the Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, or these guys at the top; they’ve all played like the best team of November. With Memphis losing to Toronto Wednesday and Houston playing a creampuff schedule so far, Golden State is my pick at the top.
Klay Thompson is shooting lights-out, and the Warriors are defending as well as they did last year. Whether this is sustainable is more of a question, but the Warriors are well on their way to separating themselves in the West.
2. Memphis Grizzlies: Oh, speaking of Western teams separating themselves! These guys not only are separating themselves from the other dark horses, they’re separating opposing players from the ball and their limbs.
Memphis can’t score, and that makes some people dubious of their viability as contenders, but if you can consistently force teams to score in the 90s…when the average score is around 110 points a game…you’re gonna be a major player in the NBA’s title race. If Vince Carter and Courtney Lee can provide consistent outside shooting, pray for your team if they play Memphis in the playoffs.
3. Toronto Raptors: The young and improving Raptors have taken advantage of the power vacuum in the East, a vacuum caused by Cleveland trying to find itself and Chicago dealing with injuries and the disbelief in Jimmy Butler’s explosive start.
They’re still a year away in terms of development; their young big man Jonas Valanciunas needs to learn how to pass out of the post among other things. However, the ingredients of an NBA powerhouse are there, make no mistake. When Cleveland finally figures out its issues, Toronto will likely emerge as their main Eastern foil.
4. Portland Trail Blazers: I understand that Portland’s defending at a top-ten rate so far. I know they’ve pulled off comebacks that border on the absurd (23 points vs. Charlotte, 16 points vs. New Orleans). I realize that LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard are a formidable one-two punch.
To those that say the Blazers are title contenders, however, I got four words for you: PUMP DEM BRAKES YO! It’s still November, and Portland’s schedule from now until Christmas week is mostly fluff and stuff. If they’re still playing top-ten defense around MLK Day, then we can all freak out.
5. Dallas Mavericks: The questions regarding the Mavericks and the Blazers are the same: can these teams defend well enough to contend? Like I said, it’s early, but so far the Blazers have passed the test. Dallas…not so much.
The Mavs are this high because their offense is obliterating all but the best teams. The Mavs are under the Blazers because their defense is getting obliterated in turn, by everybody. Starting a mummified Dirk Nowitzki, an untested Chandler Parsons, and an undersized wing in Monta Ellis will cause your defense to suck, and if Dallas can’t work around those issues, they’ll be hard-pressed to make the playoffs in the brutal West.
6. Chicago Bulls: First Derrick Rose, then Pau Gasol. Tom Thibodeau, like I said Monday, is notorious for driving his players into the ground, and if he doesn’t pace Gasol, the Bulls’ leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, the 34-year-old Spaniard will not last.
7. Houston Rockets: I despise this team, but they’ve been great so far, the Oklahoma game notwithstanding.
Houston struggling with a depleted Thunder team (albeit on the road) is a little disturbing. Any team with Dwight Howard on it, and Kevin McHale coaching it, will have fortitude problems, and James Harden flopping about the court like a landed fish is annoying enough to make you want to punch him in the beard.
Their brand of basketball is effective (free throws and three-pointers in huge numbers), but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
8. San Antonio Spurs: Every once in awhile, the Spurs remind us that they’re still great. Pasting the Warriors and Clippers back-to-back, and edging the Cavaliers on the road, serve as proof that while San Antonio regards the regular season as an annoyance, they’re not above making statements.
This team is still really damn good, and they’ll still be there standing in everybody else’s way.
9. Washington Wizards: I feel I have to admit something: watching John Wall play is a vice of mine, equal to Red Bull, Skittles, replaying Mass Effect and Bioshock 5,000 times, Epic Rap Battles of History, and K-Pop.
The way Wall can snatch a rebound, steal a pass, or corral a block and take it at hyper speed to the other end is matched only by Russell Westbrook in the point guard universe, and Wall makes better decisions overall than Westbrook. Wall’s chase down blocks are also staggering to see; a 6-4 dude making seven-footers eat basketballs is a novelty I can’t get tired of.
10. Los Angeles Clippers: Destroying the shorthanded Bulls last night stopped me from trolling the Clips by putting the Milwaukee Bucks in the top ten instead of them, barely. Los Angeles, like Cleveland, is still trying to figure things out, but expect this squad to be right in the thick of things come March and April.
Blake Griffin and Chris Paul are too good for this team to not make the playoffs, but if Doc Rivers keeps starting the all-offensive wing duo of JJ Redick and Jamal Crawford together, all the rim protection in the world won’t help the Clippers defense.
11. Milwaukee Bucks: Are the Bucks going to be this high come Christmas? No. Have they surprised people so far, and are they entertaining? AW YEAH!!!
Trying to shoot around the forest of long arms and really big dudes this team puts on the floor is like trying to toss somebody a balloon through a hurricane. Given the general weakness of the East, the Deer might make the playoffs, and give their new owners the impetus to secure the rest of the necessary funds to build a new arena. (The Bucks’ owners are putting up $200 million themselves.)
12. Cleveland Cavaliers: Reason No. 1,367 why I don’t read ESPN.com: out of 25 writers, 14 of them picked the Cavs to win the NBA title this year, ignoring recent basketball history and revealing ESPN’s general lack of knowledge about the sport in general, as well as selling every other contending team WAY short.
The front-running organization blindly assumes a team with young stars that have never played a playoff game in the NBA, a team full of guys that need the ball to provide the bulk of their value, and a team with no defensive anchor or aptitude (and coached by a guy who hadn’t stepped on American soil since his 20s) would stomp everybody en route to a championship.
Last I checked, the Spurs haven’t dropped dead yet. And even if the Cavs get to the Finals, their Western opponent will arrive having been forged in the fires of three brutal playoff rounds and confident beyond reproach. Like I said in the preseason rankings, Cleveland will win multiple titles with this current team, but they won’t win this season. They need more time to jell and figure out how to play with each other.
13. Atlanta Hawks: The Hawks have underperformed slightly, but that’s to be expected as they try to work Al Horford into the radical offensive schemes coach Mike Budenholzer concocted last year, after Horford went down with a pectoral tear.
The fluidity of the team with their bevy of expiring contracts, coupled with the scandal that threw their front office and ownership situation into chaos, will make Atlanta a team to pay attention to in the offseason. For now, I’m happy just to watch Horford, Jeff Teague, and German sparkplug Dennis Schroeder do their thing.
14. Sacramento Kings: The surprise of the season, to many so far. They’ve slacked off somewhat, which is why they’re behind the Bucks, but if DeMarcus Cousins doesn’t go on to the All-Star Game and the All-NBA team, it’ll be a disappointment given the start he’s had.
15. New Orleans Pelicans: If you thought what Anthony Davis, Destroyer of Worlds, did to the Blazers on Monday was terrifying, wait until he has a team that won’t shoot itself in the foot.
I was encouraged to see Aldridge fight back against Davis, though. Whenever he played against Kevin Garnett in his younger days, Aldridge would wilt under Garnett’s defensive pressure. Facing a guy who’s blocking his fadeaway, Aldridge still put up 22 points and nine rebounds.
16. Phoenix Suns: The Suns are still winning, still piling up points, but they’re not sneaking up on anyone anymore. Year Two was always going to be very interesting for Phoenix because of the regression factor; so many players had career years last season, and Jeff Hornacek was a new coach who surprised some of his more staid peers with a novel lineup and offense.
Phoenix not only has to boot an incumbent playoff team out (almost all of those teams improved their rosters, too), but they have New Orleans and Sacramento to worry about too. It’s possible that we have 11 teams win 45 games in the West this year, only to have three of them miss the playoffs while the East’s usual 35-win eighth seed will be sacrificed to the Bulls or Raptors. Bollocks.
17. Miami Heat: Miami’s long lacked playmaking at the point guard position because of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade being on the same team, but with LeBron going to Cleveland and Wade injured again, the point guard situation has changed from a minor annoyance to a critical issue.
Without Wade to act as a counterbalance to Chris Bosh’s individual brilliance, the Heat got hammered by the Clippers on Thursday. If Wade can’t stay healthy (which seems likely), Miami could go from fringe contender to first-round sacrifice.
18. Indiana Pacers: This team is still offensively challenged, still defensively inferior to past years, and still reliant on youngsters and castoffs for any scrap of offense they can find. But you know what? The East is so bad, the crippled Pacers could still sneak in there as that 35-win eighth seed I just referenced above.
Don’t watch this team play if you value your basketball soul, but do admire their resilience.
19. Brooklyn Nets: A giant pile of “meh,” laced with bickering and outright potshots. Joe Johnson is calling out the team for a lack of heart, Lionel Hollins is mad at Brook Lopez for doing what he’d done his whole career (score some, defend and rebound very little. It’s not his fault his twin Robin Lopez hogged the rebounding and defense genes to himself), and front office is horrendous and hamstrung by the cap.
(I wanted to put “handicapped” in place of hamstrung, but I have autism. Referring to Nets GM Billy King as handicapped is insulting…to me.)
20. Utah Jazz: The Jazz are Milwaukee West so far because they’re entertaining, exceeding the very low expectations the snaky media (like me) set for them, and because of the youth that will eventually bite them.
I love that the Utah youngsters are finally getting a chance to compete and take their lumps under Quin Snyder, and hopefully they start to coalesce into a proper NBA outfit this season.
21. Boston Celtics: Like I said Monday, they’re a young team with decent parts waiting to move on from Rajon Rondo. Celtics GM Danny Ainge said on Wednesday that he’s not going to trade Rondo “for the rest of the year.” That just means he called around and didn’t get a trade he liked.
If someone makes an unexpected push to trade for Rondo, you better believe Ainge will jump all over it.
22. Charlotte Hornets: What happened to these guys? I really thought they were going to be good! Their offense has not improved from last year, while their defense has fallen off.
Add that to a shaken confidence level after blowing several large leads so far, and Charlotte has some issues. They’re correctable, but we’ll see if Hornets coach Steve Clifford can get through to knucklehead Lance Stephenson.
23. New York Knicks: Carmelo Anthony declared to ESPN the Magazine that he wants to be a mogul and cultural icon. He’s on the cover, dressed like the richest, tallest pimp in the world, lounging like a guy that’s made heaping piles of cash.
Having to play on that team, I really don’t blame Anthony for finding other avenues of competition to get his fix. That article should prove to everyone once and for all, however, that Anthony doesn’t give a hoot about championships or legacies or even basketball.
Well, I guess he would care more if the Knicks painted the ball and floors green.
24. Minnesota Timberwolves: They’ve got the usual young team problems of inconsistency, with prized rookie Andrew Wiggins showing flashes of good play followed by more frequent “welcome to the league, rook!” moments.
Ricky Rubio’s knee troubles have put the Wolves in a tough spot, but this year is about trotting out their stable of young, explosive athletes and teaching them how to play NBA basketball. Being competitive would be nice, but playing in the West, there will be nights where a team like Dallas just destroys them. That comes with the territory.
25. Oklahoma City Thunder: This team is in last place in the West. They’ve struggled to score against anybody that plays decent defense, and their own defense isn’t good enough to make up for their lack of offensive ability.
I know Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are great players, but what’s happened to the Thunder this season exposes them as the ultimate top-heavy squad. I don’t know if it’s related to Durant and Westbrook’s greatness or the crappiness of the roster around them, but no two guys should be the difference between first place and last place.
26. Denver Nuggets: Other than their victory over Cleveland, Denver hasn’t had much to be happy about this season. The lowest low has to be Portland putting up 84 points in one half…in Denver…on the fourth game in five nights they’d played…without Nicolas Batum. Pathetic.
If Brian Shaw lasts until the New Year, I’ll be mildly surprised.
27. Orlando Magic: They’re higher up in the standings than this, but Magic coach Jacque Vaughn’s refusal to play Elfrid Payton more minutes, and letting him learn the hard way how to play NBA basketball, makes me bump them down here.
I know Payton can’t shoot at all, but neither can Rajon Rondo. It’s not inconceivable for Payton to become a Rondo with awesome hair, but Vaughn has to give him the chance. The front office not giving Vaughn any guarantees regarding job security haven’t helped either.
28. Detroit Pistons: Wow. Even Stan Van Gundy can’t correct this tire fire.
Josh Smith, Greg Monroe, and Andre Drummond cannot play together, yet Van Gundy has to throw them out there because the alternatives are worse. Also, either Smith or Monroe will start grumbling and become even more inept. Drummond’s stilted development is perhaps the most unwelcome development, but I’ll hold any judgment on SVG’s work so far in abeyance until the next season.
Cleaning up Joe Dumars’ mess will take a long time, but thankfully, time is one thing Van Gundy actually has.
29. Los Angeles Lakers: They’ve won two in a row, and Kobe Bryant is leading the league in scoring (and shot attempts), but the positives end there.
I have to laugh every time Bryant bites his lip after a bad loss, or coach Byron Scott crossing his arms and glowering after every play. If they were completely honest with themselves, they had to know this team would be horrible. If they really DID believe different, I want to know what hallucinogens they’re taking.
30. Philadelphia 76ers: Portland plays them Monday, so I’ll provide details on this trash heap masquerading as a basketball team in my preview. Just know that this team sucks, will suck for the next three years, and I hope Sixers GM Sam Hinkie…well, I can’t type that and keep my spot on this website.
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