The 2014-15 NBA season is agonizingly close, but since training camp still hasn’t started, all we have to pass the time are a bunch of premature power rankings for the time being. Last season, we saw an incredible imbalance between the Eastern and Western Conferences, with the ninth best team in the West winning as many games as the third seed in the East.
That’s right, folks. The 48-win Phoenix Suns might have had home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs had they simply played in a different conference.
Heading into a new NBA season, the East has gotten a little bit stronger near the top, but the real power still lies out West. With that in mind, which divisions will be the most brutal? Which divisions will be nearly unwatchable? Since all we have to pass the time right now are more NBA Power Rankings, here are some early projections for the best and worst divisions in the league for the upcoming 2014-15 season.
6. Atlantic Division
This was the worst division in basketball last season, so even though it was able to add young talent like Marcus Smart, Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid while also keeping Carmelo Anthony and Kyle Lowry around, nothing’s going to change in 2014-15. With a combined win percentage of .422 last year, the Atlantic lost more games than any division in basketball. This season won’t be very different.
For starters, the Atlantic hosts the absolute worst team in the NBA in the Philadelphia 76ers, who are in Year One of Sam Hinkie’s 35-year rebuilding plan. Adding Noel and possibly Embiid to the lineup might make things a little more bearable for loyal Sixers fans, but this team lost their best player in Thaddeus Young and they’re undoubtedly trying to lose. The Boston Celtics have Smart and James Young to look forward to, but with Rajon Rondo seemingly bound for the trade block, this team is one deal away from shamelessly tanking as well.
In New York, both the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks should be expected to achieve the same level of mediocrity as last season. The Nets lost their head coach, Paul Pierce, Shaun Livingston and Andray Blatche over the summer and will be relying on Brook Lopez’s health and Deron Williams’ ankles/leadership, both of which are questionable at best. The Knicks kept their superstar Melo, but their second-best player is still J.R. Smith, a notorious head case who had a pretty bad season in 2013-14. Not exactly reassuring for either NY team that will be scrapping for one of the East’s final playoff spots.
The hope for this division lies with the Toronto Raptors, who surprised everyone last season by locking up the third seed in the East after a little addition by subtraction in the form of the Rudy Gay trade. The Raptors bring back a young and talented nucleus, but the only problem is the rest of the Eastern playoff teams got a little better. That No. 3 seed might be a bit beyond reach, even with Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas all looking at potential career years.
5. Central Division
In the course of one summer, the Central Division went from being potentially one of the best divisions in the NBA to one of the most disappointing. If all goes according to plan, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls should be competing for the top two spots in the entire Eastern Conference, but two teams a division does not make.
With LeBron James heading home to Cleveland, the Cavs quickly reloaded with star talent, but even a nucleus of King James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving might not be enough to win a title in their first season together. The Chicago Bulls had a tremendous offseason adding Pau Gasol, Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic, but they’re still entirely dependent on Derrick Rose’s shaky knees.
In other words, this was the year for the Indiana Pacers to break real ground in the East; all they needed to do was just keep their core intact. But with Lance Stephenson abandoning ship for the Charlotte Hornets and Paul George’s leg playing the part of wishbone, the Pacers may not even be a playoff team anymore. If Roy Hibbert is unable to step up and be a leader — which all signs point to him NOT being mentally strong enough to do so — Indiana might be better off tanking.
As for the worst teams in the division (on paper), the Detroit Pistons should be at least a little better this year with more capable shooters and role players, not to mention an excellent head coach in Stan Van Gundy. Unfortunately, that frontcourt logjam of Josh Smith, Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond is still an issue that even SVG might be unable to solve. The Milwaukee Bucks are still going to be terrible, but at least Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo will keep things somewhat entertaining.
4. Southeast Division
Any division with four likely playoff teams should probably be higher than No. 4 on our rankings, but what can I say? If those four teams played in the West NOT A SINGLE ONE would be guaranteed a playoff spot. Don’t believe me? Only the Miami Heat would’ve qualified for the postseason out West last year, and they wouldn’t have without LeBron James. What the Southeast lacks in star power, especially compared to the two juggernauts of the Central Division, it makes up for with intrigue and postseason positioning.
The Heat regrouped about as well as you possibly could after losing the best player in the league, adding Luol Deng, Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger to strengthen the rotation. But Miami’s competitiveness will now rely on Chris Bosh going back to being a 20-10 guy and Dwyane Wade staying healthy and looking more like Flash than he has in the past four years. Both of those are uneasy bets.
The Charlotte Hornets acquired Lance Stephenson and got a couple of steals in the draft with Noah Vonleh and P.J. Hairston, while the Washington Wizards added some veteran leadership with Paul Pierce. John Wall and Bradley Beal are only going to get better from here and the East is still relatively open even with Chicago and Cleveland looking like early favorites. When all is said and done, the Southeast might have as many as three dark horse contenders for the Eastern belt between Miami, Washington and Charlotte.
The Atlanta Hawks were a 38-win team last year, but if Al Horford can stay healthy, that’s another very good team (well, by Eastern standards at least). The Orlando Magic are the only non-playoff team in this division, but they could be better than advertised if the young pieces click faster than expected. Victor Oladipo will be playing his natural position at shooting guard now, Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon both have a ton of potential and guys like Nikola Vucevic and Tobias Harris are only going to improve from here. This is the best division in the East…but all three divisions in the West will still be better.
3. Northwest Division
It’s pretty much a wash between the Northwest Division and the second division on our list, but we’re going to put the Northwest here for the time being on the grounds that the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and even the Portland Trail Blazers are all question marks at this point in time. Of course the Oklahoma City Thunder are quite possibly the best team in the West and title contenders, but it’s still unclear what to expect from the rest of the pack.
The Nuggets have a great squad on paper with the returns of Danilo Gallinari, Arron Afflalo and JaVale McGee to look forward to, but can they stay healthy? And will they click with so many rusty players returning from injury? Is Ty Lawson ready to finally step up as a leader? These are all question marks right now, especially given the brutal nature of playing in the West.
Some are predicting the Timberwolves will be better than advertised with Andrew Wiggins, Thaddeus Young, Zach LaVine and Anthony Bennett joining forces with Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic and Gorgui Dieng, but to project them as a potential playoff team feels like madness right now. As for the Blazers, I love their starting five, but after that they’re pretty thin and I’m not sure they can get out to the same blistering pace they did to start the 2013-14 season.
We already know the Utah Jazz are going to be at the bottom of the Western Conference barrel, which means there’s a considerable chance this division only produces two playoff teams. Best-case scenario, there are three playoff teams that come from the Northwest, but that feels unlikely until we get a better idea of why to expect from Denver. The Thunder may end up winning the 2014-15 title, but right now, this division has too many question marks for me to take them over our next batch of teams.
2. Pacific Division
I know what you’re thinking. How can a division with the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers be higher up the list than the division with the Oklahoma City Thunder? Well, because as much as the Kings and Lakers figure to be terrible once again, the Pacific also has two sure-fire playoff teams from the start, not to mention a strong third contender in the Phoenix Suns.
At the top of the division, the Los Angeles Clippers look as dangerous a competitor for the Western crown as they ever have. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin lead the charge, but this is an extremely deep and well-coached team that added a valuable stretch-5 with Spencer Hawes in the offseason. The Golden State Warriors return a young, healthy and extremely talented nucleus, and even after passing on Kevin Love, they have the chance to make a postseason run with one of the NBA’s most talented starting lineups (that is now supported by a much-improved bench).
The Suns will have their hands full nabbing a playoff spot after Channing Frye’s departure, but Phoenix has the league’s deepest backcourt that could include Goran Dragic, Isaiah Thomas, Tyler Ennis, Gerald Green, Archie Goodwin, Zoran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe (who would likely be playing on a $3.7 million qualifying offer). Since the Suns became quite possibly the best team in NBA history to miss the playoffs after winning 48 games last season, I’m thinking they sneak in for the 2014-15 season.
Finally, the Kings and Lakers might actually be better than they were last year, even if they aren’t playoff-bound. Losing Thomas and replacing him with Darren Collison was a bonehead move for Sacramento, but DeMarcus Cousins hopefully learned something from his time under Coach Mike Krzyzewski with Team USA this summer and Rudy Gay quietly had a very efficient half-season debut with the Kings last year. Meanwhile, if Kobe Bryant is able to do Black Mamba things, even that power forward logjam won’t prevent the Lakers from winning some games.
1. Southwest Division
Without a doubt, this is the most brutal division in all of professional basketball. Let’s take a look at teams one through five in the Southwest: defending champions; the team that gave the defending champs a run for their money in the playoffs; a team featuring possibly the best shooting guard AND the best center in the NBA; a team with one of the most punishing defenses in the league; and the team that probably has the next league MVP not named LeBron James or Kevin Durant. Sound like fun?
The Spurs are bringing everybody back for what they hope will be the franchise’s first time repeating as NBA champions, and they added a promising rookie who fits San Antonio’s style of play in Kyle Anderson too. This could be Tim Duncan’s last year, and these defending champs can easily get by pretty much every Western team — save the Thunder — in a seven-game series.
The Dallas Mavericks gave the Spurs their toughest test in the playoffs last season and have a seriously improved supporting cast. Add that to the experience of Dirk Nowitzki and the vast coaching advantage of Rick Carlisle and this is a team nobody should want to play come playoff team. The Rockets lost a lot of bench depth in their pursuit of Chris Bosh, but Trevor Ariza is an immediate upgrade over Chandler Parsons and will help Houston’s three-point shooting and defense on the wing.
The Memphis Grizzlies didn’t get significantly better over the offseason, but they’re still tough as nails and that defense is a nightmare. Adding Vince Carter also provides some bench scoring to make up for Mike Miller’s departure. As for the Pelicans, they’ll have a healthy Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson and have added defensive stalwart Omer Asik to a frontcourt that already featured one of the league’s more terrifying two-way forces in Anthony Davis. If the Brow makes another leap this year, every team in the Southwest will be competing for a playoff spot.
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