Backdoor Cut: NBA Power Rankings

Time for my NBA Power Rankings

Music to listen to: Gangsta Hop by Waka Flacka Flame

30- Sacramento Kings: While I’ve publicly been disappointed in DeMarcus Cousins’ maturity, the regression of Tyreke Evans has to be bad for Kings’ fans to see.

29- Washington Wizards: Finally found a way to get rid of Gilbert Arenas to put the franchise in John Wall’s hands. This also opened playing time for Nick Young, who is raw but can develop into a competent shooting guard besides Wall.

28- Minnesota Timberwolves: You look at the Wolves, see the production of Kevin Love and Michael Beasley and you wonder how they’ve won only six games. Than you look at arguably the worst defense in the entire league and it all adds up.

27- Charlotte Bobcats: Not only do the Bobcats have the worst offense in the NBA, averaging only 80 points per contest over their last five games, but departed players from last season, Raymond Felton and Tyson Chandler, have been hits with their new teams this year, New York and Dallas respectively. Expect a major shakeup to take place very soon.

26- Cleveland Cavs: The overtime win over New York last Saturday was needed in a major way. It ended Cleveland’s double-digit losing steak, they beat a Knicks’ squad that was getting national coverage, therefore helping the Cavs profile as well.

25- New Jersey Nets: I saw some parts of the Nets’ victory over Atlanta and things aren’t terrible for them. Devin Harris has returned his career to a nice level with Avery Johnson coaching the squad and Derrick Favors has the potential to be an elite frontcourt player.

24- Golden State Warriors: When they get David Lee and Steph Curry fully healthy, the Warriors will be an interesting squad in the West to combine with Monta Ellis, who’s playing at an All-Star level.

23- Detroit Pistons: Rip Hamilton asked to be pulled from the Piston’s overtime win over New Orleans on Sunday. Rodney Stuckey was already out of that game due to injury so Detroit had to go with Ben Gordon and Tracy McGrady in the backcourt which was a disaster, then replaced McGrady with Will Bynum and combined with a near triple-double from Tayshawn Prince with his 28-11-8, fun times in the Motor City.

22- Toronto Raptors: Overachieving in a major way.

21- Los Angeles Clippers: Actually won road games at Detroit and Chicago this past week. Combine that with the Black Griffin Experience and things are looking positive for the Clippers.

20- Milwaukee Bucks: Injury to Jennings doesn’t hurt the Bucks in the East, where they’re still one of the top eight teams in that conference, but hurts in my Power Rankings.

19- Houston Rockets: Short-term impact of Yao Ming being out for the season isn’t major because the Rockets have been without him before. Long-term, devastating news for the franchise who were relying on the center to be the cornerstone for the team for years to come.

18- Memphis Grizzlies: I criticized Memphis for benching OJ Mayo but he’s been an effective scorer off the bench.

17- Indiana Pacers: Been a pleasant surprise in the East but ran into a tough stretch this past week facing the Lakers, Celtics and Bulls. The Pacers lost all three.

16- Philadelphia 76ers: The Sixers are 8-2 in their last ten contest and that’s mainly due to the defense improving to a top-ten unit in the NBA. Now if Evan Turner can get on track…

15- Portland Trailblazers: The injuries are going to catch up with this squad eventually, especially if Marcus Camby gets hurt and LaMarcus Aldridge can’t continue his pace of playing the most minutes per game in all of the NBA.

14- New Orleans Hornets: Stumbled a bit after starting the year 11-1, but had a nice win over Utah this past week. However, two close losses to Detroit and Indiana also show the team’s vulnerabilities.

13- Phoenix Suns: The Suns may have actually improved on its trade with Orlando last week. It was tough to see Jason Richardson depart, but Vince Carter and Mickael Pietrus will fit the Phoenix system well. Plus, the Suns get much needed size with Marcin Gortat. Still may not make the playoffs, but trying. Also, Steve Nash isn’t going anywhere.

12- New York Knicks: Sent back to reality with three straight losses to Miami, Boston and Cleveland. One of those three is inexcusable and I’ll let you figure out which one that is. Another issue is the lack of a deep bench needed to play the Knicks system. This really hurt New York in the Cavs game, playing three games in four nights.

11- Orlando Magic: Its going to take some time for all of the new parts to come together, particularly the new backcourt of Arenas, Richardson and Jameer Nelson. However, losing Monday’s game at Atlanta isn’t a good start.

10- Denver Nuggets: The injury of Chanucey Billups has opened the door for Ty Lawson to have the best run of his professional career.

9- Chicago Bulls: Snake-bitten Bulls suffered another major injury with Joakim Noah’s thumb surgery that’s going to have him out 8-10 weeks. They may actually miss Noah more than Boozer, as evidence by the Clippers having free reign in the interior in their victory over the Bulls on Saturday.

8- Atlanta Hawks: Charles Barkley said last Wednesday that the Hawks were better than the Knicks and I blasted that commentary on Twitter. I was wrong and this was confirmed by the Hawks’ convincing victory over Orlando on Monday. They may actually get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

7- Oklahoma City Thunder: They have the offense to be a 50+ win squad but won’t make it past the conference semifinals if the defense doesn’t improve. Good news is that the Thunder is 9-2 in games decided by five points or less.

6- Utah Jazz: Got Mehmet Okur back, which will help their front court rotation in a major way. I still think this can be the second-best team in the West.

5- Miami Heat: Loss to Dallas at home on Monday showed that its going to be very tough for Miami to beat deep teams that can so down their transition points.

4- Los Angeles Lakers: Its going to take Andrew Bynum until the end of January to fully get his legs and play at top form. The fact that the Lakers are still 21-7 without him should concern the rest of the West.

3- San Antonio Spurs: They’ve benefited from playing a weak schedule but also have had a healthy Manu Ginobili, who has been the best player on the team this entire season. It also looks like Tim Duncan is rounding into form as well, which makes them even more dangerous.

2- Boston Celtics: Tough call between the Celtics and my top squad but Boston is clearly the class of the East. Garnett is an MVP contender, along with Rondo when he’s healthy. Paul Pierce continues his bid to be a Hall of Fame player and Ray Allen looks like he hasn’t aged. The bench has been excellent as well, particularly Glen Davis and Nate Robinson.

1- Dallas Mavericks: This may not be the popular call but Dallas’ win at Miami on Monday confirmed my confidence in this squad. Do I think the Mavs are going to win the NBA championship? Probably not. However, they have the depth, shooting and most importantly defensive size with Tyson Chandler to make a run. Plus, when you have the MVP of the league so far this season in my opinion, Dirk Nowitzki, that makes the Mavs the top team in the league.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?