2012 NBA offseason Power Rankings, ranking every team from the worst one to best one. Obviously this is all subject to change as new trades and signings are made. Teams will be divided in three slots; the first slot will hold the teams that will be in the Lottery and therefore will not make the playoffs - from 30 to 17. The second slot will hold the teams that will make the playoffs - from 16 to 6. Finally the last slot will hold the five teams that are likely to contend for the title.
THE LOTTERY
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30 Orlando Magic
They were on the wrong end of the Howard deal. They lost the best center in the game and all they have to show for this disaster is Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Josh McRoberts, and Moe Harkless. Whilst these players are not scrubs, they aren't going to win Orlando many games. To make things worse they traded Ryan Anderson to the Hornets for Gustavo Ayon. The direction this team is trying to take is a mystery to everybody. Only GM Rob Hennigan knows where they are headed. My guess would be they are trying to take the OKC route and get three stars through the draft. Will he find a Kevin Durant, a Russell Westbrook and a James Harden in consecutive drafts? Only time will tell although the odds are not in their favor. They are the worst team in the NBA right now.
29 Charlotte Bobcats
Last year was a record-setting year for the Bobcats. In a bad way. Worst winning percentage in the history of the league kind of bad. They hoped to win the lottery and select the grand prize, Anthony Davis, but they ended up with the second overall pick and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist instead. He is a high character guy with a lot of potential but still, this team is not much better than last year. In a questionable trade they sent Corey Maggette to Detroit for Ben Gordon and then signed Ramon Sessions. MJ as an owner is still leaps and bounds away from MJ as a player. They are still one of the worst teams in the league.
28 Sacramento Kings
This team is stacked with young players. Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Thompson, and new draftee Thomas Robinson could all develop into nice players, but for now, they are not a playoff team in the stacked Western Conference. And this is not likely to change unless this group takes a huge step forward in experience and chemistry. Jimmer Fredette has been a disappointment so far and Evans hasn't come close to matching his Rookie of the Year campaign 3 years ago. To make matters worse, Cousins has attitude problems. Barring a huge summer development for some of them, the road to the playoffs is still far away.
27 Detroit Pistons
The Pistons drafted pretty well this year, selecting Andre Drummond, a talented but raw big man. If Drummond lives up to his great potential, he and Greg Monroe could form a nice combo potentially being one of the best front courts in the league with some time. Right now they just have to develop all their young players: Monroe, Brandon Knight, Rodney Stuckey and the aforementioned Drummond. The Pistons have a bright future ahead of them if everything goes as they hope a la the Kings.
26 Toronto Raptors
The Raptors were dreaming of signing Canadian point guard Steve Nash, but he went to the Lakers. Their B-plan included trading for Kyle Lowry, signing Landry Fields away from the Knicks and bringing over from Europe Jonas Valanciunas, the talented Lituanian big man they drafted last year. These moves will make them better but are not enough to get them over the hump.
25 Houston Rockets
Rockets GM Daryl Morey went all in this summer trying to trade for Dwight Howard but failed as the center went to the Lakers. The Rockets still have a good amount of talent on their roster, drafting four young players and signing Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik as free agents. Their roster is not that bad talentwise, but almost all of their players are very young and inexperienced. Morey has been trying to find a superstar for almost three years now, but he has not been able to do that, and no one on the roster right now has the makings of one.
24 Phoenix Suns
The Suns lost Steve Nash and signed Goran Dragic to take his place on the starting line-up. They then signed Michael Beasley, traded for Wesley Johnson, drafted Kendall Marshall and claimed Luis Scola off amnesty waivers. Things could have gone worse for the rebuilding Suns as the Nash Era has recently ended and a new one is about to start. If they could have signed Eric Gordon away from New Orleans their rating would have been a lot higher.
Original Story:
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August 19, 2012
