Here's our initial post from the creation of the league for background, but now let's see the rankings, starting with last year’s championship winner…
CONTENDERS
1. Detroit Pistons - Ja Morant, Zach Lavine, and Michael Porter Jr. still make for a devastating scoring duo. The fact that they have guys like Fred Van Vleet coming off the bench, plus defensive studs like Luguentz Dort and Chris Duarte means that this team has more perimeter talent than any other in the league. Jarrett Allen is invaluable for covering up for all the potential defensive mistakes from the guards, and Kyle Anderson and Lauri Markkanen are a solid pair of PFs. This team does have one hole though; backup center. Losing Isaiah Stewart to the hard cap hurts there. But still, the Pistons are the reigning champs, and until they get dethroned, they’re number one on this list.
2. Denver Nuggets - Steady improvement is the name of the game for the Denver Nuggets, and they have a real argument to be the top seed here. The core of Lonzo Ball, Johnny Davis, Jabari Smith Jr., and Jaren Jackson Jr. has never been better. They swapped out Miles Bridges (who constantly underproduced anyway) for Isaac Okoro, and still have a pretty solid bench lead by De’Andre Hunter. However, they also have yet to even reach the conference finals, whereas the Pistons just won a title. For now, the benefit of the doubt goes to the team with the championship experience.
3. Atlanta Hawks - This is a pretty similar team to the one from last year, but with Tyrese Maxey instead of Joel Embiid. Maxey is even coming off the bench, which is just unfair. However, this team just isn’t quite as intimidating as they were with Embiid. Jalen Duren and Scottie Barnes are a good frontcourt, but not a great one. Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum can score enough to beat anyone on any night, but will they be favored in every game, including against some of the other top-tier teams? I’m not so sure.
4. Houston Rockets - This team still has most of the key components of the squad that just made it to the WCF, so it’s hard to say they’re not a contender. Tyler Herro, Bradley Beal, R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson, and Wendell Carter Jr. all return. However, Tyrese Haliburton’s means that Herro will have to move to the starting PG slot. Not only does that weaken their bench, but more importantly, it removes the playmaker that connected this team and replaces him with yet another score-first guy. The bench bigs will be fine with Julius Randle, Yannick Nzosa, and Deni Avdija. But their best guard off the bench is 74 overall Cory Joseph… yikes.
PLAYOFF LOCKS
5. Minnesota Timberwolves - This might be too low, honestly. This team was one of the higher seeds in the playoffs last year — albeit in the easier conference — and only got better. #1 overall draft pick DJ Wagner is the new starting SF, and he’s the worst of the 3 major additions, overshadowed by the starting backcourt of Dejounte Murray and Devin Booker. Half of last year’s starting lineup for the Wolves is now coming off the bench, which makes them that much scarier. Chet Holmgren had a disappointing season scoring the ball last year, but depending how the guards play together, he might not have to; he can just be the Jarrett Allen in the West’s younger version of the Detroit Pistons. If Wagner is cracked or Chet takes a leap, this team could easily be a true contender. Until we see some better playoff performance though, we’ll still have to hold off on any expectations that are too lofty.
6. Toronto Raptors - This team made a crucial pivot to extend their title window. Moving Paul George for Chris Paul, Daniel Gafford, and Jalen Brunson gives the Raptors the depth and complementary playmaking that they’ve lacked for years. Myles Turner, Daniel Gafford, Mikal Bridges, Steven Adams, and Jerami Grant all provide some excellent defense alongside them too. However, even if this team does have 99 Luka, their second best player is still 83 overall Mikal Bridges. Every team to win a chip so far has had multiple high-level stars, and this team still lacks that, which keeps them out of contender status.
7. Pittsburgh Ironmen - Tyrese Haliburton was a huge pickup for them, and Gobert was highly sought after as well. This team is perennially impossible to rank, as their regen squad seems to drastically outperform their roster in the regular season, but got upset by a 75 overall themselves in the first round of last year's playoffs. For now, it's impossible to know if this additional star power is just what the doctor ordered, or if it will break their fragile 2k formula like the Bucks did two years ago. For now, they're a definite playoff team, but it's hard to know much more than that.
8. Hawaii Tropics - The fact that the Tropics were able to weather the storm of losing two top-10 players in LeBron James and Nikola Jokic without getting anything in return and still make the Finals again is a testament to how dang good that 2022-23 team really was. But with Devin Booker and Anthony Davis now leaving in free agency as well, it seems unlikely that Hawaii will be able to replicate that same magic. Cade Cunningham and Paolo Alexandris-Banchero are still a nice duo, and they have a decent starting lineup around them with Immanuel Quickley, Matthew Honolulu, and Andre Drummond. But the bench outside of Jusuf Nurkic and Christos Alexandris-Banchero is even thinner than it used to be. Without acquiring another star (or at least some better backups than 40 year old Seth Curry) it's tough to see this team making it out of a loaded West.
9. Golden State Warriors - The Warriors made one of the wilder moves of the off-season, moving two recent top-5 MVP candidates in Ben Simmons and Roko Prkacin for the much much older Steph Curry. They even had to give up Mo Bamba in the deal too. This team is built around Steph, KD, and Damian Lillard now. Those 3 might combine for 80 points a night, but they’re going to have to - the next best player is 78 overall Jay’Sean Tate. We’ve never seen a team quite so top-heavy, and if this squad doesn’t make a deep playoff run, we probably never will again.
10. Chicago Bulls - We knew this team had a good backcourt with JD Davidson, Kennedy Chandler, and Cason Wallace. What we didn’t know is that Lynn Edwards (who is still only a 75!!) would take this team on a Cinderella run to the 6 seed and even an upset over 2k’s beloved Ironmen. However, the Bulls didn’t get complacent, and weren’t content to just be a feel-good overachiever. They went out and acquired Pascal Siakam and Mitchell Robinson to beef up their interior, and added Anfernee Simons to serve as yet another scoring threat in the backcourt. The Bulls overachieved last year, sure, but they have a vastly better roster now; if they outperform it again, they might even be a contender.
11. Los Angeles Clippers - Trae Young and LeBron James (who’s still a 90 overall) make for a dynamic duo, and stud sophomore Ausar Thompson is a nice complement to them. Coby White and Trevor Keels are two nice young guards as well. However, perhaps due to their lack of any good bigs better than Bol Bol, this team has struggled mightily so far. They’re a playoff lock on paper, but whether or not they’ll actually end up above the play-in is an open question.
12. New York Knicks - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Domantas Sabonis should be able to single-handedly (double-handedly?) make this a top-10 offense. However, their whole team is offensively slanted with guys like Dariq Whitehead, Knobby Porpoise, and C.J. McCollum all more known for filling up the stat sheet. They have some defenders further down the roster like Quentin Grimes and Jakob Poeltl who can provide that intensity on the defensive end, but it certainly isn't their identity. This team made a nice playoff run with some expirings last year, but when Jaylen Brown left in free agency, it may have capped this team to a first- or second-round exit.
PLAY-IN TEAMS
13. Dallas Mavericks - This is a really intriguing team. Jalen Green is a bucket at a 91 overall, Jaylen Brown nearly led the league in points last year, and even Matthew Mayer had some good production. The big question mark is Kristaps Porzingis, who has yet to produce anywhere near what his 90 overall or 39 million contract would imply. Giving up Tyrese Maxey to do so hurts even worse. Still, if KP can find the best version of himself on this team as a third option offensively and a shot-blocking menace, this team has the potential to go far.
14. Miami Heat - If a team with Nikola Jokic and Jimmy Butler struggled to make the playoffs, that would be a pretty big disappointment... but this team may disappoint some. They didn't do much of anything last year, and this roster doesn't look great outside of its top two (and even Butler himself is regressing). John Butler, Jean Montero, and A.J. Griffin are all decent low-80s guys, but they're not much to write home about. We've seen before that Jokic can carry a meh squad to .500 but not much above that, so even if Butler bumps them up a bit, they're still far from a lock to win 50+ games.
15. Orlando Magic - It's hard to not rank this team higher. Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell are both 90+ guys! Dalen terry is a young third option at 85! Unfortunately, this team is also incredibly shallow. Terry Rozier and Bogdan Bogdanovic are fine as a team's fourth and fifth starter perhaps, and Luke Garza at a 78 is a serviceable sixth man, but it gets shallow fast after that. Cedi Osman and 38 year old Kyle Lowry are their best remaining players at 76, and everyone else is 73 or worse. They might have to play their top 6-8 guys all 40+ minutes, and that's bound to hurt them in the playoffs.
16. Los Angeles Lakers - "There's a ton of teams in this tier with the same basic team: one good star, maybe an okay rookie or two, and not much else. The Lakers are the same. Brandon Ingram is good (but expiring), Aminu Mohammed is a solid complementary piece at an 83 after only a year, and other guys like Corey Kispert and Jalen Brunson are decent as well." That quote is what was going to be said about the Lakers, but after trading Brunson and some backups for Bam Adebayo and Jamal Murray, this team has a much higher ceiling. Those two should form a decent big 3 with Ingram, and if Mohammed continues to progress, they can be an excellent young team on the rise. If they can resign everyone after this year, that is.
17. San Antonio Spurs - Please let this be the year the Spurs are good! LaMelo Ball has been waiting for a while, but it seems that Suggs is finally catching up to him at a wild 88 overall. Will his production finally match that number? We’ll see. But they have a really nice young core next to those guards as well, with more wings than they know what to do with. T.J. Warren, Saddiq Bey, Dillon Mitchell, Patrick Williams, Devin Vassell, and even Derrick White can all play 2-4 easily. They don’t have a great backup behind their stud young center Mark Williams, but this team has potentially two stars and a deep, balanced supporting cast. If everything breaks right, this team could have homecourt in round 1 of the playoffs… or this defensive cast around LaMelo could shoot 40% of the floor and the Spurs could find themselves high up in the lottery again. They could finish anywhere, so for now, we’re slotting them in the middle.
18. Seattle SuperSonics - Joel Embiid is a great player, but he hasn’t been amazing in this league so far. Collin Sexton and Jonathan Kuminga are nice young complements to him, but might not necessarily be considered true stars. Other pieces like Onyeka Okongwu and Davion Mitchell are good, but don’t dramatically move the needle. There are many teams in the lottery with one good player and a meh supporting cast. This team has one great player and a good supporting cast, which makes them a very solid team, but not one that is going to beat out any of the multi-star teams.
19. Charlotte Hornets - There was a Great Hope in Charlotte, and that hope was Dyson "Better than LeBron" Daniels. However, he's seemed to only produce less and less since his rookie year, and may be stuck at an 84 overall. He's still a very good player, but might not even be an All-Star, let alone a superstar. Luckily, this team is replete with other young talent like Jaden Hardy, Scoot Henderson, Jalen Williams, Ziaire Williams, and #2 overall pick Mikey Williams. Hopefully more Williamses will be on the way. In the meantime though, they added Ben Simmons to this fun core, and they should start winning a decent number of games this year. However, they are playing tiny-ball with Simmons at the center and 200 pound Daniels at PF. Either they'll look genius and win 50 games behind excellent scoring, or they'll win 30 behind atrocious defense; for now, we put them in the middle here.
20. Boston ADisney - The name says it all! This Boston team is led by an aging Anthony Davis (91) and James Harden (83), and a few good-but-not-great young guys. Unlike some of the teams above them that are built around one star though, I don't have confidence in Davis to carry a team. Embiid or LaMelo can win you a decent number of games by themselves. Anthony Davis? Not so much.
LOTTERY TEAMS
21. Milwaukee Bucks - John Collins and Clint Capela are a good frontcourt, but the compliments stop there unfortunately. Dillon Brooks is a fine wing, but their fourth best player is 78 overall second rounder Jordan Schakel. They better hope they have a good defense, because they look to have one of the worse offenses in the league.
22. Indiana Pacers - Deandre Ayton is this team's crown jewel, and he's all the way up to a 93. However, their next best player is only an 81. This team is similar to Boston, with Ayton being even a bit better than AD at this point. Unfortunately, the rest of the team is a good bit worse, so it looks like the Pacers are left praying for ping-pong balls again.
23. Portland Trail Blazers - This team was surprisingly close to .500 last year, and they definitely improved, so maybe this is too low. The outlines of the team make sense: De’Aaron Fox or Eric Gaines as the slashing point guard, KAT and Robert Williams as an offense-defense big duo, and other 80+ scorers and playmakers on the wing like Cam Thomas, Bronny James Jr., and Chris Livingston. However, KAT isn’t a number 1 option on a good team, and Fox definitely isn’t either. Unless Bronny or Livingston really surprises, this team won’t make the playoffs without some serious upgrades at the top of their roster.
24. New Orleans Pelicans - James Wiseman and Jaden Ivey are both good, but it looks now like they might have lower ceilings than anticipated, as both are seemingly stuck in the mid-80s. Kawhi Leonard was a nice add, even if he doesn't really fit the timeline. He should help win them 30-35 games this year. But at only an 87, he won't will a soft supporting cast (with Brandon Clarke being the only other player in the 80s) to a playoff spot.
25. Cleveland Cavaliers - The Cavs were a lotto team last year, though unfortunately didn’t get to profit off of it without their pick. So far, they’ve added OG Anunoby, but lost Cam Reddish and Kyle Kuzma. Garland has progressed up to a 91, but the formula of him + Jordan Poole + Josh Giddey + Edgar Steele hasn’t seemed to work so far, and there’s nothing to indicate that will change in the near future.
26. Washington Wizards - This team isn’t going to suck this year. They’re young, and they’re making progress. Victor Wembanyama, Jeremy Sochan, Cam Whitmore, and new addition Miles Bridges are all decent players. But still, this is a roster with a bunch of mid-to-low 80s, and no true star, and their ranking has to reflect that.
27. Phoenix Suns - This team has Anthony Edwards and Keegan Murray, but has stripped everything else down to the studs. They also traded for their own pick back for the next few years, so you know what that means. Ant and Murray are too good for this team to bottom out, but the Suns struggled to get to .500 even with a full team; without Bam Adebayo, Jamal Murray, and De’Aaron Fox, this team will be even lower.
28. Oklahoma City Thunder - This team has fallen to pieces, and only Giannis helps them win any games. Even with him though, this team easily missed the playoffs last year. With Giannis soon to be traded (and perhaps for pennies), expect this team to be even worse -- intentionally or not.
TANKERS
29. Vancouver Grizzlies - This is a team that has pivoted to a rebuild very quickly and expertly, but that does mean they’re far away from contention. They have Roko Prkacin, who’s about to be UNLEASHED, but the rest of the team is mostly lower-wattage youngsters and journeyman vets. Expect them to have multiple high picks this year though.
30. Utah Jazz - Desmond Bane and Malakhi Branham form an interesting mid-80s wing duo, but the rest of this roster is either just too young or not talented enough to make an impact yet. Luckily, they do have the assets and the time to make some upgrades.
31. Brooklyn Nets - This team is knee-deep in a rebuild, and their best player is currently 83 overall Andrew Wiggins. It would be one thing if they had some good recent rookies that they could build the team around, but the closest thing is probably 75 overall Daimion Collins. It'll take some time for them to rebuild, for sure.
32. Philadelphia 76ers - After buying out half the league, the 76ers now have essentially no good players, a few mediocre young players, and no real draft assets. How far they’ve come from making a frightening Finals run just a little more than a year ago. Frankly, speedrunning from the top of the league to the bottom in that little time is impressive in its own perverse way.