NBA Power Rankings: It’s Still All About The Miami Heat, Folks

We are just five days from real, actual, not-watered-down NBA action, with three games on the opening-night slate on Tuesday, and with that we debut the NBA Power Rankings for 2013-14.

So what’s in store for that opening Tuesday salvo?

The Orlando Magic take on the Indiana Pacers and TNT offers us a nice opening-night double-dip in the Chicago Bulls (Derrick Rose’s Return!) at the Miami Heat (Rings!) followed by the Los Angeles Clippers (Doc!) and the Los Angeles Lakers (????!) tangling at the Staples Center—the Lakers’ banners will be on full display, however, because it’s a home game for the Lakers.

That will be followed by a Wednesday during which 28 of the league’s 30 teams (everyone save the Clippers and the Bulls) are on the schedule.

Here’s how the league stacks up heading into 2013-14 and, yes, if your favorite team isn’t ranked where you believe it should be, there’s a simple reason for that. I am biased against that team (not really, but it’s the most-often cited reason by readers why all rankings stories are always bad, always, so I thought I’d just get a jump on the competition).

1. Miami Heat (66-16 last year, 1st Southeast Division, won NBA title): Until someone knocks the Heat off the mountain, they’re on top of it to start the season. There are concerns about Dwyane Wade’s knees and how the loss of 3-point specialist Mike Miller will affect the rotation, but as long as LeBron James is suiting up, this team is dangerous.

2. San Antonio Spurs (58-24, 1st Southwest, lost NBA Finals): Tony Parker led France to its first-ever European title over the summer and Kawhi Leonard appears to be building on his breakout performance in the NBA Finals. Gary Neal is gone, but Marco Belinelli is an adequate replacement for the shooting Neal provided. And besides, if Gary Neal is your big offseason departure, you had a pretty good summer.

3. Indiana Pacers (49-32, 1st Central, lost Eastern Finals): The Pacers upgraded their bench, bringing in C.J. Watson, Luis Scola and Chris Copeland, and they brought back David West. Throw in the fact they get Danny Granger back, too, and this bunch still looks loaded.

4. Oklahoma City Thunder (60-22, 1st Northwest, lost Western Semis): Russell Westbrook will be out in the early going and Jeremy Lamb hasn’t looked great in the preseason, so this might be a tad high. But Kevin Durant is the second-best player in the league and has had an entire offseason to adjust to the idea of running without Westbrook for a short spell.

5. Chicago Bulls (45-37, 2nd Central, lost Eastern Semis): Derrick Rose is back (maybe you hadn’t heard because, you know, you’ve been living in a cave in eastern Tibet for the last several months) and he’s looked awfully good so far. The Bulls let Nate Robinson and Marco Belinelli walk, but brought in Mike Dunleavy. Besides, this team is predicated on defense, anyway.

6. Los Angeles Clippers (56-26, 1st Pacific, lost first round): Love the Doc Rivers addition. Really like the Jared Dudley and J.J. Redick acquisitions. Really scared of what’s behind Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan up front.

7. Brooklyn Nets (49-33, 2nd Atlantic, lost first round): If this were 2008, the additions of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Andrei Kirilenko and Jason Terry would be a heckuva lot more exciting. As it is, this is a team that is absolutely loaded with veteran talent, but if the team replaces Gatorade with Ensure, it’s not necessarily a good sign for the longer term.

8. Golden State Warriors (47-35, 2nd Pacific, lost Western Semis): The Warriors brought in Andre Iguodala, who could be a culture-changer defensively, but I wouldn’t completely disregard the losses of Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry from a depth standpoint.

9. Memphis Grizzlies (56-26, 2nd Southwest, lost Western Finals): The Grizzlies didn’t invite Lionel Hollins back, instead promoting David Joerger to the lead chair. Mike Miller provides Memphis with the shooting off the bench it desperately lacked last year.

10. Houston Rockets (45-37, 3rd Southwest, lost first round): The Rockets landed the big catch of free agency in Dwight Howard and James Harden is as good as anyone out there, but this team is still relying an awful lot on the defensively challenged and really inefficient Jeremy Lin.

11. New York Knicks (54-28, 1st Atlantic, lost Eastern Semis): Andrea Bargnani and Metta World Peace join the Garden party and Mike Woodson rolled out a starting frontcourt of Carmelo Anthony, Bargnani and Tyson Chandler Wednesday night. Apparently, Chandler’s mission—should he choose to accept it—is to just defend every damn body because the ultimate help defender appears to have none for himself.

12. Minnesota Timberwolves (31-51, 5th Northwest): Going way out on a limb to say the trio of Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio and Nikola Pekovic will be together on the floor more than it was last season. Of course, they could be together on the floor together for more than 13 minutes by the end of the first half of the opener, but still … .

13. Denver Nuggets (57-25, 2nd Northwest, lost first round): Oddly enough, the Nuggets’ offseason reminds me of this iconic film clip:

That said, Denver has enough talent with Ty Lawson and, when he returns, Danilo Gallinari that all is not lost.

14. Atlanta Hawks (44-38, 2nd Southeast, lost first round): Paul Millsap is a decent replacement for Josh Smith—hey, he’ll take fewer of those wild 3s—but the Hawks appear to be destined to be where no team wants to be … stuck in the middle.

15. Dallas Mavericks (41-41, 4th Southwest): Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki, with Jose Calderon orchestrating things. This team looks like a lock for a lot of those 130-125 games.

16. Portland Trail Blazers (33-49, 4th Northwest): The Trail Blazers upgraded the bench, enormously, and Robin Lopez is a defensive upgrade over J.J. Hickson at the 5. Still not completely sold as Wesley Matthews as a team’s best option at the 2, though.

17. Washington Wizards (29-53, 3rd Southeast): John Wall was dynamite over the final two months and earned himself a max deal, but Emeka Okafor’s injury is a problem for a thin frontcourt.

18. Cleveland Cavaliers (24-58, 5th Central): Lots of people high on the Cavs this year, but I’m reserving judgment for now. Wasting a No. 1 overall pick on a tweener forward in Anthony Bennett was just strange and for all of the high praise Kyrie Irving receives, I’d like to see the guy play, oh, maybe one full season somewhere (which he hasn’t since high school) before I crown him the next superstar.

19. Detroit Pistons (29-53, 4th Central): Brandon Jennings. Josh Smith. Andre Drummond. There will be lots of oohs and aahs at the Palace of Auburn Hills. They will be mixed freely, however, with other sounds such as:

20. New Orleans Pelicans (27-55, 5th Southwest): Anthony Davis has been a beat in the preseason, but this team seems to have a lot of parts that don’t quite fit together. Are there enough basketballs for Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday?

21. Los Angeles Lakers (45-37, 3rd Pacific, lost first round): I was higher on the Lakers … until I saw them play a bit this preseason. (Yes, yes, I know, it’s preseason, Kobe Bryant isn’t playing …  but I’m with Tracy McGrady on this one).

22. Toronto Raptors (34-48, t-4th Atlantic): The inverse of the San Antonio-Gary Neal theory I floated earlier: If your big offseason acquisitions are Tyler Hansbrough and Steve Novak, don’t be shocked if things don’t turn out so well.

23. Milwaukee Bucks (38-44, 3rd Central, lost first round): Larry Sanders. Franchise player. That is all. At least until Giannis Antetokounmpo figures this whole NBA thing out, which could be sooner rather than later … just not soon enough to save this year.

24. Utah Jazz (43-39, 3rd Northwest): Utah wasn’t an offensive juggernaut with Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap and Mo Williams. Without them?

25. Boston Celtics (41-40, 3rd Atlantic, lost first round): The Rajon Rondo trade countdown is on. This is not a matter of “if.” No, it’s a “when” thing. The Celtics are the yard sale grab bag of NBA teams—lots of stuff in the bag, just not sure if any of it should ever go together.

26. Orlando Magic (20-62, 5th Southeast): Victor Oladipo is going to be good. Tobias Harris thinks he can be an All-Star, which apparently was enough to drive some people indiscriminately nuts. But the Magic are a player (or three) away from re-emerging as a contender.

27. Charlotte Hornets Bobcats (21-61, 4th Southeast): There may not have been a team get screwed by the NBA draft lottery more than the Bobcats have in less than a decade of existence. They couldn’t get the No. 1 overall pick when they went 7-59, for crying out loud, and 21-61 wasn’t good enough to make the top three in a lousy draft class this year. I’m saying it’s sometime in February when Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson start openly fighting over the basketball.

28. Sacramento Kings (28-54, 4th Pacific): Brand new owner. Brand new coach. Same old Kings.

29. Phoenix Suns (25-57, 5th Pacific): It’s not often I look at an NBA roster and have to suppress a chuckle. Your 2013-14 Phoenix Suns!

30. Random D-League Team: Just because they’re probably still better than …

31. Philadelphia 76ers (34-48, t-4th Atlantic): Evan Turner and Thaddeus Young as the top two options. A rookie at the point guard position who is the second coming of Magic Johnson (that is to say, “Look, people, it’s a point guard! Only he’s taller than the regular point guards!) A second straight year when a big name big man was acquired to model big-and-tall suits from the bench. Even Philadelphia’s favorite fictional hero, Rocky Balboa, says …