It was not long ago that the San Antonio Spurs were by far the smartest team in the league. They drafted well. They traded well and they convinced players to stay with the franchise below their market value by guaranteeing championship contention every year.
The Spurs’ consistent play throughout the years caught the attention of teams throughout the league. Now it seems that most franchises are simply trying to follow the same model as the Spurs. Teams are drafting better, convincing free agents to take discounts and are more cautious in handing veteran players big or long-term money.
Now that teams are actually looking to the future and building through the draft and focused on acquiring young players they can develop, which team has the best future? We will give you our rankings by looking at the ages of teams, how many stars they have (or up-and-coming stars), cap space and
1. Oklahoma City Thunder: It is hard to put the reigning Western Conference champions anywhere but first. They are young, talented, athletic and have one of the most gifted scorers in the history of the game in Kevin Durant. In addition to all this they have Sam Presti, who is arguably the best general manager in the league. The future is not just bright in Oklahoma City, it is sparkling.
Kevin Durant is the main reason the Thunder have such a bright future. Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com
2. Houston Rockets: The Thunder are so good at drafting that they are the biggest reason the Houston Rockets have such a bright future. When the Thunder traded budding superstar James Harden, they made the Rockets a real threat for the future and lifted them into immediate playoff contention. If you take into account general manager Daryl Morey’s creativity, their other young talent (Omer Asik, Jeremy Lin, Thomas Robinson and Chandler Parsons), as well as their upcoming cap space, it is one of the most exciting times to be a Rockets fan in the past decade.
3. Utah Jazz: The Jazz are quickly plummeting from the playoff seeding they held nearly all season. They have an awful schedule going forward. This will, and has, already caused some to doubt just how bright a future the team has.
Gordon Hayward will be getting plenty of recognition in coming seasons. Photo Credit: RMtip21, Flickr.com
However, the Jazz have some remarkably young talent. Derrick Favors has all the makings of a future star. Enes Kanter and Gordon Hayward are under-appreciated players who likely will develop into at least border-line all-star talent. It is unclear exactly what Alec Burks‘ ceiling is but he could at least develop into a very solid bench player.
The Jazz have also been historically good with drafting and trading. Once the Jazz have a nice young point guard, they will be a powerhouse in the league for years to come.
4. Cleveland Cavaliers: Ever since LeBron James‘ dramatic departure from Cleveland, the Cavaliers’ front office has been making sneaky-good moves. They were able to grab the No. 1 pick in the draft last season. With that pick the Cavaliers acquired one of the most exciting young guards in the league in Kyrie Irving.
Irving has already made the All-Star Game and has been given considerable young talent to work with in Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson. Also the Cavaliers boast one of the most coveted trading chips in the league in Anderson Varejao for next season.
With the Cavaliers fully embracing being in rebuilding mode they will again be in lottery this season. With how well the front office has been doing the past season or two, it seems safe to assume they will acquire more solid talent to add to their blossoming young squad.
5. New Orleans Hornets: Most people assumed that once the Hornets traded Chris Paul that they would become irrelevant instantly. The Hornets obviously fell off in a big way when they traded the best point guard in the league, but they have quickly become a very intriguing team going forward.
The consensus around the league is that Anthony Davis is the real deal. Davis is young, defensively-oriented and seems to be brimming with superstar potential. Considering Eric Gordon‘s considerable talents, Ryan Anderson‘s remarkable shooting, Robin Lopez‘s improvement and Greivis Vasquez‘s break-out year, the Hornets (soon to be Pelicans) are one of the most exciting teams in the league going forward.
6. Washington Wizards: John Wall is a max-contract player. There has been plenty of skepticism about his abilities since coming into the league but over the past month or so, Wall has reminded us just how gifted he truly is.
John Wall is the man to lead the Wizards from the lottery and into the playoffs. Photo Credit: Keith Allison (Flickr.com)
The Wizards have also brought in young sharpshooter Bradley Beal to pair with Wall in what should be one of the most gifted backcourts in the league for years to come. Had Wall been healthy all season, it is fair to wonder whether they could not have made playoffs this season.
With strong veterans in the locker room (finally), the Wizards have a great future ahead of them. They have plenty of young post talent in Kevin Seraphin and Trevor Booker as well. Look for them to make a major leap as soon as next season.
7. Golden State Warriors: The Warriors fans were deprived of winning basketball for far too long. Finally this season they are being rewarded for their patience with winning and extremely entertaining basketball.
Stephen Curry is returning playoff basketball to the Bay. Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com
Stephen Curry is phenomenal. If Curry keeps up his shooting for rest of his career he likely could become the greatest 3-point shooter of all time. Klay Thompson has been given a lot of responsibility since the Warriors ended the Monta Ellis era. He has not disappointed. The Warriors used their lottery pick this past season to draft freak athlete and potential star Harrison Barnes. Barnes has not been the most consistent player this season, but seems to have bought into the Warriors’ defensive mindset.
With the young aforementioned talent, veterans David Lee, Jarrett Jack and Andrew Bogut, as well as coach Mark Jackson‘s improvement, look for the Warriors to not only remain dangerous but to improve significantly.
8. Denver Nuggets: The Nuggets are only of the most entertaining teams in the league to watch. They play at an astonishing pace while also boasting a tenacious defense.
Ty Lawson is one of the youngest players on Denver’s roster, but also one of the most important. (Photo by Keith Allison/Flickr.com)
The Nuggets are also surprisingly young. Ty Lawson is only in his third season, Danilo Gallinari, Kosta Koufos and Javale McGee are in their fourth seasons and Kenneth Faried is only in his second. That is four of their starters with only four years of experience or less.
General manager Masai Ujiri has shown during his short time in office that he is more than capable going forward. Denver fans should remain excited because not only are they a dangerous team this year, but with good management and good players going forward they will remain so for a long time.
9. Detroit Pistons: Remember when the Pistons were one of the most feared teams in the league? I was only in middle school when Chauncey Billups seemed to get them to the conference finals every year. Since management broke up that squad it has been painful to be a Pistons fan. The Ben Gordon Era has finally just this past offseason come to an end.
Andre Drummond has been one of the bigger surprises this season coming out of the draft. Photo Credit: mariselise Flickr.com
Recently, general manager Joe Dumars has shown that he is still capable of putting together a talented team. Greg Monroe has been better than advertised since coming into the league and Brandon Knight still has the potential to become a very solid point guard. The best gamble that Dumars has made though has been drafting Andre Drummond.
Drummond has been an absolute monster this year when healthy and in theory appears to be the perfect compliment to Greg Monroe in the post. The Pistons might not yet be winning a lot of games but fans should be excited as this core will win them a lot of games in the future.
10. Orlando Magic: When the Dwight Howard trade went down, it appeared the Magic got the worst deal of any of the four teams involved in the trade. They gave up the best player in the trade (Howard), turned down the player with the second highest upside (Andrew Bynum) and missed out on an defensive specialist who played in the All-Star Game and in the Olympics (Andre Iguodala) who also happens to be on an expiring contract.
The Magic did better in the Dwight Howard trade than initially thought. Photo Credit: RMTip21, Flickr.com
It appeared the best player that the Magic got was young and mostly unproven Arron Afflalo. Afflalo is talented but is by no means an all-star caliber player. He also just signed a large contract (the type young rebuilding franchises typically try to avoid). Reflecting back now on the trade it appears that the Magic got real value for Howard and some exceptional building pieces in that trade including Nikola Vucevic and Maurice Harkless.
With a savvy new general manager and loads of young talent and draft picks the Magic will not be competing for a championship anytime soon. However, give them a few years and they could very well be part of the NBA’s top tier of elite teams.
11. Indiana Pacers: Paul George is exceptional. This team has a real star and has some very high-quality and high-character guys going forward. It is hard not to like the Pacers team right now unless you are a fan of another Eastern Conference team. The Pacers have done a spectacular job of returning to relevance. Look for this team to become a perennial contender from here on out.
Welcome to stardom, Paul George. Photo Credit: IsoSports, Flickr.com
12. Boston Celtics: Danny Ainge may have held on one season too long to their version of the “Big Three.” Kevin Garnett is still a very effective player, but his value was at its highest peak this trading season and Ainge held onto him. Paul Pierce is a fan favorite, but the best thing may have been to let him go. He likely will never win another championship if he stays in a Celtics uniform for the rest of his career.
The Celtics do have a promising future. Avery Bradley may not be the most effective player on the offensive side of the ball, but his defense is extraordinary. From reports it sounds as if Rajon Rondo‘s ACL injury is fairly minor and that he should return for training camp next season. Jeff Green has been sensational the second half of the season. Jared Sullinger before his back surgery was looking like the steal of the draft.
Although Ainge may have held on to his aging core a little too long, he has put together a nice compilation of young talent to build with going forward. Celtic fans should be excited for the future.
13. Minnesota Timberwolves: When you look at general manager David Kahn’s work with the team, it is easy to be critical. One year he drafted three point guards (Johnny Flynn, Ricky Rubio and Ty Lawson). He has overpaid multiple free agents. He has gambled on two older injury-prone guys who spent some time out of the league (Andrei Kirilenko and Brandon Roy). Yet somehow he has assembled one of the most intriguing teams in the league.
Ricky Rubio is one of the most exciting young player in the league. Photo Credit: Joe Bielawa, Flickr.com
When healthy it is reasonable to speculate that the current team could make the playoffs. They have a star in the making with Ricky Rubio. They have an elite post presence in Kevin Love. They have championship experience in Jose Barea. They have playoff experience and tenacious defense in Kirilenko. They have a clutch veteran leader in Roy. If healthy, this team not only could make playoffs but they could do damage.
With lots of young talent going forward it is safe to assume that this squad will pull it together and go on a couple of playoff runs. Timberwolves fans need to be patient until they get there and hope that Kahn uses his lottery picks better going forward.
14. Miami Heat: The Heat have three exceptionally talented players in their primes (one of which is possibly the greatest of all time). Also, they recently came just a handful of games away from tying the all-time record for most games won in a row.
That being said the Heat are a very hard team to rank in terms of future outlook. Dwyane Wade is on the tail end of his prime. Chris Bosh is not truly a franchise player. The role players surrounding them are either on the tail ends of their careers or have very limited upside. LeBron James will be effective for a long time in this league, the only question is whether he will be wearing a Heat jersey the rest of his career.
LeBron James is the driving force behind the Miami Heat. Photo Credit: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule
Miami fans should enjoy the present and worry about the future later. Pat Riley is an exceptional general manager and most likely already calculating how to remain a contender should James skip town.
15. San Antonio Spurs: Every year the Spurs are looked over as contenders and every year it seems the Spurs get more dangerous. The Spurs are another team that are extremely difficult to rank in terms of the future.
Tim Duncan has been holding the Spurs up a long time. (Photo: Keith Allison).
Tim Duncan is in the middle of a revival. He has been absolutely unstoppable this season on the court. However, Duncan is 36 years old. Manu Ginobili is 35 and seems to be nursing injuries more than playing. The only member of their core of three stars that Spurs fans do not have to worry about is Tony Parker.
Parker is chronically underrated and is arguably a top-three point guard in the league. The Spurs are incredibly resourceful and have found great young role players in Danny Green and Tiago Splitter. They also have another young guy with tremendous upside in Kawhi Leonard.
Most people will judge that the Spurs have very limited upside for the future as constructed. However, knowing their history, somehow the Spurs will likely remain a top-tier team for a long time.
16. Los Angeles Clippers: It is hard to believe I am about to say this, but … the future for the Clippers is pretty exciting. The Clippers are already arguably the most entertaining team in the league.
The entire basketball world will be stunned if Chris Paul does not extend his contract with the Clippers. The Clippers are finally willing to spend real money to put together a winning team and have plenty of young pieces that are getting better by the day.
Blake Griffin is quickly becoming a multi-faceted player who can do more than just dunk. As long as Griffin and Paul are boasting Clippers jerseys, the league should be worried about just how good they can be.
17. Toronto Raptors: The Raptors are hard to figure out. They recently brought in an exceptional defensive minded coach in Dwane Casey. Casey has been doing his utmost to change the culture in the Raptors locker room and the results are starting to show.
The Raptors took a major gamble this season in trading away Ed Davis (could be a borderline all-star guy in the future) and grabbing the often-criticized Rudy Gay. Gay has all the tools and potential to be more than just a borderline star player. However, throughout his career he has been unable to figure it all out and become the player he could be.
Rudy Gay has a lot of expectations to meet up in Toronto. (Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com)
There are other interesting players on their roster such as Kyle Lowry, Amir Johnson, DeMar DeRozan, and Jonas Valanciunas The most intriguing of those are Lowry and Valanciunas. Both players have the potential to be All-Stars in the league and are fairly young. If the trio of Gay, Valanciunas and Lowry can figure it out, the Raptors could be back in the playoffs quite soon.
18. Atlanta Hawks: Although the Hawks only have a couple players locked in past this season, I am quite high on where the franchise is going and what they can do this summer.
The Hawks have a great player in Al Horford. They also have a dynamic young point guard in Jeff Teague. Now that they have made it past the Joe Johnson Era of disappointment and first-round playoff exits they can rebuild themselves into a relevant team once again.
Atlanta is a great city where players love to visit. With new management and exciting goals Hawks fans will soon be seeing changes in their squad and should be very excited with the direction this franchise is going.
19. Los Angeles Lakers: What will Laker Nation do when the Kobe Bryant Era ends? The Lakers will do what they always have done. The Lakers have never been afraid to spend extra money to get the job done. When Kobe retires, they will find a new superstar (most likely Dwight Howard) to hand the franchise to.
Winning matters more than anything else to the Lakers. Lakers fans should never worry about the future since management is never afraid to dig deep in its pockets to put together a contending team year in and year out.
20. Portland Trail Blazers: The Trail Blazers are one of the most entertaining teams in the league that does not get talked about enough. Rookie sensation Damian Lillard is dynamite. Wesley Matthews is still a great bargain-priced player. Nicolas Batum might be overpaid, but he might not be considering that he has been terrific this season while playing most of it injured. LaMarcus Aldridge may very well be the best power forward in the game right now.
Damian Lillard has exceeded expectations in his first season. Photo Credit: Chrishmt0424 (Flickr.com)
All that being said, the Blazers do not have much depth. Seeing as how they will not make the playoffs and they have some draft picks this should be fixed in the near future, the Rose Garden should remain roaring for the foreseeable future. Blazers fans should not worry.
21. Dallas Mavericks: How much longer can Dirk Nowitzki play at a star level? Owner Mark Cuban believes that he has a couple of elite years left in him. Will he be able to hold on long enough for the Mavericks to return to their contender form? It is hard to say.
The Mavericks do not have a lot of young talent locked down going forward. Darren Collison has been a disappointment this season and O.J. Mayo will likely use his player option this summer. Outside of Dirk, it is hard to say what exactly the lineup in Dallas will look like next year.
They still have a couple things going for them considering that Cuban is an extremely competitive owner who is known for giving his players the absolute best. They have one of the most likable superstars in the league in Dirk and they have a ton of cap space this summer. Mavericks fans should not give up hope on their future just yet.
22. Chicago Bulls: The Bulls do not have a lot of young talent. In fact, looking at their lineup, it is hard to believe that they have played so well this season without Derrick Rose.
Without Derrick Rose, Chicago is doomed to be a mediocre team. Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com
The Bulls are injury-prone and full of veterans. If Derrick Rose can return to his MVP form, none of this matters. If Rose has solid talent around him he can single-handedly carry a team (in the Eastern Conference) to the playoffs. As always, the Bulls future lies with the health of Rose’s surgically-repaired knee.
23. Memphis Grizzlies: Remember when the Grizzlies were the laughing stock of the league for trading away Pau Gasol? Now the Grizzlies look like geniuses who stole one of the most versatile and talented centers in the league, Marc Gasol.
Marc Gasol has been a savior for the Grizzlies. Photo Credit: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule
Zach Randolph is still an effective player capable of scoring and rebounding in bunches. Tony Allen is a good a defender as there is in the league. Mike Conley is exceptional and will most likely continue to be underpaid and under-appreciated for most of his career. With how this team is built, the Grizzlies should remain contenders for a long time.
24. Milwaukee Bucks: Is Brandon Jennings worth the money or not? Jennings started off the season on fire. Since then he has cooled off as all streaky shooters do. However, Jennings appears to be getting noticeably better at distributing the ball lately.
It remains unclear whether Brandon Jennings is in the Bucks’ future plans or not. Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com
If Jennings and J.J. Redick leave this summer and Monta Ellis uses his player option the Bucks will have plenty of cap space. They also have some very intriguing prospects on their front line in Larry Sanders and Ersan Ilyasova. It is unclear what the Bucks will do going forward. If they re-sign the pieces they have now, they could potentially grow into a very tough team. If they start to rebuild, they have some very nice young pieces to work with.
25. Brooklyn Nets: Deron Williams has had a bad year by his standards. He is only 28 years old yet seems to be quickly gaining a reputation for being injury-prone. Gerald Wallace has always been injury-prone. Brook Lopez is in the middle of a breakout year, but sat out nearly all of last year. Joe Johnson has not aged well and is becoming increasingly more prone to injuries.
All of the aforementioned players are locked into long-term deals with the Nets. This team is exciting and competitive now, however in a few years they may just be a perennial first-round-exit team.
26. New York Knicks: Carmelo Anthony is right in the middle of his prime. He is an absolute monster on offense and should remain so for the foreseeable future. Outside of Anthony it is tough to see where this team is going.
Carmelo Anthony is the driving force behind these Knicks. Photo Credit: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule
Raymond Felton is not particularly young and even now struggles to stay in shape. J.R. Smith is a veteran who still makes questionable decisions. Iman Shumpert has already experienced knee issues. Amare Stoudamire cannot be counted on going forward. Tyson Chandler has been relatively healthy over the past few years, however his history far from guarantees he will be able to keep it up.
Knicks fans should enjoy this team while they are competitive. Once some of these players fade a bit it is unclear how competitive they will remain.
27. Sacramento Kings: The Kings have been a mess most of this season. The players seem moody and unmotivated. The team might move next season. They just traded away a lottery pick in Thomas Robinson. The future and the present appear quite murky for the Kings franchise.
However, the Kings do have considerable young talent. Isaiah Thomas may be under-sized, but he is developing into a quality player. Tyreke Evans is gifted and can play multiple positions. DeMarcus Cousins is young and versatile. All these players have terrific upsides. Unfortunately, these players appear to be held back by their lack of motivation and discipline. If these players can pull it together, the Kings will be dangerous.
28. Philadelphia 76ers: What a disappointment this season has been for Sixer fans. Andrew Bynum has yet to play a single game. Evan Turner has been wildly inconsistent, Spencer Hawes is still Spencer Hawes and Doug Collins seems to be losing his team.
The lone bright spot this season has been Jrue Holiday‘s leap to stardom. It has been noted for awhile that Holiday had real star potential. Now, he is finally fulfilling it.
Is Andrew Bynum worth the risk? Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com
Where the Sixers’ management will go from here is uncertain. Andrew Bynum will be a free agent and is a gamble. It is hard to figure out what Evan Turner is going to end up being in the league. Everybody seems disposable and Collins may not return next year. The Sixers’ future is unclear. Fans should be ready for more rocky years ahead.
29. Charlotte Bobcats: What is going on in Charlotte? No one really knows. Here is the good news. Kemba Walker has shown tremendous progress in his second season. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is everything that management hoped for and both of these guys are locked in for the next few years.
Here is the bad news. Outside of those two players it is hard to find a reason to watch the Bobcats these days. They are lottery-bound once again and could be losing arguably their second-best player Gerald Henderson this offseason. Bobcat fans can only hope a savior comes from the lottery and returns them to basketball relevance.
30. Phoenix Suns: The most entertaining basketball in the desert is no longer played in the Suns arena now that Steve Nash is gone. The Suns have one great contract in Goran Dragic. Besides that they have the Morris twins (Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris) and Michael Beasley to build with.
Phoenix should try to rid itself of Michael Beasley if he still holds any trade value. (Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com)
The best thing the Suns have going for them is their loads of cap space. If they can somehow shed Beasley’s contract perhaps these rebuilding years will not be so hard on Suns fans. Until then, these are dark days out in Phoenix.