Ranking NBA teams by tiers for 2018-19 season

The Rising Stars

Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers

All four of these teams could be dark horse title contenders as early as 2018-19, but due to the youth involved, will probably need another year of seasoning.

Like Anthony Davis, the only thing that could hold back Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s rise to MVP consideration is team success. With more shooters around him than ever and Mike Budenholzer at the helm, we could see a very different — and dangerously overlooked — Milwaukee Bucks team this season.

Another otherworldly seven-footer, Nikola Jokic, will be leading the Denver Nuggets‘ trio of talented youngsters alongside Gary Harris and Jamal Murray. After missing out on the playoffs on the last night of the regular season despite Paul Millsap only playing 38 times, a fully healthy Mile High squad could be improved enough on defense to make some real noise out West.

People will see the Indiana Pacers coming this time, but jumps from Myles Turner and/or Domantas Sabonis — plus an upgraded bench of Tyreke Evans, Doug McDermott and Kyle O’Quinn — could raise the bar even higher for last year’s pleasant surprise team.

As for the Los Angeles Lakers, a 35-win team just added LeBron James and a bunch of veterans. The youngsters and the Meme Team will provide the King with plenty of headaches, but long-term pieces like Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma could very well make the leap this season, while the vets like Rajon Rondo and JaVale McGee will be better than expected. Even so, expect this rise to title contention to take more than one year for the Lake Show.