NBA Power Rankings: 7 teams enter season as legitimate title threats

Last season: 33-49; projected 2019-20: 29-53

The consensus among NBA talking heads seems to be that the Memphis Grizzlies are going to be the most entertaining bad team in the NBA this season.

And why not? With rookie point guard Ja Morant and second-year big Jaren Jackson Jr. getting their entry-level work done, the Grizzlies promise to be entertaining as hell even as they are very much a work in progress.

Memphis is almost certainly not done dealing, either. They did re-sign center Jonas Valanciunas over the summer, but veterans Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala — who is not playing for the Grizzlies now or, likely, ever — are prime trade chips.

The Grizzlies went 3-2 in the postseason (1-2 against NBA competition), but emerged from the preseason mostly healthy, save for backup guard De’Anthony Melton, who is out with a back injury.

Last season: 32-50; projected 2019-20: 30-52

The Washington Wizards moved on from the massively mediocre Ernie Grunfeld era, going with a new management group that includes Tommy Sheppard as general manager. But the moves so far seem pretty much guaranteed to leave the Wizards locked into being a mid-level lottery team for the foreseeable future.

They got Bradley Beal‘s signature on a two-year extension, let Tomas Satoransky walk in a sign-and-trade and are attempting to resurrect the career of Isaiah Thomas while former All-NBA point guard John Wall recovers from a torn Achilles.

As it stands, the Wizards are a combination of a star in Beal, the rawest of rookies in Rui Hachimura, some other unproven young talent that may or may not pan out and a collection of role players being tasked to perform above their level.

Washington was 3-2 in the preseason (2-2 against NBA competition), but enters the season with Thomas out with a torn ligament in his thumb, Ian Mahinmi nursing an Achilles until early December and Wall out indefinitely, while C.J. Miles and Troy Brown Jr. are day-to-day.

Last season: 19-63; projected 2019-20: 31-51

The Phoenix Suns will be more competitive in 2019-20, this much is true. Adding a true point guard in Ricky Rubio will make a big difference, giving the Suns the ability to stagger minutes to allow Devin Booker to be more of a shooter/secondary playmaker.

Cameron Johnson was a reach at No. 11 in the NBA Draft, but his shooting and maturity make him appear likely to be able to contribute right away, but the questions for the Suns will involve (a) being able to stop anyone and (b) whether Deandre Ayton can transform his game into the 21st century.

Booker is a threat to go off for a 50-spot every night, but Phoenix still has holes elsewhere and adding veteran bigs Aron Baynes and Frank Kaminsky seems counter-intuitive to allowing Ayton to develop.

The Suns were 2-2 in the preseason and are mostly healthy coming into the season, with Dario Saric and Tyler Johnson day-to-day with minor issues.