14 NETS
They’re a little difficult to figure out, but
Kyrie Irving is still a maestro with an orange
sphere in his hands. And if nothing else, his musings at least
provide a talking point if not any genuine insight.
15 HEAT
The team’s blue-collar mentality doesn’t al-
ways translate to thrilling basketball. Jimmy
Butler will provide some flashpoint moments, but keep an
eye on Bam Adebayo. If he takes a leap, Miami becomes
much more thrilling.
16 CELTICS
Kemba Walker is probably going to have
some really big nights. However, just
because he makes jokes doesn’t mean Enes Kanter is funny,
and while losing Kyrie Irving may be good for chemistry,
it’s not good for style points.
17 PACERS
A resurgent season from Victor Oladipo
would be endearing. And Domantas
Sabonis is an emerging yet undernoticed talent. But Indi-
ana is more of a high-floor team than a high-ceiling team,
at least funwise.
18 THUNDER
As a Chris Paul apologist, I’m pained
to have the Thunder this low. Who
knows how long this group will actually stay together and
how motivated they’ll be to win? For now, there’s enough
talent here to prevent anything close to an egregious tank.
19 HAWKS
Trae Young is liable to pull up from any-
where on the floor, and John Collins is
an overlooked young big. Bonus points for a lack of D that
guarantees the Hawks almost exclusively play shootouts.
20 BULLS
Here’s an up-and-coming team
that could force itself into the
playoff mix. Full seasons from Zach Lavine and
Lauri Markkanen should provide enough fire-
works for the occasional League Pass check-in.21 PISTONS
The Blake Griffin–Andre
Drummond pairing is more
effective than entertaining. Still, the Pistons are
worth glancing at in case Blake does decide to
pull a slam out of his bag of tricks, and Derrick
Rose provides some unpredictability.22 TIMBERWOLVES
The offensive
brilliance of
Karl-Anthony Towns is basically weighed down
by the offensive brickiness of Andrew Wiggings.
The Wolves will move higher up the list when they
figure things out, something fans—and probably
the front office—are running out of patience for.23 GRIZZLIES
The Grizz are a year away
from being taken more se-
riously as a fun watch. For now, real basketball pur-
ists can take joy in the development of Ja Morant
and Jaren Jackson Jr. as the losses inevitably pile up.24 SPURS
An energetic bench doesn’t
make up for the midrange-heavy
games of LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan.
The Spurs made basketball beautiful, then decided they
wanted to try winning games in the exact opposite manner.25 MAGIC
Orlando rivals the Knicks when it comes
to a hilariously imbalanced, forward-heavy
roster. The Magic took all the zip out of Aaron Gordon’s
game, and they shouldn’t be forgiven for that.26 WIZARDS
We’re nearing the bottom of the bar-
rel. At least Bradley Beal is good, and
he’s going to play a lot.27 KNICKS
They’ll be worth watching this season
if and only if David Fizdale plays Ju-
lius Randle, Marcus Morris, Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis and
Mitchell Robinson at the same time—even if for
a minute—just to acknowledge how poorly
last summer went for New York.28 SUNS
Devin Booker and Dean-
dre Ayton are interest-
ing in theory. In practice, though....
At least Phoenix is actually employing
a point guard this season.29 CAVALIERS
Let’s see you
name four
players on this team. We’re waiting.30 HORNETS
Replacing
Kemba Walker
with Terry Rozier is deeply depressing.
Aside from the occasional Miles Bridges
dunk, there is nothing fun here. ±