It didn’t take very long at all, did it? The 2023–24 season has already begun, so NBA power rankings are available.
The Lakers, who had a strong offseason, are starting the season in the top slot, which is a bit of a surprise. Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, and Jarred Vanderbilt were all re-signed this summer, and Austin Reaves received a new contract to complete their trade deadline overhaul.
Adding versatile point guard Gabe Vincent, plus center Jaxson Hayes, and forwards Taurean Prince (who will start), Cam Reddish and Christian Wood, made this a knockout summer for the Lakers, who have the deepest roster in the league.
It all comes down to whether injury-prone center Anthony Davis and 38-year-old LeBron James can stay healthy. But if so, look out–the Lakers should be the league’s best team.
(And, fittingly, the Celtics should be the best in the East.)
To put together these NBA power rankings, we chatted with an assistant coach for a Western Conference team as well as a scout for an Eastern Conference team, who told us what they’d be looking for in the upcoming season.
Let’s get to those NBA power rankings, then.
NBA Power Rankings Top 10: Too Low for the Champs?
- Los Angeles Lakers. Western Conference assistant coach: “You can argue this is the best supporting cast LeBron has ever had. He had Hall of Famers in Miami but in terms of, 1-through-12, a roster that fills its roles and makes sense? This is the best, I would say. Just gotta stay healthy.”
- Boston Celtics. Eastern Conference scout: “It’s all about chemistry and culture for them this year. No matter what you say about Marcus Smart, he made that team play harder when he was there. Can Jayson Tatum do that? Or Jaylen Brown? Jrue Holiday can but is he comfortable doing that as the new guy?”
- Phoenix Suns. WC coach: “They have six guys you might trust in the playoffs. So, I am looking for, who is going to be the surprise role player? Maybe (Yuta) Watanabe, maybe Keita (Bates-Diop). They’re too thin unless they get a breakthrough kind of guy.”
- Denver Nuggets. WC coach: “All the credit to them for last season but it is going to be tougher this year, with Phoenix and the Lakers and if the Warriors are healthy. So, who gets better? I think it has got to be Michael Porter Jr. They can’t spend $250 million on a 3-point specialist.”
- Milwaukee Bucks. EC scout: “What do they do with Damian Lillard’s defense? That’s Adrian Griffin’s No. 1 priority. He needs him to not be a liability in the playoffs.”
- Golden State Warriors. WC coach: “(Jonathan) Kuminga. I think they are a good team that can get to the second round of the playoffs as is. But, Chris Paul is not the real wild card there. It’s Kuminga. He’s got to put it together this year, and if he does, they’re a contender.”
- Cleveland Cavaliers. EC scout: “They’re making an effort to speed up their offense, to take more 3s, to be up tempo. That suits them–the D is good, but they’ve got good weapons. A lot of coaches say (they want to play fast) in October and they’re back to playing crawl-ball by Thanksgiving. They need to stick with that.”
- New York Knicks. EC scout: “Space. It is always space with them. They’ve got to be able to create enough space for (Julius) Randle to be successful. They have 1,000 guards on the roster, so they should eb able to do that.”
- Miami Heat. EC scout: “They needed a Plan B for the Damian Lillard stuff. You let (Gabe) Vincent walk and maybe you were never going to pay him $10 million (per year). But Plan B is Kyle Lowry? They will survive but point guard is going to be their downfall.”
- Sacramento Kings. WC coach: “Da’Aaron Fox put it together last year. It took longer than they wanted but he got it. Now, can he be more consistent? Can he be a leader? Can he defend consistently? Just getting to the playoffs is not going to be enough.”
