Ranking the NBA’s top 10 teams entering March

I have so many thoughts on the Houston Rockets. Not only are they a weird combination of veteran players and youngsters, but they’re also a team that I could genuinely see contending for the Finals next season. Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun are a young foundation that can win games, with Fred VanVleet remaining an effective player despite his efficiency issues. The problem with the Rockets is that those three inefficient but productive players take a backseat in the offense to Jalen Green, who just cannot remain their number one.

The Rockets need to trade Jalen Green and bring in a superstar; if Kevin Durant is available and he is willing to go to Houston they should be all-in. That kind of star talent paired with the already-existing talent on the roster could challenge for a title, and the front office has to start showing a willingness to shake things up to bring the city a championship. Houston has evolved into the status of playoff contenders, now this summer needs to be spent avoiding the mistakes that the Magic made regarding complacency.

The Memphis Grizzlies are a dangerous team who have made massive leaps from last season, but things are just weird right now for them. Ja Morant has regressed from a superstar guard to someone in the middle of a concerning fall of, and it feels like he’s holding them back from true contender status. Jaren Jackson Jr. is still playing at an extremely high level and Desmond Bane has remained an effective floor spacer who can catch fire on any given night.

From a depth standpoint, I like that the Grizzlies have so many rotation players, but they’re lacking that true superstar and it’s exactly where Morant has let them down. If he was playing at the level he had in his best seasons, the Grizzlies would be in a spot where they could look at OKC as their only real hurdle for the Western Conference title. Their defense is just not capable of winning a title, I would be stunned to see a team without a superstar-level player win the Finals while allowing 116 points a night.

The Milwaukee Bucks have fallen from the Eastern Conference’s top threat to a team that’s seeing their window begin to close, but whenever you have Giannis Antetokounmpo. He’s still playing at an incredibly high level and the Bucks have solved a lot of their defensive issues from last season, but that’s come with a massive regression on the offensive side of the ball. I wasn’t a fan of the Kyle Kuzma addition and I’m still underwhelmed with what he brings to the table, and this is a situation where the organization is failing their franchise icon.

What gave me hope for their turnaround was Damian Lillard making a massive efficiency leap from his first season with the Bucks, but they’ve simply failed to build around their star duo properly. These two are capable of destroying opposing defenses and I don’t think anyone wants to face them in a playoff series because of it, but their depth gives them a clear weakness and teams know that their star duo is all they have going for them at this point.

Things looked really grim for the Los Angeles Lakers as they entered the second half of the season. An aging LeBron James had stopped performing at a level high enough to guide a team to a championship, even with how good Anthony Davis had been this year. With no draft capital to bail them out in the coming years, the city of Angels was on the brink of seeing their iconic basketball franchise fall back into the depths of the Western Conference standings.

Then, the Mavericks just handed them Luka Doncic.

Luka Doncic is one of the five best players in the NBA and LeBron James has looked so much better with him on the court. These two are dominant together, and the Lakers have really crushed their roster optimization under new head coach JJ Reddick. Los Angeles has a well-rounded lineup with excellent star power, but I think the best is yet to come for this team. Next year they’ll be a lot better, this year they’re just a bit too incomplete for my liking, but I’ll never count out a team with LeBron James and Luka Doncic on it.

We’re going aggressive with this ranking, as while the Golden State Warriors are just the seventh seed in the Western Conference, their addition of Jimmy Butler has immediately paid massive dividends. Stephen Curry looks reinvigorated now that he isn’t the only real threat for opposing defenses to worry about, as he’s been able to torch defenses and get more favorable matchups. Is Curry a top-three player in the world? No, but he’s playing at a level that’s reminiscent of that magical 2022 Finals run.

The addition of Jimmy Butler gives the Warriors another star who can take over a game, and his impact goes beyond the ability to score the basketball. He’ll give you ~20 points a night in the regular season, but the excellent defense paired with phenomenal playmaking will win you games. Where you’ll see Butler shine is in the playoffs, where he has been one of the best players in the league. Draymond Green is still a good player and their depth isn’t absolutely abysmal; they have a chance to go on a run if they’re healthy.

I’m not sure what to think of the Denver Nuggets, as while they still have the best player in the NBA with Nikola Jokic, their roster around him is holding this group back a lot. Constructing a title contender around Jokic isn’t hard given that he’s the best offensive player in the sport by a considerable margin, but the Nuggets have not done enough to build up their defensive depth. Denver is allowing 116.3 points a night and they don’t have much to get in the way of teams scoring a barrage of points on a nightly basis.

They have to hope that they’re capable of historic offensive performances, which is definitely on the table when you consider how insane of a season Nikola Jokic is having. He and Shai Gilgeuous-Alexander are in the middle of an MVP race that deserves way more attention than it has gotten, and if they can find lightning in a bottle internally to get to around league-average defensively, the rest of the NBA should be scared. It’s always an advantage to have the best player in any given series, but Denver has seemed to forget this is a team sport.

Jalen Brunson has continued to look like a star-caliber player, but the Knicks losing Isaiah Harteinstein has crushed their defense. Karl-Anthony Towns is an excellent player but the fit with Brunson doesn’t work well enough to be on the same level with a team like Boston or Oklahoma City. The book is out on New York; they can beat everyone but the three best teams in the NBA, as they’ve been blown out by that trio of title contenders in almost every matchup.

Mitchell Robinson returning could help with their defensive issues but they simply have to play at a level in the postseason that exceeds what they’ve shown in the regular season if they want to win the Finals. The Knicks are not bad, and that’s an important distinction to make, but New York fans have seen this team lose in the second round two straight years in a row and they’re getting impatient. The Knicks have always had heart to go with their talent, but this year they’ll need that heart to come out sooner rather than later.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are coming off of a thrilling come-from-behind win against the Boston Celtics, as they were in a 25-3 hole to start before rallying back to get a huge win. Donovan Mitchell has looked remarkable, Evan Mobley is taking a massive leap, and Darius Garland has silenced any and all questions about his desire to remain in Cleveland. Jarrett Allen is still a defensive anchor, and players like De’Andre Hunter and Ty Jerome are excellent pieces to complement their already-existing core.

An elite defense that has shown the ability to score at a high level, I’m sold on their ability to win the NBA Finals but would like to pay respects to the reigning NBA Champions. The Cavaliers are very good, but I’ll need to see them beat the Celtics in the postseason before I truly believe they’re the better team. The margin has gone from massive to marginal though, and I would hear any argument for why Cleveland will come out of the Eastern Conference.

I had zero questions about the Boston Celtics entering the season, but the regression of Jaylen Brown does give me one question about their upcoming playoff run. I expect this team to win the Eastern Conference and I think they have an excellent chance of repeating as Champions, but if Brown is going to continue being utilized as a superstar, I’m not sure they’re going to be as dominant as they were last post-season. Jayson Tatum will get painted as the bad guy, but he’s still a remarkable player and a championship-caliber one who people underrate.

Derrick White, Payton Prichard, and Kristaps Porzingis are strong supplementary pieces as well, but I’m not so sure about Jrue Holiday anymore. The Celtics went from an all-time great team to a very good one, a regression that shouldn’t be criticized much given just how hard it is trying to repeat a level of dominance we have rarely seen in professional sports. Boston isn’t falling from first to second as a result of being a team on the downturn, but rather because they’re just incredibly good while another team has become historically dominant.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is in my opinion just slightly ahead of Nikola Jokic for this year’s MVP, and I’m not sure if people are properly appreciating his greatness. He is averaging 32 points per game with a 64.1% TS%, as he’s become one of the best offensive players in the league while also being an elite defender. There are not many guards in the history of the sport who have had a season as dominant as the one SGA is having, and his supporting cast is also remarkable.

Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams remain excellent running mates alongside SGA, and Isaiah Harteinstein with Alex Caruso are a defensive duo capable of locking down any offense. Aaron Wiggins has emerged as a key part of this rotation while holdovers from last season like Lu Dort and Isaiah Joe are still effective rotation players. This team is in a prime position to contend for and win the NBA Finals, and I think their road to the Finals is clear; they are better than everyone in the West without a shadow of a doubt.