can't read the article so I don't have a good gauge on criteria specifics
* I'm assuming a big part of management = ownership? If so, I can understand the 29th ranking. But I think Cronin should have still elevated that ranking a bit
* players at 29? seems kind of low but maybe not. Only Detroit and Washington are noticeably worse I guess. Other teams might be debatable
* draft at 4? I'm assuming this is where ESPN is assuming the Blazers will suck enough as a team to have high lottery picks?
Here's how we did it.
FUTURE POWER RATING
PLAYERS (worth 58.3% of score): Current players and their potential for the future, factoring in expected departures
MANAGEMENT (worth 16.7% of score): Quality and stability of front office, ownership, coaching
MONEY (worth 8.3% of score): Projected salary-cap situation; ability and willingness to exceed cap and pay luxury tax
MARKET (worth 8.3% of score): Appeal to future acquisitions based on team quality, franchise reputation, city's desirability as a destination, market size, taxes, business and entertainment opportunities, arena quality, fans
DRAFT (worth 8.3% of score): Future draft picks; draft positioning
We determined that the most important category is a team's current roster and the future potential of those players. That category accounts for more than 50% of each NBA team's overall Future Power Rating, the 0-100 score each team receives to determine its overall ranking.
At the same time, we looked at many other factors such as management, ownership, coaching, a team's spending habits, its cap situation, the reputation of the city and the franchise and what kind of draft picks we expect the team to have in the future.
The full scores for every team in each category are below.
Players (58.3%)
RANK TEAM RATING
1 Boston Celtics 94
2 Denver Nuggets 91
3 Milwaukee Bucks 82
4 Phoenix Suns 79
5 Memphis Grizzlies 75
6 Golden State Warriors 72
7 Oklahoma City Thunder 69
T8 Cleveland Cavaliers 65
T8 Los Angeles Lakers 65
10 New York Knicks 61
T11 Minnesota Timberwolves 59
T11 Miami Heat 59
13 Dallas Mavericks 58
14 Sacramento Kings 57
15 Philadelphia 76ers 55
16 New Orleans Pelicans 51
17 LA Clippers 49
18 Atlanta Hawks 47
19 Indiana Pacers 41
20 Utah Jazz 37
21 Orlando Magic 34
22 San Antonio Spurs 33
23 Brooklyn Nets 31
24 Toronto Raptors 29
25 Detroit Pistons 26
26 Houston Rockets 23
T27 Charlotte Hornets 21
T27 Chicago Bulls 21
29 Portland Trail Blazers 13
30 Washington Wizards 3
Current players and potential for the future
Management (16.7%)
RANK TEAM RATING
1 Miami Heat 96
2 Oklahoma City Thunder 84
3 Denver Nuggets 82
4 Boston Celtics 76
5 Utah Jazz 74
6 LA Clippers 72
7 Memphis Grizzlies 69
8 Golden State Warriors 66
T9 Milwaukee Bucks 60
T9 Toronto Raptors 60
T9 New York Knicks 60
12 Phoenix Suns 58
13 San Antonio Spurs 57
14 Sacramento Kings 56
15 Cleveland Cavaliers 55
16 Los Angeles Lakers 54
17 Philadelphia 76ers 49
18 Minnesota Timberwolves 43
T19 New Orleans Pelicans 38
T19 Brooklyn Nets 38
21 Chicago Bulls 35
T22 Dallas Mavericks 32
T22 Atlanta Hawks 32
24 Indiana Pacers 31
25 Houston Rockets 30
26 Orlando Magic 25
27 Detroit Pistons 24
28 Washington Wizards 23
29 Portland Trail Blazers 21
30 Charlotte Hornets 1
Quality/stability of front office, ownership, coaching
Money (8.3%)
RANK TEAM RATING
1 San Antonio Spurs 92
2 Orlando Magic 88
3 Detroit Pistons 86
4 Utah Jazz 81
5 Indiana Pacers 80
T6 Oklahoma City Thunder 72
T6 Philadelphia 76ers 72
8 Washington Wizards 70
9 Charlotte Hornets 66
10 Toronto Raptors 65
11 Brooklyn Nets 63
12 Portland Trail Blazers 62
T13 New York Knicks 50
T13 Sacramento Kings 50
T13 Memphis Grizzlies 50
T13 Houston Rockets 50
17 Chicago Bulls 47
18 Atlanta Hawks 42
19 Los Angeles Lakers 41
20 Cleveland Cavaliers 38
21 Dallas Mavericks 37
22 Miami Heat 34
23 New Orleans Pelicans 33
24 LA Clippers 29
25 Minnesota Timberwolves 23
26 Golden State Warriors 20
27 Denver Nuggets 19
28 Milwaukee Bucks 15
29 Boston Celtics 14
30 Phoenix Suns 10
Projected salary-cap situation
Market (8.3%)
RANK TEAM RATING
1 Los Angeles Lakers 95
2 New York Knicks 92
T3 Miami Heat 83
T3 LA Clippers 83
5 Golden State Warriors 82
6 Brooklyn Nets 78
7 Boston Celtics 73
8 Phoenix Suns 67
9 Chicago Bulls 66
10 Philadelphia 76ers 61
11 Dallas Mavericks 58
12 Houston Rockets 56
T13 Atlanta Hawks 52
T13 Toronto Raptors 52
15 Denver Nuggets 48
16 Milwaukee Bucks 44
17 Orlando Magic 43
18 Washington Wizards 41
19 San Antonio Spurs 36
20 Portland Trail Blazers 35
21 Sacramento Kings 33
22 Utah Jazz 31
23 Memphis Grizzlies 30
24 New Orleans Pelicans 29
25 Detroit Pistons 26
26 Indiana Pacers 24
27 Cleveland Cavaliers 23
T28 Oklahoma City Thunder 22
T28 Charlotte Hornets 22
30 Minnesota Timberwolves 16
Appeal to future acquisitions
Draft (8.3%)
RANK TEAM RATING
1 Oklahoma City Thunder 94
2 San Antonio Spurs 90
3 Utah Jazz 87
4 Portland Trail Blazers 81
5 New Orleans Pelicans 77
6 New York Knicks 74
7 Orlando Magic 73
8 Washington Wizards 69
9 Houston Rockets 68
10 Indiana Pacers 67
11 Brooklyn Nets 64
12 Detroit Pistons 63
13 Charlotte Hornets 53
14 Sacramento Kings 52
15 Memphis Grizzlies 50
16 Toronto Raptors 47
17 Chicago Bulls 42
18 Boston Celtics 40
19 Miami Heat 38
20 Atlanta Hawks 37
T21 Golden State Warriors 31
T21 Dallas Mavericks 31
23 Los Angeles Lakers 29
24 LA Clippers 28
25 Denver Nuggets 27
26 Philadelphia 76ers 25
27 Cleveland Cavaliers 20
28 Minnesota Timberwolves 18
T29 Milwaukee Bucks 12
T29 Phoenix Suns 12
Future draft picks; draft positioning
