Zach Lowe's annual tiers of the NBA

[42N8Bounce]

A solid write up by Zach Lowe on ESPN
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/17777645/tiers-nba-zach-lowe

Summary for those too lazy to click on the link:

Trilogy Participants:
- GS Warriors
- Cleveland Cavaliers

Ain't Never Gonna Give Up:
- LA Clippers

Best of the Rest:
- SA Spurs
- Boston Celtics
- Toronto Raptors

Rock Solid Playoff Teams:
- Indiana Pacers
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Houston Rockets
- OKC Thunder
- Utah Jazz

Here are his comments on the Blazers:

There is a ton of skepticism around the league about Portland. The Blazers enjoyed near-perfect health last season, and slid into an unexpected power vacuum when Utah, New Orleans, Phoenix, Sacramento, and Houston imploded. They ranked an ugly 21st in points allowed per possession, and played above-.500 ball only during a sizzling midseason jaunt against mostly bad teams.

But watch the Blazers, and you see a mature team comfortable in its own skin -- and primed for the kind of organic improvement that comes when young teammates marinate together. They're well-versed in Terry Stotts' read-and-react offense, and they should come out of the gate a bit better on defense now that they're starting Al-Farouq Aminu at power forward. That lineup fouled at a low rate, crucial for the Blazers, who spent most of the season hacking the bejesus out of everyone. The smaller, switchier group is just better at keeping the ball in front of them.

That will still be a challenge for Portland in reserve lineups unless Stotts really shrinks the rotation; Meyers Leonard, Festus Ezeli, and Ed Davis are all basically centers, and the Blazers will have trouble chasing smaller opponents when any two of them play together.

Cut the hacks, and Portland has the foundation of sturdy defense. They entice a ton of midrangers, and shut off both the restricted area and those juicy corner 3s. Opponents shot a preposterous 42.5 percent on the few wide-open 3s they managed, per tracking data provided to ESPN.com, and if sheer randomness pushes that number down, the Blazers could at least hit league-average on defense.

Overall I think it's a pretty balanced article. I think he overrates the Clippers and Houston in my opinion.

With the season soon to begin, lets see the Blazers outperform these predictions!

 

[jlprk]

In Golden State vs Cleveland, all he can talk about is Golden State. Just like all other NBA journalists. In the San Antonio discussion, writers now barely mention Aldridge, compared to a year ago.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

I agree with this list outside the Raptors being ranked over Portland. At most they're on the same tier.

The Blazers are one more alpha dog scorer away from competing with GS.

 

[MickZagger]

Rockets???

I think they're going to be awful.