2018/19 NBA Team Interest Levels

October 16, 2018

Introduction

I felt like quickly throwing together a post on my interest level on each NBA team entering the 2018/19 season, basically ripping off Zach Lowe's yearly League Pass Rankings. Mostly, this post is to document my thoughts at the beginning of the season to compare how I feel at the end of the season. As has been noted before, I think record keeping is important and I'm trying to better document my records publicly.

  1. Utah Jazz (9.5)
    • Stylistically pleasing
    • Great depth
    • Ricky Rubio/Dante Exum/Donovan Mitchell/Joe Ingles/Jae Crowder/Rudy Gobert/Ekpe Udoh are all favorites

  2. Philadelphia 76ers (9.0)
    • Only thing keeping them from going higher is the hype train surrounding them
    • Robert Covington is a favorite
    • Zhaire Smith is one of my favorite rookies
    • Ben Simmons is one of a few players in the league with all-time great vision (other players I can think of: LeBron James, Lonzo Ball, James Harden, likely Luka Doncic)
    • Joel Embiid has the skill and personality to be the face of the NBA

  3. Toronto Raptors (8.5)
    • Tons of favorite players (Lowry/Green/Leonard/VanVleet/Anunoby/Siakam)
    • Early viewings of Nick Nurse's coaching style give me hope they could be extremely fun

  4. Miami Heat (8.0)
    • "Jazz East"
    • Stylistically pleasing
    • Fun depth
    • Love Josh Richardson, Bam Adebayo, and Justise Winslow

  5. Denver Nuggets (8.0)
    • Nikola Jokic might be my favorite player to watch
    • Jamal Murray/Gary Harris/Paul Millsap all rank highly as well
    • Why did they give Mason Plumlee so much money?

  6. Los Angeles Lakers (8.0)
    • Lonzo Ball is likely my 2nd favorite player to watch (behind Nikola Jokic), his passing, help defense, and cutting are unreal
    • They would be at least a 9 without Rondo and Michael Beasley
    • I'm high on Josh Hart and Alex Caruso

  7. Milwaukee Bucks (7.5)
    • Giannis Antetokounmpo is an automatic 5 interest points
    • Malcom Brogdon, Khris Middleton, and Erson Ilyasova are favorites
    • Eric Bledsoe and Thon Maker confuse me

  8. Boston Celtics (7.0)
    • Stylistically pleasing
    • Marcus Smart/Jaylen Brown/Gordon Hayward/Jayson Tatum/Al Horford might be the most defensively versatile lineup in the league
    • "Gordon Hayward and Aron Baynes are so light they wear sunscreen in the gym"
    • I hope Jayson Tatum picks the right parts of Kobe's game to mimic

  9. Brooklyn Nets (6.5)
    • I'm somewhat irrationally high on Brooklyn this year; they remind me of a worse version of the 2015/16 Boston Celtics with the lack of star power but a roster that goes 11 deep
    • D'Angelo Russell's development this year could make or break their playoff chances

  10. Indiana Pacers (6.0)
    • CoJo/Victor Oladipo/Bojan Bogdanovic/Myles Turner are personal cheeseballs
    • Hated their last 2 drafts with Holiday and Leaf

  11. Houston Rockets (6.0)
    • They would be at least a 7.5 without Melo and Michael Carter-Williams
    • Maybe this is the year my Zhou Qi draft day rankings start to show some value
    • Marquese Chriss has potential to be the next JaVale McGee of watchability

  12. Dallas Mavericks (6.0)
    • Luka Doncic is worth 5 ranking points by himself
    • Dwight Powell is quietly very entertaining and Dirk Nowitzki/JJ Barea have some nostalgic appeal
    • The rest of the team is relatively boring

  13. Golden State Warriors (5.5)
    • Who plays between Bell/Jones/Looney?
    • How well does DeMarcus Cousins integrate (once healthy)?
    • Is Jacob Evans an NBA player this year?
    • Where is Patrick McCaw?
    • How much do any of the Hamptons 5 (plus Shaun Livingston) try during the regular season?

  14. Portland Trail Blazers (5.5)
    • Lillard Time may be the single most exciting time during regular season NBA basketball
    • Lineups with Damian Lillard, Seth Curry, and CJ McCollum are going to be pretty fun
    • I was super high on Caleb Swanigan at one point

  15. Oklahoma City Thunder (5.0)
    • Tons of players I like (Roberson/Abrines/Luwawu-Cabarrot/George/Patterson/Adams/Noel)
    • Russell Westbrook/Jerami Grant are two of the most explosive athletes at their positions
    • Extremely stylistically dis-pleasing

  16. Chicago Bulls (4.5)
    • Wendell Carter Jr. is one of my favorite rookies this year
    • Lauri Markkanen was one of my favorites rookies last year
    • Kris Dunn and Jabari Parker are two of my least favorite young players
    • Zach LaVine confuses me
    • Fred Hoiberg does not seem like a good NBA coach

  17. New Orleans Pelicans (4.0)
    • Weird situation where 3 of the best 4 players all want to play the 4 (unless AD finally gives in and realizes he's a 5)
    • Jahlil Okafor is becoming a 20/10 threat now that he's vegan and Elfrid Payton is going to shoot 40% from 3 now that he cut his hair (sarcasm)
    • AD, Nikola Mirotic, and Jrue Holiday save the grade from slipping into the bottom echelon

  18. Memphis Grizzlies (3.5)
    • Really sad that this is where Jaren Jackson Jr. ended up, they would be a 2 at best without him
    • I'm rooting for a full recovery for Mike Conley

  19. Washington Wizards (3.0)
    • John Wall is a more pleasing (to me) version of RWB
    • The junior wings (Otto Porter Jr., Kelly Oubre Jr., Troy Brown Jr.) are fun and I want to see lineups with all 3
    • Wizards of years past have had the worst end-of-game offensive strategy in the league (lots of isolation 18 foot jumpers and bricked floaters) and I imagine it will stay that way this year

  20. Los Angeles Clippers (3.0)
    • Tuning in for the PG (Patrick Beverely/Milos Teodosic/Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) and backup C (Boban Marjanovic/Montrezl Harrell) minutes
    • If all 5 are ever on the floor at the same time I might faint

  21. Minnesota Timberwolves (3.0)
    • Wish Tyus Jones was appreciated more, I think he's better than Jeff Teague
    • Josh Okogie was a draft favorite

  22. Sacramento Kings (2.5)
    • I like Bogdan Bogdanovic and Willie Cauley-Stein quite a bit
    • How do they handle frontcourt minutes between the young (WCS/Bagley/Labissiere/Giles) and old (Randolph/Koufos/Bjelica)?

  23. Cleveland Cavaliers (2.5)
    • They're going to be relatively boring, but I think the 7th seed is a realistically possibility since they have a lot of NBA caliber players, which not all the teams in the East feature
    • I hope JR Smith takes 15 FGA per game

  24. Phoenix Suns (2.0)
    • I really want Dragan Bender to be good (him and Zhou Qi are maybe my two biggest draft over-rankings so far)
    • The Mikal Bridges trade will likely go down as a franchise altering one (in a bad way)

  25. San Antonio Spurs (2.0)
    • Oh how the mighty have fallen; the late 00's/early 10's Spurs teams were true 10s
    • I'm disinterested in watching DDR/Gay/Aldridge isolate and shoot 16 foot jumpers
    • Popovich's greatest accomplishment may be making this team watchable

  26. Atlanta Hawks (1.5)
    • Development of John Collins/Kevin Huerter/Taurean Prince will be interesting
    • Does Trae Young provide any value outside of PNR offense?
    • BAZEMORE

  27. Orlando Magic (1.5)
    • Jonathan Isaac (and a little bit of Aaron Gordon) keeps them from being a 1
    • Mo Bamba *could* be extremely fun

  28. Charlotte Hornets (1.5)
    • Kemba Walker and Nic Batum are the only reasons they aren't a straight up 1
    • Tony Parker will look very strange in a Hornets jersey

  29. Detroit Pistons (1.0)
    • Unless Dwayne Casey coaches out of his mind, an offense centered around Jackson/Griffin/Drummond is have no space and be relatively boring

  30. New York Knicks (1.0)
    • It's bad when the players I'm most interested in are draft busts from 4 years ago
    • I hope they don't mess up the development of Knox and Ntilikina, they could be 3/5th of a good team with Porzingod one day