Ben Yanowitch

Ben Yanowitch is a sophomore at The Field School and follows basketball closely. He has also looked at all of the previous seasons rankings and has came to the following conclusions

1. Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks are expected to have another strong season powered by Luka Doncic. However, it is expected that the Mavericks will take a step back from last season due to losing Luka’s best role player in Jalen Brunson who signed with the Knicks. It is expected Spencer Dinwiddie will be starting in the backcourt with Doncic in Brunson’s roles However, If Dinwiddie is not able to replicate Brunson’s role, the Mavericks may slip in the rankings.

2. Minnesota Timberwolves

Minnesota was knocked out in the first round last year,but their team is on an upward trajectory. They are powered by rising star Anhony Edwards in their backcourt and the offseason addition of Rudy Gobert guarding their rim alongside Karl-Anthony Towns. The big three of Edwards, Gobert, Towns will be a force to be reckoned with.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland was not able to make the playoffs last year, but they had an amazing off season. They added to their already great young core of players by trading for star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell in the offseason. This team now has a big three of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, and Evan Mobley. I believe this team may be able to make a deep playoff run in the east if Mobley is able to improve and the big three works well together. 

4. New Orleans Pelicans

New Orleans is a hard team to predict this year. This is due to their star player, Zion Williamson being injury prone. In the games Williamson has played, he has been phenomenal. Zion also has a supporting cast of CJ Mccollum and Brandon Ingram. Mccollum and Ingram are both solid players, but I am not sure if they are good enough to place high in the east themselves,so the health of Zion will be the determining factor.

5. Toronto Raptors

Toronto is expected to have another season of mediocrity this year. They have a mediocre core of players with Pascal Siakaam, Fred Van Vleet, and Scottie Barnes. They did not make many changes this offseason so I do not expect they will improve much. 

6. Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta is expected to improve this year. In the offseason, they traded for Dejounte Murray who will join young star Trae Young in the Atlanta backcourt. The 23 year old Young was the second player in NBA history to lead the league in both points and assists last year. I expect that Young’s production may decline this year just because of the addition of Murray and him getting some of Young’s volume, but I still expect an excellent year from Trae Young.

7. Los Angeles Lakers

Anthony Davis, Lebron James, Russell Westbrook

I think we are gonna see a similar year from last year for the Lakers. While they still have Lebron James, who is coming off of an excellent season; I do not think that he will have enough help to power the Lakers to a strong season. Point guard Russell Westbrook had a disastrous year last year and held back the team, and he is not expected to improve. James also has the help of Anthony Davis, who was a star in 2020 but was injured in 2021 and was not able to contribute much. The Lakers may be able to exceed expectations, but this is only possible if Davis can be a critical part of it. 

8. Chicago Bulls

Chicago is likely to remain unchanging. They are led by Demar Derozan. Derozan just had an amazing season where he was top 10 in MVP voting. However, Chicago’s offseason was underwhelming and they lost a solid role player in Tristan Thompson.  They were able to add Andre Drummond and Troy Brown Jr, but I think that the loss of Thompson outweighs these additions. 

9. Portland Trail Blazers

Like Chicago, I expect more of the same from Portland. They still have superstar point guard Damian Lillard, but beyond Lillard, they do not have much depth. This is partly due to the fact that Lillard’s main support in the backcourt, CJ Mccollum, was recently traded. To replace Mccollum’s offense, I expect another strong year from Anfernee Simons. While Simons is a promising young player, I do not think he will be able to immediately replace Mccollum.

10. Charlotte Hornets

I expect another mediocre season from Charlotte. While I expect another strong season from Lamelo Ball, I do not think that his supporting cast will be powerful enough to help the Hornets improve this year.

11. New York Knicks

New York is an interesting team this year. They have a solid young talent who has improved evey year in RJ Barrett, but I don’t see much talent in this Knicks beyond Barrett and off-season addition Jalen Brunson.  New York was one of the worst teams in the NBA last season, but I think Brunson will help them improve.

12. Sacramento Kings

I also expect the Kings to have a similar performance to their 2021 season. They will be led by De’Aaron Fox and Damontas Saboonis. While they have improved, I do not think they have improved enough to be better than the other teams that will be competing for the play in spots.

13. Detroit Pistons

I think that Detroit will have a slight improvement this year. Cade Cunningham is entering his second year coming off of a solid rookie season. I think that the supporting cast of Saddiq Bey and rookie Jaden Ivey will help the Pistons have a better season than last. 

14. Indiana Pacers

I expect the Pacers to have another below average season. However, I do not think they will be bad enough to be at the very bottom of the league. This is because young talents Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner will lead them to some wins. I think it will be a few years until the Pacers will be able to compete.

15. Washington Wizards

The Wizards, like always, are in league purgatory. They have absolutely no direction. As the team is currently constructed, they have almost no chance of making it to the playoffs, let alone the Finals. And, unlike some of the other teams around them, the Wizards have no future. They have absolutely no young stars, and since they aren’t quite bad enough to get a top 5 draft pick, they probably won’t get any.

Bradley Beal, like always, is a borderline All-Star caliber player. He is a great player, but not great enough to carry this bag of trash to anything other than an 8th seed. To make it even worse, Beal just signed to a long-term contract. 5 seasons down the line, the Wizards are going to be paying a 33-Year old Beal 57 Million dollars a year. For the next 5 years, DC will be stuck in mediocrity, not good enough to make the playoffs but not bad enough to get a high draft pick.

At this point, just fire the whole team and blow the whole roster up. The only way Washington will ever get better is through an all-out rebuild.

16. Orlando Magic

I expect the Magic to have another rebuilding season. They will be building around first overall pick Paolo Banchero,and their first round pick last year Jalen Suggs. While their rebuild is starting to look good, they have not shown enough yet to be ranked above the bottom of the league.

17. Utah Jazz

I expect the Utah Jazz to be significantly worse than they were last year. This is because of the moves they made in the offseason. They traded their two best players, Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell in exchange for young players and picks they hope they will be able to build around, most notably Colin Sexton. Even though Sexton is a great young talent, he was not the main part of the returns they received, which was picks and pick swaps. I think the Jazz may be able to compete once they make those high selections, but for now they are at the bottom of the league. 

18. Oklahoma City Thunder

I expect another rebuilding year for the Thunder as well. They have a great selection of young talent, headlined by their 2022 first round pick Chet Holmgren, who is injured and out for the season, 2021 first round pick Josh Giddey, and 2018 first round pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. I believe that the Thunder will be a top team in a few years, but they are at the bottom for now.

19. San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs are also rebuilding this year. There is not much talent on this roster at all, and it is expected that they will tank for the most hyped prospect since Lebron James in Victor Wembanyama.

20. Houston Rockets

For the second straight year, Houston is ranked at the bottom of the league. This is exactly where they want to be. The lucrative James Harden trade gave the Rockets a plethora of draft picks, giving Houston a clear path to a rebuild.