Week 15 NBA Power Rankings
By James Glenn
Feb 16, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9) watches during the 2013 NBA All-Star skills challenge at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
| Welcome to the week 15 Dunking with Wolves NBA Power Rankings. JJ Glenn breaks down every NBA team this week and throughout the NBA season. | |||
| This Week | Last Week | Team | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | San Antonio | The best record in the NBA is one of the reason’s why the Spurs are the top team. A solid stable of young talent intermixed with the vetran leadership, one of the best coaches in the game, and a tremndous front office is why this team is #1 this year, and a perrinal top team in the league. |
| 2 | 3 | Heat | The best team in the East and the reigning NBA champs silenced anyone who still doubted the Heat’s ability to repeat with a solid team performance against the Thunder. If you haven’t been able to enjoy LeBron James’s incredible season with your own eyes this season, please make sure to do so as soon as you can. |
| 3 | 2 | Oklahoma City | The Thunder are deep talented and poised to have many years of success. After being beat by the Heat going into the All-Star break, and going 6-4 over their last 10, the Thunder will need to make some adjustments to this team if they will be returning to the finals. |
| 4 | 6 | L.A. Clippers | The Clips have win 4 straight and showed the Lakers they are no longer the little brother in LA. There is no question the Clippers have a deep bench, and plenty of talent. Problem is, come play off time the rotations tighten up, and in game coaching becomes critical. Both of those are not good when VDN is calling the shots. |
| 5 | 4 | Denver | The Nuggets have gone 7-3 over their last 10, but they’ve lost 3 straight. While this team can put up a lot of points on the scoreboard, they can struggle on the defensive end. |
| 6 | 5 | New York Knicks | The Knicks have lived and died by the jump shot, and so far they have lived more than they’ve died. While thier record is 2nd best in the East, count me as one who believes most of the dying portion will be play off time. |
| 7 | 9 | Indiana | The Pacers are 3rd in the East and quietly going about a nice season. All of this is happening without Danny Granger. A tough inside game with West and Hibbert, coupled with an All Star season from Paul George could make this team a potential threat in the East. |
| 8 | 7 | Memphis | The Grizzlies Offense has actually gone up since the trade of Rudy Gay. They are up to 26th in the NBA in scoring, while it still isn’t in the top half of the league, it is impressive to see their offense getting better after the trade of their “biggest” offensive weapon. |
| 9 | 8 | Chicago | The Bulls could have been the team no one wanted to face in the East come playoff time due to Derrick Rose expected back. Now that Rose has said he thinks he might miss the entire season, the Bulls would be no more than a 1st round exit in their current state. |
| 10 | 14 | Houston | The Rockets continue to score at high levels. They are winning game by an average of +2.84 points a game. They also have a positive assits per game difference. If this team can cut down on the turnovers, and continue to grow together as a team. The Rockets could prove to be a tough out in the 1st round. |
| 11 | 11 | Brooklyn | The Nets are still rumored to be in numerous trades. Joe Smith, Dwight Howard. Hard to believe this team could be looking at major changes when the current roster has had 53 games together. Dwill has been said to still be bothered by an ankle injury that happened in the olympics. The Nets will need him healthy if they are to do anythign come post season. |
| 12 | 13 | Boston | The Ewing Theroy is in full effect for Rondo, while no team should be better without a player like Rondo, the Celtics offense has gotten better. The C’s are 8-2 since Rondo went down. The bigger problems for the Celtics may be the injuries of Barbosa and Sullinger. |
| 13 | 10 | Golden State | The Warriors may be hitting a wall, as they have lost 5 striaght and gone 4-6 over their last 10. The Warriors may have needed this All Star break more than almost any other team in the NBA. |
| 14 | 12 | Utah | The Jazz are currently in 7th in the West and have a 1.5 game lead over the 8th seed. Things would seem to be OK. Problem is they are linked to a couple different trade scenarios. All of the trades would have the Jazz shaking up ther current starting line up that has helped get this squad to the 7th seed. |
| 15 | 15 | Atlanta | The Hawks are 6th in the East, they have gone 6-4 over their last 10, and only have a 1.5 game lead. Trade rumors have them getting rid of Josh Smith which brings up the question, is Danny Ferry getting ready to concede this season to start working towards the future? |
| 16 | 16 | Milwaukee | Brandon Jennings is all but set to leave after this season by all accounts coming out of Milwaukee. Will the Bucks get ready to move him to ensure he doesn’t ealk and they get nothing? If the Bucks look to move him, it brings up a lot of roster questions on what will continue to happen to this roster moving forward. |
| 17 | 17 | Portland | The Blazers have one of the best statistical starting line ups in the NBA. The rest of the roster is the issue with this squad. Once any of the starting 5 is off of the court, the Blazers are a completely different team. JJ Hickson is on a 1 year deal, and he has been mentioned in some possible moves the Blazers could look at making prior to the trade deadline. |
| 18 | 18 | L.A. Lakers | The Lakers are the most disappointing teams in the NBA this season. What’s more the paper tiger roster is not even close to living up to what was expected. For 2 seasons Dwight is holding a franchise hostage, this time it is Lakers who are suffering. |
| 19 | 19 | Dallas | The Mavericks have said the Bank of Cuban is open. While this may be true, the Mavericks haven’t been linked to any major moves prior to the trade deadline. While the Bank may be open, bussiness might not pick up until the off season. |
| 20 | 20 | Philadelphia | The 76ers have been rumored to be making moves before the deadline. The only problem is, this team hasn’t even been able to play together. Since Bynum has been out the entire season, no one knows what this roster is capable of doing. |
| 21 | 21 | Minnesota | The Wovles desperatley needed the All Star break. They are about to hit a busy stretch to close out the year, but more importantly, the Wolves will be set to start getting bodies back in 2-3 weeks. The Wolves are 7.5 back of the 8th spot. They would have to hit an impressive run to still make the playoffs this season. |
| 22 | 22 | Toronto | The Raptors are quickly becoming the League Pass team to watch. A young point guard in Lowery, the new addition of Rudy Gay, and the ever emerging play of Terrence Ross this team is not as much of a dumpster fire they 1st seemed to be a month into the season. |
| 23 | 24 | Cleveland | The Cavs are set for the future. If you need proof, Chris Grant is building a power for years to come. His first draft pick was Kyrie Irving, he has also made solid picks in Thomspon, Waiters and Zeller. All 4 players were in the Rising Stars challenge. They have cap space and a rediculous amount of picks over the next 4 years. This isn’t thier season, but it wont be much longer until it is. |
| 24 | 25 | Washington D.C | The Wizards are coming into their own after thde return of John Wall. A solid young core, is a nice start, but this team still has a long way to go. |
| 25 | 23 | Detroit | The Pistons were very happy with the play of Andre Drummond, while he went down with an injury, this team knows it has something for years to come. They weren’t going to make any noise this season, so they can start to concentrate on what the game play will be for next season. |
| 26 | 26 | New Orleans | The Hornets will not be making the playoffs, posibly for ever. But the Pelicans have a talented young core, good head coach, and an inteligent front office. The Pelicans will have good years to come. |
| 27 | 28 | Sacramento | The Kings players have done everything right amungst this whole ownership battle. They’ve kept quite, haven’t talked to the media about anything, and played basketball. The team as it currently stands needs work, problem is they can’t do anything until they have an official ownership group. |
| 28 | 27 | Phoenix | I still stand by the questions of “Can anyone do a worse job of running the Suns, than the Suns do?” There seems to be no plan in place for this team, and if there is, it makes no sense. |
| 29 | 29 | Orlando | The Magic are a very difficult team to figure out. Rob Hennigan has said he wants to build for the future. He has a chance to get some nice assets for JJ Reddick, yet, word is the Magic will need a very attractive offer to pry him away. |
| 30 | 30 | Charlotte | The Cats are still not good this season. It would seem they have a good head coach in place, a point guard for years to come, but there is still a lot of work for Rich Cho to do. |