2023-24 Season Preview

[Laimbeer40]

FAVORITES
Boston - Seven guys in the Top 100. Plus Isaac could finally be healthy, Time Lord might finally get minutes and Santi Aldama benefits from the S.Adams injury.
Sacramento - 5-6 guys in the Top 50. The controversial LeBron trade made them the favorite in the West. By far.
Indiana - It's the Pacers, they are always among the favorites. Four guys in the Top 50. Can Scoot join them?
LA Clippers - Six guys in the top 100 and good potential with some of the supporting cast like Paul Reed, Josh Green etc.
New York - Haliburton has Top 5 potential. Staps and Sengun project for Top 50. Depth is a concern.
Milwaukee - Any team with Joker and KD is going to be a force. Add in JJJ and they are a cut above a contender. Losing S.Adams is a blow.

CONTENDERS
Brooklyn - Two guys in the Top 5 with Embiid and SGA. Another couple of guys in Top 100. It totally drops off a cliff after that.
Oklahoma City - Four guys in the Top 75 and a supporting cast that should be productive enough to be a Top 4 seed in the West. 
Golden State - Two Top 10 guys with Giannis and AD. Myles Turner supplements them well. Will they get anything from their backcourt?
Atlanta - Two Top 25 guys in Booker and Mitchell. Another couple of Top 100 guys. Really need guys like Kuminga and Toppin to take a leap.
Toronto - Tatum is a Top 5 asset. Then they have three more guys in the Top 75. They can churn the bottom of their roster and be quite solid. 
Cleveland - Trae is a Top 10-15 guy. This team doesn't have a ton of upside potential aside from Chet and Claxton who we're calling Top 50 right now. 
Memphis - Hard to count them out but a shallow team pretty much loses KPJ leaving 8 on the roster. But 5 of the 8 are Top 100 guys with Laurie and Kyrie being in the Top 30. 
Charlotte - Two Top 25 guys in Dame and Wemby. Need PJ, Wiggins and Mathurin to to push the rest of the team. 
Portland - You know in wrestling where a tag team guy gets beat up the whole match, then he makes a hot tag to his partner who cleans house? That is POR with Ja this year.
Phoenix - Luka, Poole and Gobert will do the heavy lifting. I don't see this team going deep but a 7th seed is realistic for sure. 
New Orleans - Their six best guys all rank near Top 100. I think it's enough to be an 8th seed despite crummy depth.
Detroit - Top 20 guys in Melo and Mikal. How many games does Ball play? I don't love the supporting cast.
Orlando - Cade is a Top 30 guy. Jalen Williams might be Top 50. If the season starts slow they could look to unload Nurk to a contender.
Miami - Not ready to call them pretenders with four Top 100 guys and another couple ranked just outside. But none of them are sexy.

PRETENDERS
Minnesota - KAT might be underrated. Zion probably is too but with good reason. The supporting cast is doo doo. 
San Antonio - Fox is a Top 30 guy. Beal could be Top 50-ish. Naz and Bruce Brown are solid. Likely not deep enough to slide into the playoffs. 
LA Lakers - Jimmy is a Top 30 guy. Ben Simmons is showing a pulse. Someone like D.Schroder could easily outplay his rank. But not enough horses.
Utah - LaVine is a Top 50 guy. Some really solid young guys. But no PF on the team. Still a ways to go. 
Chicago - Just way too much youth on this team. In a few more years they could be free if they keep their core together.
Washington - They have three good players and a lot of trash. Puts them in a weird spot but I think given the East's strength they have to go this way.
Dallas - They do have Walker Kessler to build on but they are trending toward unserious.


UNSERIOUS
Philadelphia - A lot of talent but all very young and not sure what kind of a role many of them will have.
Denver - They still have Garland and Jalen Green but the League Office is gearing them toward next year.
Houston - Not even sure where to rank Harden these days. Swapping X.Tillman for B.Pod signals their intent.