Mj's NBA Power Rankings

1: Minnesota Timberwolves - Three of the most talented players play for this team. They also have a very deep bench.

2: San Antonio Spurs - Tim Duncan is turning into a very dominating force in the NBA. He has, and can lead the team to another championship. Tony Parker is a great point guard; probably the most underated point guard in the league.

3: Detroit Pistons - They are under Larry Brown, who is possibly the best head coach in the league for now. They have the best team chemistry. They have a dominating defense. They won the championship last year, and will probably give any team a challenge.

4: Sacramento Kings - This teams future is a bit hazy, but with or without Peja Stojakovic they will be a powerful team. Remember, they played without Chris Webber last year, and were completely under the leadership of Peja. Chris Webber will easily fill his shoes, and is probably a better leader anyway.

5: Orlando Magic - If Grant Hill can stay healthy, then Orlando will go far. I don't care what every other persons power rankings say, Orlando has one hell of a team. In my opinion, talentwise, they have the best team in the league, with the exception of the Timberwolves. They have Steve Francis, Cuttino, Grant Hill, and Dwight Howard. They also have Tony Battie and Hidayet Turkoglu, which nobody hears about. They are both good players. The rest of their team isn't too bad either. If they can pull together as a team, they'll go far.

6: Indiana Pacers - The team hasn't changed too much. That can be a good thing. They have all the talent they need to win it all, they just need to pull together. On a side-note, Ron Artest needs to calm down.

7: Dallas Mavericks - They lost Steve Nash, but are still strong. They did pick up (I think they picked him up) Jerry Stackhouse, but I don't know if he'll hurt the team or help the team. Dirk Nowitzki is the Maverick's go-to guy, but I don't know if Jerry Stackhouse will be able to handle that, as evinced a couple years ago in Washington when Mj should have been taking shots instead of Stackhouse.

8: Denver Nuggets - Kenyon Martin and Carmelo Anthony. Need I say more?

9: Miami Heat - Shaq is still the most dominating force in the NBA. I don't know how far they will get, but Shaq will get them somewhere for sure. And have you been watching Dwayne Wade in the exhibition games for the Olympics? If he didn't have traveling called on him every other move he made (and I mean with his hands) he'd be the best playe on the US basketball team.

10: Houston Rockets - A lot of people are putting my home team a lot higher simply because we got Tracy McGrady. Personally, I think we lost out on the deal. Kelvin Cato has shown tremendous improvement over the last couple of years and was a great compliment to Yao. It's tough losing him alone. Juwan Howard has been very inconsistent. Tracy McGrady and Tyronn Lue is a terrible exchange for Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley. Tyronn Lue is hardly worth calling a point guard. Tracy McGrady can score, but you're losing two good scorers for a great scorer, and in my opinion, we lose out on that. Plus, Cuttino Mobley played much better defense than Tracy McGrady does.

11: L.A. Lakers - I doubt that they are going to seriously make another title run this year without Shaq, but there is still Kobe, plus other roll players. And this is what Kobe has always wanted. Who knows, maybe he'll have a breakout season considering he doesn't end up incarcerated for the next 75 years.

12: New York Knicks - After Stephon Marbury came in last season, the Knicks made a run. They made a great run. Imagine him in New York the whole season.

13: New Orleans Hornets

14: Toronto Raptors - If Vinsanity stays healthy, then the Raptors have a chance of going somewhere. Rafer Alston will be a great roll player on this team.

15: Boston Celtics - Gary Payton is a great pick up.

16: Memphis Grizzlies - One of the surprise teams from last year. Still pretty strong.

17: Cleveland Cavaliers - Lebron James can only get better. He has a lot of potential, and can take this team to the playoffs.

18: Phoenix Suns - Coming off of a disappointing season, while losing Marbury. Acquring Steve Nash might prove extremely beneficial to this team. They have a serious shot at making the playoffs?

19: Philadelphia 76ers - After losing Larry Brown, this team seems to be falling apart. Of course, you can never know when Iverson is playing for a team.

20: Utah Jazz

21: Portland Trailblazers

22: Atlanta Hawks - Picked up Antoine Walker, but I don't think they have a serious shot at the playoffs.

23: Seattle Sonics - Had many chances to pick someone up from free agency, but the team hasn't changed much.

24: Milwaukee Bucks

25: Golden State - It might be exciting to watch this team, but they aren't going to be too competitive with other teams.

26: Washington Wizards - Antawn Jamison was a great pick-up for this team, but he's not going to take this team anywhere.

27: Chicago Bulls - Tyson Chandler has lots of potential, all he needs to do is reach it.

28: L.A. Clippers

29: New Jersey Nets - This team completely fell apart. Byron Scott was real close to leading them to the promise land. Getting rid of him was stupid. That initiated this teams downfall. Now, without Kerry Kittles and Kenyon Martin, and Jason Kidd wanting to leave, this team is doomed to stay at the pit until they make another set of drastic changes.

30: Charlotte Bobcats - ??

i think the magic are prolly gonna win the championship but i hope bulls/pistons do

That is so cliche. The only reason why the you want the Bulls to win is because of His Airness from a decade ago. Fuck the Bulls, they suck now.

6: Indiana Pacers - The team hasn't changed too much. That can be a good thing. They have all the talent they need to win it all, they just need to pull together. On a side-note, Ron Artest needs to calm down.

I do agree they need to pull it together, but Ron Artest has calmed down. In the beginning of the season he was like a Rasheed Wallace wanna-be. He changed after he broke that camera - LOL. Just picked it up and smashed it. But, yeah, he is nowhere near as savage as he used to be.

Grant Hill used to be a great player, but I don't think he will ever have a full season, and when he is playing, I highly doubt he'll be as effective as he should and could be. Too bad really..

Also, Jordan didn't want to take all the shots when he was playing with Stackhouse. He already proved himself as an individual player, so he wanted others to shine, in this case Stack. He is by no means a replacement for Nash, but he won;t hurt the team either. His backcourt pressure is solid, and when he is on, he's dominant. The only problem is, he has to be on..

The Celtics pick up of Payton is stupid. That man is all washed up, and if you couldn't tell that after last season debacle with the Lakers...

Payton is not washed up. He's used having control of the offense, and with the Laker's offense he was almost excluded. Just a bad fit, man. Payton easily has the potential to bring my hometeam an 18 pt, 6 assist, 2 steal season a game season.

Anyways, you're rankings are pretty accurate in my opinion. Nice job, but theirs one huge problem I have.

Putting the Phoenix Suns that low is insane. Have you looked at their team lately? Quentin Richardson, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, and Shawn Marion? That's pretty fucking outstanding.

i hope the l.a lakers die kobe is a fag

Payton is not washed up. He's used having control of the offense, and with the Laker's offense he was almost excluded. Just a bad fit, man. Payton easily has the potential to bring my hometeam an 18 pt, 6 assist, 2 steal season a game season. Anyways, you're rankings are pretty accurate in my opinion. Nice job, but theirs one huge problem I have. Putting the Phoenix Suns that low is insane. Have you looked at their team lately? Quentin Richardson, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, and Shawn Marion? That's pretty fucking outstanding.

So true. I would go so far as to swap Phoenix with Orlando. I am not a big fan of Steve Francis, so that bias has alot to do with it.

I tried to do this as fairly as I could, without being too biased about it.

Uncapped, perhaps you're right, maybe Phoenix will do a lot better, but they were in the cellar last season, even when they had Stephon Marbury, who in my opinion was the best point guard in the league last year. They replaced him with Steve Nash, so the only real person they've picked up is Quentin Richardson. Now being the star player on the Clippers doesn't say too much. Perhaps he will help this team, but I don't think they'll be as high up as number five. Putting them at 18 means they have a serious shot at making the playoffs, and honestly, that's all I believe that they have.

Gary Payton is still a great point guard, Titus. He choked in the playoffs, but he was still really good throughout the rest of the season. You never know with the old guys though. When they decline, they decline fast.

Shit man, never give up hope in The Glove. He is/was always great.

Meh, I've really got to start paying attention to the off-season. I didn't even know Phoenix picked up Steve Nash. In my opinion, he is way too underrated.

The Glove was great, but everybody inevitably gets old. Payton is reaching that point, if he's not there already. He was a great player, but he will slowly decline. Unless Boston had a very good chance of winning the championship this year, I don't see what good The Glove is going to do for Boston. He's not going to be along for too long, so if I was a GM in Boston, I'd probably look to trade for a younger player.

On the flip-side, I don't see what Boston will do for Payton either. If it's a championship he wants, it's not going to happen in Boston anytime in the foreseeable future. If Houston had gotten him, that would kick ass. I don't know where he'd fit in best, though, because just about every team I can think of that has a shot at the championship this year has a good point guard. The two best teams that I could see for him would be either with Indiana, or Dallas. In Indiana, they have a great point guard in Tinsley, but the experience that Payton would bring to Indiana at the point guard spot would be invaluable. Dallas could also use Payton, because I would still start him over Best or Terry. I don't give Dallas much of a shot this year, but Payton would have significantly increased their chances.

Steve Nash is underrated, but the most underrated point guard in the league has to be Tony Parker. That man can play some ball, yet you hardly hear anything about him. Steve Nash is still considered one of the premier point guards in the league, but Tony Parker is not, where he should be. The most overrated point guard, on the other hand, would have to be Steve Francis. He came in one or two years dunking like crazy, and everybody knows about him. He isn't the greatest of point guards. In my opinion, putting him at the two would be a good move.

Indiana had an experienced point guard in Tim Hardaway. He owned back in the day. That said, he didn't really do anything for us.

Off topic: I think it's cool how Tinsley was picked up from the playground courts and made it into the NBA.