Rank The Cores of These Rebuilding Teams

[WiggyRuss]

Rank the core of these rebuilding teams keeping in mind such criteria as ceiling, ability, potential playoff contention in the years to come, assets, ability to keep guys long term, trade values, etc.

Options:

1. Phoenix Suns: #1 pick (probably Ayton), Devon Booker, Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender, Marquis Chriss, TJ Warren

2. Dallas Mavericks: Dennis Smith Jr., Yogi Ferrell, Seth Curry, Nerleans Noel, Harrison Barnes, #5 pick,

3. Chicago Bulls: Kris Dunn, Lauri Markenen, #7 pick, Zach Lavine, Bobby Portis, Noah Vonleh, Justin Holiday, #22

4. Sacramento Kings: De'Aron Fox, #2 pick, Buddy Hield, Willie Cauley-Stein, Harry Giles, Skal Labissiere

5. LA Lakers: Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kuzma, Josh Hart, #25 pick, Ivaca Zubac, Julius Randle (rfa), #25 pick

6. Orlando Magic: Aaron Gordon (rfa), Jonathan Isaac, Mario Hezonja (rfa), Evan Fournier, #6 pick

7. Brooklyn Nets: DeAngelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie, Nik Stauskas, Joe Harris (rfa), Isiah Whitehead, #29 pick

8. New York Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis, #9 pick, Frank Ntilikina, Emmanuel Mudiay, Tim Hardaway Jr., Enes Kanter,

9. Denver Nuggets: Nikola Jokic, #14 pick, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Will Barton, Trey Lyles,

10. Atlanta Hawks: Dennis Schroeder, John Collins, Deandre Bembry, #3 pick, #19, #30

 

[CitySushi]

1) Lakers - Good young talent, tons of cap space, desire-able market.
2) Nuggets - Top tier talent at their core.
3) Phoenix - #1 pick and potential franchise talent, solid #2 in Booker. Rest is questionable.

Good size gap
4) Kings - Couple good young players with upside and the #2 pick. FO is questionable at best though.
5) Bulls - Couple of really good young players, but don't know if any will pan out as top tier talent.
6) Knicks - Top tier talent with Porzingas, but in cap hell for the next few years. Not a lot of flexibility or trade-able assets.

Next large gap
7) Orlando Magic - Tough decisions coming up with a couple good RFA's, but most talented of the rest of these next teams. Questionable FO and Head coach turnover. Don't love Clifford as their new coach.
8) Mavericks - No idea what they're doing really. Barnes is their best player as of now, who's not top tier/max level money guy. Will have a lot of cap space next year, but not a lot of young promising players outside of DSJ. Carlisle still the MVP of that team.
9) Hawks - Not a lot of talent on that roster and in cap hell for a few years, but I have faith in the FO and the changes they made in the last year that they're on the right path.
10) Nets - No draft picks for a while, terrible talent-wise and some bad contracts on the books.

 

[trojanfan12]

1) Lakers - Good young talent, tons of cap space, desire-able market.
2) Nuggets - Top tier talent at their core.
3) Phoenix - #1 pick and potential franchise talent, solid #2 in Booker. Rest is questionable.

Good size gap
4) Kings - Couple good young players with upside and the #2 pick. FO is questionable at best though.
5) Bulls - Couple of really good young players, but don't know if any will pan out as top tier talent.
6) Knicks - Top tier talent with Porzingas, but in cap hell for the next few years. Not a lot of flexibility or trade-able assets.

Next large gap
7) Orlando Magic - Tough decisions coming up with a couple good RFA's, but most talented of the rest of these next teams. Questionable FO and Head coach turnover. Don't love Clifford as their new coach.
8) Mavericks - No idea what they're doing really. Barnes is their best player as of now, who's not top tier/max level money guy. Will have a lot of cap space next year, but not a lot of young promising players outside of DSJ. Carlisle still the MVP of that team.
9) Hawks - Not a lot of talent on that roster and in cap hell for a few years, but I have faith in the FO and the changes they made in the last year that they're on the right path.
10) Nets - No draft picks for a while, terrible talent-wise and some bad contracts on the books.

I think I might switch the Lakers and Nuggets. But I'm not even 100% that I'd do that.

 

[WiggyRuss]

My rankings:

1. Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton?!! Wow...add in Josh Jackson, Bender, Chriss, Warren, 3 EXTRA first rounders. The Suns will not be down a whole lot longer. Suns are on their way.

2. Sacramento Kings: I know this might come as a shock to some but i think that much of Doncic--- besides booker and ayton- there is no combo id rather have than Doncic and Fox. That is a back court that can be amazing. Hield would be a great 6th man. @Bolts

3. Denver Nuggets: Jokic is probably the current best player on this list considering Porzingis' injury. Jamal Murray and Gary Harris are really good players-- Harris especially looks like he can be a guy that really sneaks up on you. If they can add a legit #3 with their pick in this draft watch out

4. New York Knicks: Besides the draft picks- Porzingis easily has the highest ceiling on this list. He could be a top 5 player one day. A true "unicorn". Him alone bumps the Knicks up hugely. Star power is what wins in the NBA and Porzingis is and will become even more of a big time star. Ntilikana is a solid player --- and they have the #9 pick in this stupidly-loaded draft. Porzingis. Just too good.

5. Chicago Bulls: What a difference a year and a change of scenery makes for Kriss Dunn. Lauri Markenen looks like Dirk-lite. They have the #7 pick in this loaded draft. Bobby Portis looked really good at times. Zach Lavine still has a ton of talent but is an RFA. They have the #22 pick too. Id build around a core of Dunn, Markenen, Lavine, and #7 pick--- sign an FA or two--- Bulls wont be down much longer....maybe another year or two-- say they get Porter Jr. which is a popualr pick in many mocks---- Dunn/Markenen/Porter Jr./LaVine/Portis would be a damn exciting core.

6/7/8. Mavericks, Lakers, Magic--- so hard for me to differentiate between these 3 teams. If i had to choose between any 3 players, considering the upcoming draft- it would be hard. The Mavericks with DSJ, Barnes and say Bamba....the Lakers with Ball, Ingram and Randle, the Magic with Gordon, Isaac and say Colin Sexton. I would PROB take the Mavs top 3 first. The Magic and Lakers ahve more depth- but Gordon and Randle are both RFA's. Hezonja showed flashes last year. Fournier is a very good player. Isaac has a boat load of talent but is so raw.

9. Atlanta- they have 3 first round picks but not much else. Adding a Bagley or Bamba or JJJ should help them immensely and put in place a true franchise building block.

10. Brooklyn Nets: Dinwiddie is actually really good. Russell still has upside though becoming a big time star is prob. out of the question. Not a whole lot more here worth getting excited about and no high pick

 

[CitySushi]

I think I might switch the Lakers and Nuggets. But I'm not even 100% that I'd do that.

Part of the core for me is also cap space and financial flexibility. Nuggets are pretty much tapped out and will have to simply rely on their guys getting better to win. The Lakers could get much better, really fast in a number of different ways. That's the only reason I have the Lakers ahead of the Nuggets. Talent-wise, Nuggets have the best collection of talent and players of any of these teams on this list by a mile.

 

[CitySushi]

My rankings:

1. Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton?!! Wow...add in Josh Jackson, Bender, Chriss, Warren, 3 EXTRA first rounders. The Suns will not be down a whole lot longer. Suns are on their way.

2. Sacramento Kings: I know this might come as a shock to some but i think that much of Doncic--- besides booker and ayton- there is no combo id rather have than Doncic and Fox. That is a back court that can be amazing. Hield would be a great 6th man. @Bolts

3. Denver Nuggets: Jokic is probably the current best player on this list considering Porzingis' injury. Jamal Murray and Gary Harris are really good players-- Harris especially looks like he can be a guy that really sneaks up on you. If they can add a legit #3 with their pick in this draft watch out

4. New York Knicks: Besides the draft picks- Porzingis easily has the highest ceiling on this list. He could be a top 5 player one day. A true "unicorn". Him alone bumps the Knicks up hugely. Star power is what wins in the NBA and Porzingis is and will become even more of a big time star. Ntilikana is a solid player --- and they have the #9 pick in this stupidly-loaded draft. Porzingis. Just too good.

5. Chicago Bulls: What a difference a year and a change of scenery makes for Kriss Dunn. Lauri Markenen looks like Dirk-lite. They have the #7 pick in this loaded draft. Bobby Portis looked really good at times. Zach Lavine still has a ton of talent but is an RFA. They have the #22 pick too. Id build around a core of Dunn, Markenen, Lavine, and #7 pick--- sign an FA or two--- Bulls wont be down much longer....maybe another year or two-- say they get Porter Jr. which is a popualr pick in many mocks---- Dunn/Markenen/Porter Jr./LaVine/Portis would be a damn exciting core.

6/7/8. Mavericks, Lakers, Magic--- so hard for me to differentiate between these 3 teams. If i had to choose between any 3 players, considering the upcoming draft- it would be hard. The Mavericks with DSJ, Barnes and say Bamba....the Lakers with Ball, Ingram and Randle, the Magic with Gordon, Isaac and say Colin Sexton. I would PROB take the Mavs top 3 first. The Magic and Lakers ahve more depth- but Gordon and Randle are both RFA's. Hezonja showed flashes last year. Fournier is a very good player. Isaac has a boat load of talent but is so raw.

9. Atlanta- they have 3 first round picks but not much else. Adding a Bagley or Bamba or JJJ should help them immensely and put in place a true franchise building block.

10. Brooklyn Nets: Dinwiddie is actually really good. Russell still has upside though becoming a big time star is prob. out of the question. Not a whole lot more here worth getting excited about and no high pick

Based on the metrics you stated in your original post, I have a hard time comprehending you listing some teams where you did.

Edit: not to say you're wrong or anything, I just disagree based on the metrics you were basing the list on.

 

[ericd7633]

1. Nuggets
2. Suns
3. Lakers
4. Bulls
5. Kings
6. Knicks
7. Magic
8. Hawks
9. Mavs
10. Nets

There is a really large gap between 1-3, 4-6 and then 7-10 IMO. The bottom 4 are in bad shape.

 

[trojanfan12]

Part of the core for me is also cap space and financial flexibility. Nuggets are pretty much tapped out and will have to simply rely on their guys getting better to win. The Lakers could get much better, really fast in a number of different ways. That's the only reason I have the Lakers ahead of the Nuggets. Talent-wise, Nuggets have the best collection of talent and players of any of these teams on this list by a mile.

Yeah, that's my thinking on why I'm not 100% on switching them.

That cap space and flexibility are huge for a rebuilding team. As far as young core only, combined with their draft spot...I'd give the edge to the Nuggets almost just off of Jokic alone (really like that guy) the other guys are almost just icing on the cake after him. lol

 

[Black Adam]

1) Thuggets...

2)Lakers...

3) Bulls...

4) Suns...

5) Kings...

6) Knicks

7) Magic...

8) Hawks...

9) Mavs...

10) Nets...

 

[ATL96Steeler]

1) Lakers - Good young talent, tons of cap space, desire-able market.
2) Nuggets - Top tier talent at their core.
3) Phoenix - #1 pick and potential franchise talent, solid #2 in Booker. Rest is questionable.

Good size gap
4) Kings - Couple good young players with upside and the #2 pick. FO is questionable at best though.
5) Bulls - Couple of really good young players, but don't know if any will pan out as top tier talent.
6) Knicks - Top tier talent with Porzingas, but in cap hell for the next few years. Not a lot of flexibility or trade-able assets.

Next large gap
7) Orlando Magic - Tough decisions coming up with a couple good RFA's, but most talented of the rest of these next teams. Questionable FO and Head coach turnover. Don't love Clifford as their new coach.
8) Mavericks - No idea what they're doing really. Barnes is their best player as of now, who's not top tier/max level money guy. Will have a lot of cap space next year, but not a lot of young promising players outside of DSJ. Carlisle still the MVP of that team.
9) Hawks - Not a lot of talent on that roster and in cap hell for a few years, but I have faith in the FO and the changes they made in the last year that they're on the right path.
10) Nets - No draft picks for a while, terrible talent-wise and some bad contracts on the books.

I don't have the knowledge to rank all these bottom dwellers, but the Hawks could pull themselves out of this.

They need to get rid of Bazemore's contract and probably Schroeder's as well...I think they got 2 more seasons with Baze, and maybe they can trade Schroeder, but I hear there's not a huge market for him with is a little surprising.

Draft...I think Bagley III, or Jaren Jackson are big upgrades...idk what he's going to be as an NBA player, but Doncic is intriguing...looks like he can play the 2 or 3. Prince is a keeper as well.

If they get this draft right, maybe in 2 yrs the Hawks can start looking at the playoffs again.

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

Hawks is the answer

Not really

 

[tlance]

I am not ranking the Nets because although they have young talent, they are mostly built. The 6ers are more of a rebuilding team than they are.

1: Lakers- solid young core + cap space +destination market
2: Suns- lots of high upside talent, little results
3: Knicks- Kristaps gets them this rank by himself
4: Kings- assuming they take Doncic, they are close behind the Suns
5: Bulls- making of a future playoff team with low relatively low upside
6: Dallas- don't like DSJ or Barnes. Don't like their direction. Will never fully bottom out
7: Atlanta- they are at the very beginning of their process, but appear to be doing it right.
8: Orlando- mediocre players, little cap space. WTF are they doing?
9: Nets- Laughing stock of the league. I said last summer they were probably 10 years away from contending because of a string of terrible moves. They could shorten that process, but my guess is they play out the string with DLo and Co and continue to suck.

 

[tlance]

I am not ranking the Nets because although they have young talent, they are mostly built. The 6ers are more of a rebuilding team than they are.

1: Lakers- solid young core + cap space +destination market
2: Suns- lots of high upside talent, little results
3: Knicks- Kristaps gets them this rank by himself
4: Kings- assuming they take Doncic, they are close behind the Suns
5: Bulls- making of a future playoff team with low relatively low upside
6: Dallas- don't like DSJ or Barnes. Don't like their direction. Will never fully bottom out
7: Atlanta- they are at the very beginning of their process, but appear to be doing it right.
8: Orlando- mediocre players, little cap space. WTF are they doing?
9: Nets- Laughing stock of the league. I said last summer they were probably 10 years away from contending because of a string of terrible moves. They could shorten that process, but my guess is they play out the string with DLo and Co and continue to suck.

Not rating the Nuggets. Sorry.

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

I don't have the knowledge to rank all these bottom dwellers, but the Hawks could pull themselves out of this.

They need to get rid of Bazemore's contract and probably Schroeder's as well...I think they got 2 more seasons with Baze, and maybe they can trade Schroeder, but I hear there's not a huge market for him with is a little surprising.

Draft...I think Bagley III, or Jaren Jackson are big upgrades...idk what he's going to be as an NBA player, but Doncic is intriguing...looks like he can play the 2 or 3. Prince is a keeper as well.

If they get this draft right, maybe in 2 yrs the Hawks can start looking at the playoffs again.

My Man!

 

[Mecca]

1. Denver because of Jokic. He is gonna be elite and I really like Murray, Harris and Beasley.

2. Lakers because of the sheer amount of talented young players with good upside.

3. Kings because adding either Ayton or Doncic to Fox is gonna be awesome.

4. Suns because of Booker, Jackson and #1.

5. Bulls because Lavine and Markannen have star potential.

The rest.....

I think Prince is gonna be good. Ditto for Caris in Brooklyn.

The Knicks have issues. Gotta see who they take with that pick.

Ditto for Dallas. But, Smith will be filthy.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Based on the metrics you stated in your original post, I have a hard time comprehending you listing some teams where you did.

Edit: not to say you're wrong or anything, I just disagree based on the metrics you were basing the list on.

what i kept in my head while doing this list is who would i rather have

ranking the Kings and Knicks that high was surprising to me when i first set out to do this--- but i kept thinking--- would i trade Porzingis and Ntilikina for Ball and Ingram and Kuzma? Who would i rather have Porzingis, Ntilikina, and the #9 pick or Markenen, Dunn,

who would i rather have Fox, Doncic and Hield or Jokic, Muray, Harris?

thats what kind of guided my thinking on a lot of it.

it was too hard for me to differentiate between the Mavs, Lakers and Magic. Say we go on what some of the mocks are saying and Bamba goes to the Mavs and say Sexton to the Magic.......would i rather have Sexton, Gordon, Isaac or Ball, Randle, Ingram or DSJ, Bamba, Barnes? pretty close all around if you ask me.

when looking at all the players on this list--- if i could just choose who i wanted for my team id probably rank them something like:

1. Porzingis
2. Doncic
3. Ayton
4. Jokic
5. Booker
6. JJJ
7. Bamba
8. Markenen
9. Bagley
10. Fox
11. Porter Jr.
12. Ingram
13. Sexton
14. Trae Young
15. Harris
16. Jamal Murray
17. DSJ
18. Ball
19. Fournier
20. Mikal Bridges
21. Wendell Carter Jr.
22. Gordon
23. Julius Randle
24. Jonathan Isaac
25. Kris Dunn
26. Josh Jackson
27. Ntilikina
28. Kuzma
29. Hield
30. LaVine
31. Barnoes


i mean - think about it--- right now if the Lakers offered Ingram for the 4th pick- which will prob. be Bagley or JJJ- the team isnt trading the 4th pick. If the Nuggets offered Harris for the 8th pick-- they would probably be turned down. Gordon, Randle, LaVine, Barnes all fall because of contract issues/high salaries. when making a list like that i look at the guy above and below and think "would i trade X for X"

 

[Wamu]

Rank the core of these rebuilding teams keeping in mind such criteria as ceiling, ability, potential playoff contention in the years to come, assets, ability to keep guys long term, trade values, etc.

Options:

1. Phoenix Suns: #1 pick (probably Ayton), Devon Booker, Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender, Marquis Chriss, TJ Warren

2. Dallas Mavericks: Dennis Smith Jr., Yogi Ferrell, Seth Curry, Nerleans Noel, Harrison Barnes, #5 pick,

3. Chicago Bulls: Kris Dunn, Lauri Markenen, #7 pick, Zach Lavine, Bobby Portis, Noah Vonleh, Justin Holiday, #22

4. Sacramento Kings: De'Aron Fox, #2 pick, Buddy Hield, Willie Cauley-Stein, Harry Giles, Skal Labissiere

5. LA Lakers: Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kuzma, Josh Hart, #25 pick, Ivaca Zubac, Julius Randle (rfa), #25 pick

6. Orlando Magic: Aaron Gordon (rfa), Jonathan Isaac, Mario Hezonja (rfa), Evan Fournier, #6 pick

7. Brooklyn Nets: DeAngelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie, Nik Stauskas, Joe Harris (rfa), Isiah Whitehead, #29 pick

8. New York Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis, #9 pick, Frank Ntilikina, Emmanuel Mudiay, Tim Hardaway Jr., Enes Kanter,

9. Denver Nuggets: Nikola Jokic, #14 pick, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Will Barton, Trey Lyles,

10. Atlanta Hawks: Dennis Schroeder, John Collins, Deandre Bembry, #3 pick, #19, #30

I'm gonna go the completely biased route. So I have the Nuggets # 1 because I like watching Jokic play. And do I really any more reasons to rank the Lakers last? Better ask @ChiefsLakers67 & @trojanfan12. The other 8 teams guess how many fucks I give.

 

[WiggyRuss]

1) Lakers - Good young talent, tons of cap space, desire-able market.
2) Nuggets - Top tier talent at their core.
3) Phoenix - #1 pick and potential franchise talent, solid #2 in Booker. Rest is questionable.

Good size gap
4) Kings - Couple good young players with upside and the #2 pick. FO is questionable at best though.
5) Bulls - Couple of really good young players, but don't know if any will pan out as top tier talent.
6) Knicks - Top tier talent with Porzingas, but in cap hell for the next few years. Not a lot of flexibility or trade-able assets.

Next large gap
7) Orlando Magic - Tough decisions coming up with a couple good RFA's, but most talented of the rest of these next teams. Questionable FO and Head coach turnover. Don't love Clifford as their new coach.
8) Mavericks - No idea what they're doing really. Barnes is their best player as of now, who's not top tier/max level money guy. Will have a lot of cap space next year, but not a lot of young promising players outside of DSJ. Carlisle still the MVP of that team.
9) Hawks - Not a lot of talent on that roster and in cap hell for a few years, but I have faith in the FO and the changes they made in the last year that they're on the right path.
10) Nets - No draft picks for a while, terrible talent-wise and some bad contracts on the books.

my comments on yours:

(i) its hard for me to put the Lakers that high when id rather have so many guys than Ball or Ingram- on Phoenix alone i wouldnt trade the #1 pick for both of them without thinking a bout Booker- and Phoenix has 3 EXTRA first rounders over the next few years--- i wouldnt trade Porzingis for both Ingram and Ball or the #2 pick for both of them, or even prob the #3 pick for both of them. Stars win in the league and thats what i am looking for- big time star potentail.

(ii) Porzingis is what everyone is trying to get- a real star. It why i have the Knicks as high as i do. A guy with hsi athletic gift and how he has proven it to a certain extent already is seriously invaluable.

(iii) The Bulls did some nice things---- Markenen and Dunn both look like legit building blocks, and they get a high lotto pick in this draft--- Portis looks solid as well.

I think most everyone will have the Nets and Hawks as the last 2 teams.

 

[The Q]

I'm waiting to see who gets Bamba before I comment.

 

[CitySushi]

my comments on yours:

(i) its hard for me to put the Lakers that high when id rather have so many guys than Ball or Ingram- on Phoenix alone i wouldnt trade the #1 pick for both of them without thinking a bout Booker- and Phoenix has 3 EXTRA first rounders over the next few years--- i wouldnt trade Porzingis for both Ingram and Ball or the #2 pick for both of them, or even prob the #3 pick for both of them. Stars win in the league and thats what i am looking for- big time star potentail.

(ii) Porzingis is what everyone is trying to get- a real star. It why i have the Knicks as high as i do. A guy with hsi athletic gift and how he has proven it to a certain extent already is seriously invaluable.

(iii) The Bulls did some nice things---- Markenen and Dunn both look like legit building blocks, and they get a high lotto pick in this draft--- Portis looks solid as well.

I think most everyone will have the Nets and Hawks as the last 2 teams.

I used the metric of playoff ability and ceiling as a reason I put the Lakers higher than the Suns. The Lakers will have nearly 60M in cap space this off-season to pair with Lonzo, Ingram and Kuzma. That's insane. They could revamp the entire roster and over night be in contention for the 5th or 6th seed. They just depending on if those on the team already improve they could shoot up rather quickly.

The Suns are much in the 76ers process mode right now. Booker is the only playable one right now. I still think JJ has a ways to go before filling up to his potential and the Suns have a ton of draft picks that they'll need to hit on. They're much more of an unknown.

The Kings I ranked much lower because even though Porzingas is top tier talent, there's no way you can surround him with anyone remotely playable. Their cap is atrocious and depending on how competitive they are, they could even potentially lose Porzingas to free agency. He hasn't had the best experience there to date.