NBA Basketball Power Ratings
Our staff has developed NBA basketball power ratings with up to date rankings and how we as handicappers see these teams. We will list our NBA team rankings on a week by week basis and as much as possible. You can check this page for up to date NBA power ratings from Cappersinfo Sports Handicapping. Thanks for visiting and don't forget to check out all the free sports picks in the forums and free picks monitor, other sports betting information, and NBA basketball predictions for sports handicappers!
Cappersinfo Current NBA Power Rankings
(As of Start of Playoffs)
1: Chicago Bulls (62-20) – We know that the Bulls don’t really have the respect right now that some of the other teams are getting in the Eastern Conference, but we don’t know why. Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, and company in the paint are as good as it gets, and Derrick Rose is going to be the league’s MVP. With a 36-5 record at home, tied for best in the league, it’s going to be really, really difficult to knock off these guys in a best of seven series.
2: Miami Heat (58-24) – Was that win for the Heat over the Celtics in the third to last game of the season the one that will finally wake this team up once and for all? LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade are all remarkable athletes, and they have all come together for this very moment: The NBA Playoffs. Anything less than a championship would be brutally, brutally disappointing.
3: San Antonio Spurs (61-21) – The Spurs are to the Western Conference what the Bulls are to the Eastern Conference. They’re the team that is just getting no respect right now, and we’re really not all that sure as to why. Again, this was a team that went 36-5 on its home court, and it has home court advantage all the way to the NBA Finals. At least with San Antonio, we can nitpick, knowing that it really hasn’t played that well down the stretch and that Manu Ginobili has an elbow injury. Still, these guys will probably be amongst the last four standing when it’s all said and done.
4: Dallas Mavericks (57-25) – Remember that the Mavs went a whopping 54-17 this year with Dirk Nowitzki in the lineup and playing at least 20 minutes. That’s a truly remarkable stat, as he probably would’ve guided this team to the best record in basketball had he stayed healthy. There’s a hellacious first round playoff battle in place against Portland coming up though, and the demons from failures in the postseason of the past could come back to haunt the Mavericks.
5: Oklahoma City Thunder (55-27) – Kendrick Perkins was brought here to the Sooner State for this reason, and this reason only. He is supposed to bring a level of toughness to a team that badly needs some. There’s plenty of glitz and glamour with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, but even Michael Jordan had a man like Dennis Rodman who could mix things up on the inside for half of his title runs. The Thunder could be the scariest team in the Western Conference.
6: Los Angeles Lakers (57-25) – Sorry, LA. We just don’t buy you this year. The Lakers just don’t have the look of a champion right now, as demonstrated on that five game losing streak at the end of the season. Win four of those five, and you had home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Head Coach Phil Jackson isn’t one that we like to bet against on a regular basis, but unless Kobe Bryant comes up with a ton of superhuman efforts (not that we’d put that past him either), Los Angeles is in some hot water in a very, very tough Western Conference.
7: Boston Celtics (56-26) – We hate how the Celtics just sort of gave up on the regular season around the third quarter of that game we mentioned earlier against the Heat. Boston is banking on Shaquille O’Neal, Jermaine O’Neal, and Nenad Krstic to hold down the fort on the inside. It might work against the Knicks (with “might” being the key word in there), but it probably won’t work for the duration of the playoffs. The aging Celtics might be seeing their window of opportunity come to a close.
8: Orlando Magic (52-30) – The Magic definitely have some worries about how they are going to react to the playoffs this year. This is new territory for Jason Richardson and Gilbert Arenas with Orlando, and with some nagging injuries to some other regulars in the rotation, the Magic could be in some trouble. Dwight Howard ended the year with 18 technical fouls, which is nothing to be proud of, and if his foul woes from last postseason come to fruition again this year, it could be a short stay before the Magic disappear.
9: Denver Nuggets (50-32) – Give Head Coach George Karl a ton of credit for his work with the Nuggets this season. He basically had two completely different teams to work with, and he ultimately got the job done with both of them this year. This squad might still be a year away from competing for an NBA title, and this first round matchup with the Thunder is devastatingly difficult, but the Nuggs could make things very, very interesting when push comes to shove if they can get just a tad bit of defense.
10: Portland Trail Blazers (48-34) – The Blazers really changed their entire season around when they picked up Gerald Wallace. This is a tremendously formidable looking team now, especially if Brandon Roy can give the squad 25-30 quality minutes per game. LaMarcus Aldridge, Wallace, and Marcus Camby on the inside. Nicolas Batum, Rudy Fernandez, Andre Miller, Wesley Matthews, and Roy on the outside. Look out, Dallas. Portland could give you a tremendous fight.
11: Memphis Grizzlies (46-36) – Give it up for the Grizz! They found a way to survive OJ Mayo’s suspension for drug usage and the injury to Rudy Gay that ended his season prematurely, and they are in the postseason with some room to spare. The next task: Win the first playoff game in the history of the franchise, something that definitely has been haunting this team for its entire existence.
12: Atlanta Hawks (44-38) – If Atlanta can get over the mental block, it could be in good shape in the postseason. The team lost six straight games to end the regular season, and it knows that it has to avenge the 111 point beat down that the Magic dropped on it over four games in the second round of the playoffs last year. If Kirk Hinrich proves to be the real deal, the Hawks could be dangerous, but we really don’t know if this team is mentally ready to compete with the beasts of the East.
13: New York Knicks (42-40) – This is a postseason all about getting experience for the Knicks. They’re not winning it all. We already know this. However, we know that they have some real stars and can make life a living hell on the Celtics. Amare Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, and Chauncey Billups have reinvigorated the basketball fans in the Big Apple, and the hope is that the playoff run can last for a good, long time in the Empire State.
14: Philadelphia 76ers (41-41) – The man to watch out for on the Sixers is Jrue Holliday. We already know that Elton Brand has some big time abilities and that Andre Iguodala has to be a legitimate star to beat the Heat, but Holliday is built a lot in the mold of Iguodala from the standpoint that he is really a stat sheet stuffer. Will it lead to a postseason victory? Perhaps one or two. However, to be honest, that would be considered a tremendous triumph in the City of Brotherly Love.
15: New Orleans Hornets (46-36) – The Hornets play some great defense, but aside from that, how on earth are they going to keep up with the mighty Lakers? Chris Paul can’t do it all, and David West isn’t there to help him do much more than be a cheerleader with his torn ACL. Unless there is some magic coming out of the Crescent City that we don’t know about, New Orleans won’t last more than five games in the playoffs.
16: Indiana Pacers (37-45) – Just by default, we have to leave the Pacers in the Top 16 in the NBA betting world since they did indeed make the playoffs. However, their time in the postseason is sure to be short, as they aren’t going to be able to hop on the back of Danny Granger without him breaking for all that long, especially against the gritty Bulls.
17: Houston Rockets (43-39) – We don’t really know what it is that is missing in Houston right now. Chuck Hayes is turning into a solid big man, while Kevin Martin is still one of the most unheralded big time scorers in the league. There are plenty of kids to help build this team as we go as well. However, Head Coach Rick Adelman knows that there is still work to be done on this roster. The question is where the improvements really need to start.
18: Phoenix Suns (40-42) – Reality is starting to set in for Steve Nash that he is never going to be able to bring a championship to the city of Phoenix. If he doesn’t get traded, he’ll never win a ring. The good news for the Suns from this year is that they did end up getting a great big man to build around in Marcin Gortat, but it really took blowing up the rest of their team to make that happen.
19: Utah Jazz (39-43) – The poor Jazz really had a season that was crippling. The franchise might not recover any time in the near future from the losses of Head Coach Jerry Sloan and Deron Williams. There are a lot of bigs in the Beehive State, but this combination wasn’t good enough to lead the team to even a .500 record in this very, very disappointing campaign.
20: Golden State Warriors (36-46) – At least Golden State was a fun team to watch once again this year. The pieces to the puzzle are starting to come together for the Warriors, but they are still a few men away from really being there. David Lee was a nice addition in the offseason, but there is another true low post presence clearly missing in Oakland to get this team to the playoffs once again.
21: Milwaukee Bucks (35-47) – The best of the worst… The Bucks were the first team in the East that didn’t make the playoffs, and that really caused Brandon Jennings to spout on the organization. Many picked this team to win the Central Divison this year, and the playoffs seemed like a certainty. However, names like John Salmons, Michael Redd, Andrew Bogut, and Corey Maggette just never panned out, and the team looks to be mired in mediocrity for years to come.
22: Charlotte Bobcats (34-48) – Head Coach Paul Silas knows that there is just too much work to do on this Charlotte team to fix in one or two years. This is clearly broken club right now, and the final proof of that came when Gerald Wallace was traded for a song and a dance right at the trade deadline. Anything more than 35 wins next year on Tobacco Road would be surprising.
23: Los Angeles Clippers (32-50) – And in the end, they were still the Clippers… Give this much to the Clip Joint. They won 23 games this year at home, more than Utah, the same as New York, and the same as Phoenix. Fans want to come see Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon. That’s key for a franchise that hasn’t had anything to really smile at in a number of years. If Donald Sterling doesn’t screw this up (how many times have we said that…), the Clippers really could become relevant within a few years.
24: Detroit Pistons (30-52) – It’s really sad to see the trio of Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and Ben Wallace waddling around the court right now. They’re clearly not the same players they were when the Pistons were dynamos last decade. However, the new guard is starting to form in Motown, especially with Greg Monroe starting to prove his worth. He’s the piece to the puzzle that Detroit really needs to build around in the future.
25: New Jersey Nets (24-58) – At least it’s an improvement… The Nets still stink, but Mikhail Prohkorov finally got his man in Deron Williams at the trade deadline. New Jersey could be at the doorstep of something huge in the near future, and if it can lure another one of these big name players to the Garden State before the move to Manhattan, things could be looking up for sure.
26: Sacramento Kings (24-58) – Are we going to be calling this team the Anaheim Kings next season? It certainly seems that way, as the Honda Center looks poised to have another tenant. There’s a heck of a lot of talent, but virtually no cohesiveness coming to Anaheim next year, which could make for some long, long seasons for the Kings.
27: Washington Wizards (23-59) – The Wizards did end up playing some solid ball down the stretch this year, but aside from John Wall, what else does this team really have? Answer: A lot of ping pong balls for this coming NBA Draft as well. A man like Kyrie Irving could look really, really good lined up next to Wall in the Washington backcourt.
28: Toronto Raptors (22-60) – Ugh. Is there anything good to say about the season that Toronto just had? Heck, this team lost more games on the road than Cleveland did. The Raptors used to wonder why in the heck they were stuck with Andrea Bargnani with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Now, Bargnani wants to know why he’s stuck with the Raptors.
29: Minnesota Timberwolves (17-65) – A groin injury ended Kevin Love’s season premature, and it was probably also the reason that he lost his double-double streak. However, there is some reason for optimism for the T’Wolves. Kyrie Irving could be waiting to be picked at No. 1 overall should they get that draft choice, and they could convince Ricky Rubio to come over to the States as well in the offseason.
30: Cleveland Cavaliers (19-63) – Goodness knows how the Cavs actually won 19 games this year… The drop of 42 wins is the most epic collapse in the history of the NBA, but virtually everyone saw it coming. Without LeBron James, the Cavaliers were absolutely nothing, and as it turns out now, they’re even worse than nothing. There are D-League teams out there that could compete with this one.
