Marc Stein, ESPN Senior Writer 10y

The return of NBA Power Rankings

It happens every year at this time.

The first edition of the NBA Power Rankings goes to press and is promptly interpreted in some corners as my predicted order of finish for the East and West.

Please remember: These are not predictions.

Please remember this, too: Our first batch of rankings, to start any season, will always A) lead off with the defending champs and B) heavily factor in offseason successes and failures -- as well as injuries -- because we don't have any fresh games to assess.

Example: Oklahoma City is likely to start the season as my second-favorite in the West, but the Thunder are below the Los Angeles Clippers in this maiden power poll because the Clips, on this scorecard, had a better summer.

Another example: Dropping Indiana all the way to No. 20 might seem a bit harsh, but the ghastly loss of Paul George indeed mandates such drastic measures.

And another: No. 12 Houston, No. 15 Miami and No. 24 Minnesota all landed as low as they did because of the heavy personnel losses they sustained. The same principle in reverse should help explain Chicago (No. 3) and Dallas (No. 6) placing as high as they did because of their splashy summers, combined with a promising outlook for the season to come in terms of doing some playoff damage.

Just wanted to review some of those ground rules because we know it's been awhile. It's our fervent hope that the two recent editions of the FIBA Basketball World Cup rankings (found here and here) helped fill the void, but there's no getting around the fact that a full 165 days have elapsed since our last official rankings on April 14.

The wait is mercifully over. Five teams are holding their annual media day on this first Friday of fall -- San Antonio, Cleveland, Miami, Brooklyn and Sacramento -- and by Tuesday all 30 NBA training camps will be underway.

Good times, friends. Good times.

^ Back to Top ^