teams.

The Punching Bags of the East

16. Miami Heat - This is not a good team and has a losing record.

15. Detroit Pistons - Blake Griffin has been playing better. Still not a great squad.

14. Brooklyn Nets - The Nets have overcome an injury to Caris Lavert and will make the playoffs behind the PG combo of Dinwiddie and Russell.

The Bottom Two of the West

13. Los Angeles Clippers - The Clippers play good team ball. But with no stars will struggle against the best in the West.

12. San Antonio Spurs - There best asset is Greg Poppovich. Aldridge and DeRozan are no strangers to the playoffs either although neither has really been successful in them.

The injured:

11. Indiana Pacers - Without Oladipo this team lacks the talent to make any real noise.

If they get the right first round matchup:

10. Utah Jazz - Sorry Jazz fans (I'm just some dumb CB poster anyway), but this is where I have you ranked. The Jazz have made the 2nd round of the playoffs 2 years in a row but with the current squad I see them struggling to get out of the 1st round.

9. Portland Trailblazers - The Trail Blazers have a strong 3 in Lillard, McCollum and Nurkic, but I see another first round loss as the West is tough.

Missing Key Ingredients:

8. 76ers - This team has a ton of talent, but has struggled against the best 4 teams in the East going 1-7 against those teams.

7. OKC Thunder - This team has played really good defense this year and defense wins in the playoffs. The problem? Teams that can take away George and force Westbrook to shoot will have a lot of success assuming he continues his atrocious shooting season. They need one more scoring threat in my opinion (sorry Teague does not count as that).

Might have a chance if Golden State didn't exist

6. Boston Celtics - This is a group that was half of a game away from the title game without Hayward and Kyrie. They certainly have the talent to make a run and a very good coach. I just think they lack the player leadership and chemistry that is needed to make a deep run this year in a better East.

The Future

5. Denver Nuggets - The Nuggets have the inside track on the two seed this year and barring a recent stint with Isaiah Thomas getting minutes have fared very well against playoff teams. With the 3 best players under 25 and adding uber talented Michael Porter Jr for next season this is a team that isn't going away. Still I expect youth (and the most talented team of all-time) to stand in the way of a title run.

4. Milwaukee Bucks - The Bucks have been the best regular season team in the league and Giannis is on track for the MVP. Still this team has not won a single playoff series. That streak will be broken this year, but I don't expect any parades in Wisconsin this year.

The Two Best Contenders

3. Toronto Raptors - The Bucks have been better, but with Leonard, Lowry, Siakam, Green, and Gasol I like this team better in the playoffs. They play rugged, physical defense and the city is hungry for them to get to a finals. I think this is the year it happens.

2. Houston Rockets - The Rockets are finally getting healthy and have the fire power to compete with the Warriors. They had a golden opportunity a year ago, but blew it. This year it appears the Warriors are in a bit of disarray and maybe they get them....but I doubt it.

The Champion

1. Golden State Warriors - Hopefully Durant and Cousins leave and make the Warriors and the NBA fun again. Still with all of the talent on this roster you would be dumb to choose anyone else. This team has everything you are looking for in a title team in talent, experience, depth, star power, defense, coaching...etc.