NBA Power Rankings: Preseason Edition
By Peter Owen
Sep 27, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden (13) and center Dwight Howard (12) pose for a picture during media day at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
5. Los Angeles Clippers
Remember those years the Clippers were the butt of the joke? These ain’t your father’s Clippers.
They essentially traded a 2015 draft pick for Celtics’ coach Doc Rivers after the team decided Vinny Del Negro wasn’t taking the team in the right direction. Chris Paul is rejoicing already as the Clippers offense has become a different animal with Rivers calling the plays. Another team that had an iffy preseason at 5-3, the Clippers need Blake Griffin to continue to blend from explosive player into skilled big man.
The Clippers made wholesale improvements to their bench. Already with Jamal Crawford, they added everyone’s favorite sharpshooter J.J. Redick and tried to patch up their only big hole at center with more patchwork repairs, adding Byron Mullens and resigning Ryan Hollins. The real story here is how Doc Rivers changes the culture at this team. They’ve had the high-caliber players for a few seasons, now they have the coach to go with them. Look for them to feature in May and maybe June pending the development of Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
6. Houston Rockets
The Rockets made the headline move of this summer, landing Dwight Howard as he bolted the Lakers following their nightmare season. Howard takes the Rockets from playoff team to title contender. He spent last season struggling for health and form and now he’s healthy he’ll be back to being one of the top two-way threats in the league.
Houston, 6-1 in the preseason and finishing with a dominant win against Memphis, still have one or two kinks to work out. Jeremy Lin needs to rebound from being benched in the playoffs and the team needs to figure out its frontcourt rotation. Does Donatas Motiejunas start with Howard? The Rockets experimented with an Asik-Howard tandem in their final preseason tilt and they turned the paint into a no-fly zone.