Team Archives: Select Team Atlanta Boston Charlotte Chicago Cleveland Dallas Denver Detroit Golden State Houston Indiana LA Clippers LA Lakers Memphis Miami Milwaukee Minnesota New Jersey New Orleans New York Oklahoma City Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Portland Sacramento San Antonio Toronto Utah Washington

Add Widget

Don't know about you, but this is my kind of season: W-I-D-E open. The Miami Heat start out in the top slot, as all defending champions do here, but few ESPN experts are picking them to repeat and even the league's general managers, in their annual survey, rated Miami as merely No. 3 among title favorites in 2007, behind San Antonio and Dallas.

The truth? Nobody knows. The Heat? The twin titans from Texas? Phoenix? After last spring's anything-can-happen playoffs, you can make a passionate argument for any of those teams winning it all ... and throw in Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland from the Central if you really want to get wild.

All of which ranks as a beautiful thing in the eyes of the committee. I've never understood what was so compelling about the Bulls winning six titles in an eight-season span. Isn't it better this way, when so many teams have legit championship hopes and so many outcomes are possible?

That's just one more topic for debate as you peruse the opening night edition of ESPN.com's NBA Power Rankings, which have moved to their usual Monday slot and will continue weekly through the regular season. Click here to comment on the latest helping.

Editor's note: The Record category shows the team's 2005-06 regular-season record. The Last Week category shows the team's ranking in Marc Stein's Training Camp Edition of the Power Rankings.

SportsNation: Rank them yourself!

2006-07 Power Rankings: Preseason
RANK (LAST WK)		TEAM	REC.	COMMENT
	1 (1)	Heat	52-30	Like we said, this is where defending champs always start. Not that my Heat really care. They could go 41-41 and what, really, could the committee say to hurt them?
	2 (2)	Mavericks	60-22	Not since Detroit in 1989 has the losing team in the NBA Finals recovered from the disappointment to win it all the following June. But I'm guessing Mavs don't know that.
	3 (3)	Spurs	63-19	I'm sure they'll be as good as ever, but I can't subscribe to the ''Spurs always win in odd years'' theory. I know about '99, '03 and '05, but how do you explain 2001?
	4 (4)	Suns	54-28	Amare's limitations are not the problem. The bigger problem is still the West: Suns probably have to beat Mavs and Spurs just to get to the Finals.
	5 (5)	Pistons	64-18	As if they didn't have enough to do already, after last spring's unraveling, now those Big Ben-less Pistons have to lift Motown out of its World Series gloom.
	6 (6)	Bulls	41-41	No team in the East is deeper and no team in the league is better defensively. Which is another way of saying that the first 50-win season since MJ's retirement beckons.
	7 (8)	Clippers	47-35	Now the team needs to take a cue from Kaman's new contract figure and win at least 50 games. Clips have never been able to say this, but nothing less is acceptable.
	8 (7)	Cavaliers	50-32	Experience might make them a better playoff bet than Chicago, but Bulls' superior defense and depth tells me Cavs are looking at the tougher regular season.
	9 (10)	Hornets	38-44	I'm telling you right now. Even with Amare and Dajuan Wagner in play, Peja would be the league's Comeback Player of the Year if the award existed. You'll see.
	10 (13)	Warriors	34-48	I'm not budging from my Nellie Playoff Guarantee ... but Warriors, just to be safe, better capitalize on an early gift that has them playing 13 of 17 at home to start.
	11 (11)	Nets	49-33	Vinsanity is playing for a new contract, yes, but the best thing going here right now is their division. Luckily for Nets, they couldn't lose the Titanic if they tried.
	12 (9)	Rockets	34-48	Can they stay healthy? Can they live up to the runaway, elite-team expectations even if they do? Two legit questions facing Rockets after a bumpy preseason.
	13 (14)	Nuggets	44-38	It's a weak division, true, but Nuggets won't run unopposed in the NW. Their margin of error is slim if Utah is really as dangerous as some scouts keep telling me.
	14 (15)	Jazz	41-41	Someone needs to investigate this further: Are Jazz doomed to injuries now because Stock and Malone so consistently avoided them? This season should tell us.
	15 (18)	Wizards	42-40	There's plenty of time to assess Washington's place in the East pecking order. First things first: Isn't Captain Quirk a better nickname for Arenas than Agent Zero?
	16 (19)	Magic	36-46	Can't believe it's been a decade since Shaq bolted. But the natives are finally giddy again with Dwight and Darko filling that crater-sized void Shaq left behind.
	17 (16)	Pacers	41-41	Artest is a (painful) memory, but the same question marks linger: Can Pacers forge the chemistry and find the locker room leadership they still lack?
	18 (17)	Bucks	40-42	I'm not sure they can match last season's 17-11 start -- pretty sure they won't, actually -- but getting Bogut back so early means it's already a good start.
	19 (12)	Lakers	45-37	With Kobe's camp participation limited, Phil participating even less and Kwame lost to injury, Lakers are well on their way to filling their Hollywood drama requirement.
	20 (20)	Timberwolves	33-49	Who do you believe? The unnamed GM who picked Wolves to win it all in a league survey? Or ESPN's 10 Dime participants, none of whom has Minny in the playoffs?
	21 (24)	Raptors	27-55	It's safe to say Raps won't match their exhibition record by starting 7-1, not with nine new players. But they won't repeat last season's 0-9 nightmare, either.
	22 (21)	Kings	44-38	Muss himself said earlier this month that a good start was crucial. After the new coach's travails and Bibby's thumb injury, is a good start even possible?
	23 (23)	Grizzlies	49-33	Why such despair over one injury? Because even if Pau is back ahead of schedule in December, it's not like he'll instantly have his timing and sharpness.
	24 (22)	Celtics	33-49	Dedicating the season to Red was the only appropriate response. Now we'll see if these Celts, with five rotation players 21 or younger, can handle that responsibility.
	25 (25)	Knicks	23-59	Isiah's recent rant against our own Greg Anthony suggests that pressure is getting to him now -- before a game has even been played -- more than it ever did as a player.
	26 (29)	76ers	38-44	Pains me to point this out, since I'm a bigger Iverson sympathizer with each passing year, but if KG can miss the playoffs twice in a row, AI's team certainly can.
	27 (26)	SuperSonics	35-47	Swift doesn't make it to opening night and Wally Walker departs way too late, after years of damaging decisions. It's never been tougher to be a Sonics fan.
	28 (27)	Hawks	26-56	Really didn't want to start the season dredging up the whole Chris Paul saga, but it's hard to ignore it when Marvin Williams isn't even available to try closing the gap.
	29 (28)	Bobcats	26-56	Since mid-September, MJ has seen more of the British Isles (Ryder Cup and a Brand Jordan tour stop in London) than Bobcats. That would bother me.
	30 (30)	Trail Blazers	21-61	Will Blazers win enough games to make Brandon Roy a viable Rookie of the Year candidate? Hard to see how, putting a crimp in that catchy Roy For ROY campaign.