Which team has the brightest future?

[MoneyTalks41890]

OKC has a better 5 year outlook than all of these teams. Their best players are 26 and under. Collison and Novak are the only players on the roster over 26.

[gustofwind]

Way to early to tell.

And is everyone really convinced already that Wiggins will be a future MVP? We should let him develop a little first before putting such a burden on him.

I voted Kings simply because that's the team I root for and for the fact that Cousins is currently the best player on any of those teams.

[Illmatic12]

OKC has a better 5 year outlook than all of these teams. Their best players are 26 and under. Collison and Novak are the only players on the roster over 26.

Pretty sure that goes without saying. Think the point of this thread is to predict the next lottery teams that could potentially build an OKC type squad full of stud young players

[DetroitPistons]

How is Detroit not on this list? Jackson/KCP/Monroe/Drummond with zero bad contracts, all of their picks, tons of cap room, and a great coach/GM.

[greg4012]

My answer is Milwaukee (should be listed). They're all young. Giannis is a freak and even if he doesn't become a superstar he will become an extremely versatile and productive player. Parker will be a dynamic scorer in the NBA. Kidd is proving to be a great coach. Middleton is a sharpshooter. Kidd is the PG whisperer and MCW is just the type of facilitator and all around PG he can mold into something great. Their defense is already great and they probably just bolstered it with MCW.

If Sanders had his head on straight, that would've taken this Bucks squad's potential to a whole other level

[dautjazz]

How the hell is Philly 2nd? Ok fine they have Noel, and then? Wroten can't shoot, Embiid hasn't even played a game, had a foot surgery which could become chronic for all we know. I'd wait a little while before voting them over teams like Milwaukee, Utah, Orlando, and Minnesota.

[philly5]

How the hell is Philly 2nd? Ok fine they have Noel, and then? Wroten can't shoot, Embiid hasn't even played a game, had a foot surgery which could become chronic for all we know. I'd wait a little while before voting them over teams like Milwaukee, Utah, Orlando, and Minnesota.

Have to take into account Saric and all their picks. Also, Wroten is a non factor, Grant and Covington are both more meaningful.

[dautjazz]

How the hell is Philly 2nd? Ok fine they have Noel, and then? Wroten can't shoot, Embiid hasn't even played a game, had a foot surgery which could become chronic for all we know. I'd wait a little while before voting them over teams like Milwaukee, Utah, Orlando, and Minnesota.

Have to take into account Saric and all their picks. Also, Wroten is a non factor, Grant and Covington are both more meaningful.

Meh, still don't see what makes them look brighter than Milwaukee, Orlando, or Utah.

[Gomagic44]

Magic win, Charlotte loses, Philly loses. Didn't catch the others. Philly was shooting lights out, but it's like a competition for a starting job in the nba, can't say I'm too proud of our squeek of a win, but a win!


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[Prince12]

As a buck fan I'm genuinely excited about our future for the first time in a long long while. Suprising we aren't in the poll but having said that I like the T-Wolves. Wiggins, Rubio, LaVine and a high pick this year. Issue is being in the west but they look to be amongst the playoff mix in 2-3 years.

[mattao313]

It's crazy DET isn't on the list but its all good...at least we aren't getting ridiculed like in the other thread like this.

[lakersin4]

Solely based on the players on the team now & assuming average success in the draft relative to each teams recent picks, it's Minnesota by a mile. They have 1 thing none of the other teams have yet, Wiggins has Superstar potential with a ceiling of best player in the league. They have a borderline Allstar in Rubio(crazy to think he just turned 24). Shabazz, Lavine, & Dieng who all look like worst case solid starters with potential to be much more. They'll be bad enough to keep their lottery pick this year, but they haven't exactly drafted well in the lottery(I know it was mostly Kahn but still). They have a great young core but it really all comes down to Wiggins. He has the type of potential all of these other teams hope their recent/future lottery picks will have.

The Best of the Rest, in no order:

Philly has a good group of 4 young players with the potential to break out & become stars to go with most likely having the most lottery balls this year. The Heat pick which should be 15-16. The potential to get the Lakers pick if we screw up & land at 6 or 7. The potential to get the #19 pick from OKC if they go on a scary run to finish the season. & half of the 2nd round. More likely they get the Lakers pick in the teens next year & OKC's pick in the 20's next year to go along with their own lottery pick. But no matter where those picks land, between their existing young players, a ton of cap space with no big extensions coming up, & all of those picks, that's a lot of chances at getting a franchise changing player.


Orlando also has a very good young core, but theirs are already showing their potential. Vucevic looks like he could be 1 of the best C's in the league. Oladipo has Allstar potential. I don't know if Payton will live up to the Rondo comparisons but he's already on his way to becoming a solid 2 way starting PG. Aaron Gordon is still a wild card. He has the natural gifts to become a star but looks like he might take a while to develop. Harris is already an above average starter but all signs seem to point to him being gone this summer. Right now they have the 5th worst record but I see Sac & Utah outtanking them. Should end up with the 7th-10th worst record, & based on how well they've drafted recently, that could mean adding another very good young player to the mix.


Utah just lost 1 of their good young players for practically nothing & that definitely hurts them. But they still have a good core of young talent. Hayward is already a very good all around player, but if he can add 3-5 PPG to his average, he'll be a legit Allstar living up to that Max contract. Favors looks to be on his way to becoming 1 of the best 2 way bigs in the league, & Gobert will join him if his per-36 numbers don't take a dive with more playing time. Burke & Burks both look like they could be legit starters very soon. Exum has had a rough time so far but still has 1 of the highest ceilings from his draft class. Who knows if Pleiss will live up to the hype but if he does, they'll have to figure out which of their talented young bigs to trade for a great return, good problem to have. They should finish with the 5th to 8th worst record & judging by their recent picks, they have a good chance of adding another good young player.

The Rest:

Phoenix is primed to miss the playoffs by just enough to not have a good draft pick yet again barring injuries crippling DAL, SAS, or OKC. They were already on the treadmill & got worse at the deadline, but while they lost 3 good players & the potential of Ennis, they did get a 23 year old PG that could very easily be an Allstar level player soon. That atleast gives them something to rebuild around if they decide to blow it up. They gave up the Lakers pick which will end up in the teens in 2016, but it's extremely unlikely they would have gotten a better rebuilding piece there than Knight. The 2016 Cleveland 1st should be in the high 20's, & the 2017 MIA 1st is only 1-7 protected & could be really good or really bad. If Dragic leaves this summer they'd have no cap space or assets to replace him & Wade being healthy 2 years from now is far from a sure thing. Or Dragic could stay & Wade could still be playing at this level. Could range anywhere from a top 10 pick to in the 20's. The 1 chance I think they have of winning within 5 years is dumping everyone except Knight & Len & relying on getting lucky with their own lottery picks.

Denver is in a tough spot. I don't think they're bad enough to tank this season but they need to start over. Lawson is pretty much their entire team & Shaw would rather have George Hill. I assume Lawson will be moved in the offseason, as long as he doesn't go public with a trade demand they should be able to get a couple picks & a good young player or 2. Nurkic looks like he has a bright future in the league. Faried has a rare motor that you don't see from many bigs, but it doesn't look like he's going to live up to the star potential a lot of people thought he had, & they already gave him a big extension. Probably hard to trade with that extension & young enough to keep next to Nurkic. Dumping McGee was a huge plus. If they can salvage some picks or young players for Gallo, Chandler, & Hickson before they expire that would certainly help. Their own pick & the Knicks pick have the potential to be very good next year, but they can't have both just the option to swap. Don't think they have enough young talent to pull off a quick rebuild but a good trade or 2 could change that.


The Kings, I don't know where to start. Maybe with "Stauskus?". Obviously Cousins is a monster. Every team in the league would consider themselves lucky to have him. Rudy & Collison are playing well, maybe a bit too well. Their pick is only 1-10 protected & there are currently 13 total teams, 11 non-playoff teams that either have a worse record or are within 3 games of having a worse record. They're going to have to tank hard to keep that pick. Rudy & Collison are also probably a few years too old to be a part of a rebuild going foward, although I'm not sure how they would even rebuild. 8 outgoing future picks to 1 incoming, Cousins is their only good young player, they don't have any other assets that could bring in the picks they need. I know a lot of Kings fans still have high hopes for McLemore but I don't see him ever being more than a good 2 way role player who is the 4th or 5th option on the floor at all times. Honestly I don't think there's a GM in the league that could salvage this situation.

Kings have 8 outgoing picks to incoming one? Like conditional second rounders? where is the 8? Kings only have one protected first round pick, it's not like they mortgaged their future like the Lakers.

You can laugh at Stauskas but do the Lakers have a better prospect sans injured randle?

You mention a good point though about rebuilding. We aren't doing that because teams with guys who can legitimately get to top 5 don't sit around waiting for that rebuild. Again, the Kings core of Cousins, Gay, Collison and McLemore is solid now. We have statistically had one of the worst bench in the league for a lot of the season. Kings fans feel the team can be solid with a bench, cohesion and coaching/stability

Yeah they're all 2nd rounders outside of the top 10 protected 1st outgoing this year or whenever. But a team with no shot at winning right now that needs to rebuild shouldn't be trading away picks at all, & no, that core of Cousins, Gay, Collison, McLemore isn't solid at all.

& sure the Lakers mortgaged their future, but they did it to put together a team of Nash-Kobe-Artest-Pau-Dwight.. Noone could have predicted that everything that could go wrong would. & despite mortgaging the future, we ended up with Randle & will add a top 5 pick this year.

Also yes, we have better prospects than Stauskas. Not sure why you discount Randle for being injured, it's not like it's career ending. & Jordan Clarkson is also a better prospect.

[Saints14]

Comparing young players and assets it's probably a wash between the Sixers and Wolves, and maybe the Jazz if you believe in Exum, but I believe Philadelphia has elite upper management with a well defined long-term plan, so I choose them.

[Kings2013]

Solely based on the players on the team now & assuming average success in the draft relative to each teams recent picks, it's Minnesota by a mile. They have 1 thing none of the other teams have yet, Wiggins has Superstar potential with a ceiling of best player in the league. They have a borderline Allstar in Rubio(crazy to think he just turned 24). Shabazz, Lavine, & Dieng who all look like worst case solid starters with potential to be much more. They'll be bad enough to keep their lottery pick this year, but they haven't exactly drafted well in the lottery(I know it was mostly Kahn but still). They have a great young core but it really all comes down to Wiggins. He has the type of potential all of these other teams hope their recent/future lottery picks will have.

The Best of the Rest, in no order:

Philly has a good group of 4 young players with the potential to break out & become stars to go with most likely having the most lottery balls this year. The Heat pick which should be 15-16. The potential to get the Lakers pick if we screw up & land at 6 or 7. The potential to get the #19 pick from OKC if they go on a scary run to finish the season. & half of the 2nd round. More likely they get the Lakers pick in the teens next year & OKC's pick in the 20's next year to go along with their own lottery pick. But no matter where those picks land, between their existing young players, a ton of cap space with no big extensions coming up, & all of those picks, that's a lot of chances at getting a franchise changing player.


Orlando also has a very good young core, but theirs are already showing their potential. Vucevic looks like he could be 1 of the best C's in the league. Oladipo has Allstar potential. I don't know if Payton will live up to the Rondo comparisons but he's already on his way to becoming a solid 2 way starting PG. Aaron Gordon is still a wild card. He has the natural gifts to become a star but looks like he might take a while to develop. Harris is already an above average starter but all signs seem to point to him being gone this summer. Right now they have the 5th worst record but I see Sac & Utah outtanking them. Should end up with the 7th-10th worst record, & based on how well they've drafted recently, that could mean adding another very good young player to the mix.


Utah just lost 1 of their good young players for practically nothing & that definitely hurts them. But they still have a good core of young talent. Hayward is already a very good all around player, but if he can add 3-5 PPG to his average, he'll be a legit Allstar living up to that Max contract. Favors looks to be on his way to becoming 1 of the best 2 way bigs in the league, & Gobert will join him if his per-36 numbers don't take a dive with more playing time. Burke & Burks both look like they could be legit starters very soon. Exum has had a rough time so far but still has 1 of the highest ceilings from his draft class. Who knows if Pleiss will live up to the hype but if he does, they'll have to figure out which of their talented young bigs to trade for a great return, good problem to have. They should finish with the 5th to 8th worst record & judging by their recent picks, they have a good chance of adding another good young player.

The Rest:

Phoenix is primed to miss the playoffs by just enough to not have a good draft pick yet again barring injuries crippling DAL, SAS, or OKC. They were already on the treadmill & got worse at the deadline, but while they lost 3 good players & the potential of Ennis, they did get a 23 year old PG that could very easily be an Allstar level player soon. That atleast gives them something to rebuild around if they decide to blow it up. They gave up the Lakers pick which will end up in the teens in 2016, but it's extremely unlikely they would have gotten a better rebuilding piece there than Knight. The 2016 Cleveland 1st should be in the high 20's, & the 2017 MIA 1st is only 1-7 protected & could be really good or really bad. If Dragic leaves this summer they'd have no cap space or assets to replace him & Wade being healthy 2 years from now is far from a sure thing. Or Dragic could stay & Wade could still be playing at this level. Could range anywhere from a top 10 pick to in the 20's. The 1 chance I think they have of winning within 5 years is dumping everyone except Knight & Len & relying on getting lucky with their own lottery picks.

Denver is in a tough spot. I don't think they're bad enough to tank this season but they need to start over. Lawson is pretty much their entire team & Shaw would rather have George Hill. I assume Lawson will be moved in the offseason, as long as he doesn't go public with a trade demand they should be able to get a couple picks & a good young player or 2. Nurkic looks like he has a bright future in the league. Faried has a rare motor that you don't see from many bigs, but it doesn't look like he's going to live up to the star potential a lot of people thought he had, & they already gave him a big extension. Probably hard to trade with that extension & young enough to keep next to Nurkic. Dumping McGee was a huge plus. If they can salvage some picks or young players for Gallo, Chandler, & Hickson before they expire that would certainly help. Their own pick & the Knicks pick have the potential to be very good next year, but they can't have both just the option to swap. Don't think they have enough young talent to pull off a quick rebuild but a good trade or 2 could change that.


The Kings, I don't know where to start. Maybe with "Stauskus?". Obviously Cousins is a monster. Every team in the league would consider themselves lucky to have him. Rudy & Collison are playing well, maybe a bit too well. Their pick is only 1-10 protected & there are currently 13 total teams, 11 non-playoff teams that either have a worse record or are within 3 games of having a worse record. They're going to have to tank hard to keep that pick. Rudy & Collison are also probably a few years too old to be a part of a rebuild going foward, although I'm not sure how they would even rebuild. 8 outgoing future picks to 1 incoming, Cousins is their only good young player, they don't have any other assets that could bring in the picks they need. I know a lot of Kings fans still have high hopes for McLemore but I don't see him ever being more than a good 2 way role player who is the 4th or 5th option on the floor at all times. Honestly I don't think there's a GM in the league that could salvage this situation.

Kings have 8 outgoing picks to incoming one? Like conditional second rounders? where is the 8? Kings only have one protected first round pick, it's not like they mortgaged their future like the Lakers.

You can laugh at Stauskas but do the Lakers have a better prospect sans injured randle?

You mention a good point though about rebuilding. We aren't doing that because teams with guys who can legitimately get to top 5 don't sit around waiting for that rebuild. Again, the Kings core of Cousins, Gay, Collison and McLemore is solid now. We have statistically had one of the worst bench in the league for a lot of the season. Kings fans feel the team can be solid with a bench, cohesion and coaching/stability

Yeah they're all 2nd rounders outside of the top 10 protected 1st outgoing this year or whenever. But a team with no shot at winning right now that needs to rebuild shouldn't be trading away picks at all, & no, that core of Cousins, Gay, Collison, McLemore isn't solid at all.

& sure the Lakers mortgaged their future, but they did it to put together a team of Nash-Kobe-Artest-Pau-Dwight.. Noone could have predicted that everything that could go wrong would. & despite mortgaging the future, we ended up with Randle & will add a top 5 pick this year.

Also yes, we have better prospects than Stauskas. Not sure why you discount Randle for being injured, it's not like it's career ending. & Jordan Clarkson is also a better prospect.

I respect your opinion and we can agree to disagree. I have no problem with those who think we have no future, just seemed you were holding us to a more critical eye, and i know that a lot of the Lakers/Kings animosity still reigns. But again, if that is your objective opinion it's all good

[83SixersRocked]

We're talking about potential and in the future right? Then it's 76ers.
Short term, Noel's probably up there with the best players in these teams. Potential DPOY?
Mid term, Embiid highest potential to be a franchise player out of all the teams.
And for the future, sixers top 3 pick plus Heat's lotto this year. Then Sixers top 3 pick plus Lakers' top 5, next year.
Sixers got two projected 1st overalls in the past two drafts. Promising role players with the 2nds like Jerami Grant. Then tons of promising picks in the future.
Last time, most criticisms were about the health of Noel and Embiid. I'm wondering what's the criticism would be now?

The criticism being that you just traded your ROY for another pick?

How is nothing to show and or lack of anything at all equal to potential? Those picks (37 in last 3 years, wow) are yet to even materialize. I agree that Hinkie seems to be playing the Morey card, but until that happens......your a D-league team with incredible future flexibility and multiple picks, though most are second rounders. The sixers are the team you'd love to be in NBA 2k Franchise mode, not in real life.

He gave you four decent arguments and your response is about lack of anything at all? Since their 0-17 start as of a few days ago, the 76ers have a better record than six other teams. Where do you draw the D-League line?

[JazzMatt13]

The Jazz have the youngest and most inexperienced roster in the league, and are doing better than most of the teams in this poll.

Just sayin'.






Bucks are doing way better though, and are just barely any older. Idk why they're not on this poll. They should be getting talked about a lot more.

You see any players in the Jazz roster being perenial all-stars? Favors and Hayward have toppish ceiling. Burke and Exum looks average. There's Gobert, but how much better can he get?

How much better can Gobert get?!? IDK, he is 22, freakishly large, and just blew away all the best Rookies and Sophmores, including Wiggins, hence probably the best big in the last 2 drafts. Right now, I wouldn't trade Gobert for Noel and Embiid.

[wichmae]

The Jazz have the youngest and most inexperienced roster in the league, and are doing better than most of the teams in this poll.

Just sayin'.






Bucks are doing way better though, and are just barely any older. Idk why they're not on this poll. They should be getting talked about a lot more.

You see any players in the Jazz roster being perenial all-stars? Favors and Hayward have toppish ceiling. Burke and Exum looks average. There's Gobert, but how much better can he get?

How much better can Gobert get?!? IDK, he is 22, freakishly large, and just blew away all the best Rookies and Sophmores, including Wiggins, hence probably the best big in the last 2 drafts. Right now, I wouldn't trade Gobert for Noel and Embiid.

And the homer post of the day is....

[loserX]

How is Detroit not on this list? Jackson/KCP/Monroe/Drummond with zero bad contracts, all of their picks, tons of cap room, and a great coach/GM.

In the offseason Jackson is RFA and Monroe is UFA. In Monroe's case in particular, counting him as part of your future is speculative since he may not even be on the team come July.

They do have some promise but things look a bit different if you exclude free agents.

[j_n]

How is Detroit not on this list? Jackson/KCP/Monroe/Drummond with zero bad contracts, all of their picks, tons of cap room, and a great coach/GM.

1. Do you consider Josh Smith's 14 million per year a good contract?
2. If you keep Monroe and Jackson than you wont have much cap space left, if any, next season you need to extend Drummond.
3. looking at Monroe's numbers in the last 4 years, it doesnt look like he improved much since his second year, I dont know how much better he can get.
4. Drummond seem to have regressed since last year and is starting to look more like Deandre than Dwight, though hes very young so its too early to tell, plenty of room for improvement.
5. Jackson is overrated, hes 25 years old and never looked like a starter since coming to the league.
6. KCP is pretty average, not a great shooter, not very athletic, doesnt have a great size, doesnt distribute very well, I dont know, seems like a role player.

[mattao313]

1. Do you consider Josh Smith's 14 million per year a good contract?

He has been waived and stretched ove 5 years and has a cap hit of about 5.4mil. so yeah that ain't great.

2. If you keep Monroe and Jackson than you wont have much cap space left, if any, next season you need to extend Drummond.

Yeah but we have their bird right and if everything goes right we can still sign a big impact player.

3. looking at Monroe's numbers in the last 4 years, it doesn't look like he improved much since his second year, I dont know how much better he can get.

He hasn't improved a ton but he did improved his FT shooting and defense and upped his production after BJ got hurt he is also a elite rebounder. But yeah I think he is a finished product.

4. Drummond seem to have regressed since last year and is starting to look more like Deandre than Dwight, though hes very young so its too early to tell, plenty of room for improvement.

If anything imo he has shown he is more than just a Deandre type, at the beginning of year he was absolutely horrible in the post now he has shown a lot of promise and looks a lot more comfortable with his hook shot. I don't think he'll ever be dominate down their but I'm 95% sure he will be a better way better player than Deandre.

5. Jackson is overrated, hes 25 years old and never looked like a starter since coming to the league.

I really have no comments on him he can be good but haven't seen enough to really be sure. I'm not a big fan of him like the other Pistons fans.

6. KCP is pretty average, not a great shooter, not very athletic, doesnt have a great size, doesnt distribute very well, I dont know, seems like a role player.

I think his floor is a good 3&D player and ceiling is Wesley Matthews he's shown some good things but is inconsistent on the offensive side at times next year will tell if he will make that jump or not. Edit: Imo he looks pretty fast to me as well.

Other thing to mention is we have the best coach out of all the bad teams and our record really doesn't show that we are a decent to good team already.