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As the title suggests, the comment Cody made at the end of the most recent thinking basketball podcast. What would be the power rankings if every player was in their peak.

EAST

1. Philadelphia 76ers

Lowry, Maxey, Batum, Covington, Embiid. Hield, Harris

Great defensive lineup, Shooting and wing depth off the bench.

2. Milwaukee Bucks

Lillard, Middleton, Crowder, Giannis, Lopez. Beverley, Gallinari

Another very good defensive unit.

3. Boston Celtics

White, Holiday, Brown, Tatum, Porzingis. Horford

Basically 24 squad, but Holiday and Horford are both 5 years younger.

4. Miami Heat

Rozier, Herro , Butler, Love, Adebayo. Richardson, Robinson.

Can't count the Heat out, especially with Coach Spo.

Big gap:

Who cares, the rest are bad.

Fringe playoffs:

Nets

Simmons, Schroeder, Bridges, Johnson, Claxton

Knicks

Brunson, DiVincenzo, Anunoby, Randle, Gibson. Robinson

Bulls

Ball, Caruso, Barrett, LaVine, Vucevic, Drummond

Cavs

Garland, Mitchell, Mobley, Allen

Pacers

Haliburton, Nesmith, Siakam, Turner

Magic

Suggs, Ingles, Isaac, Wagner, Banchero. WCJ

The tanking squads:

Wiz

Jones, Poole, Kuzma, Avdija

Hornets

Lamelo, Curry, Bridges, Bertans

Hawks

Trae, Murray, Mills, Matthews, Bogdanovic, Capela

Pistons

Cunningham, Fournier, Grimes, Duren

Raptors

Quickley, Brown, Barrett, Barnes, Olynyk. Poeltl


WEST

1. Golden State Warriors

Paul, Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, Draymond. Looney

Leaning into small ball will be fun.

2. LA Clippers

Harden, George, Leonard, Tucker, Westbrook

They should lean into Westbrook as the Center.

3. LA Lakers

Vincent, Russell, Reaves, Lebron, Davis

Not much depth, but Lebron and Davis prime duo is damn near the best 2 man duo you could create.

4. Denver Nuggets

Murray, Caldwell Pope, Porter Jr, Gordon, Jokic. Jackson, Jordan

Hard to go against the defending champs with some depth behind Jokic.


Rest of playoffs:

Phoenix Suns

Booker, Beal, KD, Young, Nurkic. Gordon, Allen

Thad Young would be good for this team. Heavy on offense.

Timberwolves

Conley, Edwards, McDaniels, Towns, Gobert

Conley and Gobert are huge upgrades, but they fall short of the top tier teams.

Thunder

Shai, Williams, Hayward, Holmgren

Hayward is a great addition, but a little to green.

Kings

Fox, Huerter, Monk, Barnes, Sabonis

Grizzlies

Morant, Smart, Bane, Jackson Jr, Clarke. Rose

Rose and Ja taking it to the hoop relentlessly. Might be a league pass #1 team. A little small. Smart will be playing a lot at PF.

Mavericks

Kyrie, Luka, Hardaway Jr, Washington, Morris

Rockets

VanVleet, Brooks, Sengun, Adams

Pelicans

McCollum, Ingram, Jones, Williamson, Valanciunas



The tanking teams:

Jazz

Clarkson, Sexton, Markkanen, Collins, Kessler

Spurs

Vassell, Wembanyama

Blazers

Simons, Brogdon, Grant, Ayton, Williams

Bulls and Raptors are mixed together

Honestly the Clippers would be insane. I think there mesh as Peak is a little messy but could see them just overwhelming teams with so many ways to attack.

Clippers big weakness right now is size inside, Westbrook is an amazing rebounder for a guard but putting him at the 5 would be begging to be stunted on by any team with an above average big, let alone Jokic or Embiid.

durantbird wrote:Bulls and Raptors are mixed together

Thanks. Fixed. Must’ve got confused at RJ Barrett and read off the wrong list.

Clippers would be a given in the West if the chemistry of having players at their 'peak' holds. I think part of what makes them successful this year is that two players in particular have had a epiphany that they are no longer the MVP one man offense they'd like to be. So I think that's up for speculation.

76ers improve. Though I'd have Boston over them still (surprise).

Jrue is naturally better, but peak Al Horford is a huge addition on both sides of the ball, and opens another world of possibilities for running high post offense (like the 2015 Hawks and IT/Horford years) with an elite floor spread of offensive options. It takes our sizeable advantages in individual matchups already and multiplies them, the team would be capable of playing literally play any style of offense/defensive coverage - noting the minor limitations with KP as a playmaking big and ability to body players with lower centers of gravity.