RealGM All-Time Greatest NBA/ABA Franchises Ranking - #16

[trex_8063]

1. Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers
2. Boston Celtics
3. Dallas Chaparrals, San Antonio Spurs
4. Chicago Bulls
5. Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers
6. Philly/SF/Golden State Warriors
7. Miami Heat
8. Fort Wayne/Detroit Pistons
9. Houston Rockets
10. New York Knicks
11. Indiana Pacers
12. Seattle Supersonics/OKC Thunder
13. Portland Trailblazers
14. New Orleans/Utah Jazz
15. Phoenix Suns

.....

26. Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies
27. New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans
28. Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets
29. Buffalo Braves/(San Diego)/Los Angeles Clippers
30. Minnesota Timberwolves

[penbeast0]

Removing the Suns from trex's rankings of last thread . . .

rs Win%
Bucks - .515
Nuggets - .501 (.490 in NBA, .555 in ABA)
Mavericks - .499
Hawks - .495
Cavs - .465

% of Seasons in the Playoffs
Hawks - .657
Nuggets - .654 (.581 in NBA, 1.000 in ABA)
Bucks - .608
Mavericks - .538
Cavs - .449

% of Seasons going as far as Conference Finals
Hawks - .186
Bucks - .176
Cavs - .163
Nuggets - .115 (.070 in NBA, .333 in ABA)
Mavericks - .103

Playoff Series Win%
Cavs - .543
Mavericks - .459
Bucks - .400
Hawks - .366
Nuggets - .277 (.286 in NBA, .250 in ABA)

% of Seasons going to Finals
Cavs - .102
Hawks - .057
Mavericks - .051
Bucks - .039
Nuggets - .019 (n/a in NBA, .111 in ABA)

% of Seasons Winning Title
Mavericks - .026
Cavs - .0204
Bucks - .0196
Hawks - .014
Nuggets - n/a

[penbeast0]

Of these 5 teams (let me know if anyone who should be in consideration is being left out here), the Nuggets were easily my favorites with lots of fun teams. They are also the least impressive, particularly when you take the playoffs seriously where they have done the least. That pretty much eliminates them for me.

OF the others, the Cavs have had the strongest . . . and the weakest stretches. None of the other 3 stand out from the pack either. Don't really have a favorite, wide open to persuasion.

[trex_8063]

Of these 5 teams (let me know if anyone who should be in consideration is being left out here), the Nuggets were easily my favorites with lots of fun teams. They are also the least impressive, particularly when you take the playoffs seriously where they have done the least. That pretty much eliminates them for me.

OF the others, the Cavs have had the strongest . . . and the weakest stretches. None of the other 3 stand out from the pack either. Don't really have a favorite, wide open to persuasion.

That's kinda how I'm feeling. I voted Bucks last thread, though was splittin' hairs with the Suns, and as I alluded to the Cavs seem appropriate too (depending on just how you reconcile the lows with the highs). And I forgot to mention them, but yeah, the Mavs are really right there in the mix too.

Later on I might do some kind of break-down on the Hawks, basically separating out the last ~50 years [because that's approximately the life-span on the other franchises] and showing how that looks against the others, as well as showing their first 20(ish) years separately.

And here's a question (as it may be something I could use as a tie-breaker): how would these franchises be ordered in terms of market size/resources historically?
I know where I can look up CURRENT market size for each franchise, but as city-sizes etc have changed over the decades, I don't know if those would give an accurate HISTORIC representation.

[trex_8063]

The Atlanta Hawks in the last 50 seasons (basically same time-frame as the Cavs, Bucks, and Nuggets existence) have:

rs win% - .494
% of seasons making the playoffs - .640
% of seasons going at least as far as CF - .040
% of seasons in the finals - n/a
Playoff series win% - .319


The Tri-City Blackhawks, Milwaukee/St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks in their first 20 seasons were:
rs win% - .497
% of seasons making they playoffs - .700
% of seasons in the CF - .550
% of seasons in the Finals - .200
% of seasons as Champions - .050
Playoff series record - .458


EDIT: Looking at the above, I don't think I'm quite ready to vote for them. Although those first 20 seasons are pretty good (NOTE: making the CF or even the playoffs at all was statistically/proportionally easier in some of those years than in the recent NBA), the last 50 years really don't stack up well at all against teams like the Bucks, Mavs, or Cavs (when you take into account the very poor playoff record, only rare deep playoff run [and NONE as far as the finals in 50 years])........I don't think those first 20 seasons are quite enough to offset that.

So I'll be deciding between the Bucks, Cavs, or Mavs for this spot.

[trex_8063]

Since I can't identify a definitive reason to switch, I guess I'll repeat my vote for the Milwaukee Bucks here.

Like I said, though, Cavs or Mavs seem fine too.

[Fadeaway_J]

Struggling between Bucks and Mavs here. Dallas was consistently very good for a long time in a brutal conference, but at the end of the day they "only" had three notable playoff runs even during their most successful era. Milwaukee has a stronger track record of competitiveness, but a lot of that "competitiveness" seems to consist of battling for lower seeds in a mostly terrible East.

[penbeast0]

I think I'll agree; Bucks are a pretty meh franchise to me but when I look for a reason to vote Denver or even Dallas over them, the arguments seem to fail.

Vote: Milwaukee Bucks

[Fadeaway_J]

Bucks for me too. I guess adding the 2018-19 season to their catalogue is enough to give them a narrow edge over the Mavs.

[Dr Positivity]

Vote Mavs

Very stable in the Dirk era with a title and a finals. Decent success in the 80s. The Bucks peaked early but have been pretty weak after the 80s.

I had the Nuggets as a top contender for the 24th spot (assuming Kings at 25)

[trex_8063]

Bucks - 3
Mavs - 1

Will call it for the Bucks and have the next up shortly.