NBA Team Tiers 2013-2014: Tier V

In a previous post, I outlined six NBA regular season Team Tiers ranging from title contenders to outright disasters. In this series, I will predict which teams fit into each tier for the 2013-2014 season, starting from the bottom up. As always, teams within this Tier are presented in no particular order.

Tier V (20-29 wins): Lottery-bound

Sacramento Kings

The Kings recently had a change in ownership (finally!), and should be back on the road to respectability. But it's going to take some time. DeMarcus Cousins is so talented, they'll have a hard time losing as many games as the Tier VI teams, but it's hard to imagine this roster striking a good balance of offense and defense. Their guards are all essentially one-way players (Grievis Vasquez, Isaiah Thomas, Jimmer, Marcus Thornton), with the possible exception of Ben McLemore. But he's a rookie, so don't expect great shakes from him defensively. At the forward, they have the very limited players. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (8-clap!) is a terrific defender who can't score and Jason Thompsons is a decent rebounder and scorer around the bucket but can't generate his own offense or defend the paint. All told, I think they will perform reasonably well at home and beat some good teams now and then, but will struggle with consistency.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks surprisingly traded their best player, point guard Brandon Jennings, for Brandon Knight, best know for being dunked on. Knight will share the backcourt with free agent acquisition OJ Mayo and Luke Ridnour, an odd match to say the least. They don't have the personnel to defend guards and wings, and I'm guessing that might be a problem in a division with Derrick Rose, Paul George and Kyrie Irving. Luckily they have defensive ace Larry Sanders to clean up the blown coverages (and Zaza to back him up in case of foul trouble), but they've got no offensive pop in the front line. Unless Ilyasova somehow regains his 2011 form.

Utah Jazz

By letting Paul Milsap and Al Jefferson leave in free agency, the Jazz signaled pretty clearly that they are entering into a new phase for their franchise. But unlike the these other teams, they already have their young nucleus together. Their top 6 guys are Enes Kanter, Derrick Favors, Gordon Heyward, Alec Burks, Trey Burke, and Brandon Rush. That's a very talented core that should at least be exciting to watch. However, those guys are all unproven youngsters so it's unlikely they win many games. Plus they have very little depth after taking on salary flotsam (Biedrinds and Richard Jefferson) to get above the salary floor. Expect the Jazz to go into half-time ahead or close on most nights, only go get blown open in the second half by more experienced, deeper teams.