#30 Orlando Magic – Last Season’s Record: 21-51
Key Offseason Additions: G Jalen Suggs, F Franz Wagner, C Robin Lopez
Key Offseason Departures: F Dwayne Bacon, F James Ennis III*, F Otto Porter Jr.
(*Still a free agent)
Somebody has to check-in at the bottom of the Power Rankings list and this year, this spot belongs to the Orlando Magic and they will likely hold onto this prestigious honor all season long. Last season, the Magic traded away Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier at the trade deadline, thus beginning what is yet another rebuild for this franchise.
Since the start of the 2012-13 season, the Orlando Magic have made the playoffs just twice, both times coming in back-to-back seasons in 2018-19 and 2019-20. Steve Clifford did a really solid job as the head coach of this franchise over the last three seasons, especially given the circumstances of him having new key talents each year, but the Magic decided to move on from him this offseason and they hired former Dallas Mavericks assistant Jamahl Mosley. This will be an excellent opportunity for the first-time head coach, as he inherits a very young and growing group of talent.
Markelle Fultz, Jonathan Isaac, Cole Anthony and others will be returning from injuries that sidelined them during the 2020-21 season and Orlando will also add Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner to their rotations, two Top-8 picks in this year’s draft. Suggs is going to be a fantastic player for the Magic, but it should be interesting to see how minutes are given out early on between him, Fultz, Anthony and others.
Keep your expectations low for the Orlando Magic during the 2021-22 season, as they will likely finish with the worst record in the NBA, but Jalen Suggs is going to be an All-Rookie First Team performer and the future is very bright for this young group in The Sunshine State.
#29 Oklahoma City Thunder – Last Season’s Record: 22-50
Key Offseason Additions: G Josh Giddey, G Tre Mann, F Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
Key Offseason Departures: F Al Horford, G/F Svi Mykhailiuk, C Moses Brown, C Tony Bradley
General Manager Sam Presti is one of the best front-office executives in the entire league, hence why he is now the longest tenured GM in the NBA, and the job he has done rebuilding this Thunder franchise is remarkable. Not only do they currently have 10 guys on their roster and under contract that are 24-years-old or younger, but OKC also has a plethora of draft picks over the next several years.
The Thunder own the rights to a total of 34 draft picks, first and second-round, through the 2028 NBA Draft. In time, this team is going to once again be competing for titles, but this year will be another learning year for the young talents on this roster. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could very well have a Most Improved Player type of season like we saw from Knicks’ forward Julius Randle last year, and Darius Bazley, Luguentz Dort, Aleksej Pokusevski, Theo Maledon and others are going to continue to get better playing with one another.
Rookies Josh Giddey, Tre Mann and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl should all see a lot of playing time during the 2021-22 season, making Thunder fans very excited for what the future holds. At some point, Oklahoma City is going to make a big move, so keep an eye on the Thunder as they continue to grow as the highest potential team in the league.
#28 Detroit Pistons – Last Season’s Record: 20-52
Key Offseason Additions: G Cade Cunningham, C Kelly Olynyk, G Cory Joseph, G Saben Lee
Key Offseason Departures: C Mason Plumlee, G Wayne Ellington
The Detroit Pistons have had their eye on one thing since the first few weeks of the 2020-21 NBA Season — Cade Cunningham. They may have finished with one of the worst records in the league last year, but the Pistons got Cunningham with the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, giving them their leader and floor general they need to move forward.
Jerami Grant’s breakout season last year and the great rookie seasons from Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart set the Pistons up for a bright future. The 2021-22 season may not actually be that bad for the Pistons, but they are still a ways away from being anything special.
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Like the Thunder, the Detroit Pistons are a team that will be developing their young talents this upcoming season and they have a lot of potential to grow into something very special. This will not happen during the 2021-22 season though, as Detroit still has a few years left to grow into their full potential.
#27 Houston Rockets – Last Season’s Record: 17-55
Key Offseason Additions: G Jalen Green, C Alperen Şengün, F/C Daniel Theis, G Josh Christopher, F Usman Garuba
Key Offseason Departures: C Kelly Olynyk, F Sterling Brown
Trading away the likes of Russell Westbrook, James Harden and P.J. Tucker last season resulted in Houston entering a rebuild process, but the 2021-22 season has a chance to be the end of the rebuild for the Rockets. This team is not going to be a playoff team, but they have a plethora of young, high-level talents to build with for the foreseeable future.
Christian Wood, Jae’Sean Tate, Kevin Porter Jr. and Kenyon Martin Jr. are returning young talents on this roster and the Rockets added Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Josh Christopher and Usman Garuba all in the first-round of this year’s draft. All four of these rookies are going to make impacts during the 2021-22 season, but none more than Jalen Green.
This kid can flat out play and to me, he is my favorite to win the 2021-22 Rookie of the Year award, even over the likes of the No. 1 pick in Cade Cunningham. Jalen Green was the best player on the floor in every single Summer League game he played and the best part about him is that he has been playing professional basketball for over a year now.
He opted to play in the G-League instead of playing collegiate basketball and this decision may have been the best Jalen Green could have made for his career. Green has the potential to lead the league in scoring one day and with Kevin Porter Jr. in the backcourt next to him, this young Rockets team is set up to do a lot of damage for a long time to come.
#26 San Antonio Spurs – Last Season’s Record: 33-39
Key Offseason Additions: G Joshua Primo, F Doug McDermott, F Zach Collins, G Bryn Forbes
Key Offseason Departures: F DeMar DeRozan, F Rudy Gay, G Patty Mills, F Trey Lyles
One of the biggest “losers” of the offseason has to be the San Antonio Spurs not just because they lost DeMar DeRozan, Rudy Gay and Patty Mills in free agency, but because they did nothing to really better themselves.
For 22 straight seasons from the 1989-90 season to the 2018-19 season, the Spurs made the playoffs and were one of the most dominant organizations in the league, but they have now missed the playoffs in back-to-back years and will do so again for a third straight time during the 2021-22 season.
Derrick White, Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker IV and Keldon Johnson are all impressive young players who are set to take on bigger roles, but this team does not have enough firepower to contend with the likes of teams ranked higher than them on this list. Ending up with 30+ wins would be a successful season for the Spurs, but expectations should be very low for Gregg Popovich’s squad this year.
