NBA Power Rankings: Where does each team stand after 2019 offseason?

Tier 4 — Potential Playoff Contenders

The success of the Wizards next year will ultimately hinge upon three things: Thomas Bryant’s development, Isaiah Thomas’ performance as a stop-gap, and John Wall’s return timetable. If these dominoes fall in Washington’s favor, they could easily become an exciting team capable of stealing a few games in the playoffs. That’s a lot of “ifs” though, and there’s no guarantee the Wizards don’t pull the trigger on a Bradley Beal trade if seats start to get hot in the front office.

Best move: Getting involved in Anthony Davis trade (Bonga, Wagner, Jones)

Worst move: Letting their depth walk (Satoransky, Portis, Parker, Green)

On paper, the Pistons did nothing but improve this summer. Derrick Rose and Markieff Morris are both huge upgrades over their counterparts from last year. Sekou Doumbouya was also a great value pick outside of the lottery. However, moves like the Michael Beasley signing leave you with the feeling they built this team like it’s a video game. Detroit may fall victim to their rivals making more improvements more so than through any fault of their own doing.

Best move: Claiming Christian Wood off waivers

Worst move: Not drafting Brandon Clarke at No. 15

Minnesota will probably be better next year than most people give them credit for. An offseason without Jimmy Butler’s aura tainting the locker room should do a lot for the Timberwolves’ chemistry. Jarrett Culver and another year of development for Josh Okogie will improve the team’s depth. Most promising of all is the return of Robert Covington. The Timberwolves were 12-10 with RoCo last year and 24-36 without him. They’ll be banking on that continuity for next year.

Best move: Sacrificed virtually nothing to jump up to No. 6 overall

Worst move: Losing both Tyus Jones and Derrick Rose in free agency

All things considered, the Thunder did an awfully nice job recuperating from their unfortunate circumstance. As currently constructed, Oklahoma City is actually still a pretty good team. A core of Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Steven Adams and Danilo Gallinari would be a shoe-in for the playoffs in the East. Now it’s up to Sam Presti to flip these assets and build a winner while their enormous stockpile of draft picks just keep rolling in.

Best move: Leveraged the Paul George trade to receive a historic haul of draft picks

Worst move: Failing to find a suitor for Chris Paul

The Bulls are quietly becoming one of the sneaky good teams in the Eastern Conference. While everyone’s focused on the flashy young guns in Atlanta, Chicago’s core is superior and only got better this summer. Picking up Thaddeus Young and Tomas Satoransky are huge additions for the team with the league’s worst bench last year. Daniel Gafford has also impressed and will hopefully rid the league of Cris Felicio’s presence. Expect a big jump from this team soon.

Best move: Added real veteran leadership in Thaddeus Young

Worst move: Clogged up the point guard rotation by not trading Kris Dunn

What’s there to be said about the Pelicans that hasn’t already been said? Flipping Anthony Davis for possibly the greatest return package ever? Sweet. Winning the draft lottery for Zion? Awesome. Keeping Jrue and adding shooters? Sounds good to me. New Orleans were the unquestionable winners of the offseason, and watching Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker dominate Summer League was only icing on the cake.

Best move: Getting fantastic return from Lakers despite the drama

Worst move: Waiving Christian Wood

It remains to be seen if taking Chuma Okeke at No. 16 was a reach or not, but this Orlando team needs some legitimate help to take the next step. Either Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac or Mo Bamba will have to make huge strides for a team known for poor player development. Spending $154 million on Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross was an… interesting decision. Let’s see how it all pans out first.

Best move: Finally rid themselves of Timofey Mozgov

Worst move: Committed big money to a mediocre core