NBA Future Team Power Rankings

The NBA Draft took place last week and we are in full swing of NBA free agency. Yes we have the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs who are trying to maintain rosters that are set up to win now but may not be set up to compete for a title 4 or 5 years in a row. 

Besides those teams and a few other contenders like the Clippers, Pacers, Rockets, Warriors and Thunder, the other teams are trying to build up for the future.

So I will rank the top 10 teams that aren't built to win now but have the brightest future based on acquired young talent and future cap flexibility.

So we might as well dive into it.

First let's mention the teams that didn't make it.

First the Atlanta Hawks don't make the list.

Although they made the playoffs without Al Horford and have a ton of salary cap space it would seem as though they don't have any real cornerstone pieces to their future. They continue to be mediocre in a so-so market. This means that they wont be bad enough to get good draft picks that could help turn things around. It also means that it would be hard to get free agents to sign there without grossly over paying semi-talented players. both seems like they kind of dampen their future.

The next team off the list is the Boston Celtics.

This is more because of the assets that they have now and the fact that tanking didn't really work out for them. I like Marcus Smart and James Young but both will need some time to develop. I like their upside but they might have a bigger curve than some of the other players that were drafted.

They have Rondo as a trade piece but Point Guard is a really deep position in the league. I also don't know if Rondo is the kind of trade asset that would field you a franchise player or a high draft pick. He seems like more of a great piece on championship team but not a player that makes a team great. The Celtics need a face of the franchise player at this point.

10. The Sacramento Kings

The Kings are last on this list because they have great talent on the team but they have to click to ultimately become something. The other thing that holds them back, which will be a theme for western teams, is how good their conference is. So the Kings have an uphill battle to become good again.

There have recently been talks of them trading for Rajon Rondo and Josh Smith which would make them a little better defensively. A lineup of Rondo, Ben McLemore/Nick Stauskas, Rudy Gay, Josh Smith and Demarcus Cousins sounds great talent wise but it could also be one of the most unpredictable and tumultuous teams in the league. Rondo has a knack for rubbing teammates the wrong way. Josh Smith is still in a gym somewhere chucking up long twos and threes that he's not making. Also Demarcus Cousins is still prone to making plays like this.

As off right now the team could receive a boost if Rudy Gay continues to play the way he did last year with the Kings and Cousins develops defensively. But they are a team that future looks promising from a far but real murky up close.