Larry’s NBA Power Ratings
Quality NBA bigs are rare commodities, but rumors persist that three of them will be on the move in the near future.
***Cleveland reportedly is interested in dealing hyper big man Anderson Varejao. The 8-27 Cavs are going nowhere fast, and Varejao just hit 30 and is out for a while with a bum knee.
***Paul Gasol insists he wants to stay in Los Angeles, but he hasn’t yet figured out how he stands in Mike D’Antoni’s offense. Moving Gasol would clear cap money for the Lakers as they try to re-sign Dwight Howard.
***Major PITA DeMarcus Cousins could be headed to Boston in a deal that would include Jared Sullinger and underperforming veteran guards Courtney Lee and Jason Terry.
The Kings claim Cousins is not on the market, but they certainly don’t want to deal with his act for another decade, and the chances of him maturing on a bad team are slim.
To the rankings:
1. THUNDER (26-7) – Rare combination. OKC is the best team in the league SU and also the best in the league (20-12-1) ATS.
2. SPURS (27-9) – Spurs stay atop the division because no one in the Southwest can beat them. SA is 8-0 in the division.
3. CLIPPERS (27-8) – Between now and the All-Star break the Clips will be spending most of their time living out of suitcases.
4. HEAT (23-9) – Chris Bosh has announced that he will be keeping a running count of his rebounds. During games. Yes, he really said that. Reminds me of Wade Boggs, who knew before each at-bat how much his BA would go up if he got a hit.
5. KNICKS (23-10) – In a statement, Amare Stoudemire’s agent says that the big guy meant no harm when he dissed former coach Mike D’Antoni. Not sure how Stoudemire himself feels.
6. WARRIORS (22-11) – No shame in losing on the road to the Clippers, but the Warriors were down 39 freaking points at one point. No way a 22-11 team should go through the motions like that.
7. ROCKETS (20-14) – Houston is killing it offensively (123, 104, 115 and 112 in the last four games), and the next four games are against teams with losing records.
8. GRIZZLIES (21-10) – Memphis is in win-one, lose-one mode as the Grizz fight the inevitable mid-winter boredom that the 82-game schedule imposes on almost every team.
9. HAWKS (20-12) – Totals numbers are starting to drop on Hawks games. Atlanta has three straight unders (though 16-16 on the year O/U). Hawks are 6th in the league defensively, giving up 95.1 ppg.
10. NUGGETS (20-16) – Nuggets are primed to make a move up in the standings. Everyone in the rotation is healthy and just about every game in the next month is at home.
11. PACERS (20-14) – C Roy Hibbert got the big contract he was looking for, but most of his numbers are down from last season and the Pacers are hoping he’s not coasting.
12. NETS (19-15) – Brooklyn might have a sleeper in second-year two-guard MarShon Brooks, who was a big-time scorer in the Big East at Providence and is just now recovering from a slow start this season. [ad-6571516]
13. BULLS (18-13) – Bulls fans feel like they found $100 bills on the sidewalk after chronic head-scratcher Carlos Boozer went off for 31 and 11 against Orlando and 27 and 12 against Miami.
14. TRAIL BLAZERS (18-15) – Big game at the Rose Garden Thursday night when the Heat come to town. Great opportunity for rookie PG Damian Lillard to show off on national television.
15. CELTICS (16-17) – Danny Ainge is constantly denying trade rumors, but his M.O. since taking over the front office has been to be pro-active when things just don’t look right. Like now.
16. BUCKS (16-16)
17. JAZZ (17-18)
18. TIMBERWOLVES (15-15)
19. LAKERS (15-18)
20. 76ERS (15-20)
21. MAVERICKS (13-21)
22. KINGS (13-21)
23. PISTONS (13-23)
24. MAGIC (12-21)
25. RAPTORS (12-22)
26. SUNS (12-23)
27. BOBCATS (9-24)
28. HORNETS (8-25)
29. CAVALIERS (8-27)
30. WIZARDS (4-28)
