Kevin Pelton
Close Kevin Pelton
ESPN Senior Writer Co-author, Pro Basketball Prospectus series
Formerly a consultant with the Indiana Pacers
Developed WARP rating and SCHOENE system
Bobby Marks
Sep 21, 2017, 08:00 AM ET So you're wondering how we put the NBA Future Power Rankings together ? Here's how we did it.
FUTURE POWER RATING PLAYERS (worth 58.3% of score): Current players and their potential for the future, factoring in expected departures
MANAGEMENT (worth 16.7% of score): Quality and stability of front office, ownership, coaching
MONEY (worth 8.3% of score): Projected salary-cap situation; ability and willingness to exceed cap and pay luxury tax
MARKET (worth 8.3% of score): Appeal to future acquisitions based on team quality, franchise reputation, city's desirability as a destination, market size, taxes, business and entertainment opportunities, arena quality, fans
DRAFT (worth 8.3% of score): Future draft picks; draft positioning
To determine the Future Power Rating, we rated each team in five categories. Here's how they did it and how the teams ranked in each individual category.
We determined that the most important category is a team's current roster and the future potential of those players -- that category accounts for more than 50 percent of each NBA team's overall Future Power Rating.
At the same time, we looked at many other factors, such as management, ownership, coaching, a team's spending habits, its cap situation, the reputation of the city and the franchise, and what kind of draft picks we expect the team to have in the future.
Players (58.3 percent) Players Team Rating 1. Golden State 100 2. Houston 82.5 3. Boston 80 4. San Antonio 70 4. Minnesota 70 6. Washington 65 6. Denver 65 6. Oklahoma City 65 9. Toronto 62.5 9. Milwaukee 62.5 11. Portland 60 11. Cleveland 60 13. Utah 55 13. Philadelphia 55 15. L.A. Clippers 52.5 16. Miami 50 16. Detroit 50 16. New Orleans 50 19. Charlotte 47.5 20. Memphis 42.5 21. L.A. Lakers 37.5 21. Orlando 37.5 23. New York 32.5 24. Dallas 30 25. Indiana 27.5 25. Sacramento 27.5 25. Phoenix 27.5 28. Brooklyn 22.5 29. Atlanta 17.5 30. Chicago 15 Current players and potential for the future
Management (16.7 percent) Management Team Rating 1. Golden State 97.5 2. San Antonio 92.5 3. Boston 87.5 4. Houston 77.5 5. Miami 72.5 5. Oklahoma City 72.5 7. Dallas 67.5 7. Utah 67.5 9. Portland 65 10. Toronto 60 11. Washington 55 12. Minnesota 52.5 13. L.A. Clippers 50 14. Brooklyn 47.5 14. Charlotte 47.5 14. Denver 47.5 17. L.A. Lakers 45 17. Orlando 45 19. Philadelphia 42.5 19. Cleveland 42.5 19. Detroit 42.5 19. Memphis 42.5 23. Atlanta 35 23. Milwaukee 35 25. Indiana 30 26. Sacramento 22.5 27. Chicago 20 28. New York 17.5 29. Phoenix 15 30. New Orleans 10 Quality/stability of front office, ownership, coaching
Money (8.3 percent) Money Team Rating 1. Chicago 97.5 2. L.A. Lakers 92.5 2. Indiana 92.5 4. Philadelphia 90 5. Atlanta 80 6. Phoenix 70 6. Dallas 70 6. Sacramento 70 9. Brooklyn 65 10. New York 62.5 10. Utah 62.5 12. San Antonio 47.5 12. Orlando 47.5 14. L.A. Clippers 45 15. Cleveland 42.5 15. Minnesota 42.5 17. Detroit 40 17. Charlotte 40 19. Memphis 37.5 19. Milwaukee 37.5 21. Denver 35 22. Boston 30 22. New Orleans 30 24. Miami 25 24. Houston 25 24. Oklahoma City 25 27. Golden State 22.5 28. Portland 20 28. Toronto 20 30. Washington 15 Projected salary-cap situation
Market (8.3 percent) Market Team Rating 1. L.A. Lakers 90 1. Golden State 90 3. New York 85 4. L.A. Clippers 82.5 4. Miami 82.5 6. Brooklyn 75 7. Houston 65 8. Boston 60 8. Cleveland 60 10. Phoenix 55 10. Chicago 55 10. Dallas 55 13. San Antonio 52.5 14. Orlando 50 15. Portland 47.5 15. Washington 47.5 17. Philadelphia 45 17. Denver 45 17. Toronto 45 20. Atlanta 42.5 21. Detroit 40 21. Oklahoma City 40 23. New Orleans 35 23. Charlotte 35 25. Indiana 30 25. Utah 30 25. Memphis 30 28. Sacramento 25 29. Milwaukee 17.5 30. Minnesota 15 Appeal to future acquisitions
Draft (8.3 percent) Draft Team Rating 1. Atlanta 95 2. Phoenix 90 3. Boston 87.5 4. Philadelphia 85 5. Cleveland 80 6. Chicago 77.5 7. Indiana 67.5 8. Dallas 65 8. New York 65 8. Orlando 65 11. New Orleans 52.5 11. Sacramento 52.5 13. Detroit 50 14. Utah 47.5 15. Charlotte 45 15. Memphis 45 17. Denver 42.5 17. Milwaukee 42.5 17. Portland 42.5 20. Brooklyn 40 20. Minnesota 40 20. Washington 40 23. L.A. Lakers 37.5 24. L.A. Clippers 32.5 25. San Antonio 30 26. Golden State 27.5 27. Miami 22.5 27. Oklahoma City 22.5 27. Toronto 22.5 30. Houston 17.5 Future draft picks; draft positioning