Future Power Rankings: Teams 6-10

Consider this a convenient way to see the direction in which your favorite team is headed.

Each of the NBA's 30 teams received an overall Future Power Rating of 0 to 1,200, based on how well we expect each team to perform in the three seasons after this season.

To determine the Future Power Rating, we rated each team in five categories (see table at right).

As you can see, we determined that the most important category is a team's current roster and the future potential of those players -- that category accounts for 40 percent of each 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 expected the team to have in the future.

One change for this edition: Now that so many big names have landed in more permanent places, we have increased the value of the Players category. This also rewards teams like Oklahoma City, Memphis and Philadelphia that have successfully built their rosters already with young talent. Of course, we still recognize that teams like Dallas, Houston and New Jersey (future: Brooklyn) have the money and the motivation to spend, and can make a lot of noise in the coming years -- and we still reward teams for strong management, salary cap space and so on.

Here are our latest rankings, from 1 to 30:

Future Power Rankings: 1-5 | 6-10 | 11-15 | 16-20 | 21-25 | 26-30

6. Dallas Mavericks | Future Power Rating: 730

The Mavs are the oldest team in the league, with an average player age of 30.33. They have several overpaid veterans (Brendan Haywood, Lamar Odom and Shawn Marion) who, while productive, have seen better days. They have other key veterans (Jason Terry and Jason Kidd) who will head into free agency this year. And, this past offseason, they lost their defensive anchor, Tyson Chandler, to the Knicks in free agency, traded away young players (Corey Brewer and Rudy Fernandez) for draft picks and didn't add one significant young player to the roster.

So how exactly did the Mavs rise in our rankings from No. 13 to No. 6?

It's all about the future.

Mavs owner Mark Cuban made a series of tough decisions this offseason that put the team's chances of repeating in jeopardy but greatly aided the team's ability to rebuild quickly. By refusing to sign vets like Chandler and Caron Butler to huge contracts he gambled that he could go into this summer and restock the Mavs with younger, All-Star-caliber players.

If Cuban and GM Donnie Nelson play all their assets right, they could get the Mavs far enough under the cap to land two marquee players to play alongside Dirk Nowitzki next season. Everyone knows that Deron Williams and Dwight Howard will be the targets. But even if the Mavs can't land both, they'll still be powerful players in the free-agent market.

For that reason, we find it hard to bet against Cuban. Great management, significant financial resources and an inviting market usually lead to great things. Yes, we're operating on faith here. But the Mavs have positioned themselves to have the biggest summer of any team in the NBA. And Cuban might just pull it off.

(Previous rank: 13)

7. Utah Jazz | Future Power Rating: 723

The Jazz took a major hit in our rankings last March thanks to the loss of All-Star point guard Deron Williams and coach Jerry Sloan. But after a really solid offseason and an excellent start to the season, our optimism over the Jazz is swelling.

Perhaps the most underrated GM in the league, Kevin O'Connor has done the most with a very tough situation in a less than desirable market and built a strong foundation for the Jazz going forward. He's continued to be proactive in rebuilding this roster in a way that keeps the team winning while adding young players for the future.

The Jazz not only have solid veterans, including Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson, at virtually every position, but they also have intriguing young players being groomed at every spot except point guard. Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, Gordon Hayward and Alec Burks have enormous potential. The fact that the team is winning while developing them makes us only more encouraged about their long-term future.

O'Connor has also been a master at acquiring lottery picks, and the Jazz are poised to grab another one from the Warriors as long as it's not in the top seven. They do owe the Wolves a pick, however, but only if they make the playoffs. In addition, the team is poised to have some money to work with in the summer of 2013 when Jefferson, Millsap and Raja Bell all come off the books.

And with Tyrone Corbin showing he can have the Jazz playing above expectations, perhaps the drop-off from Jerry Sloan might not be as bad as we once feared. The Jazz are still a few years and a piece or two away from being serious contenders, but all signs are pointing in the right direction.

(Previous rank: 14)

8. Denver Nuggets | Future Power Rating: 700

Life after Carmelo didn't turn out so shabbily, because the Nuggets were able to trade him for an entire team. Seriously. Denver grabbed eight solid players directly or indirectly from the Melo deal (Danilo Gallinari, Andre Miller, Jordan Hamilton, Kosta Koufos, Rudy Fernandez, Corey Brewer, Timofey Mozgov and Wilson Chandler) and still have two future first-rounders (in 2014 and 2016 at the earliest) coming their way. That's 10 players from one trade. Not a bad haul.

Denver already had two near-All-Stars in Nene and Ty Lawson, and as a result of the Melo trade bounty we've rated their players sixth overall. We're also pretty high on their management, as George Karl remains among the league's best coaches and GM Masai Ujiri showed with the Melo deal that he can work the trade angles.

We're just a little worried about where they can go from here. Denver has a lot of money tied up in its roster, with excessive contracts for role players Arron Afflalo and Al Harrington not helping matters, and historically the Kroenke family has been reluctant to pay luxury tax. It's not clear how they'll be able to keep this group together and keep the finances under control; most likely they'll have to shed the likes of Miller and Fernandez along the way.

Additionally, we're not sure how much lure this market has for incoming players. It's not a bad place, but they can't offer free agents much in the way of sun and sand -- or, more importantly, minutes, given how much depth they possess already.

As a result, we have them pegged in the second tier. They have a really strong roster set up for the next three years, but with no stars and limited ability to improve it, the ceiling may be the second round of the playoffs.

(Previous rank: 15)

9. San Antonio Spurs | Future Power Rating: 692

All good things must come to an end. With Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson all on the downsides of their careers, Tony Parker is the only veteran on the team who remains in his prime. Although the Spurs continue to be savvy in finding good players, including DeJuan Blair, Tiago Splitter and rookie Kawhi Leonard, all appear to have brighter futures as role players, not stars.

Our main belief in the Spurs comes from their stellar management. We've ranked them No. 1 in every Future Power Rankings we've done until this one (the Thunder edged them out).

The challenge will be using their smarts with limited resources. The Spurs will have some cap flexibility in the future (especially if they amnesty Jefferson), but their lack of market power may limit whom they can bring on board. And they're currently still good enough to stay out of the lottery, which hurts their chances of landing another young star.

(Previous rank: 5)

10. Houston Rockets | Future Power Rating: 670

These guys are holding down the fort remarkably well considering the circumstances. Houston has been hammered twice in the past year -- once when Yao Ming had to retire due to injuries, and a second time when the league, acting as stewards of the Hornets, overturned a trade for Pau Gasol at the 11th hour. The Rockets have no big stars, but have built enough depth to stay in playoff position in the tough West.

We're not crazy about the current roster -- rated just 19th going forward -- because most of the young talent is more of the role player variety. However, Houston has everything else going in its favor. Thanks to shrewd cap management, the Rockets have put themselves in position to be players in free agency, where a strong market that includes low taxes and warm weather will help them. Additionally, Houston has shown a willingness to spend -- including buying draft picks -- and is in a sneaky-good position with the draft thanks to owning New York's first-round pick.

They'd be even better off if their own pick wasn't headed to New Jersey as a result of the baffling Terrence Williams trade, the one blemish on the otherwise rock-solid tenure of GM Daryl Morey.

Sum up all those advantages and we like Houston's future enough to put the Rockets 10th overall, even though the roster doesn't overwhelm.

(Previous rank: 16)

Future Power Rankings: 1-5 | 6-10 | 11-15 | 16-20 | 21-25 | 26-30

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