Future Power Rankings: Teams 26-30

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

Each of the NBA's 30 teams received an overall Future Power Rating of 0 to 1,000, 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.

With all the big moves made in the last few months, it's time for a new edition of the Future Power Rankings. Two important notes: (1) we are evaluating each team's prospects for the 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons; and (2)
we are not, for the most part, considering the changes that might be made to the collective bargaining agreement because there is no way to know how those changes will reshape the league.

Here are our latest rankings, from 1 to 30:

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

26. Phoenix Suns | Future Power Rating: 377

The new-look Suns aren't that much different than the old-look Suns. Steve Nash continues to orchestrate the offense like the maestro he is, and he's surrounded by a number of athletic wings that excel in the open court.

The problem for the Suns continues to be one of diminishing returns. Without Amare Stoudemire, they lack a significant low-post presence. Their wings -- Vince Carter, Grant Hill and Mickael Pietrus -- all contribute, but don't have a long-term future with the team because of age or contracts.

Their second-best player might be big man Marcin Gortat, who barely played in Orlando, while their other center, Robin Lopez, has failed to fulfill his promise. Free-agent pickup Josh Childress has been a disappointment. Hakim Warrick can score but doesn't provide much else at the power forward position. The Suns did grab last season's Most Improved Player award winner, Aaron Brooks, at the trade deadline, but the diminutive Brooks, who was supposed to give the Suns some of what Leandro Barbosa used to, has struggled all season.

Given that Nash (who turned 37 in February) can't do this forever, the long-term prospects in Phoenix continue to be pretty bleak. The Suns should have a little money to play with this summer once Carter comes off the books, but it won't be enough to land a major impact player, thanks to the senseless contracts owner Robert Sarver gave Warrick and Childress last summer. By the time the Suns do have real cap space, Nash will be slowing down. Most likely, the team will explore trading him this summer. If they can get back significant assets, their future should brighten. But for now our outlook remains decidedly pessimistic.

(Previous rank: 26)

27. Minnesota Timberwolves | Future Power Rating: 359

Our opinion of Minnesota has soured considerably since last time, which is surprising given how low they rated before. While the Wolves remain 27th in the rankings, they're 42 points lower in their rating -- and the biggest reason is the Players category.

Ricky Rubio's rough season in Europe has us wondering if he'll even be a good NBA player, and the specter of a lockout means -- despite the Wolves' protestations to the contrary -- that he's unlikely to join their roster until 2012 at the earliest.

Minnesota has some intriguing young talent -- Michael Beasley and Anthony Randolph could be stars if they get their heads on straight, and Kevin Love is a double-double machine at power forward. But general manager David Kahn's draft forays have been miserable -- Jonny Flynn, Wayne Ellington and Lazar Hayward have been awful, Wesley Johnson is merely passable, and it remains a mystery why they traded a first-round pick to Portland for Martell Webster. There are other draft follies we could discuss, but you get the picture.

The Wolves also sit on a time bomb inherited from the equally incompetent regime of former general manager Kevin McHale, who included a first-round pick in the disastrous Sam Cassell-Marko Jaric trade that could go to the Clippers -- completely unprotected -- in 2012.

All of that, obviously, points back at owner Glen Taylor's inability to surround himself with decent management. He's willing to spend and will have some cap money to do so, but otherwise it's perhaps the NBA's worst front office -- and that free-agent money may not do much good in a frigid city that's the NBA's least desirable market. (We know, we know -- the summers are great. But players aren't there in summer.)

(Previous rank: 27)

28. Detroit Pistons | Future Power Rating: 341

The Pistons continue their freefall in the Future Power Rankings. In December the team slid from the middle of the pack down to No. 22, and this time they take another big drop to No. 28 overall. With uncertainty surrounding the ownership of the franchise, their veteran players in open rebellion and some really bad contracts on the book, things may stay ugly for a while in Detroit.

In just about every category, the Pistons are struggling. Most importantly, they rank just No. 26 in the Players category, even after the addition of several free agents and top-15 draft picks.

Among the veterans, there are almost no happy stories: Richard Hamilton has been benched, Tayshaun Prince becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer and looks poised to move on, Ben Gordon is still due $37.2 million over the next three years, Charlie Villanueva won't defend anyone and is still owed a whopping $24 million, and Ben Wallace and Tracy McGrady don't have a lot left to offer.

The two bright spots have been Rodney Stuckey, who is having the best year of his career, and rookie Greg Monroe, who is improving rapidly and showing he should have been a top-five pick. Second-year forward Austin Daye has also shown signs of progress since the All-Star break.

The team has also taken a big hit in the Management category, as the ownership situation has remained in flux and tied team president Joe Dumars' hands, preventing him from recovering from moves that haven't worked out. And with the team and the city struggling, the Market category is also a weak spot for the Pistons -- Detroit's economy is in a shambles and the once-rocking Palace is pretty quiet these days.

(Previous rank: 25)

29. Cleveland Cavaliers | Future Power Rating: 327

It's well-known that no team has suffered a greater reversal of fortune than the Cavs. So let's focus on the bright spots.

Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert has repeatedly proved that he can and will spend money, and lately he's been using his buying power to grab draft picks.

The team picked up a second lottery pick at the trade deadline by being willing to take on Baron Davis' contract. Meanwhile, Davis seems motivated to play well -- probably so that some team will come in and rescue him from Cleveland. If that happens, the Cavs will rid themselves of an onerous contract.

With the two lottery picks (theirs and the Clippers'), and a number of other future draft picks, Cleveland now ranks No. 1 in the Draft category. The Cavs also have the best shot at the No. 1 pick (presumably they would take Duke's Kyrie Irving).

With no stars and apparently no future All-Stars in Cavs colors yet, unless J.J. Hickson can accelerate his recent improvement, the Cavs will have to make do for a while and hope they can continue to use their financial strength and some of their remaining roster pieces to pick up draft picks and prospects.

Eventually their cache of draft picks should pay off in an improved talent base and some wins. The next three seasons don't look great -- hence the low ranking. But for the long haul, the Cavs are starting to move in the right direction again.

(Previous rank: 29)

30. Charlotte Bobcats | Future Power Rating: 240

Though Charlotte somehow remains in the pathetic Eastern Conference playoff race, the Bobcats' future is still bleak.

While the Bobcats are in last place in our rankings once again, the glass-half-full view is that they're not quite as far down as they were the last time we did this exercise. Trading Gerald Wallace and Nazr Mohammed managed to clear up a very messy cap situation and brought in some youth.

On the court, the Bobcats have a bit more hope, too. Youngsters D.J. Augustin, Tyrus Thomas and Gerald Henderson look like at least long-term rotation players now, making the league's emptiest cupboard look slightly less barren. Additionally, Charlotte should benefit from high draft picks, and the first-rounder the Cats owe Chicago has sufficient lottery protection that it may not head Chicago's way for a while.

Nonetheless, the questions massively outweigh the answers. Michael Jordan may be an improvement over Robert Johnson as an owner, but the same two guys (Jordan and GM Rod Higgins) are making personnel calls and their track record has been spotty at best. In particular, the decisions to offload Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton this past offseason seem misguided in the wake of breakout seasons by each; amazingly, the Chandler trade didn't even save the team money.

Charlotte could have cap room in two years, but which players want to go to that franchise, and can Jordan afford them anyway? Charlotte has little to differentiate it as a city, and it sports a low-profile, fairly miserable team on the court and an owner whose pockets appear relatively shallow. Put it all together and the next three years are likely to be extremely challenging for Mike's Cats.

(Previous rank: 30)

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

• Chad Ford: On Twitter | On ESPN.com | On TrueHoop | E-mail
• John Hollinger: On Twitter | On ESPN.com | On TrueHoop | E-mail
• Follow ESPN.com's NBA coverage on Twitter