BabaYaga's 2023 SimNBA Preseason Power Poll

[BabaYaga]

Since everyone says, “Create Your Own Rankings!”, that is exactly what I’m going to do. This weekly Power Poll will be a combination of the eye test, the BabaYaga TTR rating, and what is on paper for each team. Starting off, it will be tough to make any rash judgements so I will be solely going off of my method of ranking teams and players for the debut power poll. I also wanted to be first in something so I created the OKC bias meter…which gives me a 10% bonus in every category.

Behold, the Preseason Power Poll!

32 - Indiana Pacers

31 - Orlando Magic

30 - New Orleans Pelicans

29 - Portland Trailblazers

28 - Milwaukee Bucks

27 - Houston Rockets

26 - New York Knicks

25 - Detroit Pistons

24 - Philadelphia 76ers

23 - San Diego Clippers

22 - Dallas Mavericks

21 - Utah Jazz

20 - Cleveland Cavaliers

19 - Atlanta Hawks

18 - Phoenix Suns

17 - Miami Heat

16 - Minnesota Timberwolves

15 - Los Angeles Lakers

14 - Brooklyn Nets

13 - Sacramento Kings

12 - Charlotte Hornets

11 - Boston Celtics

10 - Denver Nuggets

9 - Chicago Bulls

8 - Memphis Grizzles

7 - Toronto Raptors

6 - Golden State Warriors

5 - Vancouver Grizzles

4 - San Antonio Spurs

3 - Seattle Supersonics

2 - Washington Wizards

1 - OKC Thunder

Okay, so...I was going to write a blurb on each team but after writing a few I realized that no one can predict how the season will go with any type of certainty besides one simple fact: the Indiana Pacers are going to be terrible. I created a method to rank teams giving a multiplier to each player dependent on their positions. For example, I gave a slight bonus to guards ballwork and 3-point shooting rating while giving a bonus to power forwards rebounding and finishing. I tried to create something that would magnify position specific attributes in a way that would make sense IRL - a center who has a rebound rating of 25 is likely going to be a better rebounder than a guard with a 25 rating. HOWEVER, once I did this and ordered the teams there were about 25 teams within 40 points on the rating system of each other...so I couldn't really separate them out easily.

So, I just posted the order that my metric rated teams for the preseason Power Poll. There are already some things that stand out to me from it. Utah, despite winning the Summer League handily, is ranked 21st in the poll. the Nets who are a very solid team is ranked 14th, but I do think that the top of the poll with OKC, Seattle, Vancouver, and Golden State is going to stay pretty true...but once again I don't think anyone has any idea ESPECIALLY with the impact that gameplans have shown to have on games in the Summer League (that is a note to make sure you gameplan).

If you made it this far - I didn't really give my team a bonus, I just came out on top just ahead of Washington and their 3 100+ overall players. I'll have a short blurb on each team on a weekly basis as I post my Power Poll every Sunday!

Edited October 2, 2023 by BabaYaga