NBA FUTURE POWER RANKINGS

This is my take on an ESPN NBA Feature that ranks all 30 NBA Teams in 5 categories in an effort to rank their relative strength going forward for the 2011-2012, 2012-2013, and 2013-2014 seasons.

The categories are: Players, Management, Money, Market, Draft

Players: Current players and their potential for the future, factoring in expected departures

Management: Quality and stability of front office, ownership, coaching

Money: Projected salary-cap situation; ability and willingness to exceed cap and pay luxury tax

Market: 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: Future draft picks; draft positioning

Points are assigned for each category: Players 0-400; Management and Money 0-200 each; Draft 0-150; Market 0-100

After assigning values to each the results I came up with fell into fairly clear tiers.

TIER ONE

Miami Heat
Oklahoma City Thunder

TIER TWO

LA Lakers
Chicago Bulls
Houston Rockets
Orlando Magic
Portland Trailblazers

TIER THREE

Utah Jazz
Denver Nuggets

TIER FOUR

San Antonio Spurs
Boston Celtics
Dallas Mavericks

TIER FIVE

LA Clippers
Sacramento Kings
New York Knicks
Washington Wizards
Atlanta Hawks
Milwaukee Bucks
New Jersey Nets
Indiana Pacers

TIER SIX

Memphis Grizzlies
Detroit Pistons
Phoenix Suns
New Orleans Hornets
Toronto Raptors
Golden State Warriors

TIER SEVEN

Minnesota Timberwolves
Cleveland Cavaliers
Charlotte Bobcats