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With the NBA Draft and NBA free agency (mostly) behind us, the bloggers at SB Nation put our heads together and ranked all 30 teams. The methodology was pretty simple -- each site submitted their power ranks and then we averaged them all together. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the Miami Heat were the consensus #1 team. It's also not surprising that the Philadelphia 76ers were the consensus #30 team. But where do the Cleveland Cavaliers stack up? Here's what the SB Nation bloggers think (yes, I voted in this).
| Teams | Final Ranking | Average Ranking | Best Ranking | Worst Ranking |
| Heat | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 1 |
| Thunder | 2 | 3.0 | 2 | 7 |
| Spurs | 3 | 3.8 | 2 | 7 |
| Pacers | 4 | 4.4 | 2 | 8 |
| Clippers | 5 | 4.7 | 2 | 9 |
| Bulls | 6 | 6.2 | 4 | 9 |
| Rockets | 7 | 6.7 | 3 | 11 |
| Nets | 8 | 7.5 | 3 | 11 |
| Grizzlies | 9 | 8.7 | 7 | 11 |
| Warriors | 10 | 9.4 | 6 | 11 |
| Knicks | 11 | 11.0 | 9 | 14 |
| Timberwolves | 12 | 13.5 | 12 | 19 |
| Nuggets | 13 | 13.9 | 12 | 22 |
| Hawks | 14 | 14.2 | 10 | 21 |
| Trail Blazers | 15 | 15.5 | 12 | 18 |
| Pelicans | 16 | 17.4 | 13 | 23 |
| Wizards | 17 | 17.4 | 14 | 23 |
| Cavaliers | 18 | 17.9 | 11 | 24 |
| Mavericks | 19 | 18.3 | 13 | 26 |
| Lakers | 20 | 19.3 | 15 | 23 |
| Pistons | 21 | 20.5 | 18 | 24 |
| Raptors | 22 | 21.7 | 18 | 28 |
| Bucks | 23 | 22.2 | 16 | 27 |
| Kings | 24 | 24.7 | 21 | 27 |
| Jazz | 25 | 25.3 | 22 | 30 |
| Celtics | 26 | 25.5 | 22 | 28 |
| Bobcats | 27 | 26.8 | 23 | 30 |
| Magic | 28 | 27.3 | 21 | 30 |
| Suns | 29 | 28.1 | 24 | 30 |
| Sixers | 30 | 29.7 | 27 | 30 |
It's worth noting that almost everybody who voted in this did so BEFORE the Brandon Jennings-Brandon Knight trade. It probably wouldn't have a huge impact, but it might move Detroit up in front of the Mavs and Lakers.
So what does this tell us? Well, not a whole lot because it's July and power rankings will almost certainly change as we get into the season. But as a general rule, an average of multiple predictions/opinions is often more accurate than one individual prediction -- so getting 30 knowledgable takes is potentially helpful.
According to the SB Nation NBA bloggers, the Cavaliers are currently ranked as 18th in the league with an actual average ranking of 17.9. They come in one spot behind the Washington Wizards and several spots behind the Atlanta Hawks, but in front of the Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks. This is basically in line with what I said about the fight for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference yesterday.
Perhaps the most notable part of this exercise is the fact that the Cavaliers are tied for the largest range of opinions. They received a max ranking of 11 (this wasn't me, I ranked them 16th) and a minimum ranking of 24. The range of 13 is tied with the Mavs for largest in the league. This makes sense when you consider how many variables and "what ifs" the Cavs have on their roster (Andrew Bynum, Anderson Varejao, Anthony Bennett, etc.). If everything goes right, the Cavs could certainly end up 11th in the league. If most things go wrong, they could certainly end up 24th. I can't really complain about how the Cavs' ranking turned out.
Feel free to discuss the Cavs' rankings, other teams' rankings, and the usefulness of rankings in the comment section. Which ranking do you agree with the most? Which one did we get totally wrong? Let me know.