Portland
Charlotte
Washington
Houston
Los Angeles
Atlanta
Portland and Washington among the young teams to see them put it together. Charlotte for sheer amazement at how knuckleheaded good players can be. Houston and Los Angeles for the 'can this possibly work' factor. Atlanta for obvious...
OKC depends on two things, seemingly paradoxical. Getting SGA his 20 free throws a night with soft-ass easy whistles, and fouling the ever-living shit out of the opposition (lead by Dort) forcing the refs to swallow their whistles. If you can blunt those two things you have a chance.
Worth mentioning that ATL receives the Pelicans' draft pick this year outright, so we need NOP to start not outright sucking at some point, too. Won't have an impact on the Hawks this year but would the following.
Hawks are four points away from being 0-4 to start the season. They don't look good. It's hard playing defense with Trae Young, but one problem is that Dyson Daniels really doesn't look good so far this year. Their overall defense has taken a step backwards.
Knueppel to me is what Sheppard was supposed to be. He's much bigger and stronger, but more to the point he can actually handle the ball and move the ball around. Sheppard's handles are very poor and he has no real point guard abilities.
The only real championship contender to me is OKC right now. They struggled to put away Indiana, but are more seasoned now. So, to me they are the benchmark. Can SAS go toe-to-toe with them in a series? Maybe not yet.