Sports
Predicting the NBA's Most and Least Watchable Teams This Year – Bleacher Report
While most preseason predictions will focus on which teams will be the most and least successful, we don’t care about any of that here.
Yes, teams that play better are typically more aesthetically pleasing, but that’s just one of the factors we’re considering. Offensive cohesion inevitably takes center stage, but no one likes watching a team become a turnstile on defense, either.
Star power is also important, as is watching young players with star potential take the next step. We’re also factoring in the future, and whether a team will be adding even more talent around the trade deadline or selling off parts.
These six NBA teams project to be the most and least watchable this season when flipping through League Pass, with some honorable mentions thrown in for both sides as well.
Denver Nuggets
Denver will again be a joy to watch this season, headlined by Nikola Jokić’s head-shaking passing ability and the cohesion that comes from a core that has now won a championship together.
The only knock on the Nuggets is the lack of any major additions this offseason and the fact that we just watched them play into the middle of June, meaning there’s some minor viewership fatigue here. Still, Denver will be awesome and a must-watch any time Jokić is on the floor.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers would have ranked near the bottom of this list a year ago, but the turnaround at last season’s trade deadline that propelled L.A. to the Western Conference Finals only has us wanting more.
Watching LeBron James still play at an All-NBA level is something we can tell our grandchildren about, and Anthony Davis remains one of the most dominant bigs in the NBA. And there’s a real supporting cast around these stars, especially with additions of Gabe Vincent, Christian Wood and a new contract for Austin Reaves.
New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans would be in the top three of these rankings if we could turn injuries off.
Zion Williamson is, arguably, the most entertaining player to watch in the entire NBA, while Brandon Ingram, Trey Murphy III and CJ McCollum bring their own impressive highlight reels.
Add in Jose Alvarado hunting for steals and the occasional Larry Nance Jr. jump-out-of-your-seat slam dunk, and New Orleans is must-see TV every night the core is healthy.
Chicago Bulls
The Bulls won’t necessarily be bad this year, and they could realistically sneak their way into the East playoffs via the play-in tournament. That being said, is anyone actually excited to watch Chicago simply run it back this season?
Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig were solid additions, but they aren’t going to wow anyone with their high-flying dunks or incredible athleticism. DeMar DeRozan is 34, on an expiring contract and could become a trade candidate at some point. This was also just the 24th-best offense last season, one that will once again be without Lonzo Ball for the entire year. Overall, what are we tuning in to see from the Bulls that we haven’t witnessed already?
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are probably the best team on paper of these least watchables, yet still bring a deadly combination of the NBA’s oldest roster (29.2 average player age) and a history of injuries to key players.
Russell Westbook is still an exciting player to tune in for, as you could be in for a 30-point or 10-turnover night, often with no inbetween. If James Harden eventually joins Los Angeles and is paired with Westbrook again, this could become the NBA’s best soap opera, even if the on-court product is lacking.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors were a tough watch last season for those who love offensive flow and three-point shooting, and the swap of Fred VanVleet for Dennis Schröder isn’t going to make things any better up north.
There’s going to be an awful lot of dribbling and even more bricked jumpers from this roster, one that needs a massive makeover and a whole lot more spacing.
The Hornets were a train wreck last season, sporting the NBA’s worst offense (108.4 rating) while shooting just 45.7 percent overall (29th in the league) and 33.0 percent from three (also 29th).
Yes, LaMelo Ball being limited to just 36 games was the chief cause of this, but even his beautifully unpredictable passing game doesn’t move this group out of the bottom of the watchable list.
Outside of Ball, there’s little to get excited about in Charlotte. If the All-Star point guard continues to battle pesky ankle injuries, this team will once again remain at the bottom of the East as well.
No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller should be a solid pro, but there’s far more entertaining rookies to tune in to watch this season (Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson, Amen and Ausar Thompson, etc.). Mark Williams will make some highlight tapes with his blocks and dunks, but outside of these three, little remains.
Terry Rozier is a shoot-first guard who misses a lot of shots (41.5 percent overall last season, 32.7 percent from three), Gordon Hayward will turn 34 this season and James Bouknight (5.1 points per game, 35.3 percent shooting overall in his first two years) can safely be labeled as bust by now. Kai Jones, one of the highest-ranked players on the roster in terms of entertainment value, has been waived. Miles Bridges, who deserves to have been let go by the franchise on multiple occasions, somehow remains.
If the Hornets get off to a slow start and turn into sellers, this team will go from bad to worse.
The Thunder have everything we want on a most watchable list.
There’s an established superstar already on the roster (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), players who could become stars this season (Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams) and a high lottery pick we’ve been waiting over a year to see (Chet Holmgren).
Given the youth on this roster, there’s no viewership fatigue to be had, either. We only want more Thunder basketball in our lives at this point, as this is a fun, well-coached team that plays hard all the time. OKC was at the top of all major hustle categories last season (first in charges drawn, third in contested shots, fourth in loose balls recovered, seventh in deflections).
While Gilgeous-Alexander has grown into one of the smoothest scorers in the NBA with his ability to get into the paint, Giddey may be the most intriguing player on this roster. A 6’8″ point guard who could do everything but shoot, the 21-year-old actually showed signs of a competent outside shot last season. Williams is a talented on-ball threat as well, with nearly half of this roster capable of grabbing a rebound and going coast-to-coast.
This group was a lot of fun last year en route to 40 wins, although adding Holmgren to the mix takes them to an entirely new level. A 7’1″ center with a 7’6″ wingspan who can dribble, shoot and could be one of the NBA’s best rim protectors immediately? Yes, please.
There are no “unlikable” players on this roster, ones that opposing fans have grown to hate. If anything, most indifferent fans still view OKC as the franchise that probably should have won a title or two (or three) with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden and want to see them do well again.
The Thunder should finish as a top-six team in the West this season and will be one of the most fun watches on any given night.
The Jazz are the vanilla ice cream of the NBA this season. There’s nothing wrong with vanilla, of course, although nearly every and all other options are more exciting.
No disrespect to Lauri Markkanen, but this roster lacks both superstars and elite young talent to draw in viewers. Mix in the worst modern jersey collection in the NBA and a question mark at point guard, and Jazz games won’t make for easy viewing this season.
After selling off a good portion of the roster last year, the Jazz stumbled to 10-16 overall following the trade deadline with an offense that fell to 24th (112.4 rating). Starting the season off so well kept Utah from being a real player in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, though, moving the Jazz back to the ninth pick in the draft.
There’s going to be a lot of dribbling to nowhere for stretches with a backcourt that features Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton and we have to hope John Collins has some sort of a revival after a rough season with the Atlanta Hawks (13.1 points, 29.2 percent from three).
There are a lot of future first-round picks coming which is great for team building, although that does nothing to make the on-court product any more appealing.
The Jazz look like a 30 to 35-win team, one that will again compete for a play-in spot and miss out on yet another top pick.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are the best duo in the NBA, with their continued chemistry only adding to their watchability with the Bucks this season.
After a three-year hiatus from his MVP awards and a two-year break from winning an NBA title, Antetokounmpo should be more motivated than ever to prove himself as the league’s best player this season, destroying anyone and anything in his path.
The 28-year-old is the league’s most dominant force given his combination of strength, athleticism and mobility.
Giving Antetokounmpo the most spacing he’s ever received with Lillard now on the roster is like giving Godzilla a jet pack and setting him loose on Tokyo. Teams are going to have to double Antetokounmpo in the paint, meaning we’re going to see a lot of open threes rain down from Lillard, Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton and others.
Few players play with the type of flair and confidence Lillard does as well, as the seven-time All-Star can get red-hot from all areas of the floor.
Getting Robin Lopez back for pre-game wrestling matches is must-watch TV, and few players show as much emotion on the floor as Bobby Portis.
The Bucks are going to be awesome this season, with the world tuning in to see Lillard in a new environment for the first time in his NBA career.
The Wizards weren’t exactly an easy watch last season and have since swapped out Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porziņģis for Jordan Poole.
Washington is going to be bad on purpose, although don’t tell players like Poole and Kyle Kuzma, who could combine for 50-plus points on sub-40.0 percent shooting this season.
The Poole experience is going to be a wild ride for Wizards fans, as we’ve already witnessed in the preseason. He followed up a 41-point, 10-of-19 shooting performance with just seven points on 1-of-15 shooting, including 0-of-6 from three in his next contest.
The 24-year-old has no pressure to take smart shots, already has a contract secured and is on a team everyone expects to be terrible. Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 3,159 shot attempts during the 1961-62 season may finally be in danger.
The Wizards didn’t get any elite young talent back in their trades, either, and they have to hope for some sort of growth from former lottery picks like Deni Avdija and Johnny Davis, both of whom have been disappointments overall thus far. Bilal Coulibaly could turn out to be a steal with his sky-high potential, but don’t expect to see instant production this season.
Add in a mix of past-their-prime vets in Danilo Gallinari, Delon Wright and Mike Muscala, and this is going to be an ugly season in Washington.
Will the Suns be better than the Denver Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics this season? Maybe not, but no team is going to be more fun to watch.
Defense be damned, Phoenix could score 120 points a night behind Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Jusuf Nurkić and a plethora of role players who were signed specifically to complement the All-Stars on this roster.
Durant, like LeBron James, needs to be marveled at given his high level of play now at age 35 and in his 17th season. He’s still one of the league’s top scorers, one who can set personal bets in efficiency from all areas of the floor given the amount of talent around him.
Booker should be able to hold off Anthony Edwards, Donovan Mitchell and others to secure his crown as the NBA’s best shooting guard as he’s coming off a career-high 27.8 points per game. We’ll almost certainly see more Point Book this season with Chris Paul gone, a position the soon-to-be 27-year-old is more than capable of playing. Having Beal as a third offensive option is a huge flex as well, even if we’ll have to get used to seeing him in a new jersey for the first time.
While this team is headlined by its stars, let’s take a moment to appreciate the role players we get to see on any given night.
Bol Bol looks like he was designed in a basketball lab and has given us some of the craziest highlights of the past few years. Yuta Watanabe can get red-hot from three, and no one has made James look as foolish on a basketball court as Eric Gordon.
We only got a taste of what the Durant-Booker combo can do last season. Adding in Beal, Nurkić and some fun rotation pieces is going to make the Suns the most watchable team in the league this year.
