These 10 NBA teams have the brightest futures

Detroit, Houston, Memphis and the next generation of NBA giants

Lee Escobedo

PublishedMay 20, 2023

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There are many elements to consider when predicting who will succeed in the future of the NBA. To tank the 10 teams with the brightest futures, we focused on three to five years in the future while thinking about each team’s draft capital, promising young players, cap flexibility, and free agent destination. We ranked the current teams finding success at the back end, as these teams have already escaped the rebuild period, and made the playoffs. Mostly, these teams have a roster in place for the future with a solid ceiling. The top half of the list is reserved for the teams with the greatest level of variance. Their collections of young players with potential, future draft hoards, and emerging stars present the greatest pendulum of boom or bust. Look through our picks. We’re sure you will find reasons to love or hate the list.

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10. Detroit Pistons

Image for article titled These 10 NBA teams have the brightest futures — Photo: AP

The Pistons took care of the most critical position in the NBA when they selected Cade Cunningham first in the 2021 NBA Draft. Cunningham brings elite-level floor vision, passing ability, and leadership at the point. The following year they selected his polar opposite in Jaden Ivey, a buoyancy, high-level athlete capable of jumping out of the gym. This backcourt is already one of the most talented in the league. They are balanced with potential-laden talent in center Jalen Duren up front, with potential busts Marvin Bagley Jr., Killina Hayes, and James Wiseman trying to reclaim their narratives in Detroit while the pressure remains low-stakes, for now.

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9. Houston Rockets

The Rockets would not have been on this list if Ime Udoka had not chosen them as his next coaching destination. With Stephen Silas out and Udoka in, the Rockets have one of the best motivators in the NBA on the sidelines. With the roster up in the air, major changes could occur this summer, depending on what Udoka wants to do. They have major offensive upside in Jalen Green, the second pick in last year’s draft, who averaged 22 PPG in his second season. They also have the highly-skilled Turkish center, Alperen Şengün, who is already an elite rebounder and post-scorer, averaging 15 PPG, and 9 APG. In addition, ancillary pieces Kenyon Martin Jr., Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, and Jae’Sean Tate all provide major upside if they are retained, and blessed with Udoka as their on-the-court mentor.

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8. Cleveland Cavaliers

After getting embarrassed in the first round of this year’s playoffs, the Cavaliers need to make some changes this off-season. Their league-leading defense fell apart in the playoffs against the New York Knicks. They mortgaged their draft future for Donovan Mitchell, giving them a legit first option to pair with All-Star Darius Garland at the point. To improve their spacing, they must consolidate some of their one-dimensional perimeter players for shooting. The most likely candidate to be moved is All-Star center Jarrett Allen, who should net the Cavs a solid return in a trade. Allen is expendable because second-year forward Evan Mobley has star potential. He is already one of the best defenders in the NBA with his combination of size, length, and athleticism. The Cavs need to surround him with spacing up front so he can develop and unleash his full bag of offensive abilities.

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7. Sacramento Kings

The Kings ended the longest playoff drought in the NBA, making the playoffs for the first time since 2006. They were led by All-Stars and recent All-NBA players Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox, who won the inaugural Clutch Player of the Year award. Those two powered the league’s top offense as one of the league’s best duos. Even though they got eliminated by the lower-seeded Golden State Warriors, they proved the future is bright. Their ceiling depends on the continued growth of Keegan Murray, who has star-level, three-level scoring. Besides that, they must continue developing second-year guard Davion Mitchell, and find an eventual upgrade for veteran Harrison Barnes. They hit home runs last summer, signing Malik Monk, and Kevin Huerter to team-friendly deals. They will need to continue to bolster their frontcourt with limited cap space.

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6. Memphis Grizzlies

This time last year, the Grizzlies might have been at the top of this list. What a difference a year makes. None of the Grizzlies’ deficiencies are on the court. Off of it, superstar Ja Morant had his worst season, being suspended for flashing a gun in a strip club on the road. The ills followed Morant into the playoffs, where he had his worst performance this far in points (24.6), assists (7), FG percentage (.425), and 2P percentage (.427). And now, on the heels of Morant’s second gun-related suspension — this one indefinite — his future is a large question mark for the franchise. Regardless of Morant’s future, they need spacing up front to balance the defensive anchor of Jaren Jackson Jr., who won Defensive Player of the Year. They also need to figure out the Dillon Brooks situation. It’s been reported the team will not bring him back. But how do they replace his elite defense (he was named to the All-Defensive Team) while adding more scoring punch at small forward? The high ceilings of Morant and shooting guard Desmond Bane keep the Grizzlies ahead of most teams in potential.

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5. Boston Celtics

No playoff team is on higher alert than the Celtics. After mishandling the Ime Udoka situation, they lost their locker room leader. His replacement, Joe Mazzulla, has faltered in his in-game adjustments, and use of timeouts. The Celtics would be higher on this list if the pairing of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum was more successful, and both weren’t due consecutive supermax in the next two summers. Tatum is clearly the 1A option, which leaves Brown to either accept a secondary role, or demand a trade to be the man elsewhere. But until that happens, the Celtics are the deepest, most complete roster in the NBA. They have plenty of depth up front and two All-NBA talents on the perimeter. Until they break up that duo, the Celtics are the best of the East. They must continue to find Derrick White and Al Hordford-level vets to sustain their dominance.

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4. Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets are the only team on this list that could win a championship this season and still be contenders for the next six to seven seasons. Why? Because they have a back-to-back MVP in Nikola Jokić, whose elite passing, rebounding, and scoring make him a triple-double machine at only 28 years old. Jokić is only just entering his prime, and his size, and style of play ensure him producing at a high level for years to come. His two costars, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter Jr., are only 26 and 24 years old. This trio could continue to dominate for years as long as the Nuggets surround them with excellent role players like Aaron Gordon, Bruce Brown, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. They have invested in continuity, with Mike Malone steering the ship since 2015. He has been behind the development of the Nuggets’ core players. He created a plug-and-play system around Jokić that easily incorporated new additions like Brown and Caldwell-Pope.

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3. Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic have the best young core in the NBA: Franz and Mo Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr., Jalen Suggs, and Markelle Fultz. Plus, they have an emerging superstar in this year’s number-one pick, Paolo Banchero. Under the leadership of Jamahl Mosley, the Magic took a 12-game jump in the win column this season, showing the impact of adding the three-level scoring of Banchero. The Magic have all their picks, plus this year’s Chicago Bulls top-four protected from the Nicola Vucevic trade. They also have the Nuggets’ 2025 unprotected first-round pick in the Aaron Gordon trade. Their core was built in-house, through the draft and development of their coaching staff, except for Fultz, and Carter Jr. They have depth at every position, allowing them to take the best player available this summer with their two first-round picks. More importantly, they have their star player in Banchero, who represents the best Magic draft pick since Dwight Howard in 2004. Next year, the playoffs should be the goal.

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2. New York Knicks

Having made it to the second round of the playoffs, the Knicks escaped two decades of poverty by doing the opposite of what had become business as usual at Madison Square Garden. They stopped trading their draft picks for aging stars and instead drafted and developed a young core of two-way, high-character players in RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Quentin Grimes, Immanuel Quickley, and Obi Toppin. Executive Leon Rose and General Manager Scott Perry have avoided trades, except for the mid-season fleece for Josh Hart. Instead, they have re-signed All-NBA Second Team selection Julius Randle, as well as Barrett and Robinson, to team friendly-deals. Last summer, they solved their two-decade hole at point guard by nabbing Jalen Brunson in the best signing in franchise history. They have all their picks from 2024 on, plus protected first-round picks from Washington, Milwaukee, Dallas, and Detroit. They can bring in a star player this summer or whenever they see a deal worth making. Over the past several decades, this is the best the Knicks have been set up for the present, and future.

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1. Oklahoma City Thunder

Everything related to the Oklahoma City Thunder starts and ends with general manager Sam Presti. He is worshipped like a god in Oklahoma City for a good reason. Presti has accumulated 33 picks over the next six years, 15 of which are first-rounders. The 2019 Paul George trade expedited the Thunder’s rebuild, where Presti netted the best return of the last two years. The pick haul included L.A.’s unprotected first-round picks in 2022, 2024, and 2026, along with Miami’s 2021 (unprotected) and 2023 (protected) first-round selections and swap options in 2023 and 2025. But the top asset was emerging star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who earned First-Team All-NBA honors in his fourth season with the Thunder. This season he averaged 31.4 PPG on shooting splits of 51/35/91. The Thunder’s young core includes point-forward savant Josh Giddey, on-ball defender Lu Dort, and impressive rookie Jalen Williams. With such an impressive roster of high-upside players capable of playing and guarding multiple positions, the Thunder are poised to have another crack at a championship in two, or three years.

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