Please Vote! Season 26 Pre Season Power Rankings

Welcome back, I'll get right too it.




1. Boston Celtics

How is this possible? How has the league let Snype put at team like this for the second year in a row, I’ve always tried to avoid bias when doing these rankings but the league consensus seems to be that Boston is without a doubt the team to beat right now. Now before you go and say “just give the championship to Snype” let me take you back in time to season 22 when the Nugs built a very similar team to this one and if you don’t know how that one turned out go take a look. No team in this league is unbeatable with the amount of talent in the league now.

Regardless, having Snype as an owner, getting Rick as a GM and getting him Mac means that they’re going to have one of the best lines in the league. Throw that together with league vets like Denham (for a crazy steal), Tom and Jay along side 500k steals like Woosie and Curry means that they will control that #1 spot until somebody removes them. The only thing that will slow this team down is how long they can go without collapsing internally, this may be the most toxic team in the league.


2. Phoenix Suns

The key to making sure you have a competitive team in this league is having a point guard in your management, and having a 1,2 pairing at PG like Witt and Hxndoutz makes the Suns an immediate title contender. Witt has already proven himself as a top PG winning the MVP in season 23 and Hxndoutz is a back-to-back champ with a 40-9 record all time in LG. The Suns have 2 unquestionable 1st line PG’s, whether you get their first or second line you’re in for a tough game, they could quite easily finish at the #1 spot this season with how deep their roster is.

Witt has a couple seasons under his belt as an owner now and it showed in bidding, picking up key first line pieces like Ching and Extremee and getting a couple of 500k steals with LockDJ, Brog and Gilly along side guys they know personally in Dangs and Teei. Know that whenever you match up against this teams first or second unit its going to be a tough game. And whichever line you are playing against, you’re getting a top 5 PG and a solid supporting cast, good luck.


3. Charlotte Hornets

Another team following the same strategy of a dual PG Owner GM combo, Ando & Koba need a lot of recognition for the team that they put together in bidding. Ando is entering his 9th season of LG after taking season 25 off and is prime to pick up right where he left off after his MVP caliber season 23 performance. As for his GM if you don’t know who Koba is, I mentioned the series that made him a legend in the league when he led the team that took down the Nugs in the season 22 playoffs.

Ando and Koba deserve an immense amount of credit for the job they did in bidding, they built themselves two very well-balanced lines of consistent and active players in the league, it was honestly a tough decision between them and phoenix for the #2 spot. Every player they got in bidding is a known name in the league, they’ve got solid locks in Choice, Sub & Krazii, super talented role players with KEVO, MunNIE & Savage and great big men with Jayy & Craw. You should not sleep on the Hornets this season; their management are two extremely talented PG’s and they killed it in bidding.


4. Golden State Warriors

Possibly the youngest Owner & GM combo, Jiggy and Kas seemed to have learned from their past bidding mistakes and put together a very talented team this time around. If Jiggy does in fact end up running first line point for this team they’re going to have a very formidable #1 unit, another example of why having two important roles on the court as management equate to a strong roster with good bidding. If they can maintain a stable locker-room, they’ll give any team a run for their money. Also, another squad where playing their second line is going to be a challenge no matter who you are.

These two deserve a lot of credit for the team they built in bidding, they’ve clearly learned from past seasons, managed to stay awake and it shows. Getting a cornerstone player like Venom for substantially less than what he went for the last time he was in bidding, grabbing a solid 2nd line PG in Tricky and somehow managing to get a target Jiggy made very clear he wanted in Aptai for 500k is impressive. Top that off with a sleeper pick up of Snag who will be a big surprise this season and a good supporting cast and you’ve built yourself an easy playoff lock.


5. Memphis Grizzlies

The last, but definitely not least, solid management PG combo of last seasons MVP Rainy & who should be last seasons CPOY Ayztraks. Memphis is another very dangerous team regardless if you’re getting their first line or second. This team should honestly be tied with GS for the #4 spot but I feel that GS did a bit better of a job in bidding so they got the nod, regardless this is an easy top 5 team. I’ve always been a fan of the dual PG management combo as it gives you such an edge not having to spend the big bucks on a PG in bidding, and these two make such a solid 1,2 punch combo.

A pretty to be expected bidding as Ayz got a lot of his boys which is always a strong strategy. They scooped up one of the biggest names in bidding as Comeup should have been on everyone’s draft board, and got an underrated 2nd line lock in MikeyG for a price I think is a steal. When it comes to role players nothing stands out as a massive steal but they’ve spread out the cap very well and have a lot of talented players to help support that 2 strong line approach they’ve taken. I’d say this is another easy playoff lock and if Rainy can be as dominant as he was last season they could compete for a chip.


6. Brooklyn Nets

Even being at the #6 spot, this is one of a few teams that could be way too low in the rankings and make me regret this position come season end. Hurlito, who’s had a lot of success in leagues outside of LG then came in last season and won a championship in his first year and brough in an outside player Mr Boren in as his GM, who from what I’ve been told will be running the point. These two could very easily take the league by storm and that’s why they’re my easy upset pick this season, definitely not a team to be taken lightly.

Hurlito seems to have gotten a lot of the guys that he wanted in bidding as well, Truth & Glock Wily may be a dangerous combination seeing that Truth is on a smaller more shot heavy PG. They also snagged a couple of solid role players in Jdiz, who everyone in the chat knows by now, THEGREAT, who Hurl played with last season in Boston, as well as Henny, new player to the league who brought a big price tag, lets see if he can earn it this season. Like I said this is a team that has the potential to make this #6 ranking look like a joke come the end of the season.


7. Dallas Mavericks

One of the last teams to be added to the Owners list Cubs managed to convince Straps to take his GM spot after Dreams proved to be the most toxic roommate in the league. These two are going to need to have turnaround seasons to help support the talented cast that they’ve assembled in bidding. From what I’ve heard it looks like Straps will be running one of their points this season. Other than a playoff spot this team will also be contending with Boston for the most toxic team in the league, and its going to be close.

Cubs and Straps did a solid job in bidding, this may be the most experienced roster in the league getting vets like Raynor, Vik, Slamp, Rise, Spot & Skizzo, those 6 guys have a combined 551 games in LG which is more than most teams’ entire rosters. They do have 2 issues though, one big and one small, their small issue is at the PG spot, Kenny looks like he’s going to be their PG1 at this point and though he does have an All-Star selection under his belt as a PG how will he compete against some of the top team’s 1st lines? Their big issue, they’ve picked up some of the most historically toxic players in the league, and if they can’t keep it collected in the locker room this team will fall apart but if they can hold it together, they’ll compete.


8. Sacramento Kings

The other last minute owner Melo has been one of the most consistent owners and players for the past 7 seasons and I’m ecstatic that he got a team, he always builds a competitive squad that shows up for every game and competes for a playoff spot almost every season. Throw in what looks to be a 1st season superstar in the making in Rio as his GM and you’ve got yourself a great management combo. This team is right next to Dallas for the #7 spot and is another team primed to shoot up the rankings this season.

Melo went out and did what Melo does and snagged a lot of his boys in bidding, familiar names like Loose, Donald, Djay and Sparks who he’s played with in past seasons. Throw those guys in with a few new players that Rio could have snuck into bidding and you’ve got a solid squad. The biggest piece of their team is in my opinion a very slept on player in bidding, Flyyset, score heavy PG’s are in their element in 2k21 and he loves to score. If they’ve built as good of a team as it looks this is not a team you want to sleep on, this is my dark horse 100%.


9. Los Angeles Lakers

LA is a team that on the surface level looks like they’re out of their league when you compare them to the top 5 teams in the league, its tough to have management who haven’t had much success in the league take a team and its rare to see that team thrive. That being said KingRM has mentioned that he’s learned from his past mistakes as an owner in the world cup and that he’s going to have built a more competitive team this season. Now I see the strategy they’ve taken but I don’t know if I’m buying in quite yet.

They opened bidding by putting statement bids on two players, Westie and Capalot. Westie is one of the best shooting C’s in the league and has the talent to run the point as well with his 2nd build so I think he’s well worth a good chunk of change, but he’s openly shared his availability issues this season and putting 5mil on a C is useless unless you have a good PG to complement him. In comes Capalot, they dropped another 4mil on a new to the league PG, and this is the reason that I have them at the #9 spot, if Capalot and Westie can build the chemistry to carry their first line they have a chance at competing this season. They’re going to have talent around them but the question is going to be how well Kayo Guava and a lot of their other new to the league players are going to do, as well as how well their first line is going to be able to compete with other top lines this season.


10. Miami Heat

If you’ve been around LG for a while you’ve seen this story before, brand new Owner & GM, bringing in a bunch of guys that they’re clearly boys with from outside the league. Unfortunately, this rarely ends up going well which is the reason that I have them at the #10 spot to start the season. Though before you go counting them out just yet I would keep an eye on this team, I don’t know if they’re going to come out the gate knocking off top 5 teams but Ro King seems confident in how well his guys are going to fare in the league, lets see if that confidence lasts.

The other reason I have them at #10 is because of the line they’ve put together including STG, Brandbai & TORgg, much like Flyyset, this is a very scoring heavy game for PG’s and that’s a meta that suits STG’s playstyle perfectly. Brandbai also deserves to be in the same conversation as the other top locks in the league (and deserves a massive shoutout for all of the work he put in for recruitment), if they run that second line it could be one to help carry them to a playoff spot. All these new kings but are they for real?


11. Atlanta Hawks

This is an unassuming team at first glance, but before you go throwing them under the bus right away you could make a big mistake. First off, any spot below #8 is anyone’s game, and you should know that in 2k upsets happen all of the time. This team is going to need management and players to step into much bigger roles than they’re use too, but if they can fill those shoes, they could easily make the playoffs. Kryss & Kenan have been in the league long enough and know what to expect and how to manage a team.

My biggest criticism is that they didn’t go after a big name in bidding, they’re going to start the season with 7.5mil in available cap which just feels like a missed opportunity to go out and get a cornerstone player that went for that 5-6mil price tag. That being said Slimeworld is a very capable PG and if TNM Izzy can be their sleeper steal at 500k they’ll have a solid foundation, it also leaves them a ton of room to take a big cap player off of any team that struggles to start the season and tries to make a change. They also got lucky enough to get Sniper as a TC assignment which never hurts. Another possible dark horse for sure.


12. Cleveland Cavaliers

I’ve mentioned this sentiment to a lot of people since the owners were announced, I think that Dr E Doolittle is playing us all for fools and I think he made my case a bit stronger in how he conducted his bidding. DED has a ton of experience in other 2k leagues and many of them are very competitive leagues to boot, and when you take a look at his roster post bidding all of his players are either brand new to LG or have played under 5 games in LG excluding him.

I don’t know many of these players so I can’t speak too much on how talented his team is going to be, what type of offences and defenses they’re going to throw at teams but it seems that DED got a lot of the guys that he wanted in bidding and that he’s going to have a team that’s going to show up and put in 100% of their effort in every game that they play. Also, another team with a ton of cap to play with in case he feels the need to make any changes throughout the season. Let’s see how DED does as a first time owner.



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Glad to be back, going to be doing power rankings weekly for as long as I can. Keep in mind just like before I try to be as unbiased as I can. a thumbs up is always appreciated as these typically take me 3-4 hours to write. Looking forward to a great season, good luck to everyone and as always if you don't agree with your ranking please feel free to prove me wrong.

 

This entire article is well written and a good read... sincerely 1 5th of the original Kings