ESPN ranks us 13th in their season preview:
The Warriors are defending their dynasty. The Nets are running it back. LeBron? He's chasing a bounceback season -- and one massive milestone. Yup, there is no shortage of storylines to follow for 2022-23.
www.espn.com
Ahead of New Orleans, Atlanta, Toronto, and Chicago, so generous in that sense, but behind every 2nd round+ proven playoff team, the Clippers with Kawhi back, and Minnesota with Gobert.
Whole piece is a demonstration of just how deep the NBA is right now. After what we gave away in the Mitchell trade -- one of the biggest draft packages in NBA history plus a good starter -- we need to be at least a top ten team in the league this year or we might be headed for one of those "perpetually pretty good" type futures that is so frustrating in the NBA.