The original thread was specifically about the ESPN power rankings, so I can see how Eric would have felt that other power rankings deserved their own thread. However, I have now merged them, using Eric's thread title as the main one. Now this is the power rankings thread.
ESPN's power rankings seem to be a Wednesday morning release now, unlike the Monday morning schedule of years past. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...waukee-stays-perfect-host-contenders-slipping
#5 is optimistic but fair, given what the team has done to this point. Preseason projections should be thrown out the window once there are meaningful regular season games to base it on. Once the season is underway, it's reasonable for climbs and falls to be more gradual, as current play is being balanced against the season as a whole.
NBC Sports has us at #4. 4. Trail Blazers (5-1, LW 5). The fast start that has everyone around the league talking is in jeopardy because the Blazers will be without Damian Lillard for a couple of weeks due to a calf strain. We saw how Miami ran all over Portland with Lillard out (those two teams play again next week), the Blazers’ defense needs to tighten up with the Grizzlies then two against the Suns coming up. It’s going to be a long road, but the early returns on Shaedon Sharpe look promising.
NBA.com – No. 3 (previously No. 6) The Blazers have trailed 10 of their 14 games by double-digits, and they’re 6-4 in those 10 games. (No other team has more than four wins after trailing by double-digits.) They were down 15 in the third quarter in Miami on Monday, down 12 in the third in Charlotte on Wednesday, and down 10 in the second quarter in New Orleans on Thursday. They came back to win all three of those games, despite the absences of two starters in both ends of the Wednesday-Thursday back-to-back. Sports Illustrated – No. 3 (previously No. 9) The Trail Blazers added wins against the Heat, Hornets and Pelicans before losing to the Mavericks on Saturday. After both Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons missed games due to injuries, they both returned and played an integral part in last week’s wins. Jerami Grant, Portland’s third 20-plus point scorer, led the way for the Blazers in their final two games that capped a six-game road trip. This week features a three-game home slate against the Spurs, Nets and Jazz. The Athletic – No. 7 (previously No. 10) The Blazers have been one of the better stories to start the season after the way they let things fall apart last year. A lot of their success has happened without Lillard on the floor. Anfernee Simons has been brilliant. Jerami Grant has been an incredible pickup. And the team is just jelling in a very encouraging way. They’ve had one of the tougher schedules in the league, and they’ve thrived despite Lillard missing a handful of games.
