Tanking Rankings

To say that the 2014 NBA draft class has star potential is an egregious understatement. Already being compared to the heralded class of 2003 that included Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the class of 2014 has so far made NBA GMs drool in anticipation. The signs of "tanking" began early this summer, with teams becoming intentionally worse in order to increase their chances at landing a franchise-altering superstar. This brings us to the first "tanking rankings," a weekly column that will rank each tanking team and analyze how they're doing in their quest for a future NBA star. Let's begin:

1. Utah Jazz
While the Jazz may be in last place in the NBA with an 0-7 record, they've jumped out to a wonderful lead in the tanking rankings. The average age of their starting lineup is 23.8 years old, including the 33 year-old Richard Jefferson. The Jazz have a point differential of -13 on the year, thanks to blowouts at the hands of Brooklyn, Chicago and Toronto. If the Jazz hope to retain their tanking crown, they'll need third year forward (and one of my heroes) Gordon Hayward to slow down his stellar production.

2. Sacramento Kings
The 1-5 Kings already have DeMarcus "Boogie" Cousins, who many believe is a franchise star.  After signing a 4 year $62 million dollar extension in September, Boogie has shown that he's worth the gaudy contract, statistically speaking, with averages of 23.5 points and 9.7 rebounds. Fortunately for Sacramento, Boogie is an atrocious defender, too slow to contain guards in the pick and roll or recover on his man rolling to the basket. Though a new ownership group has taken the reigns in Sac-town (including minority owner Shaquille O'Neal), the Kings are still the Kings. With a jumbled roster of misfits for yet another season, the Kings greatest tanking strength lies in their off-court issues.

3. Washington Wizards
John Wall, the first overall pick in the 2010 draft, has been nothing short of spectacular since entering the league. The Wizards are determined to make the postseason and prove to Wall that they have the ability to assemble a playoff team. This is why the Wizards may be the only team not all that thrilled to be considered a tanking contender. The real problem with the Wizards lies in their god-awful name. They moved in the right direction with new jerseys two seasons ago that paid homage to their Washington Bullets days (probably a worse decision than naming them the Wizards). However, thanks to Wall and a front office that's actually attempting to win games, the are the best bet to dig their way out of the NBA cellar.

4. Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets won 57 games last year, yet they fired head coach George Karl. When a 57-win team fires their head coach, they are essentially declaring that they only care about what happens in April, May and hopefully June. A 1-win team so far, the Nuggets are a long way from contending. Like the Wizards, the Nuggets don't want to be tanking, and will most likely turn their season around to become at least respectable. Their best hope for tanking however, is to give more minutes to the infamous JaVale McGee.

5. Philadelphia 76ers
I've already written a ton about the Sixers, so there's not much to say here. When the season started, the Sixers were locked in at number 1 in the tanking rankings, but thanks to Magic Carter-Williams and the crew, the Sixers are sitting second in the Eastern Conference. Philly is ranked fifth based on future losing projections. They showed glimpses of their true tanking potential in a 110-90 loss to the Golden State Warriors. They team that showed up for that game seems more like their true identity than the one that defeated the Heat and the Bulls.

6. Boston Celtics
Long gone are the days of the big three in Boston. With Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen moving on to greener pastures and Rajon Rondo nursing a bum knee, the Celtics put their fate in the less-than-capable hands of players like Jeff Green and Avery Bradley. Though GM Danny Ainge has publicly stated that the historic, revered Boston Celtics are not tanking, starting chucker-extraordinaire Jordan Crawford at point guard is quite suspicious.

7. Orlando Magic
I kind of like the Magic. I think Victor Oladipo should have gone first in the draft this past year thanks to his insane work ethic and elite potential on defense while former Sixer Nikola Vucevic has posted elite rebounding numbers since arriving in Orlando. The Magic will most likely have a better record than their 20-62 showing last season, but with no significant acquisitions aside from the 21 year-old Oladipo the Magic are sure to be a staple in the rankings.

8. Phoenix Suns
The Suns are a surprise so far this season. To say they were blatantly tanking during the off-season is putting it gently. With a starting lineup consisting of two players who have previously started in the NBA in Channing Frye and P.J. Tucker, the Suns were one big question mark. While their 5-2 start is certainly impressive, it's fool's gold with wins against Denver, New Orleans and, Portland and losses to elite teams in San Antonio and Denver. The Suns have benefited from an easy schedule thus far and will be right where they belong at the top of this list come year's end.