The new season was about to begin, and ESPN, as in previous years, made its preseason power rankings.
However, what surprised all the fans was that ESPN's list placed the Cavaliers at the top!
1. Cavaliers
Kyrie Irving's departure and Paul George's arrival have made this team stronger, not weaker. George and LeBron on the wings will be the strongest duo in the league, and the addition of "Flash" Wade makes them stronger than their opponents at every position!
This is probably the most powerful team in NBA history, and we can't ignore their bench players like Shumpert, J.R. Smith, Korver, Tristan Thompson, Jeff Green, and others.
They are likely to make the new season predictable, and they will be the biggest favorite to win the championship.
2. Warriors
After last season's integration, it will be exciting to see how the Warriors, with four All-Stars, will perform in the new season.
Warriors coach Kerr revealed during the offseason that he would use Curry and Durant's pick-and-roll offense more often in the new season, which would maximize the chemistry between the two superstars.
Moreover, their offseason reinforcements were very targeted, signing Nick Young and McGee to strengthen the inside and outside lines. They will be the biggest team to challenge the Cavaliers in the new season.
3. Pelicans
The addition of Butler and Walker makes the Pelicans look unprecedentedly strong, but this is their first season together, and integration and chemistry will be their biggest problems. Moreover, Walker's defense will be a major issue compared to Holiday before.
Of course, the biggest problem is the playing style. All four are ball-handling types. To use the most popular saying, one ball is not enough for them. Considering Butler's prickly personality, this team is likely to produce a result of 1+1+1+1 < 4.
Whether for Tang, or the other three, or the Pelicans management, the new season is their chance to complete a dynasty and their greatest test.
4. Mavericks
Losing Butler seems to have greatly reduced their strength, but the truth is that they traded away the team's biggest troublemaker and got Holiday, possibly the most down-to-earth All-Star player, and Jokic, who has unlimited potential.
Carlisle is the coach second only to Popovich in the league, and he has proven this in the past. Imagine the championship journey in 2011. Now the Mavericks' lineup is unprecedentedly strong, and Carlisle will usher in the most prosperous season of his coaching career.
Perhaps compared to the Pelicans, they are the team with more strength to compete for the championship.
5. Rockets
Cousins' season-ending injury makes them seem to have withdrawn from the first tier, but Capela's excellent performance in the preseason shows one thing: he is ready.
Moreover, compared to Cousins, Capela is more mobile, and they also have Zhou Qi, a very talented player behind them.
Plus Ariza, who was traded in the offseason.
This team seems to have declined in talent, but the lineup is more reasonable. We have reason to believe that they will achieve better results.
6. Thunder
7. Bucks
8. Trail Blazers
...
This power ranking came out, and social media exploded instantly.
"WTF, the Pelicans are ranked third?! ESPN, are you serious?!"
"Not that I want to criticize, but you're really blind! Are you talking to me about chemistry and teamwork? We crushed the Bucks by 30 points in the half. Are we watching the same NBA?!"
"And Butler is a troublemaker, this is blatantly lying! Butler is Tang's biggest fan! If you didn't watch the game, go watch the preseason highlights!"
"What's even more ridiculous is that the Warriors are ranked ahead of the Pelicans. The Pelicans won with that lineup last season, how are they ranked second?!"
"Isn't the funniest thing the sentence, 'The Mavericks have a better chance of winning the championship than the Pelicans'?"
"The Rockets will perform better than last season..."
"Guys, don't panic, maybe ESPN's website was hacked!"
"I think there's nothing wrong with this list, you keyboard warriors should stop talking nonsense!" said a Harrell fan.
"That's right, these keyboard warriors only know how to talk on paper, and don't look at integration and chemistry at all. Wade and LeBron are brothers, and Durant is more integrated into the team. They are stronger than the Pelicans!" said a West fan.
"Yes, yes, and Walker and Butler's contracts with the Pelicans will expire next year, and they will all want max salaries. These fans will explode next year. They will definitely fight for the ball in a contract year, and it will definitely be a mess!" said a Forbes fan.
...
"fxck!"
Durant couldn't help but curse when he saw the discussions on social media.
When he registered a series of small accounts, he found that those role players on the Pelicans were already registered.
These accounts have been active since the offseason, and now they are jumping out again.
People speculated that his previous accounts were him, and he rarely used them. Now, he doesn't know who this is, but it's obviously shifting the blame to him!
But he can only suffer a loss in silence.
But it's not entirely a bad thing, at least the media ranking the Warriors ahead of the Pelicans made him feel a little better and gave him confidence.
He failed last season, but if he can beat the four-star Pelicans, that would definitely be great for a long, long time.
...
ESPN's predictions led to a new round of public opinion, and in the midst of such discussions, the 2017-2018 season officially kicked off.
Because of the Pelicans' strength and because of ESPN's prediction, fans paid unprecedented attention to the Pelicans.
You should know that in the eyes of the fans, ESPN is just making a gimmick. Apart from the Pelicans, no other team is worth watching in the new season.
The Pelicans' first game was against the Thunder.
In ESPN's power rankings, even though the Thunder did not form the Big Three, they still ranked sixth after acquiring Griffin, higher than the Bucks.
The Pelicans crushed the Bucks twice in the preseason, and fans were particularly looking forward to the opening game.
On the night of the game, according to ESPN and TNT statistics, the Pelicans' opening game ratings broke historical records before the game even started.
Correspondingly, almost no one watched the other opening games.
The Pelicans really focused everyone's attention and deprived all other teams of their benefits at once.
This level of attention was also expected.
There has never been such a strong lineup in Pelicans history, and no matter how hard ESPN tries to deliberately smear them, the fans are not blind.
Tang Tian, first team all-defense, the league's number one player.
Butler, first team all-defense, top ten, close to top five in the league.
Davis, third team all-NBA, second team all-defense, top twenty, close to top ten in the league.
Walker, third team all-NBA, top twenty in the league.
Not to mention strength and chemistry, the individual honors from last season alone are unparalleled.
Not to mention the four preseason games, Siakam, Dedmon, Bogdanovic, Brogdon, Kuzma, Harrell and others have all proven their strength one after another.
Moreover, the regular season is not the preseason. The Pelicans easily crushed the Bucks Big Three in the preseason. Now, they are playing the two-core Thunder in the opening game, which is exciting to think about.