NBA power rankings: No. 1 pick contenders

With just over thirty games to go in the NBA regular season, the outlook for each team in the association is just about set.

Ideally, teams are ready to go all in for a championship, feeling they have a roster good enough to compete for the Larry O’Brien.

However, in some cases, teams are looking forward to June, when they have the opportunity to find their next franchise cornerstone in the draft.

Let’s look at what teams fall in the latter camp, ranking who has the best odds of getting the coveted number one overall pick in the NBA Draft.

4.) Washington Wizards

This team traded for Trae Young because… why?

Washington has a solid core of young players, led by Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George and Tre Johnson, all of whom are under the age of 23.

However, that’s all they are right now: Young.

Sitting at just a 12-34 record, the Wizards are one and a half games back of the worst record in the NBA. The reason they aren't higher on this list is that their young talent still has time this season to grow and potentially win Washington some meaningless games down the stretch.

Also, they will be getting the services of an All-NBA point guard in Trae Young after the All-Star break. It would be silly to imagine the Wizards not immediately performing better when he takes the court.

3.) Sacramento Kings

The NBA purgatory has once again infected the Kings.

They are tied for the worst record in the league at 12-37. The difference between Sacramento and the other bottom-feeders? Their top four leading scorers are all either aging veterans or on ginormous contracts.

Or both.

Injuries have also put this team in a weird spot. Domantas Sabonis has only played in 18 games this season. Keegan Murray, by far the best young player on this squad, has played in just 19.

DeMar DeRozan has consistently played at a solid level for a second option, and with Russell Westbrook looking like the best player on this team depending on the night, you're bound to be in number one pick conversations.

One thing to keep in mind: It’s the Kings. Will the lottery gods smile upon the city of Sacramento and grant them the opportunity to draft an AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson?

No way. That’s why they’re #4.

2.) Indiana Pacers

If this were written just a week ago, the Pacers may have been number one.

In the last seven days, Indiana has squeaked out three-point wins against the Thunder and Bulls, accounting for ⅙ of their victories on the season.

Missing Tyrese Haliburton for the entire season was just about as detrimental as any fan could have imagined, and then some.

This team retained nearly all of the pieces from their Finals run just a season ago. Still, without the Haliburton engine on the court to operate the offense, the success on the scoreboard has been nonexistent this season.

The Pacers have the ninth-easiest strength of schedule for the rest of the season. Even though they’re just 12-36, they play two games against the aforementioned Wizards, one against Sacramento, and two against the team ranked number one on this list.

The idea of Haliburton getting healthy for next season and Indiana adding a top-two talent in the upcoming draft should be frightening for the Eastern Conference, especially when this scenario looks imminent.

1.) Brooklyn Nets

It’s hard to comprehend how bad this team has looked.

This section will be a list of facts about this Brooklyn team. It should be enough to assure you that they are the frontrunners for the number one overall pick.

Fact One: The Brooklyn Nets are 12-34, holding the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

Fact Two: The Nets are last in the NBA in points per game, with 107.7. They are also tied for last in shooting percentage at just 44.3% from the field.

Fact Three: Brooklyn is also second to last in rebounds per game, grabbing just 49.6 boards per contest.

Fact Four: They are just 2-15 in their last 17 games.

Fact Five: Michael Porter Jr. is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 25.6 points per game. Their next highest scorer to have played in at least half of the Nets games? Noah Clowney is scoring just 13.1 points per game.

Fact Six: On January 21, the Nets scored just 66 points against the New York Knicks. 66 points. The entire game. They put up just 10 points in the fourth quarter of this 54-point loss.

Are you convinced? I sure am.

Brendan Kern is a second-year majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, email bwk5372@psu.edu