Super Freaks

NBA free agency has started! More and more, NBA players are realizing that they can join any team they want, and most are opting for the choice to put them in the best position at winning a championship. Right now, the superteams are listed as such:

1. Miami Heat
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
3. Los Angeles Lakers
4. Los Angeles Clippers
5. New York Knicks
6. San Antonio Spurs
7. Boston Celtics

There are a couple teams who could turn into superteams:

1. Chicago Bulls
2. Brooklyn Nets (accidently started with New Jersey but erased it)

There is really only 1 outlier here, and that team is the Indiana Pacers. They have a star player in Danny Granger, but aside from him, there isn't much star power. They're just a very good team. So if you're a basketball traditionalist hanging on for dear life, this is the team to cling to.

I'm sure Minnesota T'Wolves fans will argue that with the acquisition of Brandon Roy to compliment Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, they are now a superteam. Not quite. And hopefully Orlando fans are learning humility now so they'll be prepared when Howard bolts. The Mavs just lost Jason Kidd, but even if he was there, they'd still only have Dirk. Hawks and Grizzlies fans...please. You're not anywhere near that elite tier.

So that leaves 7 superteams, possibly 9. We have some teams mentioned in the middle, which we can throw in some other teams like the Jazz, Nuggets, Rockets (assuming they acquire someone for Lowry), and the emergence of the Sixers.

We also have some young teams building, which I'm excited about being a Cavs fan. Irving is a legit all-star and with the addition of 2 top 15 picks this year, the Cavs may have built a team through the draft that will have a big 3 or 4 of their own. New Orleans is also building through the draft as are the Warriors.

So with 7 superteams, 2 teams on the brink of becoming superteams, 6 teams in the middle, and 3 up-and-coming teams rebuilding from the draft, that's a total of 18 teams. Out of those 18 teams, 10 are mid-market teams. So while a lot of the top teams are big cities, it's not a requirement. Out of the top 7 superteams, at least 2 are small-mid market teams. Miami can even be argued as a mid-market team, too, and they won it all. They played OKC who is also a small market team.

So are a couple superteams good for the NBA? No. Are 7 with 2 on the edge? Yes! Not to mention it only takes the moving of a few players to make your own powerhouse team. This is a fairly transient area. Cleveland, Orlando, and the Knicks used to be powerhouses. Now they're not. Same with the Nets and Kings. Things change over the course of a few years. I don't think anyone is at a disadvantage. Draft well, get a couple free agents, and pay your stars. It's a simple formula that few teams choose to follow.