Power Rankings: 25-21

25: Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs are looking pretty good, but they are not a playoff team. Kyrie Irving is an amazing point guard with amazing talent, but he can't carry this team on his back. They need more pieces to this team. C.J. Miles, Anderson Varejao, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters. These are all key pieces to this team, but the team needs more to become a competitor. I am excited to watch the Cavaliers this season, but they won't be making the playoffs.

24: Toronto Raptors. Toronto picked up some key players in the offseason: Kyle Lowry, Landry Fields,  Terrence Ross, and former draft pick Jonas Valanciunas. They have definitely improved from last year, but they still aren't ready for the playoffs. They could be a playoff team right now, because they had the number one pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. But they picked Italian center Andrea Bargnani, who hasn't lived up to expectations. This guy is a center that can shoot threes. He should be starting on the all star team. For Toronto to make the playoffs, Bargnani definitely needs to improve. Another player on this team that needs to step up is DeMar DeRozan. This guy should be the next Vince Carter. He has been in the dunk contest twice. If veterans DeRozan and Bargnani can step up, this team will be playoff ready.

23: New Orleans Hornets: The hype this year for the Hornets all comes from the number one pick, center Anthony Davis. I think Davis can be really good and lead this team to an eventual return to the playoffs. But the player that needs to be the leader for this team is Eric Gordon. Gordon was injured most of last year, and that is what the problem is. But if Eric Gordon is healthy and playing well, and Anthony Davis is living up to expectations, this team still isn't making the playoffs. Why? They need a small forward. Who does New Orleans have at the three position right now? Al-Farouq-Aminu? Hakim Warrick? Darius Miller? To be a playoff team, you need solid players at all positions. These guys are not solid players. So when Anthony Davis is living up to expectations, Eric Gordon is healthy and at his best, and the team has a solid player at the small forward position, then this team can talk about playoffs.

22: Phoenix Suns. The Suns did not have a great offseason. The main thing that hurts them is losing Steve Nash. Nash was an amazing player for this team. He always carried Phoenix on his back. He is so good because he knows the fundamentals and is arguably the best floor general in the game. He always can get the ball to the right places, no matter what his age is. The reason the Suns narrowly missed the playoffs last season is that Nash had no great scorer to get the ball to. The Suns were so successful in the 2010 playoffs because Nash had someone to get the ball to. Nash to Stoudemire was the thing. But when Amare Stoudemire left, the Suns stopped making the playoffs because they had no great scorer. Fortunately, the team signed Goran Dragic, who had a great last season. Hopefully he can be this team's next Steve Nash.

                   21: Houston Rockets. Houston had one of the worst offseasons in the league. They got rid of everyone to attempt to get Dwight Howard, but that failed. Now they are one of the youngest teams in the NBA. They have three first round picks, Jeremy Lamb, Royce White, and Terrence Jones, along with rookies Scott Machado and Donatas Motiejunas. They have second year players JaJuan Johnson, Marcus Morris, Greg Smith, and Chandler Parsons. Their third year players are Gary Forbes, Patrick Patterson, Jeremy Lin, and Omer Asik. That's 13 players! That's like the whole team! Kevin Martin, Carlos Delfino, and Shaun Livingston are the main veterans on this team, but they need more. You can't have a team this young with only a couple of veterans making the playoffs. They need more veterans.