The NBA season is nearly one month old, with a dozen or so games in the books, and several teams have started to emerge as contenders in the early going.
The favorites entering the year, the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics, have had strong starts and very much look to be the front-runners. Others, such as the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns, have struggled out of the gate.
Conversely, some initial title long shots have started to emerge behind quick starts. As a result, there are a handful of teams that missed the playoffs last year that are in the mix at this stage of the season.
To make further sense of it all, Rookie Wire looked at the NBA and ranked each team from worst to first. We will return each week and provide our latest assessment of the best teams and those that are rising.