New Orleans Pelicans: Power Ranking the Yacht Club

New Orleans Pelicans: Yacht Club Power Rankings #6 and #5

Let’s face it, part of the reason these teams were included was because the NBA needed bodies and some padding so that it didn’t look like they made Zion Williamson the cut-off for the playoffs.

#6: Washington Wizards (24-30)

Key Injuries: John Wall

I’m pretty sure the Washington Wizards were included because the NBA didn’t want to admit how bad the Eastern Conference is.

The Wizards were 5.5 behind Orlando for the eighth seed with no real chance of catching them. They’ve got an interesting trio of players in Bradley Beal, Davis Bertans and Rui Hachimura but not much else.

The remainder of their schedule is also really tough, with potentially two games against the Bucks, as well as one against Boston, OKC and the Lakers.

The schedules have not been announced yet, but the Wizards would need a lot of help just to get within four games of Orlando and force a play-in series.

If Beal goes absolutely nuts, they could make some noise, but their playoff chances are very low either way.

#5: Phoenix Suns (26-39)

Key Injuries: Kelly Oubre Jr.

Kelly Oubre is officially out for the Suns, but other than that, they should be at full strength.

The Suns are an interesting team that obviously have some parts in Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton. They started off the season well, but felt the familiar gravity of being a perpetual lottery team and came back to Earth.

They weren’t playing well before the hiatus and it’s hard to imagine them doing anything at NBA Disney but being cannon fodder for the good teams.

The Suns would have to beat Memphis by two games to even force a play-in, which is very unlikely.