NBA Watchability: Who Are The Most Entertaining Teams In The NBA?

Over at Fanhouse, Tom Ziller has teamed with Kevin Pelton to put together a complicated visual rendering of what Mike Prada did last season: the Watchability Scale. But where Mike’s scale was borne from his own experience watching hoops the first month of the season, Ziller’s Watchability Index uses SCIENCE. At least a little bit.

The writers used Pelton’s projections from the 2010 Basketball Prospectus to calculate each team’s “quality”, and then crunched those numbers in conjunction with less tangible factors, like star power, potential, style, etc. Click through for an enlarged chart and some reaction.

Okay, quick reactions.

-- As Andy Hutchins pointed out... Why is Portland second on the “Good” scale? I’m assuming that has to do with Pelton’s projections, but even so. Let’s keep Portland in perspective.

-- Likewise, the L.A. Clippers were murdered here for some reason, but with Blake Griffin coming back, Baron Davis, a suddenly intriguing Eric Gordon, and more, the Clip show should be pretty entertaining this year. Maybe not good, but definitely good enough to keep things interesting.

-- Miami as the most watchable team in the league is dead-on, obviously.

-- So is Detroit and Cleveland as the most boring.

-- Until Steve Nash retires or Chris Paul gets traded, Phoenix and New Orleans should always be in the “watchable” square here.

-- I like how the Wizards are just sort of off in no-man’s land. Basically saying, “Yeahhh... We have no clue what to expect on that one.”

This scale may not make total sense, but damnit, I could look at this for hours. Thanks to Ziller and co. for putting it together, and, um... BASKETBALL SEASON’S ALMOST HERE.