Summary of Preseason Power Rankings, Part 2 (feat. Bill Simmons) | Group Chat

Overview of Preseason Power Rankings, Part 2 (feat. Bill Simmons) | Group Chat

This episode continues The Ringer’s preseason NBA power rankings, covering teams 25 through 21. Bill Simmons joins for the first two stops — the Pelicans and Grizzlies — while the main crew also digs into the Mavericks, Wizards, and Suns. The big themes are roster fit, player development, and whether teams with shaky identities can actually become coherent, competitive groups.

New Orleans Pelicans: talent, chaos, and the Zion question

The Pelicans are treated as the league’s most frustrating mix of promise and dysfunction.

Main takeaways

• The standing rule remains: “never trust the Pelicans.”
• Zion Williamson is still the central mystery.
  • He remains an elite scorer when healthy.
  • But his lack of durability, rebounding, rim protection, and two-way impact makes him hard to build around.
  • The hosts debate whether his long-term outcome is as a high-end sixth man / super-sub rather than a franchise cornerstone.
• Roster fit is messy.
  • The team has overlapping player types and unclear hierarchy.
  • Derik Queen is intriguing, but his game overlaps with Zion’s in ways that don’t make much sense together.
  • Jeremiah Fears and Jordan Poole add more guard overlap and volatility.
• There is real concern about culture and chemistry.
  • The group points to bad vibes, bad trades, and organizational instability.
  • They argue the Pelicans are stuck because they’ve already made multiple mistakes they can’t easily unwind.
• The franchise may eventually have to move on from Zion.
  • They discuss the possibility that the endgame is a trade or letting his deal lapse into non-guaranteed territory.

What still works

• Herb Jones and Trey Murphy remain the kinds of players that give the team credibility.
• There are enough pieces to imagine some version of a functioning team, but not enough to believe in a clean direction.

Memphis Grizzlies: deep, physical, and better than people think

The Grizzlies are one of the most optimistic conversations in the episode.

Main takeaways

• The roster is absurdly deep.
  • There are rotation-level players at almost every position.
  • That depth could create a real regular-season advantage, especially if injuries hit other teams.
• The team has a clearer identity than most bad Western teams.
  • They’re physical, annoying, and built to make life miserable over 82 games.
  • The hosts think they could outperform expectations and possibly play their way into the play-in picture.
• Ty Jerome is a key stabilizer.
  • He’s viewed as the kind of steady point guard who can make the offense hum.
• Zach Edey matters a lot if healthy.
  • The consensus is that he changes games just by being on the floor.
  • Availability is the concern, not impact.
• Young players have real upside.
  • Cedric Coward, Jalen Wells, GG Jackson, Cam Spencer, and Scotty Pippen Jr. all come up as useful or intriguing pieces.
  • The group likes the fit of the young talent around the team’s size and physicality.
• Jeremy Grant is framed as undervalued.
  • He may not be a star-level piece, but he’s still a real NBA player who can fill big minutes and stabilize lineups.

Bottom line

The Grizzlies are viewed as a team with real structure, real physicality, and a path to being annoying in the best way. They’re one of the more bullish teams in the episode.

Dallas Mavericks: Cooper Flagg, Kyrie, and the long game

The Mavericks section is centered on how to develop Cooper Flagg without wasting the roster around him.

Main takeaways

• Kyrie Irving is still the most important adult in the room.
  • The hosts think his presence gives Dallas order, shot creation, and a useful mentor for Flagg.
  • They strongly prefer keeping Kyrie unless the right trade emerges.
• The big question is whether the team should trade Kyrie for future assets.
  • The answer is basically: only for the right deal.
  • Otherwise, this season should function as a developmental pilot program for Flagg.
• Flagg’s role needs to be more natural.
  • The concern is that too much creation burden could stunt him.
  • Pairing him with a shot creator like Kyrie should help him learn how to operate in a better structure.
• There’s a roster logjam of similar forwards and big wings.
  • The team has a lot of overlapping pieces, which helps with injury insurance but complicates lineup construction.
• Dallas is still figuring out its identity.
  • The conversation suggests the Mavs may be trying to build a very size-heavy, positionless model.
  • The fit is not fully clear yet, but the organizational direction is more stable than it was last year.

Notable side note

• They also discuss Zaccharie Risacher as a developmental case study: a talented but inconsistent young wing who needs the right infrastructure.

Washington Wizards: two timelines, one huge problem

The Wizards generate the most debate because their roster is built around both development and immediate competency.

Main takeaways

• This is a classic two-timeline team — and that can get messy fast.
  • They have young players they need to develop.
  • They also have veteran names and a very high-usage creator in Trae Young.
• Trae Young is a floor-raiser, not a perfect fit.
  • The hosts acknowledge his elite passing and ability to impose structure.
  • But they also worry he narrows the offense and may crowd out the development reps of the young core.
• Anthony Davis complicates the ceiling and the salary picture.
  • The group sees him as still one of the league’s best defensive players when healthy.
  • But they also worry about extending him on a long-term deal that could become destructive for a rebuilding team.
• AJ DeBonsa is the future, and everything should orbit him.
  • The episode repeatedly returns to the idea that the Wizards should prioritize whoever makes DeBonsa better.
• Alex Sarr is the biggest developmental casualty to watch.
  • The concern is that adding Davis and Young may reduce the freedom Sarr needs to grow.
• Other young names matter too.
  • Bub Carrington, Kyshawn George, Bilal Coulibaly, Trey Johnson, and Will Riley are all discussed as pieces with different levels of usefulness and projection.

Bottom line

The Wizards have talent, but the episode keeps circling back to one question: can an unserious organization become serious without overcomplicating the developmental path?

Phoenix Suns: trying hard again is not enough

The Suns are seen as a team that overachieved last season and now has to prove it wasn’t a one-time fluke.

Main takeaways

• They’re not viewed as a top-tier team even after a decent finish last season.
  • The hosts are skeptical that last year’s identity can be recreated.
  • Simply “trying hard” is not enough to repeat that success.
• The roster changes make the identity murkier.
  • Jalen Green, Miles Bridges, and Luke Kennard change the shape of the team.
  • Mark Williams’ injury is a big blow at center.
• Devin Booker gets a long, mixed but ultimately respectful assessment.
  • The group argues he has exceeded expectations overall:
    • 13th pick
    • multiple All-NBA honors
    • Finals run
    • Olympic golds
  • At the same time, there’s a sense that his career could have been even bigger in a different situation.
• Booker is viewed as a very good player, maybe not the absolute engine people imagine.
  • They debate whether he has been asked to do too much in Phoenix.
  • Chris Paul is brought up as the ideal organizing force he once had.
• Ryan Dunn / Oso Ighodaro / Mark Williams / Maluach-type breakout discussion
  • The group likes the idea of Khaman Maluach as a possible breakout big.
  • They see him as a giant who could become a real contributor if the Suns’ young bigs develop.
• The Suns’ best version was built on defense and buy-in.
  • The concern is that the new roster composition is drifting away from that.

Bottom line

The Suns are still respectable, but the episode reads them as more fragile, less surprising, and harder to trust than they were a year ago.

Key themes across the episode

Team identity matters more than raw talent

A recurring point is that teams need a clear structure:

• the Pelicans don’t have one,
• the Grizzlies do,
• the Mavericks are trying to build one,
• the Wizards are caught between two,
• and the Suns may be losing theirs.

Young-player development only works with the right ecosystem

The episode repeatedly asks:

• Who makes the young core better?
• Who blocks their growth?
• Who should be the offensive hub?
• What kind of reps actually matter?

Good organization is a competitive edge

There’s a strong emphasis on:

• coaching adaptability,
• medical/training competence,
• roster clarity,
• and giving the right players the right roles.

The league is increasingly about fit, not just talent

A player being good is no longer enough if:

• he doesn’t scale,
• he overlaps with other stars,
• or his contract makes him hard to move.

Overall takeaway

This episode is less about power-ranking numbers and more about franchise direction. The Pelicans are mired in uncertainty, the Grizzlies look annoyingly functional, the Mavericks are trying to optimize Cooper Flagg’s path, the Wizards are wrestling with a crowded timeline, and the Suns are trying to prove last season wasn’t a one-off.