Ranking teams without really ranking teams

It's too early to write up the definitive season previews, but it's basically dead time for the NBA. So writers look for other ways of ranking teams, without really ranking teams.

USA Today tries ranking teams based on their "watchability" while HoopsWorld asks "which teams are contenders?"

USA Today thinks the Nets are the 20th most watchable team in the NBA and notes all that the Nets did over the summer and embraces the Nets-Knicks rivalry.  Seth Highkin suggests that the Nets' biggest issue is chemistry and thinks that Paul Pierce could face a tough transition, raising the specter of a dropoff like those that affected Karl Malone after he left the Jazz or Patrick Ewing after he left the Knicks. (It's a theme beginning to creep into analysis.)

Hoopsworld lists nine contenders, starting the Heat and ending with the Grizzlies. The Nets are listed as seventh. Alex Kennedy cites the other concern about the the Nets, other than chemistry and age: Jason Kidd's lack of experience. "It’ll be interesting to see how first-year head coach Jason Kidd manages all of the talent on this roster," Kennedy writes.

• NBA Watchability Rankings: No. 20 Brooklyn Nets - Seth Highkin - USA Today
• NBA PM: Which Teams Are Contenders? - Alex Kennedy - HoopsWorld