Week 1
Welcome to the very first installment of Console Corners’ NBA2k League Power Rankings. Week 1 of the 2020 Season is now complete and although not every team has played the Rankings must begin! The teams that did not play yet will not be listed in this weeks edition of the Power Rankings since they are 0-0 as of currently. Those teams are Blazer5 Gaming, Celtics Crossover Gaming, Grizz Gaming, Jazz Gaming, Knicks Gaming, Nets GC, and Pistons GT. You can check out all of the action Live Tuesday-Friday 7 PM EDT on Youtube, Twitch, and the ESPN Watch App.
1. Raptors Uprising GC
The Raptors are one of the top teams coming in from Preseason and have shown they can put on a show very early in the Season. Kenny and Timelycook won together 3 years ago and Wuan and Sick were Pro-Am teammates. This team has chemistry and it showed against the 76ers and Wizards. Add in the fact that Timely was regarded as the best lockdown in 2k17 and the fact that Legit 973 is Sick’s younger brother just adds to all of this. A good frontcourt and great backcourt duo makes for a tough team to match up against.
2. Warriors Gaming Squad
The Warriors won both THE TURN and THE TICKET becoming the first team to win two tournaments in the same season. Going into the 2019 Playoffs as the 8th seed didn’t phase them either as they took down Blazer5 Gaming in a 2 game sweep as well. Add in the fact that their young talent will be coming into 2020 with more experience and the hunger for more as they ended up falling to the T-Wolves who eventually ended up winning the Championship. Look for this team to make some big plays as they clearly showed against Kings Guard Gaming and the Gen.G tigers.
3. Mavs Gaming
The Mavs made the 2019 Playoffs but ended up getting swept by Celtics crossover. However the 1st ever 2kLeague Draft Pick in Dimez still led the team with 16.7 PPG and 8.7 APG and is back again with some more help this time. By help I mean they drafted Sleetys who has been playing with Dimez for a long time. This duo helped them take down Heat Check Gaming and Hawks Talon GC in Week 1. Although Sleetys and Dimez were factors against the Hawks that opened the door for Sherm and Petebeballin who both played out of their minds. If and when Sleetys and Dimez can put up numbers similar to Sherm and Pete this team will only get more and more dangerous.
4. Hornets Venom GT
The Hornets are one of the two newest Expansion Teams coming into the 2020 Season and they have been lights out for being a new team already taking down both Cavs Legion and the 76ers. Both those teams aren’t top contenders coming in but for the Hornets it’s worth to prove they can potentially make their way to the top themselves. Hornets were able to snatch up Type in the Expansion Draft who was named to the 2019 All-Defensive Team and now is showing his worth as a scoring option as well putting up 21.2 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 4.0 SPG, and 3.0 BPG. The Hornets starting 2-0 is impressive but never dropping a game in two clean sweeps is even more of an impressive feat.
5. Wizards District Gaming
Wizards took JBM with the 1st Overall Pick in the 2020 Draft and it has paid off thus far. Going up against the Raptors in their first matchup was a tough one but they wereable to take a game from them and are still the only team to do so. JBM has been putting up most of the points himself but can also distribute the ball very well and get his teammates involved. If the rest of the team can continue to support JBM I have no doubt they can increase their play and move up in the Rankings.
6. Hawks Talon GC
Hawks had tough matchups in Week 1. First they had to take on the stacked Mavs Gaming and then against the 2019 Champions, T-Wolves who they were able to finish pretty fast with a 2-0.. Hawks showed some promise in both matchups however, BP went complete beast on BearDaBeast and had solid performances vs the Mavs as well. The biggest keys to the Hawks future is whether MrStylez and Kel can produce on a consistent basis. When they are hot along with the rest of the lineup the Hawks are really good, but when they are resident sleepers it gets tougher for them to produce on the offensive end.
7. Kings Guard Gaming
The Kings started off facing Warriors Gaming Squad and although Warriors were the heavy favorites the Kings didn’t give up so easily. Bash put up 41 points in Game 1 to keep it close but ultimately lost by 3. Game 2 they ended up swapping Yusuf from the Center to the Power Forward spot and it didn’t pan out very well as he was only able to put up 3 points and 3 rebounds. Their second match against Lakers Gaming showed us a little more fro mthe Kings as they were down in Games 1 and 2 but were able to mount comebacks in both to complete the clean 2-0 sweep. This time Yusuf stepped up in Game 1 with 12 PTS 14 REB 2 AST but when moving to the 4 again in game failed to deliver with another dismal 3 PTS and 6 REB 1 AST. However Bash played well enough to keep them in it as Seem at the SG role contributed nicely to take some of the load off of Bash.
8. Cavs Legion GC
The Cavs are a middle of the Pack team for me and the only direction I can see them going in these rankings is down for the time being. Right now they are only slotted in at 8 due to beating Pacers Gaming. Before the Season people would think they would match up nicely with Hornets Venom GT but seeing how the Hornets are off to a great start I wouldn’t expect that moving forward. Godddof2k has to step up for the Cavs as he was only able to put up 7 PTS vs the Hornets. Now some may say he is more of a defender than scorer but the same can be said on that side of the ball as well. I didn’t see the guy who made the All-Defensive Team in 2019 just yet.
9. Magic Gaming
Magic Gaming had one of if not the easiest matchup to start their Season with Bucks Gaming. No offense to Bucks but they are playing terribly as of now. On the other hand the Magic aren’t playing lights out on either end of the ball either. Too many turnovers cost them against the Wizards. Also add in the fact that 2019 Rookie of the Year Reizey was struggling against JBM. He put up okay numbers but that doesn’t make the cut when DJBama is being shut down and you have ToXsiK and May looking pretty nonexistent on the floor.
10. T-Wolves Gaming
How do the Defending 2019 NBA2k League Champions lose 0-2 to the Hawks? The answer is easy, no one could score. Game 1 was a 30 point blowout with 30 of the Team’s 52 coming from BearDaBeast and Detoxys with 15 each. Meanwhile Feast only mustered 11 points all night (Game 1: 9) (Game 2: 2). If your center isn’t scoring no matter how much your Point is putting up you most likely are not going to win the game. T-Wolves did mount a good finish to Week 1 with a 2-0 win over the Bucks, but again the Bucks are looking like a bottom 3 Team currently so this isn’t anything to get overly excited about right now.
11. Pacers Gaming
The Pacers are a decent Team but it’s very hard to judge how well they will do this season especially this early on. No one on the team really stands out other than BOHIO. The star Point Guard can put up big numbers but when he isn’t hot neither is the rest of the team. Basically everyone else feeds off of him and they need to find a way for one or two other guys to find some consistent play even if BOHIO is getting shut down or not.
12. Gen.G Tigers
One thing anyone can agree on with the Tigers is that Kai is clearly the best player on this team. This shows as well as he is putting up monster numbers and for good reason. The rest of the team is like a giant J.R Smith, either they shoot a ton and make them or miss them all. Either way Gen or Killey need to step up and start putting up double doubles night in and night out because relying on Kai to put up 30+ point games every single time to keep them in a ball game will not work out in their favor. Also shout out to Kai for putting up 57 in Game 2 and 49 in Game against the Lakers, which by the way is the only reason the Tigers were able to contend in that series.
13. Heat Check Gaming
Okay, the Heat aren’t that bad, but then again they are 0-2. King Peroxide has to step up as he struggles to get 10+ on a consistent basis and when he doesn’t Hotshot and GlennRatty fail to keep them in the game and they end up losing to teams like the Pacers. They seem to have a few chemistry problems so far as well which if not handled soon they will start to fall behind and won’t be able to find a way back into the playoff contention.
14. Lakers Gaming
Lakers had a lead against the Kings in Game 1 and lost. Lakers had a lead in Game 2 against the Kings and lost. Lakers had a lead against the Tigers in Game 1 and won by 1 point. Lakers give up the lead bottom line. Games 2 and 3 against the Tigers were much different as the Tigers seemed to figure out the gameplan or my bet is the Lakers just couldn’t figure out the Tigers. Allow me to help you out Lakers, guard Kai, that’s literally the only thing you need to do. The Lakers need to make some adjustments otherwise it won’t matter how big their lead is because they’ll just give it up late into the second half like they did all during Week 1.
15. Bucks Gaming
My goodness are the Bucks having a tough time starting the Season. Against the T-Wolves I can understand them taking the loss but at the same time they have favorable matchups especially with Arooks on the squad, but then again they lose to the Magic as well which they should easily beat. You lost by 3 to 3 players. ToXsiK and DJBAMA both had 0 points 1 rebound and 1 assist in Game 2. You can even make the argument that the Bucks lost too 2 players. 27 Points from DT and 30 from Reizey. Thats 57 of their 66. The Bucks drafted Regg to pair in the backcourt with Arooks but it seems defense is the biggest issue for this squad early on.
16. 76ers GC
This team was suppose to be a top contender after bringing in Userpick who can get stops and proved to be a great shooter last season, Breadwinner LA who is arguably the best defensive 4 in the League. They also brought back Radiant, Steez and Scretty who would make them the only team to have the same point gurad-center duo for all three seasons of the League. Yet they cannot find a way to win games. The chemistry is there as clearly stated with the picks and players they have put together for this season. I just don’t know what the problem is, maybe the players just need more time to mesh. Only time will tell however so the only thing to do is to wait and see how it goes.
Blu is a senior content writer for ConsoleCorner.Co. To keep up with all things esports, check out the website or follow Console Pro News on Twitter.