Take a break from the utter madness that is the NBA playoffs and check out Hardwood Knocks’ future power rankings for every lottery squad.

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In the first of two installments, Andy and Dan anatomize the big-picture outlooks for the first 11 squads, stopping just before the top three, while delivering their final regular-season report card grades for each.

Bear in mind that, while performances from the 2017-18 campaign will impact the standing for every squad, this pecking order is being assembled based upon our impressions of long-term trajectories. We take into account incumbent talent, salary-cap projections, draft-pick commitments, developmental track records, coaching situations, injuries and anything else that impacts a team’s future.