We are less than a month away from teams reporting to training camps around the NBA, and the official first sign that the new season is almost upon us is the annual release of the latest installment of the NBA 2K franchise, NBA 2K24.
While fans of the game will be concerned mostly with the gameplay changes and updated game modes, general NBA fans are always interested in seeing how the ratings folks at 2K grade out all of the players and teams in the league. Player ratings always spark debate, particularly among how they rank top stars and regarding players whose impact often isn’t fully felt in the box score — or, vice versa, those who put up big stats but might not always contribute to winning basketball. As far as team ratings, 2K has moved away from dramatic differences between top and bottom teams, as the lowest rated team in this year’s edition is an 86 OVR and they don’t even show team ratings in the game setup screen (you can find them in MySeason mode when picking through teams to start a franchise with).
That 86 overall rating belongs to the Washington Wizards, which comes as little surprise after the team stripped its roster down this summer following Bradley Beal’s trade request. I’m not totally sure I agree this is the absolute worst roster in the league, as there’s still some solid veteran talent, with the caveat that they could continue moving veterans to contenders at the deadline, but the Wizards are certainly not expected to challenge for the postseason this year. What will be interesting is how Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole, and Tyus Jones fare stepping into larger roles than they’ve had previously, as they will be the three given the keys to this Wizards team and asked to figure it out.
Washington Wizards: 86 OVR, 90 OFF, 83 DEF
Kyle Kuzma: 83
Jordan Poole: 82
Tyus Jones: 79
Daniel Gafford: 77
Delon Wright: 77
Corey Kispert: 77
Danilo Gallinari: 77
Deni Avdija: 76
Landry Shamet: 75
Mike Muscala: 75
Bilal Coulibaly: 73
Anthony Gill: 72
Johnny Davis: 71
Patrick Baldwin Jr.: 71
Eugene Omoruyi: 71
Xavier Cooks: 70
Jared Butler: 70
Ryan Rollins: 68