I think there are still some significant questions to be answered about our team (Knox/Mitchell/Trier have yet to play an NBA game, whereas many of the other teams have young stars with years of NBA experience.
It might be better to rank the BEST player of these teams... unless there's a 2nd who's really close...
1. Bucks- Antetekounmpo is already a top-5 player in the league - he's about as good as anyone.
2. Philly- Embiid and Simmons are both excellent players who took their team to the 2nd round of the playoffs. With two really nice players, perhaps Philly should be #1.
3. Knicks - Assuming KP returns to form, we have a lot of upside here. He's an absolute mismatch and is huge difference maker on D. And aren't we already hyping up Knox as KD 2.0 or PG13 2.0?
4. Boston- Tatum has a chance to be a HoF sort of player... though I'm a little skeptical whether he'll have the opportunity to be awesome, at least for a few years while he competes with Brown and Hayward. I don't think Brown is all that. I do like Rozier, but it remains to be seen what his future holds on the Celtics.
5. Denver- Jokic is amazing, not so crazy about the others.
6. Suns- Booker is great, let's see what they have in Ayton.
7. LA Lakers- I'm not amazed by Ingram, Ball, or Kuzma. I don't see any of them being NBA superstars.
8. Chicago- Markkanen, Carter, LaVine, Dunn - I don't know enough about Carter or Markkanen, but the other 2 guys are NOT future superstars.
Individually, here are my assumptions:
KP: Returns to his 2017-2018 season form. Key shortcoming is his ability to make plays for teammates - plus he learned a bit of ISO-Melo style. He doesn't currently pass for assists, making the need for playmakers around him more paramount. When you're 7'3" and can shoot it there are no bad looks, but there are potentially better looks available from teammates and those passes make the defense work harder.
Knox: Wow, his summer league performances make him look like a very strong contender for ROY and future all-star. Makes quick decisions and his highly aggressive when he has room. Based on his college performance, he has room to improve his bball IQ and playmaking for others, but he may already have a better feel for creating for others than KP. There's a bit of an open question as to our best projections for him long term (Rudy Gay, Al Harrington, Durant 2.0, PG13). If he's a bit more like the latter 2, the Knicks can be really, really good.
Ntilikina: I think the first 2 summer league games answered some questions. The 20-year old season 2 version of Ntilikina seems to have refined his scoring skills/technique. I feel pretty good that he'll improve his fg% by at least 5%. It was pretty clear in game 2 he made a conscious effort to go into attack mode and look for his shot. It's pretty clear to all of us that isn't natural for him, but can he learn how to turn it on as he gains more experience and develops as a player? I'm not sure. I'm currently thinking his upside will be that of the 33 year old Pippen when he first joined the Blazers - or a better playmaking version of Trevor Ariza (ie his first run with Houston at age 24). 14ppg/6apg/6rpg/2spg. This actually would be PERFECT alongside KP and Knox.
We also have a few other young pieces worth mentioning:
Hezonja: Tough to say what we have here, but I'm thinking we'll see a lot of what we saw in his last season with the injury riddled Orlando Magic - he could basically produce along the lines of a Morris Twin. 15ppg/6rpg/3apg. He still has immense upside and could develop into a borderline all-star under the right team and system, but at the same time, given his contract he'd be one of the first to go if we have an opportunity to get a max player next year.
Mitchell Robinson: More than the Capela comparisons, I like the Hassan Whiteside comparisons, possibly DeAndre Jordan. I think Briggs was all high on Whiteside like 8 years ago pre-draft. It took him about 5 years for him to get a shot at the NBA and shocked the league with his rebounding and scoring prowess. Robinson is extremely athletic and has been surprisingly productive in the summer league despite taking a year off from organized basketball. That speaks to some good natural instinct on the basketball court, something that's been downplayed. He looks like a better/quicker athlete than Ayton to me, and it's a matter of whether he can develop any above average skills to complement his raw athleticism. He's somewhat of an X-factor here. Under the tutelage of a teaching staff, might he surprise all and surpass some of the lottery bigs in this draft?