The Miami Heat have been a somewhat surprising team so far this season, sporting a 9-3 record at the time of these rankings. They've won against every bad team they've played against, and are 3-3 against teams with an above-.500 record. There's a good chance Miami hovers around the top half of playoff seeding in the East for the remainder of the season. The Nuggets have also been playing well, despite their main star Nikola Jokic having a down year to this point. Their offense still has significant work to do (they rank 22nd in PPG) and consistency is still an issue, but I expect this team to be more dangerous come playoff time than they were last year.
Following their home loss to the Andrew Wiggins-less Timberwolves, the Jazz find themselves in the 29th spot of this week's rankings. While the team is more talented than they were last year, there are clearly growing pains being experienced right now, with two new offensive pieces being worked into the game plan (Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic.) Until Donovan Mitchell can learn to dominate games with more consistency, this team will remain well behind the top dogs in the West.
Teams that have been first: Sacramento Kings (1x), Houston Rockets (2x)
Teams that have been last: Memphis Grizzlies (2x), Golden State Warriors (1x)
