It's time for another preseason tradition: breaking 30 NBA teams into tiers. Grouping teams -- as opposed to 1-30 power rankings -- nudges you to consider the league holistically. It forces difficult choices, even if you know the boundaries between tiers are fluid (and that you will be wrong): Why is Team X in the inner circle of contenders, but almost-equal-on-paper Team Y one tier lower?
The order within tiers does not matter.