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).
The Dallas Mavericks have one of the oddest rosters in this year’s game, with two players boasting 90+ overall ratings in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, and then no one in the 80s. That tracks for a team that has lots of depth questions around their two stars, although they certainly seem to have addressed those issues to an extent this summer. The folks at 2K, at least, still have questions they want answered from the likes of Grant Williams, Richaun Holmes, and Dallas’ rookies before they buy in on this group, particularly on the defensive end where they rank among the worst teams on 2K with an 85 rating, undoing their 99 offensive rating thanks to their two stars.
Dallas Mavericks: 92 OVR, 99 OFF, 85 DEF
Luka Doncic: 95
Kyrie Irving: 90
Tim Hardaway Jr.: 78
Josh Green: 76
Grant Williams: 76
Dwight Powell: 76
Seth Curry: 76
Jaden Hardy: 76
Maxi Kleber: 75
Derrick Jones Jr.: 75
Richaun Holmes: 74
Dereck Lively II: 72
Olivier-Maxence Prosper: 71
Greg Brown: 71
Dante Exum: 70
Joe Wieskamp: 70
AJ Lawson: 67
