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).
No team took a bigger leap last year than the Sacramento Kings, who broke a decades long playoff drought by earning the 3-seed in the West, and entering 2023-24 they feature mostly the same lineup. De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis are the headliners, with a number of strong wing players, all of whom are knockdown shooters, between their stars. The question for the Kings comes in the form of depth, but this was a team that had an all-time great offensive season a year ago (which makes their 96 OFF rating in 2K maybe a bit low) and should be very fun once again.
Sacramento Kings: 91 OVR, 96 OFF, 87 DEF
De’Aaron Fox: 88
Domantas Sabonis: 87
Malik Monk: 82
Kevin Huerter: 80
Keegan Murray: 80
Harrison Barnes: 79
Trey Lyles: 78
JaVale McGee: 76
Davion Mitchell: 75
Chris Duarte: 75
Sasha Vezenkov: 75
Alex Len: 71
Kessler Edwards: 70
Colby Jones: 70
Keon Ellis: 68
