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Let's face it — the best and most powerful teams in the NBA don't really change from week to week. A handful of results in the middle of winter can only mean so much to a franchise's championship hopes. What does shift regularly, though, is how much interest a squad can hold over the course of a season. Every week, BDL's Most Interesting Power Rankings track the teams most worthy of your attention. This week, in a tribute to Nick Van Exel we take a look at those who are laughing all the way toward the end of the regular season. Or, at least, making us laugh. THE TOP 15 1. Sacramento Kings (27-42; last week : 11): We’re cheating a bit here by reaching back to last week in bringing up the fact that DeMarcus Cousins was caught screaming at coach George Karl on March 10, but the Kings have been cheating their fans since the days that saw Gawen DeAngelo “Bonzi” Wells play for the team. [ Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball ] Cousins was suspended for the team’s next game, by said team, a day after Karl had to undergo a frightening “cancer-related procedure.” Boogie the responded by making it clear that rookie chief of personnel Vlade Divac likely wanted nothing to do with suspending his center, and that Karl (the man who has done nothing but antagonize his team’s best player for the last year) was behind the understandable move. Neither the indifferent coach nor the indefensible All-Star look anything more than embarrassing at this point. Meanwhile, months after pointing out that the triangle offense wasn’t to his liking, Kings guard and future free agent Rajon Rondo effusively praised the New York Knicks’ chosen (or, at least, “hoped-for;” because the Knicks barely run it ) offensive frame. This came on the heels of a report that Rondo’s agent had already met with Knicks ostensible general manager Steve Mills in the “anything goes” hallways of Oracle Arena. Then the Kings beat the Knicks on Sunday night; and every Kings win hurts the team’s chances at keeping its lottery pick this year! If the Kings do keep their pick and somehow vault ahead of Philadelphia in the lottery, the 76ers get to swap places in the draft with Sacramento! 2. New York Knicks (28-43; last week : not ranked): Meanwhile, in New York, the Knicks continue to reel under “interim” (come on, guys, own it.) coach Kurt Rambis. Sunday’s loss left them at 5-12 following the loss to the Kings. The New York Post reported that Mills met with Rondo’s agent (totally not tampering) during the team’s loss to Golden State earlier in the week, and Kurt Rambis kept doing Kurt Rambis-y things : The Knicks send a team to the Las Vegas summer league in July and hold practices and games. Rambis believes it could stunt [Kristaps] Porzingis’ growth as a player to have too much time away from Knicks coaches and training staff — even if the decision is not to play in summer league. The No. 1 goal is for Porzingis to get stronger and put on weight to avoid the rookie wall he hit this season. “When I’m talking about playing, I’m talking about here,’’ Rambis said Friday. “Players growing up today, they play too much. A lot of summer can be used to develop strengths and work on aspects of your game. When you play you’re going back to your strengths and instincts. Sometimes playing can be bad and not conducive to player development.” (Kristaps Porzingis has shot 36 percent in 12 games under Kurt Rambis.) Also, Carmelo Anthony did firmly commit to his future with the team, offering a no-nonsense “S---, I don’t know” when asked about his prospects of escaping the club via trade this summer. Phil Jackson watched a couple of road games in person, though, so there’s always that. 3. Los Angeles Lakers (15-47; last week : 28) Great news. After months of inconsistent playing time, benching, and repeated browbeating in the media, Lakers coach Byron Scott is going to finally playing his young players consistent minutes! Sure, there’s less than a month left in the season, but the strong post-All-Star break play of contributors like Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo Russell – totally not in spite of Scott and Kobe Bryant’s 35 percent stare-downs – have led to a breakthrough for the final handful of games: Byron Scott says he is done benching young players for the fourth quarter. Going forward, they will play in fourth quarter “no matter what.” — Bill Oram (@billoram) March 20, 2016 Scott will even encourage his rookies to try new things! Byron Scott says that Larry Nance Jr. may start at small forward in the near future. — Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 20, 2016 4. Phoenix Suns (19-50; last week : not ranked) The Suns actually enjoyed a relatively successful week, winning two games over the lowly Lakers and Timberwolves while also being blown out by 34 points at the hands of the Utah Jazz but let’s not get into that and improving interim head coach Earl Watson’s record on the season to 5-15. The team obviously wants to play for the much-respected ex-NBA point guard ... Regardless to Suns outcome, interim coach Earl Watson has gained strong respect from players. Two said consensus is players want him to stay — Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) March 13, 2016 ... but unless the squad is making its way out of the lottery soon, center Tyson Chandler doesn’t want to hang around. From the Arizona Republic , via CBS Sports : "For me, especially where I am in my career, I want to win," Chandler said Friday, via the Arizona Republic . "I want to win now. I'm not in any kind of rebuilding stage. So if that's the case, it ain't where I'm supposed to be." That’s entirely understandable, but the 33-year old Chandler tried to have his cake and eat it too last summer when he signed a four-year, $52 million deal with the slim hope that fellow free agent LaMarcus Aldridge would soon join him in Phoenix. LMA passed, and Chandler warmed himself with the idea that no other team would have offered a deal that approximated the one the Suns handed him. Meanwhile, though he’s played darn well over the last month, at times Chandler has looked like his team’s second-best center. And even prior to his “rebuilding” comment, any trade leverage the Suns had in dealing him was shot to bits – the rest of the league knows Phoenix’s commitment to Chandler runs about as strong as his to the Suns. At least they don’t have Markieff Morris to kick around anymore. 5. Milwaukee Bucks (30-40; last week : 13) It’s Jason Kidd’s worst nightmare. His version of ‘The Producers’ is going over like gangbusters, and they might ask him to bring his performance back in the fall. Kidd appears to prefer life as a personnel boss over the task of coaching, which is understandable in many respects. Despite Sunday’s loss to Utah (with the Jazz working on the second night of a back-to-back), the Bucks have played admirable and entertaining basketball, especially following Kidd’s move to put Giannis Antetokounmpo in the backcourt as his lead ball-handler. As a result, while the Bucks are two losses away from ensuring a sub-.500 season, a sprightly run toward the finish could secure the re-printing of those “Jason Kidd, Head Coach” business cards yet again.   Continue to Article

March 21, 2016 3:54:pm EST

Anthony Davis and Chris Bosh turned in big performances as the Miami Heat downed the New Orleans Pelicans in overtime on Christmas Day. Neither will take the court in a rematch that will look far different as the Heat continue to push for a division title when they visit the all-but-eliminated Pelicans on Tuesday night. While Bosh is sidelined without a timetable to return for Miami (40-29) after blood clots in his leg were discovered at the All-Star break, New Orleans (26-43) just decided to shut Davis down for the season as it's faded from contention. Continue to Article

March 21, 2016 3:30:pm EST

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry says All-Star forward Anthony Davis will miss the remainder of the season - and probably the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as well - so he can have surgery to repair a recent knee injury and a lingering shoulder problem that has bothered him for much of the season. Continue to Article

March 20, 2016 5:23:pm EST