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Somehow, possibly owing to a time warp that zapped us all the way through August and September in a blink, we're here: The dawn of the 2017-18 NBA regular season.

We should not rule out the possibility that whatever cosmic force governs the universe really wanted to see how James Harden and Chris Paul would coexist, how salty the Kyrie Irving-LeBron James reunion would be, and if anybody stands a chance against the Golden State Warriors.

Who could blame Him/Her/It?

A truncated preseason meant fewer opportunities to be misled by half-speed execution, rotation tinkering and extended garbage time. So as we evaluate the present strength of all 30 NBA teams, most of what we have to go on comes from last year. We'll still be largely guessing at how all of the head-spinning player movement will change things.

As always, we're building a hierarchy based on how good each NBA club is right now. Injuries matter, and we've priced in uncertainty surrounding team chemistry and possible fit issues—though, again, there's some speculation involved on that front.

Rejoice! We made it. It's on.