NBA Power Rankings: Where Teams Stack Up Less Than a Month Before the Trade Deadline
Thanks in large part to the Toronto Raptors, the NBA got trade season started early this year.
Less than a month after they sent OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks, the Raptors moved Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers this week. And the early moves make it easy to speculate on who else might be in a different jersey between now and the February 8 trade deadline.
Expect to hear plenty about Dejounte Murray, Zach LaVine, the Los Angeles Lakers and other teams and players in the rumor mill over the next few weeks.
In the meantime, games are rolling on. And plenty of teams are working on changing (or improving) their fortunes outside the front office.
As they do, we'll sort the entire league based on the criteria we use every week: team and individual stats, recent performance, championship chances and loads of subjectivity.
30. Detroit Pistons (4-37)
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Previous Rank: 30
Net Rating: -10.5
The Detroit Pistons' disastrous 2023-24 continued apace this week, as they hit the halfway mark with a robust eight-win pace.
On the bright side, more losses equals better lottery odds (not that anyone's seriously threatening their bottom-three record right now). They somehow don't have the worst net rating in the league, and now that coach Monty Williams is finally trusting Jaden Ivey a bit more, he's starting to produce.
Over his past 14 appearances, Ivey is averaging 18.6 points, 5.1 assists and 1.9 threes while shooting 35.1 percent from three.
29. Charlotte Hornets (8-30)
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Previous Rank: 28
Net Rating: -12.1
The Charlotte Hornets are horrifically bad. Despite having twice as many wins as the Detroit Pistons, they somehow have a worse point differential and a lower total for "expected wins."
And considering the fact that they're potential sellers for February's trade deadline, they might still get worse.
Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward and other veterans could all be gone in a few weeks, leaving a mess of a team without a single player boasting a positive season-long plus-minus behind.
28. Washington Wizards (7-33)
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Previous Rank: 29
Net Rating: -9.1
The Washington Wizards rolled the dice on pedigree when they traded for Marvin Bagley III this week.
The 24-year-old hasn't lived up to his status as a No. 2 overall pick yet, but we've seen some recent examples of high draft picks not really finding the right spot for themselves until well into their careers, such as Andrew Wiggins with the Golden State Warriors and Aaron Gordon with the Denver Nuggets.
In his debut with Washington, Bagley had 20 points on 10-of-16 shooting, 11 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. The Wizards lost, but the Duke product was plus-2 for the game.
For a team cruising toward a bottom-three record, moral victories like this one are worth celebrating. And even if Washington keeps losing, players like Bagley can provide the occasional rays of hope.
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27. Portland Trail Blazers (11-29)
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Previous Rank: 27
Net Rating: -9.6
The Portland Trail Blazers closed out their week with an unexpected win over the Brooklyn Nets (made all the more unexpected by the fact that Deandre Ayton missed the game due to weather), and they've now swept the season series over that team while going 9-29 against everyone else.
Each of those Nets wins have come in January, a month in which Portland is 2-7 overall.
In other words, if the Blazers could simply play Brooklyn 82 times this season, they might be in pretty good shape to make the playoffs.
Since they can't, they'll remain in the mix for one of the league's three worst records and a 14 percent chance at the 2024 No. 1 pick.
26. San Antonio Spurs (7-33)
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Previous Rank: 26
Net Rating: -9.2
The losses keep piling up, and the net rating is still in a woeful bottom five that has every team lower than minus-9.0, but the San Antonio Spurs have actually shown some signs of life of late.
In January, their net rating is a far more respectable plus-1.0, and Victor Wembanyama is looking more and more comfortable as a 5.
In the 16 games he's played since Zach Collins left the starting lineup, Wemby is averaging a truly preposterous 20.9 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.7 blocks, 3.4 assists and 0.9 steals in just 26.6 minutes.
25. Brooklyn Nets (16-24)
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Previous Rank: 25
Net Rating: -1.8
The Brooklyn Nets' total tailspin continued this week, when they went 0-2 (including a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers) and moved their record to 4-15 since mid-December.
At this point, things have gotten so bad that you might wonder if Brooklyn will be a seller ahead of the trade deadline, but even that doesn't make much sense. The Nets' 2024 first-round pick is heading to the Houston Rockets.
Brooklyn might have to just ride this out, hope Ben Simmons makes a miraculous comeback to his All-Star form and scratch and claw for a berth in the play-in tournament.
24. Memphis Grizzlies (15-26)
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Previous Rank: 24
Net Rating: -5.3
The Memphis Grizzlies deserve some credit for remaining competitive after a wave of injuries. Steven Adams and Ja Morant will be out for the rest of the season, and Desmond Bane has missed the last three games.
But the Grizzlies still beat the Golden State Warriors on Monday and played the Minnesota Timberwolves tight for three-and-a-half quarters on Thursday.
The last star standing, Jaren Jackson Jr., is leading the charge (for lack of a better term), with 24.1 points and a 38.2 three-point percentage over his last 21 games.
23. Golden State Warriors (18-22)
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Previous Rank: 22
Net Rating: -1.2
Tragedy struck the NBA and the Golden State Warriors this week, when assistant coach Dejan Milojević died "after suffering a heart attack at a private team dinner."
Head coach Steve Kerr called his death a "shocking and tragic blow."
Milojević was a major figure in Serbian basketball. He won a EuroBasket gold medal for his home country in 2001. He was Nikola Jokić's head coach at Mega Basket prior to the two-time MVP's arrival in the NBA. And his coaching of Warriors' big men, particularly Kevon Looney, was instrumental for the 2022 championship run.
Following the news, the NBA postponed what would've been Golden State's week-ending game against the Utah Jazz.
There's no word yet on whether that game will be rescheduled, but the Warriors will inevitably be back in action soon. And a season already packed with challenges now has its biggest one yet.
22. Atlanta Hawks (17-23)
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Previous Rank: 23
Net Rating: -2.0
The rumor mill has been churning at a pretty rapid pace for Dejounte Murray, and his recent play can only be helping to speed it up.
After scoring 26 in Wednesday's win over the Orlando Magic, Murray is now averaging 23.0 points and 2.4 threes while shooting 40.3 percent from deep over his past 13 games.
Prior to this season, Murray was a 33.5 percent three-point shooter, but if he can stay anywhere near this level from long range going forward, he'll surely be one of the league's hottest names around the trade deadline.
His fit with Trae Young hasn't really worked, but he's still just 27 years old, a proven 20-point-per-game scorer and suddenly a fairly consistent outside threat.
21. Toronto Raptors (16-26)
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Previous Rank: 19
Net Rating: -1.1
The Toronto Raptors made another big trade this week, when they sent Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers for a return that included Bruce Brown and three first-round picks.
A day later, Brown was in Toronto's rotation for a home loss to the Chicago Bulls. And while it's easy to see the vision for the Raptors' Scottie Barnes-centric rebuild, it isn't leading to wins yet. After Thursday's loss, Toronto is 2-6 in its last eight.
On the bright side, the Raptors may have stumbled into a solid center who can both defend and distribute in Jontay Porter. Thursday, he started and had four assists and two blocks in 20 minutes. He was a plus-7 in the six-point loss.
20. Chicago Bulls (20-23)
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Previous Rank: 20
Net Rating: -2.4
The Chicago Bulls have pushed their way into pretty solid positioning in the play-in tournament, where they have a 2.5-game buffer between themselves and 11th place.
And center Nikola Vučević, who's been the target of plenty of criticism since he came over from the Orlando Magic, is a big reason why.
The 33-year-old returned from an injury on January 5, and the Bulls are 5-2 since then. During those seven games, he has averaged 18.4 points, 11.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
19. Houston Rockets (19-21)
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Previous Rank: 16
Net Rating: +0.4
The Houston Rockets are still far more competitive than they were last season, but reality is starting set in for this group during a 4-9 stretch that has them outside the play-in mix.
As solid as their defense has been this season, a bottom-10 attack is catching up to them now, and it may be time to make some difficult decisions regarding Jalen Green soon.
18. Los Angeles Lakers (21-21)
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Previous Rank: 21
Net Rating: -1.0
The Los Angeles Lakers may finally be emerging from a dreadful stretch that put them into the West's play-in mix.
After going 3-10 from the end of the In-Season Tournament through January 5, the Lakers have suddenly won four of their last six. And they have victories over the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks in that stretch.
The sudden upturn may have a little something to do with Darvin Ham finally reentering D'Angelo Russell into his team's starting five.
Over these six games (three of which he started), Russell is averaging 20.8 points, 5.7 assists and 3.5 threes, while shooting 44.7 percent from deep.
17. Orlando Magic (22-19)
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Previous Rank: 14
Net Rating: +1.0
The Orlando Magic were one of the hottest up-and-comers in the league to begin the season, but they've started to come back to earth since Franz Wagner left the lineup with an ankle injury.
Wagner has missed the team's past seven games, and Orlando is 3-4 in that stretch after losing to the sub-.500 Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
No one's feeling Wagner's absence quite like Paolo Banchero.
Prior to Wagner's injury, Banchero was shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from deep.
Since then, he's averaging 25.1 points, but he's taking 23.0 shots to get there, shooting 39.8 percent from the field and 24.2 percent from three.
16. Sacramento Kings (23-18)
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Previous Rank: 13
Net Rating: +0.3
The Sacramento Kings have lost four straight, are 7-9 in their last 16 and are now coming off two positively awful losses.
On Tuesday, they coughed up a 21-point second-half lead and a 99.9 percent win probability to lose to the Phoenix Suns. Two days later, they lost a home game to an Indiana Pacers team without Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam (who's yet to make his debut for the team).
Sacramento is still comfortably over .500, but there's no question the "Light the Beam" vibes aren't quite as strong as they were in 2022-23. And few teams feel as primed for a trade.
The Kings emerged as a potential Siakam suitor, but they obviously came up short there. That doesn't mean they should give up on finding a potential upgrade on the Harrison Barnes minutes.
15. Utah Jazz (22-21)
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Previous Rank: 18
Net Rating: -1.7
Someone finally cooled down the Utah Jazz a bit this week, when the Oklahoma City Thunder came into their building for the road win on Thursday, but they've been good long enough to prove they're for real.
Prior to Thursday, the Jazz had forced their way into the play-in mix with six straight wins (and 12 victories in their last 14 games). And they did it with one of the game's deepest and most balanced attacks.
During that 14-game run, eight Jazz players averaged at least eight points. Five averaged at least three assists. And Lauri Markkanen calmly led the way with 25.0 points on 51.7 percent shooting during that stretch.
14. Dallas Mavericks (24-18)
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Previous Rank: 12
Net Rating: +1.0
Dallas Mavericks fans may be frustrated with a lack of consistency from their team, but it's hard to hold it against them, given the number of injuries they've faced this season.
Dante Exum has arguably been their second-best player, but he didn't really solidify his spot in the rotation till Kyrie Irving was hurt. By the time Irving and Luka Dončić were both available, Exum was out with his own injury. Dereck Lively II has missed plenty of time lately too.
For the entire season, Dallas has just 47 minutes in which all three of those guards are on the floor, and that number drops to 31 when you add Lively to the mix.
Assuming all four can get and stay healthy for a bit, the Mavs could have a run in them.
13. Cleveland Cavaliers (24-15)
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Previous Rank: 15
Net Rating: +3.5
The Milwaukee Bucks may have been without Giannis Antetokounmpo on Wednesday, but the banged-up Cleveland Cavaliers still deserve credit for crushing a team with Damian Lillard, Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton by 40 points.
And that's exactly what they did, extending their winning streak to six games and bringing their record to 11-3 since Darius Garland and Evan Mobley left the rotation with injuries.
For the season, when those two are both off the floor, Donovan Mitchell is averaging 30.0 points and 6.8 assists per 75 possessions, with a 60.3 true shooting percentage, while Jarrett Allen is at 19.2 points, 14.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists with a 68.7 true shooting percentage.
12. Indiana Pacers (24-17)
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Previous Rank: 17
Net Rating: +2.1
The big news of the week for the Indiana Pacers was obviously the acquisition of Pascal Siakam. And while there may be some risk built into the deal, it's not hard to see why they took the swing.
Tyrese Haliburton has been playing like a borderline top 5-10 player all season, and adding a multi-time All-NBA talent who's averaged at least 20 points and four assists in each of his last four seasons undoubtedly raises Indiana's short-term ceiling.
The Pacers already had enough firepower to beat just about anyone in a one-game situation, but this deal gives them enough to potentially put a scare into the East's contenders in a seven-game series.
11. Miami Heat (24-17)
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Previous Rank: 10
Net Rating: +0.8
The Miami Heat were crushed by 24 points by the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, bringing the team to an even and uninspiring 5-5 in its last 10.
But even after the ho-hum stretch, Miami is still in the top six in the East, without really experiencing a stretch of decent health.
Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin and Kevin Love have all missed at least 10 games, making it difficult to get a handle on this team's rotation.
10. New York Knicks (25-17)
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Previous Rank: 11
Net Rating: +4.2
Jalen Brunson dropped 41 points on 14-of-27 shooting in the New York Knicks' win over the Washington Wizards on Thursday. He now has four 40-point performances on the season and eight total as a New York Knick.
Despite being on the team for just over a season, the Villanova product is already seventh in Knicks history for total 40-point outings.
9. Phoenix Suns (22-18)
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Previous Rank: 9
Net Rating: +1.6
The Phoenix Suns have generally had Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal available lately. And surprise, surprise, they're finally gaining a little traction.
Beal has appeared in the team's past 10 games, and Phoenix is 7-3 in that stretch with Beal averaging 19.8 points and 4.4 assists. The sample is still relatively small, but when all three are on the floor, Phoenix is scoring an astronomical 136.8 points per 100 possessions and outscoring opponents by 25.3 points per 100 possessions.
What makes this team really scary, though, is when just one or two members of the supporting cast get in on the fun, which is exactly what Grayson Allen did in an absurd comeback on Tuesday.
KD scored 15 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, but Allen also hit two big threes in that frame, bringing his total for the game to nine. Together, they helped the Suns erase a 22-point deficit and a Sacramento Kings win probability that peaked at 99.9 percent.
On the year, the Suns are now 3-1 when Allen attempts at least 10 threes.
8. New Orleans Pelicans (25-17)
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Previous Rank: 8
Net Rating: +5.0
Having too much individual talent is one of those cliche "good problems to have," but it can be an actual problem.
For the New Orleans Pelicans, it squeezed rookie Jordan Hawkins out of the rotation for much of December, but he's a staple again. And the Pelicans are clearly benefiting from his volume and accuracy as a three-point shooter.
Over his last seven games, Hawkins is averaging 14.7 points and 3.0 threes, while shooting 58.3 percent from deep.
7. Denver Nuggets (28-14)
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Previous Rank: 5
Net Rating: +5.3
On Tuesday, the Denver Nuggets' defense was absolutely torched by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first game of a brutal five-game Eastern Conference road trip.
Behind 41 points (on 13-of-22 shooting and 12-of-15 on free throws) and 10 assists from Joel Embiid, Philadelphia scored 126 points on a scrambling defense that threw all kinds of different matchups at the reigning MVP.
The problem is that those scrambles, which often included late attempts to double-team the big man, led to a bunch of open threes. The Sixers shot 15-of-31 from deep, thanks in part to some missed or lazy rotations.
Of course, this isn't a matchup Denver has to worry a ton about. They only play Philadelphia twice this season, and they'll only meet in the playoffs if both teams make the Finals. But even if the Nuggets don't love the matchup for Nikola Jokić (especially with the way Embiid gets opposing bigs into foul trouble), they may need a more straight-up approach for the rematch on January 27.
With a scheme Denver's defenders are more used to, the rotations might be more crisp. And even if Embiid scores a ton of points, that might be preferrable to him picking the defense apart with kickouts for threes (eight of his 10 assists were for triples).
Again, Philadelphia obviously isn't the Nuggets' top priority right now. They can probably talk themselves into Tuesday being a decent showing. They only lost by five, and Jokić was plus-1 for the game with a career-high 11 offensive rebounds, while the score was dead even when Embiid was on the floor.
But a loss is a loss, and games against title contenders like this are a good measuring stick. Denver has another one on Friday against the Boston Celtics. Then, after the road trip, they have home games against both Philadelphia and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Even for a team coming off a championship run, we could learn a lot over the next couple weeks.
6. Milwaukee Bucks (28-13)
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Previous Rank: 3
Net Rating: +3.7
The Milwaukee Bucks got their first real experience with "Dame Time" on Sunday, when Damian Lillard drilled a game-winning, buzzer-beating three to top the Sacramento Kings.
On the season, Lillard is second in total points scored in the clutch (defined by the league as the final five minutes of games within five points), second in clutch threes and fifth in clutch assists.
Stephen Curry's the only player ahead of him in those first two categories, but if the Warriors remain below .500, it feels like Lillard will have a strong argument for Clutch Player of the Year.
And the Milwaukee Bucks now having a shotmaker like this who can take the reins of the offense from Giannis Antetokounmpo down the stretch should make them a far more dangerous playoff team.
Still, Milwaukee is just 6-6 in its last 12, and it was crushed by 40 points without Giannis on Wednesday. Lingering concerns about the Bucks' defense and depth remain.
5. Minnesota Timberwolves (30-11)
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Previous Rank: 7
Net Rating: +5.8
After surviving a road-heavy stretch of the schedule in which they went 4-5, the Minnesota Timberwolves have won their last four games.
And while it's easy to dismiss victories over the banged-up Memphis Grizzlies, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Detroit Pistons, they did sneak a win over the Los Angeles Clippers in there in which Rudy Gobert got the last laugh after the opposing bench clowned him for air-balling a free throw.
Gobert finished with 18 rebounds, 15 points and four blocks in that victory over the red-hot Clippers.
For the season, Minnesota is plus-10.3 points per 100 possessions when he's on the floor and plus-0.6 when he's not.
4. Philadelphia 76ers (26-13)
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Previous Rank: 6
Net Rating: +8.2
For the second year in a row, Joel Embiid absolutely dominated the Denver Nuggets in Philadelphia.
And the headline will almost certainly be his 41 points, 12-of-15 shooting from the line and all the jumpers he made over the course of the game.
But we've seen plenty of sweet-shooting, 40-point outings from Embiid. He's tied for 21st all-time in career 40-point outings with 47. This season alone, he has more points than minutes played.
What stood out as much as anything in Tuesday's win was Embiid's passing. Yes, Denver's scheme led to a lot of simple, one-pass-away reads, but Embiid wasn't always hitting those release valves. Philadelphia's new coach, Nick Nurse, has empowered the big man as a passer. The extra ball movement has, in turn, empowered the big man's supporting cast.
3. Los Angeles Clippers (26-14)
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Previous Rank: 4
Net Rating: +5.5
Few teams in the NBA look as stout as the Los Angeles Clippers right now. After an 8-10 start that had the hot takes flying all over the internet in November, L.A. is 18-4 in its past 22 games. None of those four losses were terribly concerning, either.
This week, they lost to the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves in Minnesota. Another one of the losses was on the road to the Oklahoma City Thunder. And one came against the league-leading Boston Celtics. The closest thing to a head-scratcher was a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, but as disappointing as that team has been, it still has LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
On balance, it's hard to nitpick anything from the Clippers over the past month and a half. The ball is flying around, and all three of the stars (Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Paul George) have had their opportunities to take over during this stretch. Russell Westbrook has somehow settled into a pretty stable role as the energy guy off the bench.
Tuesday, in a potential revenge game against OKC, it was George's turn for one of those takeovers. After the Clippers had built a 13-point lead with less than a minute to go in the third quarter, the Thunder stormed all the way back to go up one with just under four minutes left in the game. Over those last three minutes and change, George had 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, two steals and two threes. He had 18 for that entire fourth quarter.
And again, he's not the only Clipper who's capable of an individual run like this.
There's a seemingly ego-free balance between those three stars that should terrify the rest of the West right now.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (28-13)
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Previous Rank: 1
Net Rating: +8.1
Shortly after finding their way to the top spot in the power rankings, the Oklahoma City Thunder lost back-to-back games to the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, but they quickly got back on track Thursday.
On the road and against perhaps the hottest team in the NBA, OKC beat the Utah Jazz, 134-129, behind 58 points from Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Seemingly every time the Thunder needed some momentum-stopping points, Williams would coolly dribble into a mid-range jumper or SGA would get to the line.
And the poise with which those two play seems to be infectious. Despite being the second youngest team in the league, OKC typically looks unflappable in high-leverage moments.
1. Boston Celtics (32-9)
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Previous Rank: 2
Net Rating: +10.0
No one's been steadier than the Boston Celtics, who are starting to separate themselves from the rest of the league both in terms of winning percentage and net rating.
Halfway through the season, they're the only team left in the NBA with a single-digit loss total. And as long as they're not on the second night of a back-to-back or dealing with some other schedule quirk, just about any combination of their top guys guarantees competitiveness.
As long as they have at least two of their regular starters (Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Kristaps Porziņģis, Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday) on the floor, they're plus-10.7 points per 100 possessions.
Stat of the Week
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On Thursday, the Oklahoma City Thunder scored 134 points, bringing the total for 130-point outings throughout the NBA to 163.
We're roughly halfway through this campaign, which means the NBA is on pace to smash the all-time record for 130-point nights set last season at 266.
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