NBA Power Rankings: Where All 30 Teams Stand After the 2025 Trade Deadline
The 2025 NBA trade deadline has come and gone, and the days leading up to it were as wild a time as the league has seen in decades.
Luka Dončić, Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler, De'Aaron Fox and more being on the move is going to cause some major upheaval for the power rankings.
Our typical criteria—team and individual numbers, recent performance, championship chances and plenty of subjectivity—all remain, but those latter two have a little more influence in the wake of several landscape-shifting deals.
30. Washington Wizards (9-41)
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Previous Rank: 30
Net Rating: -13.2
This week, the Washington Wizards turned four second-round picks into a future first in a deal that cost them Jared Butler. They got multiple second-round picks for sending Jonas Valančiūnas to the Sacramento Kings. And they got a future first-round pick swap for sending Kyle Kuzma to the Milwaukee Bucks.
All the draft capital doesn't really do anything for the Wizards' spot in the 2024-25 power rankings. This is always an exercise that's more about the present than the future (which is why you won't read much about picks for the other 29 teams), but these are exactly the kinds of moves that a rebuilding team should make.
And even with veterans Khris Middleton and Reggie Jackson coming in, the Wizards are all but assured a bottom-three record this season.
29. Utah Jazz (12-37)
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Previous Rank: 29
Net Rating: -6.9
The Utah Jazz helped facilitate some bigger deals around the league, but it's a little surprising they weren't able to unload some of their own veterans for rebuild-friendly assets.
John Collins, Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton are all still on the team.
And while that might not be a huge deal in the long run (Utah is a dreadful 12-37 even with the vets), it would be nice to at least have some second-round picks instead of players who'll likely be aging into or close to their 30s the next time the Jazz are truly competitive.
28. Charlotte Hornets (12-36)
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Previous Rank: 28
Net Rating: -5.2
The Charlotte Hornets just had a rebuild-friendly deadline week in which they sent starting center Mark Williams to the Los Angeles Lakers and absorbed Jusuf Nurkić's deal from the Phoenix Suns.
In the two deals, they picked up two first-round picks, a pick swap and rookie Dalton Knecht, who's actually older than Williams but is an interesting future fit alongside LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller (who's out for the season).
The Hornets clearly understood that a late surge toward the play-in tournament was unlikely, and they made some smart moves in the wake of that realization.
27. New Orleans Pelicans (12-39)
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Previous Rank: 26
Net Rating: -8.7
After a brief detour of a four-game winning streak in January, the New Orleans Pelicans' steady march toward robust draft lottery odds is back on track.
New Orleans has dropped seven straight. Two of those losses came against fellow rebuilders, the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors.
And this week, the Pelicans leaned a little further into the injury-induced tank by trading Brandon Ingram to the Raptors for Bruce Brown (who seems like an obvious buyout candidate), Kelly Olynyk (who costs a lot less than Ingram would have after this summer), a first-round pick and a second-round pick.
Despite the presence of veterans such as CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson on the roster, it looks like New Orleans has a real shot at the No. 1 pick in 2025.
26. Brooklyn Nets (17-34)
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Previous Rank: 27
Net Rating: -6.9
The Brooklyn Nets were far less active in the trade market than expected.
Yes, they unloaded Dennis Schröder and Dorian Finney-Smith earlier this season, but the rebuilding Nets still had Cameron Johnson and Nic Claxton. Both could have helped contenders, but they'll remain in Brooklyn.
The team might still have an influence on playoff races. Ben Simmons and/or Bojan Bogdanović make sense as buyout candidates.
But not getting any assets for Johnson and Claxton feels like a miss for a team with control of its own 2025 first-round pick and twice as many losses as wins.
25. Toronto Raptors (16-35)
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Previous Rank: 25
Net Rating: -5.6
It's tough to follow the logic of the Toronto Raptors' moves this deadline week.
Instead of leaning into a rebuild, chasing losses and improving their 2025 lottery odds, the way-below-.500 Raptors gave up draft capital to add Brandon Ingram, whose skill set is redundant with Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett and who enters free agency this summer.
Ultimately, they pivoted out of Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Barnes and Fred VanVleet to Barnes, Ingram, Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.
It's hard to see how the current core is anything but a slightly worse version of the old one. And instead of winding up with a future star from the 2025 draft (which is still possible), fans might have to deal with a few more years of mediocrity.
24. Chicago Bulls (22-30)
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Previous Rank: 21
Net Rating: -3.5
For months (maybe even years), it felt like a foregone conclusion that the Chicago Bulls would move both Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević.
The core led by those two has never led to more than mediocrity, and Chicago has long needed to embrace a full-scale teardown.
Well, the Bulls seemed to understand half that assignment this week, as they sent LaVine to the Sacramento Kings in a three-team deal.
Keeping Vučević and having Coby White, Josh Giddey and Lonzo Ball (who signed an extension this week) on the roster means Chicago will likely stay in the murky middle of the East for the rest of this season.
23. Atlanta Hawks (23-28)
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Previous Rank: 23
Net Rating: -3.0
The Atlanta Hawks, losers of nine of their last 10, made a pair of moves on deadline day that seem like a fairly obvious punt of the 2024-25 campaign.
They got draft assets, Caris LeVert (on an expiring contract) and Georges Niang (who only makes $8.2 million next season) from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for De'Andre Hunter, who's having his best season as a pro and is under contract through 2026-27.
They also dealt 32-year-old secondary playmaker Bogdan Bogdanović to the Los Angeles Clippers. They gave up multiple second-rounders in that deal, likely for the benefit of taking on 28-year-old Terance Mann and his cost-controlled deal.
In sum, it's hard to look at this pair of moves as an effort to get closer to the playoffs, and that makes sense. The Hawks were already sliding down the standings, and their second-best player (Jalen Johnson) is out for the year.
But an all-out tank job doesn't really make sense, either. Atlanta's 2025 first-round pick is headed to the San Antonio Spurs.
So, ultimately, it looks like the Hawks will just keep wallowing in mediocrity.
22. Philadelphia 76ers (20-30)
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Previous Rank: 22
Net Rating: -3.6
It was an interesting week for the Philadelphia 76ers.
After missing a month of action, they got a triple-double from Joel Embiid on Tuesday, but he missed the following game, and Philadelphia has lost three of its last four overall.
Some subtle shakeups on the roster could help, though.
Quentin Grimes is in, while Caleb Martin is out. The former is younger, has had a better 2024-25 and is shooting 39.8 percent from three.
Replacing Reggie Jackson with Jared Butler makes the team a little younger and more dynamic, too.
Ultimately, making the playoffs still depends on Embiid's availability and Paul George finding some semblance of his old self, but these fringe moves should make Philadelphia better.
21. Portland Trail Blazers (23-29)
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Previous Rank: 24
Net Rating: -4.6
This run from the Portland Trail Blazers is getting ridiculous.
They entered the season as one of its most obvious tanking candidates. And while the first couple months of the season seemingly confirmed that assessment, they've given themselves a fringe play-in case with the way they've performed of late.
After beating the Sacramento Kings on Thursday, Portland has now won 10 of its last 11. And that stretch includes victories over Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns and Indiana Pacers.
Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija are providing high-end perimeter defense. Deandre Ayton has been a double-double machine. Anfernee Simons' shooting gives him legitimate takeover ability against just about anyone. And even Scoot Henderson is suddenly showing signs of star upside.
It still feels like the Blazers will eventually come back down to earth a bit. But at the very least, this run should change our perception of Portland's future a bit.
There's significantly more upside already on the roster than we previously thought.
20. Detroit Pistons (25-26)
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Previous Rank: 17
Net Rating: -1.0
They weren't the major players in the Golden State Warriors' Jimmy Butler deal, but the Detroit Pistons took advantage of the move, swooping in to add Lindy Waters III and Dennis Schröder from the Warriors and Josh Richardson from the Miami Heat.
The immediate difference-maker could be Schröder, who was dreadful in his brief stint in Golden State but averaged 18.4 points and 6.6 assists, while shooting 38.7 percent from deep for the Nets.
His slashing and theoretical outside shooting ability should take some pressure off Cade Cunningham and boost a bench that's struggled to score when Cunningham is off the floor.
Detroit already felt like a pretty safe bet to secure a spot in the play-in tournament, and that's especially true now.
19. Orlando Magic (25-28)
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Previous Rank: 16
Net Rating: -1.8
It's officially fair to be a little concerned about Paolo Banchero's inefficiency as a scorer.
After finishing each of his first two seasons way below average in effective field-goal percentage and true shooting percentage, the 22-year-old is posting a career low in the latter and closing in on one in the former.
Since his return from injury, he's had a 50-plus field-goal percentage in just five of his 14 games, and that stretch includes a 1-of-14 performance against the Portland Trail Blazers in late January and a 4-of-19 night against the Utah Jazz earlier this month.
And while the token response to this concern has been to blame his role and supporting cast for forcing him into too many tough shots, that defense just doesn't pass the eye test.
Much of Banchero's poor shot selection is of his own making. He's way too often content to settle for contested jumpers, rather than get to the rim or reset a possession.
And if he doesn't start to reverse some of these habits now, the Magic are in real danger of missing the playoffs. Now three games under .500, they are firmly in the play-in mix. And if they don't start scoring at a higher rate soon, they might even be in the bottom half of that foursome, which would require them to open the play-in with a road game.
Injuries to Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner are certainly a part of this recent slide too (Orlando is 3-12 in its last 15 games), but Banchero is the former first overall pick being touted as a future face of the franchise.
He simply has to start making shots with more consistency.
18. Phoenix Suns (25-25)
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Previous Rank: 14
Net Rating: -1.5
A tumultuous 2024-25 season may have hit its chaotic peak for the Phoenix Suns this week.
Apparently, they tried to trade Kevin Durant before the superstar ultimately nixed the idea of going back to the Golden State Warriors.
After winning four of their last five games in January, the Suns are 0-3 this month.
And lest you think chaos is all bad, the team resolved the Jusuf Nurkić fiasco by sending him to the Charlotte Hornets (although you could maybe count that as a loss, too, given the inability to make it work with Nurkić and the fact that he had to have a first-round pick attached to him).
Cody Martin and Vasilije Micić, who came over in the Nurkić deal, could be interesting new wrinkles to the rotation, but this is starting to feel like a lost season for a team paying massive sums of money to Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.
17. Miami Heat (25-24)
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Previous Rank: 19
Net Rating: 0.0
The Jimmy Butler saga is over for the Miami Heat. In his place, they now have Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Anderson.
And given how little Butler had contributed to Miami's 2024-25 campaign, it's fair to expect the Heat to be a bit better going forward.
Beyond merely being free of the drama that surrounded Butler, the team still has a pair of star-level players in Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. Wiggins and Anderson will provide defense, with the latter bringing the bonus of some positional versatility and playmaking.
And the entire young core of Nikola Jović, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kel'el Ware remains in place.
Miami may not have gotten quite as much draft capital out of the trade as it initially expected, but finally being able to move on may make up for that (at least to a degree).
16. San Antonio Spurs (22-26)
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Previous Rank: 20
Net Rating: -1.8
Count the San Antonio Spurs among the teams that almost certainly got better this week.
Without having to give up any of Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson or Jeremy Sochan, they added De'Aaron Fox, who's averaging 25.0 points and 6.3 assists.
His fit alongside Victor Wembanyama is obvious. Fox's slashing will create open looks for the big man outside. And the Frenchman's shooting will pull forwards and centers away from the paint, making it clearer for Fox's attacks.
Surrounding the action of those two in the middle of the floor with the shooting of Vassell and Harrison Barnes should have the Spurs firmly in the hunt for a play-in spot down the stretch run of this season.
15. Sacramento Kings (25-26)
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Previous Rank: 15
Net Rating: +0.9
In their first game with both Zach LaVine and Jonas Valančiūnas, the Sacramento Kings lost to the sub-.500 (albeit red-hot) Portland Trail Blazers to fall back below .500.
Sacramento has now dropped six of its last eight games, and it's hard to find the logic in wanting to re-pair LaVine with DeMar DeRozan.
During their three years together, the Bulls were minus-1.9 points per 100 possessions when LaVine and DeRozan were both on the floor, plus-1.9 when DeRozan played without LaVine and plus-0.5 when LaVine played without DeRozan.
In all that time together, they never really figured out the balance between the two stars in terms of usage shot distribution. And now they're on a team where Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk need plenty of touches too.
The rest of the season will be as much about seeing if the Kings can avoid being the "Chicago Bulls West" as it will be about making the playoffs.
14. Dallas Mavericks (27-25)
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Previous Rank: 10
Net Rating: +1.8
We won't belabor the point here. By now, you've been inundated with posts, articles, clips and podcasts about the Dallas Mavericks' mind-boggling trade of Luka Dončić.
For now, we'll just counter every zagging take that's been floated in the wake of the deal.
There seems to be pretty universal agreement that the Mavericks hurt their long-term prospects by swapping Luka for Anthony Davis, but some are still trying to sell this as a "win-now" move.
In all likelihood, Dallas got worse in the short term, too. Dončić is darn-near good for a 30-point triple-double on most nights. He's one of the best offensive hubs of all time. As valuable as a defensive anchor is, that archetype isn't as important as an engine on the other end.
Dončić was that for the Mavs, and now they have to rely on two past-their-prime stars who've spent much of their careers as No. 2s to try to repeat the overperformance of last season, which ended in a Finals appearance.
And they have a bit of an uphill climb just to make the playoffs. Even after an unexpected victory over the Boston Celtics on Thursday, Dallas is in the West's play-in range.
If that's their way in, they no longer have Dončić to carry them to series victories as underdogs, something he already has plenty of experience doing.
13. Golden State Warriors (25-26)
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Previous Rank: 18
Net Rating: -0.4
The Golden State Warriors have lost three of their last four and ended the week with back-to-back road losses to the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers, but help is officially on the way.
On the eve of deadline day, Golden State added Jimmy Butler in a deal that didn't cost it any members of the young core.
Now, the Warriors enter the stretch run of the season with Stephen Curry and the best player he's played with since Kevin Durant left in 2019.
The games of these two superstars—at least on paper—fit together brilliantly, too.
Curry's off-ball movement and the attention he commands outside the three-point line will expand Butler's slashing lanes. Butler, in turn, will drag defenses toward the paint and create plenty of open catch-and-shoot opportunities for Curry.
This may not make the Warriors a favorite or even a sure-fire title contender. But it at least gives them a puncher's chance, and Curry has more than earned that chance from the organization.
12. Los Angeles Clippers (28-23)
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Previous Rank: 9
Net Rating: +2.7
Having Kawhi Leonard obviously beats the alternative, but there may be a bit more of an adjustment period than originally anticipated.
The Los Angeles Clippers have dropped four of their last six, and Leonard has played in all of those games.
The slide shouldn't last long, though. Two of L.A.'s next three games are against the rebuilding Utah Jazz. And it just added Bogdan Bogdanović on deadline day.
His numbers are down this season, but over the four years prior to this one, Bogdanović averaged 15.7 points, 3.1 assists and 2.9 threes, while shooting 39.1 percent from deep.
If he can stay healthy, he'll almost certainly be an upgrade to the backup 1 spot over Kevin Porter Jr., who went to the Milwaukee Bucks in a separate trade for MarJon Beauchamp.
11. Indiana Pacers (29-21)
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Previous Rank: 12
Net Rating: +0.5
There were some rumors about Obi Toppin and Andrew Nembhard leading up to deadline day, but a salary dump of James Wiseman to the Toronto Raptors was the only move the Indiana Pacers wound up making.
And it's not hard to understand why the front office seemingly feels pretty good about the roster.
Indiana is 13-3 in its last 16 games, with a balanced and versatile attack led by Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton. The offense is starting to look a little more like the historic attack of last season, and the defense isn't quite as pathetic as it was.
After its 16-18 start, Indiana has quietly moved into the top four in the East.
10. Milwaukee Bucks (27-22)
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Previous Rank: 7
Net Rating: +1.6
The Milwaukee Bucks have lost five of their last seven, with the two wins coming against the rebuilding Utah Jazz and Charlotte Hornets.
And, as if this little slide wasn't concerning enough, they also had one of the stranger deadline weeks in the league.
The big move sent franchise legend Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma, who's been significantly worse than the older Buck this season.
They also got a little smaller and potentially more volatile by replacing MarJon Beauchamp with Kevin Porter Jr.
Definitive takes are always dangerous in the immediate aftermath of trades, but it's hard to see how Milwaukee got any better this week.
9. Minnesota Timberwolves (29-23)
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Previous Rank: 8
Net Rating: +3.5
The Minnesota Timberwolves have quietly surged into contention for a top-six spot in the West over the last couple weeks.
And it's pretty easy to point to Anthony Edwards as the primary reason.
After beating the Houston Rockets by double-digits on Thursday, Minnesota has now won seven of its last nine (and one of those losses came in a game Edwards missed). During that stretch, he is averaging 32.3 points.
And if you stretch it all the way back to January 4, he's put up 32.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.5 threes, while shooting 44.0 percent from deep.
8. Los Angeles Lakers (30-19)
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Previous Rank: 13
Net Rating: +0.5
One week ago, the optimistic outlook on the Los Angeles Lakers was that they were playing better. They might be good enough to be a plucky underdog in the playoffs, but they seemed destined to stay in or around the West's play-in range both this year and beyond.
That's basically where they had been for the half-decade since they won the title in 2020.
Now, thanks to a trade that still has scores of fans and analysts scratching their heads and attempting to explain, they're both a bona fide title contender now and one of the brightest-future teams in the league.
Luka Dončić is a 25-year-old, five-time first-team All-NBA selection. He's a perennial MVP candidate. He isn't just one of the best offensive engines in the NBA right now, he's one of the best of all time. Yes, it's already safe to say that.
And now, he's paired with LeBron James. He also saw the team add a starting-caliber center in Mark Williams after he got there. And because the Mavericks fell so far short of extracting appropriate value for Luka in the trade, L.A. was able to acquire both these new additions while hanging on to Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura.
Years from now, Lakers fans may look back on this week as one of the best in franchise history. This trade has the potential to be that big a deal.
7. Denver Nuggets (33-19)
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Previous Rank: 11
Net Rating: +5.0
It seemingly took a bit for everyone to find their rhythm, but the Denver Nuggets are starting to look a little more like the title contender many expected them to be prior to this season.
And Nikola Jokić and Michael Porter Jr. are the main reasons why.
Denver is in the midst of a five-game winning streak and is 13-4 in its last 17 games.
During that entire stretch, Jokić is averaging 25.9 points, 12.0 rebounds, 11.6 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.7 threes, while shooting 43.1 percent from deep. And just during this five-game winning streak, MPJ is putting up 28.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.8 threes.
The most encouraging part of that line for Porter may be the three-point volume. If he keeps shooting this many threes per game, Denver is going to be an absolute nightmare to defend.
To this point of the season, lack of three-point attempts is really the Nuggets' only weakness on the offensive end of the floor.
6. Houston Rockets (32-19)
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Previous Rank: 3
Net Rating: +4.8
After three straight road wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks propelled the Houston Rockets to No. 3 in last week's power rankings (their highest spot of the season), they immediately fell back to earth with five straight losses.
This stretch has been a reminder that Houston is still one of the youngest teams in the league, but it shouldn't be enough to scare fans off the team's upside altogether.
This is a pretty outrageous stretch of the schedule. From January 25 through February 8, the Rockets have nine games, eight of which are/were on the road.
Merely surviving this and emerging still in the top three is a testament to how good Houston has been all season.
5. Boston Celtics (36-16)
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Previous Rank: 4
Net Rating: +8.6
The Boston Celtics didn't do anything dramatic during deadline week, but they traded Jaden Springer for a second-round pick and signed Torrey Craig off the buyout market.
Neither move will inspire a ton of confidence that the team will suddenly lock in. That's more likely to come from nights like Tuesday, when the Celtics made a 112-105 statement on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It's just that those have been far less common this season than they were in 2023-24. Boston erased some of the good will it earned in Cleveland by dropping a home game to the Dallas Mavericks without Anthony Davis on Thursday.
All this up-and-down play is probably just the result of a reigning champion getting comfortable in cruise control, but with the way other contenders are playing, it's fair to have some concern about the repeat chances.
4. New York Knicks (34-17)
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Previous Rank: 6
Net Rating: +6.5
The New York Knicks didn't make any significant moves this week (with apologies to Jericho Sims). And given all their activity from this past offseason, when they acquired Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, that shouldn't be all that surprising.
New York has a roster with two star-level scorers, multiple gritty defenders around them and a fair amount of shooting all over the roster.
The Knicks have won seven of their last eight, with Jalen Brunson averaging 26.6 points and 8.0 assists in that stretch. Standing pat made plenty of sense.
3. Memphis Grizzlies (35-16)
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Previous Rank: 5
Net Rating: +7.7
The Memphis Grizzlies had an interesting deadline day in which they gave up the oft-injured Marcus Smart and a young breakout reserve in Jake LaRavia in separate deals.
In return, they took on Marvin Bagley III, Johnny Davis, Colby Jones and Alex Len.
They were also some picks in there, but for the purposes of power rankings, it's the players who are most important. And losing LaRavia could have a genuinely negative impact. Probably a small one, but nevertheless real.
LaRavia is shooting 44.4 percent from deep, and the Grizzlies' net rating is better when he's on the floor.
Of course, he's far from a star. Memphis remains one of the deeper teams in the league and is getting a monster season from Jaren Jackson Jr. So, the increases in draft assets and financial flexibility are probably worth it.
2. Cleveland Cavaliers (41-10)
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Previous Rank: 2
Net Rating: +10.0
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a bona fide title contender with four players performing at a star level in Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, but their fifth starting spot has been something of a revolving door all season.
An aggressive, win-now deal makes sense, and that's exactly what they struck on Thursday, when they sent Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, multiple second-round picks and multiple first-round pick swaps to the Atlanta Hawks for De'Andre Hunter.
The 6'8" forward is a near-ideal fit alongside the four stars. He doesn't demand a ton of on-ball possessions. He's shooting 39.3 percent from deep. And he has the size to defend multiple positions.
It wasn't cheap, but one of the best teams in the league likely got better this week.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder (40-9)
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Previous Rank: 1
Net Rating: +13.0
The Oklahoma City Thunder added a little frontcourt depth in the form of Daniel Theis this week, but the bigger stories came from the top of the roster.
MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has three 50-point performances in his last seven games. Over that stretch, he's averaging 40.7 points, 5.3 assists and 2.0 threes.
And on deadline day, we learned Chet Holmgren will be back in action on Friday.
Everything is looking up for OKC.
Stat of the Week
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One more note on the Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis trade that truly rocked the NBA world.
An award share is simply a player's voting points for a given award divided by the total number of points available. So, if there were 1,000 points available in the MVP race and a player got 600, he'd have 0.6 MVP shares.
Well, 25-year-old Dončić already has 0.967 MVP shares. That mark ranks in the top 50 in NBA history. And, you guessed it, it's ahead of 31-year-old Davis' 0.68.
