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Early 2025-26 NBA Power Rankings After NBA Finals, Tyrese Haliburton Injury, KD Trade
The 2024-25 NBA campaign is in the books. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions.
And given the fact that they were one of the youngest teams in the entire league this season, it's safe to assume they'll be in the mix for more titles going forward.
There figures to be plenty of parity behind them, though. And even without knowing exactly what will happen this offseason, we already have a pretty good idea of who might occupy the second tier in 2025-26 (OKC is kind of by itself on the first one right now).
Based on the criteria we've used all season—team and individual numbers, recent performance, championship chances and plenty of subjectivity (with even more emphasis than usual on this last one)—here is how all 30 teams stack up for next season.
30. Utah Jazz (17-65)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 30
After three years of tanking in the post-Donovan Mitchell-and-Rudy Gobert era, the Utah Jazz had their best statistical shot at the No. 1 pick in this summer's lottery. And after fans suffered through those three years of losing, Utah slid four spots on lottery night and ended up with the fifth pick.
The result must've felt like a bit of a gut punch, and it could certainly prolong the team's rebuild.
Austin Ainge, who was recently hired as the team's president of basketball operations, told reporters we "won't see [tanking] this year," but that might just refer to the more transparent moves toward that end, like overly conservative injury timelines.
If Utah hangs onto that fifth pick and trades a couple of veterans (like recent reports have suggested they might), it'll lose plenty of games without any manipulation of the injury report.
29. Washington Wizards (18-64)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 28
In terms of wins and losses, it was another disastrous season for the Washington Wizards, but things may finally be looking up (despite their own slide down to the sixth pick on lottery night).
Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart are both on expiring contracts (assuming Middleton picks up his player option) that could be moved this summer. Jordan Poole closed the season strong enough to potentially get some attention from trade suitors, as well. All three could be flipped for more assets helpful to a rebuild.
But most importantly, 2024's second overall pick, Alex Sarr, started to show some serious upside as a floor-spacing and rim-protecting big this spring. Over a 15-game stretch in March and April, Sarr averaged 17.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.1 threes and 1.7 blocks in 28.7 minutes.
28. Brooklyn Nets (26-56)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 25
The Brooklyn Nets could be major players this offseason on a number of fronts.
They have a top-10 pick to potentially land a star. They have one of the most malleable three-and-D wings potentially on the trade market in Cameron Johnson. And they could open up enough cap space to sign a max free agent.
That means Brooklyn can either angle toward losses and another lottery pick in 2026 or try to add a star to a solid supporting cast that would include Johnson and Nic Claxton.
This is another team that could reasonably be dropped just about anywhere on the bottom half of this list.
27. Charlotte Hornets (19-63)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 29
On paper, the Charlotte Hornets look like a potential breakout candidate.
They have an ultra-talented and oversized playmaker and volume shooter in LaMelo Ball, a potentially Paul George-like wing in Brandon Miller and a rim-running and -protecting big man in Mark Williams.
But injuries have been closer to the rule than the exception with all three. They only shared the floor for 101 minutes this season. So, even if they're all still on the roster and healthier in 2025-26, they'll still be learning to play with each other for much of the next campaign.
26. Toronto Raptors (30-52)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 24
For much of 2024-25, it felt like the Toronto Raptors just needed to get healthy to show what they might be capable of.
But by the end of the season, there was a relatively healthy sample size for the trio of Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, and the Raptors were minus-11.7 points per 100 possessions when all three were on the floor. When you take Quickley out of the mix, the number gets a lot better, but it's still below zero.
Does adding Brandon Ingram (who didn't play a second after being traded to Toronto) to that mix dramatically change this team's fortunes? Probably not. His teams were worse when he was on the floor in each of the last two seasons.
Barring an earth-shattering trade, we're likely looking at another campaign in which the Raptors are, at best, mediocre.
25. New Orleans Pelicans (21-61)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 26
It was already difficult to gauge the New Orleans Pelicans' chances in 2025-26, even before Yahoo! Sports' Kevin O'Connor wrote, "League sources say the Pelicans are gauging the market for everyone on their roster."
Moving Zion Williamson or other veterans could send the team spiraling down the 2025-26 standings and up the lottery boards. Trading one or two salaries with some picks could add a star or near-star to play alongside a (hopefully) healthier Zion.
Those two paths obviously lead to the potential for two very different outcomes, so we'll sort of hedge and say they land somewhere in the middle of those potential futures.
24. Phoenix Suns (36-46)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 22
Kevin Durant being traded from the Phoenix Suns felt likely for months. On Sunday, it finally happened. And the return is, to put it mildly, underwhelming.
The Suns now have three shoot-first guards who need the ball to be effective in Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Jalen Green. They don't have a starting-caliber center. They don't have a starting-caliber point guard.
Yes, Phoenix could repurpose some of what it got in the KD deal in other trades, but they reportedly want to hang onto Green for now. And without trading Booker, they don't have the assets to add a star.
Finishing a worse record than they had in 2024-25 is very much in play for the Suns.
23. Portland Trail Blazers (36-46)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 21
One of last season's biggest surprises, the Portland Trail Blazers, are bringing back an interesting young core that includes Anfernee Simons, Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe, Donovan Clingan and Scoot Henderson.
And on top of that, they have a pair of veterans in Deandre Ayton (who could go in either group, as he's the same age as Simons) and Jerami Grant. Either or both might be movable in deals that would add to Portland's already intriguing build.
Going forward, this is a team that can win games with Avdija as its clear alpha.
Over his last 22 games, Avdija averaged 22.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.3 threes while shooting 41.5 percent from three and providing stout defense on the wing.
22. Miami Heat (37-45)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 17
If so-called #HeatCulture hasn't already been demythologized, it's certainly on the ropes after the Miami Heat's 37-45 campaign that included an underwhelming Jimmy Butler trade.
The Tyler Herro-Bam Adebayo combo is an intriguing one, with plenty of playmaking and a nice inside-out balance. Miami had a positive point differential when those two were on the floor without Butler, but they're not good enough on their own to put the Heat back onto the title contenders' tier.
That would likely take a trade for a star-level player or some kind of developmental leap from one or more of Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jović and Kel'el Ware.
21. Philadelphia 76ers (24-58)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 27
Few teams were ravaged by injuries like the Philadelphia 76ers, who got 52 games from Tyrese Maxey, 41 from Paul George and just 19 from Joel Embiid.
But even when those three were all available for the same game, Philadelphia went 7-8 and was an uninspiring plus-2 in 294 total minutes.
If Embiid's mobility has been sapped by injuries and 35-year-old Paul George is firmly in the post-prime stretch of his career, the Sixers may have to think about pivoting toward a younger team.
Building around Maxey, Jared McCain (whose season was also cut short by injury) and this summer's No. 3 pick would make sense.
Or, Philly could take one last shot with an Embiid-centric team, trade that third pick and Paul George (or other salary-matching contracts) for another star or near star.
Perhaps more than any other team we'll discuss today, the Sixers' 2025-26 prospects will shift dramatically based on what they do this summer.
20. Sacramento Kings (40-42)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 18
It’s sort of hilarious that while Tyrese Haliburton was cooking in the Finals and De’Aaron Fox is gearing up for his first full season with Victor Wembanyama, the Sacramento Kings, who employed both playmakers, are reportedly in the market for a point guard.
As it turned out, acquiring DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, unloading star-level guards and putting together some kind Western version of the 2020s Bulls was a mistake. And given the current trade value of those former Chicago wings, it may take a while to reverse the slide toward mediocrity, especially since this year’s lottery pick is headed to the Atlanta Hawks.
In all likelihood, Sacramento is headed toward another year with a win total in the 30s or low 40s and, at best, some frisky moments in the play-in tournament.
19. Chicago Bulls (39-43)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 19
After trading Zach LaVine and committing more time and possessions to an intriguing young core, the Chicago Bulls had a more than encouraging close to 2024-25.
They went 15-5 in their last 20 games, and the starting lineup for many of those contests (Josh Giddey, Coby White, Kevin Huerter, Matas Buzelis and Nikola Vučević) ended the season with a plus-3.3 net rating.
Adding another lottery pick to that group (Chicago picks 12th in this month's draft) should help continue the team's steady, upward trajectory.
18. Dallas Mavericks (39-43)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 20
In all likelihood, the Dallas Mavericks’ 2024-25 campaign is going to be remembered as little more than the year they traded Luka Dončić and inexplicably blew up one of the brightest futures in the NBA.
Every poor result and organizational misfortune for the next several years will be easily traceable back to that black swan event.
Really, the only thing that could prevent that would be a championship in the next couple of years, and that just feels borderline delusional.
First of all, they’re in the West. Every team in that conference has a much steeper climb to contention than any Eastern Conference team. Second, their two best and most important players—Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving—are both past their primes and often injured. Kyrie is recovering from a torn ACL right now.
The future certainly brightened when they won this summer’s draft lottery, but even with Cooper Flagg, it feels like Dallas will just have to sort of survive the next few years before fans can start believing again.
17. Atlanta Hawks (40-42)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 16
On the surface, it looks like 2024-25 was another underwhelming campaign for the Atlanta Hawks. And, in a lot of ways, it was.
They finished below .500 and failed to survive the play-in tournament. Trae Young was below his career levels in effective field-goal percentage and three-point percentage. His 24.2 points was his lowest scoring average since his rookie season.
But he also lost an emerging running mate after just 36 games, when Jalen Johnson went down with a torn labrum. Had he avoided that fate, the Hawks' season may have looked much different.
Johnson averaged 18.9 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocks. He looked like a perfect No. 1 receiver for Young while also showing off some point forward skills that completely change his ceiling as an NBA player.
When he and Young were both on the floor, Atlanta was plus-6.1 points per 100 possessions. If that happens more often next season, and Zaccharie Risacher and Dyson Daniels continue to develop, the Hawks' days of mediocrity may soon be behind them.
16. Indiana Pacers (50-32)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 11
The Indiana Pacers authored one of the most unlikely and inspiring playoff runs we've ever seen, only to have it ended in truly devastating fashion on Sunday.
Star playmaker Tyrese Haliburton, playing on a calf strain, appeared to rupture his Achilles in the first quarter and left the game for good. The rest of the relentless Pacers kept the game competitive as long as they could, even taking a lead into halftime. But ultimately, they came up short against the juggernaut Oklahoma City Thunder.
Now, after building so much promise throughout this postseason, their prospects for 2025-26 obviously have to be viewed through a much different lens.
Without Haliburton, who'll likely miss the entire campaign rehabbing, Indiana might seriously consider taking the kind of gap year the San Antonio Spurs had immediately before drafting Tim Duncan.
In a weird twist of fate, earlier in this series, the Pacers reacquired the rights to their 2026 first-round pick. Losing might actually be in their best interest next season, especially if it leads to someone like AJ Dybantsa to play alongside Haliburton in 2026-27.
15. Memphis Grizzlies (48-34)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 13
After firing head coach Taylor Jenkins with just nine games left in the regular season, the Memphis Grizzlies closed with a 4-5 record and got swept in the first round of the playoffs.
For the first time in years, it felt like there were some real question about the fit between Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane.
Believe it or not, this trio had been together for half a decade, and they only advanced past the first round once.
So it maybe shouldn't have been all that surprising to see Memphis trade Bane to the Orlando Magic, especially since it was given four first-round picks and a pick swap to sweeten the deal.
And now, with all that extra draft capital, it feels like even more changes could be in store. The Grizzlies could either package some of those picks in a win-now move, or they could lean harder into a rebuild by moving Morant or Jackson.
14. Milwaukee Bucks
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 12
For now, it sounds like there’s little to no traction toward a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade. And while that certainly improves the Milwaukee Bucks’ short-term prospects, it still doesn’t mean they’re a surefire contender.
Brook Lopez is 37 and entering free agency. Damian Lillard will spend the entire season rehabbing a torn Achilles. And Kyle Kuzma, the prize of the Khris Middleton trade, was dreadful as a Buck.
Barring a Giannis deal, the team just sort of feels stuck. And even though Antetokounmpo will likely put up MVP-caliber numbers again, his team probably won’t be much of a title threat.
13. San Antonio Spurs (34-48)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 23
The San Antonio Spurs have tons of movable salary, plenty of picks, a fringe-All-Star point guard in De'Aaron Fox and a potentially generational franchise player in Victor Wembanyama.
They were previously linked to both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant. Landing even a lesser-known difference-maker, the Spurs could be back in the postseason as early as next year.
Even if they sort of slow-play the Wemby era, they might get there. This season, they had a point differential around that of a 47-win team when Wemby was on the floor.
12. Boston Celtics (61-21)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 2
The lasting image of this Boston Celtics campaign may be Jayson Tatum clinging to his leg after tearing his Achilles, but their second-round series against the New York Knicks was headed in the wrong direction before Tatum went down.
There's a good chance Boston would've faced some pretty big questions this summer, even without the terrible misfortune of Tatum's injury. Now, there's no doubt.
As presently constructed, the Celtics are on track to be, by far, the most expensive roster in the league in 2025-26. Their current salaries and luxury tax payment add up to nearly half a billion dollars.
It would be hard to justify paying that with Tatum likely spending the entire campaign rehabbing.
So, don't be remotely surprised to see Boston make multiple money-saving moves and treat 2025-26 like a gap year. When Tatum is back for 2026-27, the Celtics could look like a completely different team.
11. Detroit Pistons (44-38)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 14
One of the best stories in 2024-25, the Detroit Pistons more than tripled their win total while getting an All-Star leap from Cade Cunningham, who averaged 26.1 points, 9.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds.
For the first time in his career, the No. 1 pick in 2021 looked like a legitimate franchise cornerstone-level talent. And several other members of the team's young core look poised to follow him to more consistent winning.
Jalen Duren is a dynamic finisher and rebounder who quietly averaged 2.7 assists in just 26.1 minutes. Ausar Thompson looks like he could be a Swiss Army knife-like wing and one of the league's best perimeter defenders. And though his season was cut short by injury after just 30 games, Jaden Ivey looked like he was settling in nicely to a secondary playmaker's role.
Yes, the addition of veterans like Tobias Harris and Malik Beasley helped stabilize the Pistons, but it was the progress of the up-and-comers that should excite Detroit basketball fans.
10. Orlando Magic
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 15
The Orlando Magic were likely going to be a trendy subject for trade rumors all summer, particularly when point guards came up. But they beat the rumormongers to the punch earlier this month, unloading a huge haul of four first-round picks and a pick swap, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Cole Anthony for Demond Bane.
It's a steep price, but adding Bane to one of the most exciting young forward combos in the league with Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero makes sense.
Orlando's offense was dreadful in 2024-25, and Bane can help as both a shooter and distributor. And he shouldn't compromise their stout defense much, either. Suddenly, the Magic might be a stealth Eastern Conference contender.
9. Golden State Warriors (48-34)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 9
The Golden State Warriors went 23-7 with Jimmy Butler in the lineup in the regular season. They had a plus-7.0 net rating when he was on the floor with Stephen Curry. When the playoffs started, it felt like they at least had a puncher's chance at a deep run.
But a Butler injury made the first round against the Houston Rockets a little dicier than it may have otherwise been. And then a Curry injury doomed the team in the second round against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
And while it's easy to chalk their ultimate loss up to those injuries and say they should give it another shot in 2025-26, both players are in their mid-to-late 30s. Nagging injuries may be likelier for them than others.
Barring some unexpected deal or a big return for Jonathan Kuminga (whose time in Golden State appears to be over), the Warriors will need some kind of developmental leap from Brandin Podziemski or Quinten Post to become a real title threat in the West.
8. Minnesota Timberwolves (49-33)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 7
The Minnesota Timberwolves cruised past both the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, but they looked completely outmatched against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
That makes at least two paths through the 2025 offseason feel viable.
For the second year in a row, the front office could avoid resting on its laurels and make a big trade. Their reported interest in Kevin Durant suggests that's in play. Or, they could justify a more patient approach with the fact that they made back-to-back conference finals in the more competitive West.
Either way, they'll have arguably the best shooting guard in the league in Anthony Edwards, which should keep them in the mix for another deep playoff run.
7. New York Knicks (51-31)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 10
Whether the New York Knicks make some kind of big trade or not this summer, their next coach is likely to inherit one of the strongest starting fives in the NBA.
As currently constructed, it has tons of firepower from Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, defense and shooting from OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges and versatility from Josh Hart.
If the next coach can figure out how to draw a little more out of the bench, deploy some more imaginative offense in the playoffs and convince Brunson to get off the ball a bit more, New York can contend again.
6. Los Angeles Lakers (50-32)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 5
The Los Angeles Lakers looked like real contenders down the stretch of the regular season.
They acquired perennial MVP candidate Luka Dončić, went 18-10 when he was in the lineup and entered the playoffs with three dynamic playmakers capable of creating shots for themselves and others.
But L.A. was completely dominated by the bigger, more physical Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round, making it clear they need more competence at the 5 or size in general.
But here's the good news: Because the Dallas Mavericks failed to extract anywhere near Luka's full value in that trade, the Lakers still have plenty of assets to address their biggest need.
There are several contracts that could be used for salary-matching purposes, multiple first-round picks that can be moved and even at least one intriguing young talent in Dalton Knecht to sweeten any trade packages.
L.A. is almost certainly going to come back with a better big man to deploy alongside Luka, giving it a real chance to be among 2025-26's most serious title contenders.
5. Los Angeles Clippers (50-32)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 4
The Los Angeles Clippers' campaign ended with a first-round loss to the Denver Nuggets, but the glass-half-full view is that they took the best player in the world to seven games.
And for the entire regular season, they were a whopping plus-14.2 points per 100 possessions when Kawhi Leonard and James Harden were both on the floor.
The Clippers are closer to title contention than their early exit from the postseason might suggest. And though they've been connected to some big names like Kevin Durant, little tweaks may be wiser.
Regardless of how they approach this offseason, if they return with Leonard and Harden, they should be one of the league's tougher outs.
4. Houston Rockets (52-30)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 6
The Houston Rockets smashed expectations by winning 52 games and finishing in second place in the loaded Western Conference, but the Golden State Warriors reminded everyone how young Houston is in the first round.
The Rockets clearly still needed to take some playoff lumps, and now they have at least one. Rallying after that loss and building around one of the most interesting young cores in the league would have been easy to justify.
Instead, Houston struck while the iron was hot and smashed an absolute home run of a Kevin Durant trade on Sunday.
The Rockets nabbed one of the 15-20 greatest players of all time (who's still one of the 25-30 best players in the league right now) for a generally inefficient (though plenty competitive) role player in Dillon Brooks, a total question mark in Jalen Green, one first-round pick and five second-round picks.
They kept all their most important young pieces, got out of Green's questionable contract, potentially opened up minutes for Reed Sheppard and Cam Whitmore and held onto the Suns' 2027 first-rounder.
Now, with KD, Alperen Şengün, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., Whitmore, Sheppard and Tari Eason, it feels like the Rockets have a supporting cast tailor-made for a Durant and a late-game scoring threat tailor-made for them.
3. Cleveland Cavaliers (64-18)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 3
After posting the best single-season point differential in franchise history (and the 16th-best in league history), the Cleveland Cavaliers flamed out in five second-round games against the Indiana Pacers.
It's fair to bring up nagging injuries that cost Evan Mobley and Darius Garland a handful of postseason appearances, but the bottom line is that this team underachieved relative to regular-season success.
And that will likely resurface questions about the fit between Garland and Donovan Mitchell, as well as the one between Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
Can Cleveland field a championship-level defense with two undersized guards? Is its offense too easy to game-plan against with two bigs who do much of their damage around the rim?
A rebalancing trade with any of the above (outside of maybe Mobley) wouldn't be shocking, but the Cavs could also more aggressively stagger substitutions or up Mobley's three-point volume.
Whether they make big changes or not, they figure to have a chance to improve upon this season's early exit.
2. Denver Nuggets (50-32)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 8
For the second year in a row, it felt like the Denver Nuggets just sort of coasted through the regular season. Of course, the difference in 2024-25 was that that coasting ended with head coach Michael Malone being fired with three games to go.
And under interim coach David Adelman (who in May had the interim tag removed and was named as Malone's full-time replacement), Denver beat a red-hot Los Angeles Clippers team in the first round and took the Oklahoma City Thunder to a Game 7, despite Michael Porter Jr. playing with one arm and Aaron Gordon being hampered by a hamstring injury.
The close to the campaign, particularly their postseason play, made the entire Nuggets run look a lot better than it did in March and April.
And of course, as long as Denver has the best player in the world, it has to be taken seriously as a potential title threat.
Nikola Jokić averaged an unfathomable 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists this season. And when he was on the floor, the Nuggets had a point differential around that of a 65-win team.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder (68-24)
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Final Regular Season Ranking: 1
They got significant scares from the Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers, both of whom pushed them to seven games, but the Oklahoma City Thunder capped off one of the best regular seasons in NBA history with a championship on Sunday.
Add the ultimate team trophy and a Finals MVP for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to his regular-season MVP and to the single-season records for point differential, 10-point wins and 15-point wins.
And then consider the fact that OKC was the third youngest team in the league this season and has all of its most important players under contract for next season and still has a mountain of future draft picks.
The new collective bargaining agreement is going to make it difficult for anyone to keep a title-worthy core together for more than a year or two, but the Thunder are better positioned than anyone else to do it.
