.jpg?w=1280)
Power Ranking Every NBA Team By Offseason Chaos
Because some of the big news happened before July 1, and much of it wrapped up shortly thereafter, the 2025 NBA offseason has felt a bit quieter than others.
But when you look at everything that happened at a glance, and throw in some blockbusters from February, it becomes clear that the league has shifted dramatically over the last several months.
Luka Dončić has landed with the Lakers, the Magic traded a fortune for Desmond Bane, the Suns reset by shipping Kevin Durant to Houston and buying out Bradley Beal, the Bucks bought out Damian Lillard to sign Myles Turner, and the Nuggets added Cameron Johnson.
And there's still more to come. Restricted free agents Jonathan Kuminga and Quentin Grimes remain unsigned. In August, ESPN's Shams Charania hinted that a possible Giannis Antetokounmpo trade may not be off the table.
But we'll set speculation to the side (at least mostly) for today's exercise. Rankings are the order of the day, but this edition is a far cry from our typical Power Rankings.
Instead of using our typical guides over the years—team and individual numbers, recent performance, championship chances and plenty of subjectivity—we're ordering the entire league by just one subjective category: offseason chaos.
And that doesn't necessarily mean we're just sorting everyone based on the total number of moves they made. In some ways, inaction can be chaotic. Unexpected trades, signings or lottery results could be in play.
Again, it's subjective. And below, you'll find the entire NBA in order by all of the above.
30. Oklahoma City Thunder
1 of 30
For those who've paid any attention to the Sam Presti-run Oklahoma City Thunder, their 2025 offseason should've been wildly predictable.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren all signed lucrative extensions. Dillon Jones, a rookie who played just 551 minutes for the team last season, was the biggest departure.
And in the draft, the Thunder took what felt like one of the safer bets in the class with big man Thomas Sorber, who could, as the team gets more expensive, eventually step into the roles currently occupied by Isaiah Hartenstein and/or Jaylin Williams.
OKC isn't just the steadiest run team in the NBA. It might be the steadiest run team in all of major professional team sports right now.
29. New York Knicks
2 of 30
New York had one of the best and most stable starting fives in the NBA last season with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Everyone from that group is back, and Bridges even signed an extension this offseason.
What New York did this summer was provide a little more backup for that unit by adding Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele.
They were notable moves, though not exactly chaotic ones.
28. Minnesota Timberwolves
3 of 30
The Minnesota Timberwolves and their ability to retain Nickeil Alexander-Walker are among the casualties of the NBA's new second apron. Re-signing him, Julius Randle and Naz Reid would've put them over that threshold, so Minnesota settled on the latter two.
And that was probably the least chaotic route the T'Wolves could've gone.
Minnesota will now enter 2025-26 with the same frontcourt rotation that's helped them make back-to-back conference finals. And Wolves like Rob Dillingham or Terrence Shannon look poised to replace much of what NAW provided elsewhere in the rotation.
27. Toronto Raptors
4 of 30
After going 30-52 in 2024-25, the Toronto Raptors did almost nothing to shake up the roster responsible for that record.
Jakob Poeltl inked a four-year, $104 million extension, making him the anchor of a starting five likely to include Immanuel Quickley, R.J. Barrett, Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes.
And outside taking Collin Murray-Boyles with the ninth pick in the draft, the only offseason addition to that core was Sandro Mamukelashvili.
The summer couldn't have been much more ho-hum for Toronto.
26. Cleveland Cavaliers
5 of 30
Losing Ty Jerome may be a bigger deal than anyone's making it out to be. Last season, he was fifth among Cleveland Cavaliers in wins over replacement player. And in the entire NBA, among players with 10 or fewer starts, he trailed only Payton Pritchard in that category.
But the Cavs recovered relatively well, trading Isaac Okoro for Lonzo Ball and signing Larry Nance Jr. to a one-year deal.
Ultimately, 2025-26 will once again be about Cleveland's core four of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. And giving them a mostly chaos-free offseason made sense.
25. Washington Wizards
6 of 30
All things considered, the Washington Wizards spent this offseason (and the several months that preceded it) operating exactly how a rebuilding team should.
They've unloaded cumbersome contracts like Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma, while taking seemingly every opportunity to add young talent.
On top of his year's first-round picks, Tre Johnson and Willy Riley, Washington also snagged Cam Whitmore from the Houston Rockets.
Add those three to Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, Bub Carrington, Malaki Branham, AJ Johnson and Kyshawn George, and Washington has a whopping nine first-rounders still on their rookie contracts.
That might lead to a lot of chaos on the floor in 2025-26, but this is exactly how a team in the Wizards' position should be building.
24. Charlotte Hornets
7 of 30
Another young team that just operated how a young, rebuilding team should, the Charlotte Hornets used the draft to add three intriguing young wings (Kon Knueppel, Liam McNeeley and Sion James) and a big man (Ryan Kalkbrenner) to a core that already includes LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller.
Surrounding those two with shooting, secondary playmaking a little defense from Kalkbrenner was smart.
Giving a mostly young roster some veterans to learn from was probably a good idea too. Even if additions like Pat Connaughton, Spencer Dinwiddie, Mason Plumlee and Collin Sexton don't have huge roles, their experience and know-how can help the up-and-comers.
23. Chicago Bulls
8 of 30
It's hard to imagine a much more run-of-the-mill offseason than the one the Chicago Bulls just had.
They added Noa Essengue with the No. 12 pick in the draft and swapped the oft-injured Lonzo Ball for the younger (but perhaps less inspiring) Isaac Okoro. But other than that, Chicago looks like it'll bring back the rest of its 2024-25 rotation.
Now that Josh Giddey has signed a four-year, $100 million extension, it's business as usual.
The probable outcome is that Giddey will be leading lineups with Coby White, Nikola Vučević, Kevin Huerter and Matas Buzelis again.
22. Philadelphia 76ers
9 of 30
The Philadelphia 76ers used up a lot of their chaos last summer, when they added Paul George to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.
After that move led to a 24-58 season, Philadelphia was mostly stuck this summer.
They re-signed Justin Edwards, Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon, added Trendon Watford and let Jared Butler, Ricky Council IV and Guerschon Yabusele all walk.
The core pieces are mostly the same, which means the team's 2025-26 prospects are based almost entirely on the health of Embiid and George. Again.
And while that feels like a pretty precarious position, Philadelphia also has an intriguing young core percolating behind the veterans.
Maxey turns 25 in November, Jaren McCain is only 21 and VJ Edgecombe, the No. 3 pick in this summer's draft, is only 20.
Add restricted free agent Quentin Grimes (who's also 25) to that mix, and it starts to feel like the Sixers may have to pivot to a rebuild around those four before too long.
21. San Antonio Spurs
10 of 30
The San Antonio Spurs have the assets to make a knock-your-socks-off level offer for someone like Giannis Antetokounmpo, but this offseason suggests they want to build relatively conservatively around Victor Wembanyama.
That's what an extension for De'Aaron Fox and signings of Luke Kornet and Kelly Olynyk signify.
A handful of solid vets around Wemby, Stephon Castle and this year's No. 2 pick, Dylan Harper, may not make a ton of headlines. It may not drive the Spurs up a list like this.
But at this point in Wembanyama's career, chaos probably shouldn't be what San Antonio's after.
20. Los Angeles Lakers
11 of 30
All of the Los Angeles Lakers' best and most important players from 2024-25 are back. And in fact, the new face of the franchise, Luka Dončić, even signed an extension that will have him in town through 2028-29 (barring another mind-blowing trade).
Securing that future and hanging onto LeBron James (even if he made one of his passive-aggressive plays through the media to ask for roster improvements) and Austin Reaves makes this a pretty even-keel offseason for the Lake Show.
Even their big addition, Deandre Ayton, doesn't feel all that chaotic in hindsight. It was forecast for days before it happened. And his contract (two years and $16.6 million) is plenty reasonable.
For a team that's authored loads of chaos over the years (especially this past February, when it snagged Luka), the last few months were pretty tame.
19. Dallas Mavericks
12 of 30
The Dallas Mavericks' front office, specifically Nico Harrison, authored maybe the most chaos-inducing move in NBA history in February, when it inexplicably traded Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers.
But this exercise is mostly focusing on the offseason. And aside from the obvious jokes about signing D'Angelo Russell in the wake of Harrison's incessant "defense wins championships" take, the offseason was relatively quiet for Dallas.
It re-signed Dante Exum and extended Kyrie Irving. Even with the latter's torn ACL, both moves were pretty obvious.
If you're looking for actual chaos for the Mavs, that came almost entirely on draft lottery night, when their 1.8 percent chance to land the No. 1 pick came through and gave them the chance to add Cooper Flagg.
That was a lifeline that could ultimately bail Dallas out of one of the wildest decisions in league history.
18. Detroit Pistons
13 of 30
We may get some more news on the Detroit Pistons soon, as Malik Beasley was recently cleared in a gambling investigation.
But even if the sharpshooter doesn't re-sign in Detroit, the Pistons did a solid job of recovering from the losses of Tim Hardaway Jr. and Dennis Schröder in free agency.
In their places are Caris LeVert (who can replace some of Schröder's slashing) and Duncan Robinson (who can replace Hardaway's shooting), a pair of veterans who can help keep the young core on its upward trajectory.
That's ultimately the goal for the Pistons right now. Role players will likely come and go, but as long as Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson keep improving, Detroit will be in good shape.
17. Boston Celtics
14 of 30
The Boston Celtics' offseason brought plenty of chaos, at least in the conventional sense that they lost a lot of players.
But their ranking here is also impacted by the fact that all of this predictable (and maybe even expected).
With Jayson Tatum's torn Achilles knocking him out for all (or at least most) of 2025-26, it made absolutely no sense for the Celtics to remain one of the most expensive teams in the NBA.
So, they made salary-shedding move after salary-shedding move, unloading Kristaps Porziņģis, Jrue Holiday and eventually Georges Niang (who came over in the Porziņģis deal).
And given how this offseason has played out, it wouldn't be all that surprising to see at least one more trade. Moving Anfernee Simons feels like another obvious source of savings.
All of the above is going to mean a lot fewer wins than Celtics fans have come to expect, but taking this path was about the only option Boston had.
16. Portland Trail Blazers
15 of 30
The Portland Trail Blazers bringing Damian Lillard back, even if he won't be able to play in 2025-26, almost feels like the opposite of chaos.
Few players in recent history have felt as synonymous with or emblematic of a team as Lillard with the Blazers.
Most of the other moves Portland made this season all felt like stabilizers for a team that was on the way up in the second half of 2024-25, too.
Deandre Ayton and Anfernee Simons are gone. Jrue Holiday is in place for some playmaking, defense and veteran leadership. And Yang Hansen adds more upside to a young core that already includes Deni Avdija, Donovan Clingan, Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson.
15. Sacramento Kings
16 of 30
Just a few short years ago, the Sacramento Kings had two All-Star-caliber point guards in De'Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton.
Now, they have some kind of purple and black version of the mediocre Chicago Bulls led by Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
And their primary moves in the 2025 offseason were the addition of Dennis Schröder and the Jonas Valančiūnas salary dump that gave them the flexibility to make that move.
If this exercise was about the years of chaos that led to this moment for Sacramento, the Kings would almost certainly be closer to the top of the list. But much of the madness that led to a soon-to-be-32-year-old Schröder being the prize of the offseason took place before it.
If we're just talking about the last few months, and when you factor in the addition of a heady college player like Nique Clifford, the Kings' summer is a little easier to explain.
14. Miami Heat
17 of 30
Norman Powell may not have been a stop-the-presses level acquisition, but he might also be exactly what the Miami Heat needed. They finished last season in the bottom third of the league in points per 100 possessions and in the bottom half in effective field-goal percentage.
In 2024-25, Powell put up 21.8 points and 3.0 threes, with a way-above-average effective field-goal percentage.
And the mechanism for adding him—a trade that only cost Miami Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson—certainly didn't scream chaos. The Heat took advantage of the Los Angeles Clippers not wanting to pay Powell.
They also took an interesting flyer on a new dedicated floor spacer in Simone Fontecchio to perhaps replace some of what Duncan Robinson has provided over the years.
All in all, though it may not have been a spectacular offseason, it was one that should improve Miami for 2025-26. And it didn't cost must chaos to get it.
13. Indiana Pacers
18 of 30
After losing Tyrese Haliburton to a ruptured Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, there wasn't much for the Indiana Pacers to do this offseason beyond survive.
And depending on how you feel about Myles Turner, they may not have even accomplished that.
The Pacers' longtime starting 5 is now a Milwaukee Buck, the largely unproven Jay Huff is in his place.
Without both Haliburton and Turner, Indiana is almost guaranteed to fall short of the heights it hit in each of the last two seasons, but dramatic offseason moves to avoid that probably didn't make much sense.
The Pacers don't really have the trade assets to pull something like that off. And one down year, when they have control of their upcoming first-rounder, could wind up being a plus for the team's longterm future.
A relatively quiet summer made plenty of sense for this team.
12. Utah Jazz
19 of 30
The Utah Jazz tipped off a rebuild by trading Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell three years ago. Then, Lauri Markkanen being better than expected sort of stalled the organization's apparent shift.
For the first couple years of the Markkanen era, Utah's front office made occasional moves to get worse, but it went all in 2024-25. It secured the best statistical chance it could to win the draft lottery. And then it fell all the way to the fifth pick.
There, the Jazz took Ace Bailey, who spent much of his freshman campaign as the consensus No. 2 pick. And for the first handful of days after that event, rumors swirled about Bailey maybe not wanting to play in Utah.
Fortunately, much of that subsided over the course of a summer league in which Bailey competed, but the whole situation certainly contributed to the chaos quotient.
Beyond that, Utah jettisoned two more veterans in Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton. And despite the presence of Markkanen on the roster, the result of the offseason is one of the youngest, least experienced rosters in the league.
That'll almost certainly lead to another 14 percent chance at the No. 1 pick in 2026.
11. Memphis Grizzlies
20 of 30
One of the more surprising moves of the offseason came before free agency even started, when the Memphis Grizzlies traded Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic for a haul of draft picks that simply couldn't be passed up.
Bane, a 27-year-old 2 without an All-Star appearance, went for four unprotected first-round picks and a first-round pick swap.
The move may set the Grizzlies back a bit in the short term, but a team with Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and plenty of young depth should still, at the very least, be competitive.
10. Brooklyn Nets
21 of 30
The Brooklyn Nets had one of the wildest offseasons in the league, and it doesn't even feel like they took full advantage of being the one team that entered this summer with significant cap space.
They started by keeping all five of the first-round picks they had in the 2025 draft, which means Egor Demin, Nolan Traoré, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf will all be learning the NBA ropes in the same season.
Then, the Nets used much of the cap space they entered this summer with by trading Cameron Johnson for Michael Porter Jr., who makes almost $18 million more in 2026-27.
Of course, that deal included an unprotected 2032 first-round pick from the Denver Nuggets, which could convey after Nikola Jokić is done playing. There's a lot of potential value there, but there could be plenty of pain between now and then.
At least the uncertainty surrounding Cam Thomas has ended, for now, after Thomas accepted the Nets' $6 million qualifying offer after a lengthy standoff.
In any case, you could argue the Nets' offseason has been one of the most chaotic in the league.
9. Atlanta Hawks
22 of 30
Just in terms of the number of players and the number of players out, the Atlanta Hawks certainly had a fair bit of chaos this offseason, but they were also awfully shrewd.
They took advantage of the financial hurdles facing the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves and added Kristaps Porziņģis and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. They also signed one of the best three-point shooters of all time in Luke Kennard.
Those three and the continued development of Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher should more than make up for the losses elsewhere around the roster.
And the Hawks may now have the best "all these guys fit with Trae Young" team they've ever had.
8. Golden State Warriors
23 of 30
Stephen Curry will turn 38 this March. Every season from now till the end of his career should be treated by the Golden State Warriors' front office with a real sense of desperation.
But we're now into September, and outside the additions of a pair of second-round picks (Alex Toohey and Will Richard), the Warriors have literally done nothing this offseason. Nothing.
They have nine players on their roster! With training camp mere weeks away.
The Jonathan Kuminga situation has been a mess and remains unresolved. Al Horford has long been rumored to end up there, but he's 39 (and not signed yet). And the deeper we get into this postseason, the more it feels like we might enter 2025-26 with a Golden State team built around Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green and a largely unproven supporting cast.
This season, in the loaded Western Conference, that almost certainly won't be enough to contend for a title. And that makes the Warriors near total lack of activity somehow feel pretty chaotic.
7. Orlando Magic
24 of 30
The Orlando Magic already have two star-level forwards in Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero. The latter signed a five-year extension this offseason, but he's yet to prove capable of carrying his team to a high-level offense.
This past season, Orlando was 26th in points per 100 possessions, and that number actually went down when Paolo was on the floor.
Cue the Desmond Bane trade.
The price (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks and a pick swap) screams chaos, but Orlando was uniquely situated to justify it.
Flanking Wagner and Banchero's playmaking with Bane's shooting should make the Magic's attack significantly more dangerous. Tyus Jones' steady point guard play and outside shooting will help, too.
The results of these moves should absolutely add some stability, particularly on the offensive end, it just took a little chaos to make them.
6. Denver Nuggets
25 of 30
An example of "chaos" not necessarily being a bad thing, the Denver Nuggets somehow got more flexible financially and better this offseason.
The biggest move, of course, was the Michael Porter Jr. trade that saved Denver around $18 million in 2025-26 salary and made the starting lineup a little more versatile. Cameron Johnson brings the same (or at least a similar) level of shooting, while also being more dangerous off the bounce and as a passer.
On top of that, the Nuggets brought back 2023 champion Bruce Brown and added Jonas Valančiūnas and Tim Hardaway Jr. to a bench that's historically been dominated by opponents.
And the most valuable trade chip Denver lost in accomplishing all of the above was likely the 2032 first-rounder. That could wind up being a great player, but the Nuggets needed to get more serious about winning during Nikola Jokić's prime.
And this summer's whirlwind of moves showed the newly installed front office understands that.
5. Houston Rockets
26 of 30
The Houston Rockets made some huge moves this offseason, with the acquisition of Kevin Durant in a seven-team trade being chief among them.
But even if five players coming in (KD, Dorian Finney-Smith, Josh Okogie, Clint Capela and JD Davison) and five others going out (Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Cam Whitmore, Jock Landale and N'Faly Dante) can technically be sold as a lot of chaos, it's likely of the good variety.
The most important pieces of Houston's young core (Alperen Şengün, Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr.) are all back, and the combination of Durant and DFS is undoubtedly an upgrade over Green and Brooks.
4. New Orleans Pelicans
27 of 30
The New Orleans Pelicans quietly signed Herb Jones to a seemingly below-market value deal worth $53.8 million over four years. It was a move that felt like it should be part of a nice, serene offseason from a nice, steady front office.
But the rest of this summer (and several of the preceding months) has been pure chaos for the Pelicans.
In April, they fired executive vice president David Griffin. In the draft, they used an unprotected 2026 first-round pick to barely move into the lottery for Derik Queen (after using an earlier lottery pick Jeremiah Fears). The move was almost universally panned, in large part because that 2026 pick has a real shot to be No. 1 overall. And in free agency, they traded for Jordan Poole, whose enigmatic game isn't likely to bring a ton of stability.
Adding that should be a priority for a team built around Zion Williamson, but New Orleans figures to be every bit as unpredictable in 2025-26 as it's been throughout Zion's career.
3. Milwaukee Bucks
28 of 30
Many of the Milwaukee Bucks' moves were the re-signings or extensions of veterans like Bobby Portis, Taurean Prince, Kevin Porter Jr. and Gary Trent Jr. to small(ish) deals.
Those obviously weren't the transactions that pushed them up this list.
Milwaukee, of course, is here because it made perhaps the most shocking move (or series of moves) of the summer.
Using the waive-and-stretch provision on Damian Lillard was a genuine stunner. And while it could certainly hurt them in the long run (the Bucks will have around $22.5 million in dead cap space on the books in each of the next five seasons), that move opening up the ability to sign Myles Turner at least made it understandable.
A frontcourt with him and Giannis Antetokounmpo is arguably the best in the East (in large part due to Giannis, of course). And as long as Giannis is on the team, it makes sense to try whatever's available to compete.
Reasonable deals for role players like Cole Anthony and Gary Harris make sense in that context too, but those don't really contribute to the "chaos" ranking. That's almost entirely the result of the Lillard and Turner moves.
2. Phoenix Suns
29 of 30
The degree to which (and quickness with which) the Phoenix Suns dismantled their 2021 NBA Finals team is borderline mind-blowing.
And now, the Devin Booker-, Kevin Durant- and Bradley Beal-led team constructed in its place is gone, too.
This summer, the Suns unloaded KD to the Houston Rockets in a seven-team deal that landed Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green in Phoenix. They also used the waive-and-stretch provision to release Beal (and saddle themselves with around $19 million in dead cap space in each of the next five seasons).
In place of the big three, Phoenix now has Booker (who just signed a two-year, $145 million extension) and a largely ill-fitting supporting cast with Brooks, Green and Mark Williams (who came over in a separate trade).
And with Booker and Beal's cap hit accounting for nearly $100 million in future seasons, the chaos of the 2025 offseason may not dissipate any time soon.
1. Los Angeles Clippers
30 of 30
After what felt like a steady offseason in which the already deep Los Angeles Clippers loaded up with Bradley Beal, Chris Paul, Brook Lopez and John Collins, they ended their summer on the wrong end of one of the most explosive NBA stories in recent memory.
As detailed by The Athletic's Pablo Torre on his podcast, Pablo Torre Finds Out, there is a small mountain of circumstantial evidence to suggest that the team may have circumvented the salary cap to pay star Kawhi Leonard millions of dollars outside his NBA contract.
The Clippers and governor Steve Ballmer, for their part, have publicly and forcefully denied the allegations, but Torre dug more than enough to influence the basketball-viewing masses. And the league itself has opened up an investigation into the matter.
In the past, cap circumvention has resulted in suspensions for team owners and executives, fines and forfeiture of first-round draft picks. Commissioner Adam Silver has broad discretion on the potential punishments (if there even are any). The most chaotic outcome could be the voiding of Leonard's contract.
It's too early to predict how far the league will (or can) go. And this particular space probably isn't big enough to dive deeper into the possibilities.
For now, just the reporting alone (which you should check out, if you haven't already) skyrocketed the Clippers up this ladder.
.png?w=480)
.png?w=600 "Play-In Winners and Losers 📊")
.jpg?w=600 "Breaking News")
