Biggest Winners and Losers of the 2025-26 NBA Season So Far
The beginning of the 2025-26 NBA season has featured a ton of exciting basketball so far (for most fan bases, at least).
One 2026 free agent has set himself up for a monster pay day. A perennial loser has become the hottest team in the NBA right now, while a former Rookie of the Year and multi-time All-Star looks like a shell of his previous self.
It's time to anoint the biggest winners and losers of the season thus far.
Winner: Detroit Pistons
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Just two seasons ago the Detroit Pistons finished 14-68 overall and in last place in the NBA. Now, the Pistons have matched their win total from 2023-24 at 14-2 overall and sit atop the Eastern Conference.
We expected Detroit to be good, but not 12-wins-in-a-row-hottest-team-in-the-NBA good.
Seemingly every team has struggled with injuries this season, although the Pistons keep finding ways to win in spite of them.
Jaden Ivey recently returned to the court for the first time since New Year's Day. Tobias Harris has missed over half the season while Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and Caris LeVert have combined to miss 14 games due to injuries.
Still, Detroit keeps winning on the back of the No. 2 ranked defense (110.0 rating) and a huge leap from Duren (career-high 20.5 points) who just recently turned 22.
Cunningham will soon challenge Giannis Antetokounmpo for the best player in the East and Duncan Robinson has been a critical offseason pickup (44.0 percent from three) for a Pistons team still in need of outside shooting.
To go from literally the worst team in the NBA two years ago to looking like a championship contender already, Detroit is an easy early-season winner.
Loser: Ja Morant
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Ja Morant's fall from grace has turned into a nosedive this season as the 6-11 Memphis Grizzlies have suffered as a result.
Currently sidelined with a calf strain, Morant's scoring is the lowest since his rookie season (17.9 points).
Never a good three-point shooter (31.6 percent coming into this year), Morant is just 10-of-60 from three (16.7 percent) and is also making a career-low 44.4 percent of his twos. He's getting to the rim less than ever, with just 15.4 percent of Morant's shot attempts coming within three feet.
Morant has already been suspended by the Grizzlies for conduct detrimental to the team and hasn't exactly expressed confidence in first-year head coach Tuomas Iisalo and his staff.
More recently, Morant had some post-game words for Klay Thompson, which caused the four-time champion to say what all NBA fans have been thinking.
"It was really just running his mouth, and he's been running his mouth for a long time," Thompson said via ESPN's Tim McMahon. "It's funny to run your mouth when you're on the bench. It's kind of the story of his career so far, just leaving us wanting more."
Morant has indeed left us wanting more, as he looked like the future of the league at point guard given his athleticism and elite offensive chops.
Morant and the Grizzlies need a split, although his trade value doesn't look particularly high.
Winner: Austin Reaves (and his Bank Account)
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Austin Reaves has already leveled up more times than a Pokemon in his NBA career, with this final stage looking like a max contract player.
Reaves has used an increased workload thanks to the absence of LeBron James to put up career highs of 28.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 62.8 percent from inside the arc. The 27-year-old dropped 51 on the Sacramento Kings on Oct. 26 and has scored 20 or more in 11 of his 12 games.
Reaves currently ranks 11th in the NBA in scoring above players like Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker, Cade Cunningham, Kevin Durant, Victor Wembanyama and others while his assists are tied for 11th, besting Jalen Brunson, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Booker.
Reaves owns a $14.9 million player option for next season, although the chances of him picking it up are about the same as the Washington Wizards winning the 2026 title. Instead, Reaves can opt out and sign a five-year, $241 million contract with the Lakers or a four-year, $178.5 million deal with any other team.
Now with James back in the fold after missing the first month with sciatica, Reaves' numbers will inevitably fall a little.
Still, his story from going undrafted*, signing a two-way deal and now looking like a max player has been a fun one to follow.
Loser: New Orleans Pelicans
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Owners of a 2-15 record to begin the 2025-26 season, the New Orleans Pelicans sit in last place in the Western Conference. If not for the one-win Washington Wizards, the Pels would be dead last in the NBA overall.
There have been other disappointing teams, to be sure. The Sacramento Kings are a mess. Injuries have killed the Indiana Pacers' chances of being competitive. The Wizards, Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets all have four wins or less.
The difference between all of these and the Pelicans? New Orleans doesn't even have its 2026 first-round pick.
This abysmal record would normally come with a potential future star attached, although that right now belongs to the Atlanta Hawks thanks to a 2025 draft-day Derik Queen trade. The Pelicans (er, Hawks) are currently tied for the best odds at the No. 1 overall pick and a 52.1 percent chance at a top-4 selection in what projects to be a loaded draft class.
Zion Williamson has (unsurprisingly) missed over half the season due to injury. The same can be said for newly-acquired Jordan Poole. Head coach Willie Green was fired after a 2-10 start.
Everyone knew the Pelicans weren't going to be good, except, apparently, the Pelicans.
Fans better hope Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen look like franchise pillars since no help is coming in the 2026 draft.
Winner: The Budding Oklahoma City Thunder Dynasty
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The Oklahoma City Thunder are the NBA's next dynasty, whether the league wants to admit it yet or not.
A 16-1 start to the season has only been slightly blemished by a two-point road loss to the Portland Trail Blazers that marked OKC's third game in four nights. They've come incredibly close to an undefeated start even without All-NBA wing Jalen Williams who's still recovering from offseason wrist surgery.
The Thunder are first in net rating by over six points (plus-16.3), first in defense by seven (103.0 rating) and are still fourth in offense (119.3 rating) without their second-leading scorer.
This isn't normal.
The future is even scarier for the defending champions, if you can believe that. If the 2026 draft took place tomorrow, the Thunder would own four first-round picks, including three in the lottery and two in the top-10 selections overall. The Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers and Houston Rockets all owe unprotected or partially-protected 2026 firsts to OKC.
With just two players over the age of 27 and two of its top-three players still on rookie deals, the Thunder are set up in a way we've not seen from an NBA team in perhaps ever, especially when factoring in future draft picks.
We're going to look back in 10 years when the Thunder have won a handful of rings and wonder why this dynasty wasn't more obvious to identify.
