We’re a quarter of the way through the NBA season, which means it’s a good time to step back and assess where teams stand and which tier they are in. OKC seems to be on its own.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
(23-1, last week No. 1)
The Thunder have been rolling through everyone and everything in their path, and with that they deserve to be heavy favorites to win the Emirates NBA Cup. OKC reached the Cup Finals a year ago, only to have one of their worst shooting nights of the season against Milwaukee. The one thing that could stop the Thunder is the absence of reigning MVP (and arguably the current frontrunner to repeat) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He sat out Sunday against Utah with an elbow issue — and they still won by 30. SGA is expected to be good to go on Wednesday in an NBA Cup game against Phoenix, but it’s worth watching.
2. Detroit Pistons
(19-5, last week No. 4)
The Pistons get an easy A grade for the first quarter of the season, they have taken another large step forward this season and look like a legitimate threat to come out of the East. What’s driving that is the fourth-ranked defense in the NBA, which was top-10 in the league a season ago but is now 1.3 points per 100 possessions better. They are at the point where the questions we have about them — will the lack of 3-point shooting bite them? Do they need a second high-level shot creator next to Cade Cunningham? — may only be able to be answered come the playoffs.
3. New York Knicks
(16-7, last week No. 6)
New York has won 7-of-8, and while that has come mainly against a soft spot in the schedule, the Knicks have had key guys (OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns) missing time in there to balance things out. Plus, there were some quality wins in that streak, including against Orlando on Sunday. The one question about this team is how things go on the road — New York is 13-1 in Madison Square Garden but 3-6 outside of it. The next big road test comes Tuesday in Toronto in an NBA Cup quarterfinals game, with a trip to Vegas on the line for the winner.
4. Houston Rockets
(15-6, last week No. 2)
There’s no way to describe Houston’s fast start to the season as anything but a massive success — it developed a strong identity despite losing starting point guard Fred VanVleet for the season. Looking ahead to what kind of run this team can make in the playoffs, the question becomes about 3-point shooting and the team’s lack of it — is their bully-ball style and Kevin Durant enough in a tough playoff series? Houston is a name that has come up in Giannis Antetokounmpo rumors, and should he become available (that’s no sure thing) the Rockets need to ask themselves if they want to give up all those assets to make a run at the Thunder this season, or let their youth mature a little and envision a run next season or a couple of years down the line, when the tax aprons will force some changes in OKC.
5. Denver Nuggets
(17-6, last week No. 5)
LeBron James did not hold back in praising Nikola Jokic on his Mind the Game podcast with Steve Nash: “I will say this: There has not been a more dominant, complete player that I’ve played against in the sense of all the attributes that you just mentioned. From the passing, to the shooting, to the rebounding, to the attention. I mean, there’s nothing that he cannot do on the offensive end. Nothing at all. Nothing. You try to double him he gonna make you pay. You try to play him single coverage he’s gonna make you pay. He even brings the ball up the floor, they outlet the ball to him. … And he’s so damn good that people barely talk about it. It’s like ‘oh well, it’s just normal.’ This s*** is not normal. It’s not normal.”
6. Minnesota Timberwolves
(15-8, last week No. 10)
The Timberwolves are finding their groove, having won five in a row and 11-4 over their last 15 — the last couple of those despite Anthony Edwards cooling off after a red-hot scoring streak. If there’s one thing you can be sure of with this team, it’s that they will score 100+ points — they have done it in 81 consecutive regular season games, the longest active streak in the NBA and the longest such streak in franchise history. You can see the red-hot Timberwolves take on the Phoenix Suns on NBA Peacock Monday this week.
7. Boston Celtics
(15-9, last week No. 12)
The Celtics have won five in a row and 10-of-12, and they are doing it with offense — Boston has the best offense in the NBA over the past dozen games, a 128.6 offensive rating (that’s 4.6 per 100 possessions better than the best offense in the league for the season, Denver’s). That’s incredibly impressive without Jayson Tatum and speaks to just how good Jaylen Brown has been this season — he has to get early MVP ballot consideration.
8. Los Angeles Lakers
(17-6, last week No. 3)
This might be a good sign for the Los Angeles’ NBA Cup quarterfinals game against San Antonio on Wednesday: The Lakers have started the season 8-0 in clutch games with a +26.8 net rating in those minutes (third best in the league). Having LeBron James and Luka Doncic on your team, two elite clutch players, helps. It should be noted that Los Angeles has only been in eight clutch games, the second fewest in the league. The seventh of those clutch wins came in Toronto when LeBron had a chance at a game-winner and to extend his already-record streak of consecutive games scoring 10+ points, but instead he made the right basketball play, and Rui Hachimura hit the game-winner (LeBron’s streak ends at an insane 1,297).
9. Orlando Magic
(14-10, last week No. 9)
Once again, it seems Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are trading off injuries, and that’s rough for this roster. The two did that with oblique injuries last season, now this season, just as Banchero returns from his groin injury, Wagner went down Sunday with a high-ankle sprain that likely sidelines him for close to a month (which is still better than what it looked like at the time). Wagner will not be on the court when the Magic host the Heat in an NBA Cup game on Tuesday with a trip to Las Vegas on the line.
10. San Antonio Spurs
(15-7, last week No. 11)
The Spurs have gone 7-3 since Victor Wembanyama went out — and who needs him when you have Luke Kornet flying in for a game-winning block, then having one of the best celebrations of the season. With Wemby out, the Spurs have gotten both the scoring and leadership they needed from De’Aaron Fox, as well as some impressive play from rookie Dylan Harper during this stretch. Wembanyama and Stephon Castle returned to practice over the weekend and may be available to face the Lakers in the NBA Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday night, which would earn the team a trip to Las Vegas.
11. Toronto Raptors
(15-10, last week No. 7)
Toronto has to be the biggest surprise in the East to start the season, with the best start for this team since the season after its title. The Raptors are doing it with a pressure defense, using that to get out in transition more than any team in the league, and a lot of midrange jumpers. Toronto has a chance to show a lot of fans who have not seen them just how good they are on Tuesday when they host the Knicks in an NBA Cup quarterfinals game, with a trip to Las Vegas (and a larger bonus for the players) on the line.
12. Miami Heat
(14-10, last week No. 8)
The Heat have dropped three straight, and more concerning two of those were to the Kings and Mavericks. The Heat are 3-4 in their last seven, and in that stretch their former top-five defense has been middle of the pack (12th) and their league-leading pace has slowed (but is still third). As an organization, the Heat have long played their best with something on the line, something that gets tested Tuesday when the Heat travel to Orlando for an NBA Cup quarterfinal game, with a trip to Las Vegas for the team on the line.
13. Cleveland Cavaliers
(14-11, last week No. 14)
The Cavaliers are the most disappointing team in the East to start the season — they are not bad, but this was a 60-win team a season ago looking to build on that and come out of the East this season. Instead, the Cavaliers are on a 49-win pace not bad, but it would rank them sixth in the East. Health is part of it, this team needs a fully healthy Darius Garland at the point, but it also needs another offensive step forward from Evan Mobley. The runaway best offense in the NBA last season is 10th this season, and too much of the load has fallen on Donovan Mitchell (who has played at an All-NBA level this season).
14. Phoenix Suns
(13-10, last week No. 13)
Dillon Brooks came to Phoenix in the Kevin Durant trade as a defensive stopper and an energy and intensity guy who could help change their culture. Phoenix got all that but also got an unexpected breakout offensive season, where Brooks is averaging 22.3 points per game. That earned him high praise from KD (via The Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin): “He’s playing aggressive. He’s commanding the group. Guys are listening to him. He’s pretty much stepped up and become a leader over there. Him and (Devin Booker) have just become vocal leaders for them. He’s getting better as a player and more confident as a player, and it probably started from here (in Houston).”
15. Philadelphia 76ers
(13-10, last week No. 17)
We went into this season wondering whether these 76ers could live up to their potential on paper as a threat to win the East, or if they would be a bust. The answer has been somewhere in the middle — the 76ers are not bad, but they are not threatening. Rookie VJ Edgecombe has been a revelation. Tyrese Maxey is a lock All-Star this season, and anyone who had doubts just needs to watch his hustle on his game-saving block on the road to beat the Warriors this past week.
16. Atlanta Hawks
(14-11, last week No. 15)
Kristaps Porzingis returned to action Friday, and if the Hawks are going to make noise this postseason they are going to need him healthy and playing like he did when he won a ring with the Celtics. The other player Atlanta needed to step up this season — fifth-year forward Jalen Johnson — absolutely has lived up to the expectations. He is having a breakout season — he had 7+ assists in 12 straight games recently, averaging 24.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, 8.8 assists a night while shooting 46.7% from 3-point range over that stretch. He’s been playing so well that Johnson is considered off-limits in any hypothetical Giannis Antetokounmpo trades.
17. Golden State Warriors
(13-12, last week No. 16)
The Warriors are 2-2 during this stretch without Stephen Curry, and 3-5 this season when he sits. The Warriors’ offense falls off by 10.8 points per 100 possessions when he is off the court this season, which is concerning for what is already the No. 23 offense in the league. The good news is Curry is expected back on Friday against Minnesota. The bigger question for that game may be the status of Jonathan Kuminga, after a 1-of-10 shooting game against Cleveland Saturday he got a DNP-CD on Sunday. The Warriors are going to try to trade him at the deadline, but after days like this, there is not going to be a massive market for him. Speaking of trades, don’t expect the Warriors to make one for Giannis Antetokounmpo at the deadline if he becomes available. Constructing a trade between the teams is next to impossible (especially given what the Bucks will want back in a deal).
18. Memphis Grizzlies
(11-13, last week No. 19)
The Grizzlies have gone 7-2 in their previous nine, but have done that against a soft spot in the schedule — the Grizzlies are 10-0 this season against teams below .500. The Grizzlies have gone 7-3 in this latest stretch without Ja Morant, which has led to more trade speculation about the All-Star guard, but don’t bet on a deal getting done. The head of basketball operations, Zach Kleinman, isn’t one to just give up assets (he holds on to players) and the teams calling about Morant are looking to poach him on a steal of a deal. Morant doesn’t have much trade value right now, even if the sides decide they want to part ways he’s got to build up that trade value first.
19. Dallas Mavericks
(9-16, last week No. 22)
No team has played more clutch minutes this season than the Mavericks (78 across 18 games), but even in those minutes the team has been unlucky, with a 7-11 record in games within five points in the final five minutes despite a +2.9 net rating in those minutes. What has gone right in Dallas has been the play of Ryan Nembhard, the brother of Indiana’s Aaron Nembhard — and their games have a lot of similarities. With Kyrie Irving out, Nembhard has stepped up as the point guard this team needed. In his last five games, Nembhard has averaged 14.4 points and 7.4 assists a game (with just 1.2 turnovers), and his solid play has allowed Jason Kidd to keep rookie Cooper Flagg on the wing, where he is increasingly comfortable and thriving.
20. Portland Trail Blazers
(9-15, last week No. 21)
After a promising 5-3 start to the season, reality has hit the Trail Blazers hard as they are 4-11 in their last 15 with a bottom-10 defense in the league over that stretch. Not that we should give the Trail Blazers a failing grade to start the season; they have been pretty much in line with expectations — signs of promise but still needing a lot to come together (including getting Scoot Henderson back healthy). It’s no coincidence that things started to get worse when Jrue Holiday went out with a calf strain.
21. Milwaukee Bucks
(10-15, last week No. 18)
The reality is this: Milwaukee is 9-8 in the games Giannis Antetokounmpo has played — while they have played much worse without him, this is a middle-of-the-pack team with him. That’s a disappointing start to the season and what — along with the latest report Antetokounmpo’s people are speaking to the Milwaukee powers that be about his future with the franchise — sparked this latest round of trade rumors. Milwaukee is rejecting trade calls at this point, and the people I speak to around the league still think if Antetokounmpo moves on from the Bucks it would be an offseason thing, not now. That’s not going to stop the rumors that will follow this team through the trade deadline, fair or not.
22. Charlotte Hornets
(7-17, last week No. 23)
Sitting 12th in the East is a disappointing start to the season for a team with postseason dreams during training camp. It’s hard to see how they turn things around this season, the Hornets have a bottom-10 defense that doesn’t defend the 3-ball well, and they are 5-11 in games when LaMelo Ball plays. That has sparked some Ball trade speculation in some quarters, but league sources told NBC Sports there is not much of a market for him right now, at least not at a return near the one Charlotte would seek to send away its biggest name.
23. Utah Jazz
(8-15, last week No. 24)
While they may sit deep in the standings in the West, I would give the Jazz a C for their play through the first quarter of the season. They are struggling to protect the rim on defense, but that was to be expected after losing Walker Kessler for the season. Keyonte George has been fantastic. Lauri Markkanen has been balling out and looking like his All-Star self this season, and the biggest question is whether he is still on this team after the trade deadline, or does Utah move on from him and pivot to making sure they keep their top-eight protected draft pick for next June?
24. Indiana Pacers
(5-18, last week No. 25)
We knew it was going to be a rough season in Indiana, but this has been worse than expected. That’s largely about health, not the players or the coaching staff. Indy went into this season knowing they would be without Tyrese Haliburton and that Myles Turner had moved on, but a rash of injuries to the players still on the roster had this team using multiple hardship exceptions to add players just so they could keep playing games. That said, they have gone 3-2 in their last five, knocking off the Bulls (twice) and Wizards.
25. Brooklyn Nets
(6-17, last week No. 29)
The Nets have won 3-of-4, with their defense looking respectable during that stretch (a massive change from the start of the season). If grading the Nets’ start to the season, it needs to be done on a curve — we knew this team would be bad and was trying to develop its young players by throwing them into the fire. Out of that, big man Danny Wolf has been showing something lately with his ability to stretch the floor as a 3-point shooter and be strong on the glass.
26. Chicago Bulls
(9-14, last week No. 20)
The wheels are coming off this team, which has dropped seven in a row, including to a Warriors team on Sunday playing without Stephen Curry or Draymond Green. Over their last 10 games, the Bulls have the worst offense in the league and a bottom-five defense. The optimism from the opening weeks of the season — remember when this team started 5-0? — is long gone, and the only ones happy are Josh Giddey’s fantasy owners. We’ll see if the Bulls trade Nikola Vucevic or do anything at the deadline, although that has not been the modus operandi for this front office.
27. Sacramento Kings
(6-17, last week No. 26)
Sacramento is 3-6 since Domantas Sabonis went out with a meniscus injury, with the second-worst offense in the league over that stretch. Sacramento will be a team to watch at the trade deadline as they check to see if there is interest around the league in Zach LaVine or DeMar DeRozan (not too much for either of them), although Sabonis could be a different story if he gets back on the court and proves he’s still a 17 and 12 guy (what he averaged before the injury).
28. Los Angeles Clippers
(6-18, last week No. 27)
In what has been a massively disappointing and bizarre season in Los Angeles, sending Chris Paul home and away from the team gets its own chapter. The Clippers had a rough November (2-13) and their locker room feels distant, with guys openly talking about the lack of energy and connection. While CP3’s vocal leadership can be grating (the Clippers knew that when they signed him), and while Father Time caught up with him, he was already expected to play a limited role (it became less than that). While people outside the organization have asked, the Clippers’ struggles to start the season are not expected to put the jobs of coach Tyronn Lue or team president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank in any danger. Owner Steve Ballmer has never been rash and has been loyal to his employees and players, and while this season has been ugly, there is a long-term plan for a pivot (the team has one player on the books in 2027, Ivica Zubac).
29. Washington Wizards
(3-19, last week No. 30)
The Wizards don’t just have the worst defense in the league, they have the worst defense by three points per 100 possessions. That said, we knew they would be bad and on that curve this start to the season has some silver linings — big man Alex Sarr has taken a step forward and looks like a cornerstone, and rookie Tre Johnson is showing he can shoot the rock. Throw in a nice start from Kyshawn George and this team is both more entertaining than you would think, and there is some potential going forward. There is a path.
30. New Orleans Pelicans
(3-21, last week No. 28)
Zion Williamson is sidelined once again for an extended period of time (at least three weeks, but league sources told NBC Sports to expect longer), which has led to another round of calls for New Orleans to move from building around him and trade the former No. 1 pick. That may even be the thinking inside the Pelicans’ front office, but it’s a whole lot easier said than done. Williamson is making $39.5 million this season and has two fully guaranteed years totaling $87 million after this — while a team might take a flier on him (most likely this summer), the return in such a trade will not be near what the Pelicans would want. There is no massive market for Zion at this point.
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