To limit subjectivity from our power rankings, we’ve put in place a handful of statistical metrics to drive the tiering process. This includes research of studies that have been most tied to success at the highest level and weighing them accordingly.
Efficiency on both ends of the floor is rewarded, as is versatility and plenty of other factors as we stack up these 30 teams for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
NBA Power Rankings Post-Trade Deadline
1) Cleveland Cavaliers
A 15-game win streak to open the season is a good way to send expectations into orbit, and while they’ve had little blips in the three months since, there’s no real reason to doubt what this team is capable of given the star power on its roster.
In addition to Donovan Mitchell’s highlight dunks and Evan Mobley’s growth that has this team currently holding the league’s top offense, Darius Garland is playing at an elite level and is the driving force behind the Cleveland Cavaliers’ league-leading assist-to-turnover rate.
They grade a tick above the Celtics and the Thunder, albeit in the same tier, thanks to the stability of their profile. Boston can hurt you in many ways, but rely heavily on the triple, whereas I’m slightly more comfortable in Cleveland winning in a variety of ways.
As for Oklahoma City, predictive metrics highlight their lack of transition success as a potential weakness when it comes to long-term win equity.
2) Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder own the league’s best defense (courtesy of the highest steal rate, something that fuels their offense), significantly better than the version of this team that ranked fourth a year ago.
I worry that they can be too aggressive on the defensive end at times (the highest percentage of opponent points come via the freebie) when it comes to their chase for a title, but for the regular season, it doesn’t concern me.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can get to his spot against anyone on this planet, Jalen Williams has continued to progress (career-high pace in points, rebounds, assists, and steals), and now … now they are getting healthy. Chet Holmgren was a difference-maker last season and could be what puts them over the top this summer if what we saw from him pre-injury is the version we get the rest of the way.
This is the betting favorite (+225) to win it all this summer, and while they aren’t holding the top spot at the moment in the PFSN rankings, they are locked into Tier 1, and that’s not going to change.
They should enter the postseason well rested and again labeled as the favorite to win it all.
3) Boston Celtics
Some great teams get bored; you just hope that a downswing in performance doesn’t come at the worst time possible. The Boston Celtics went through a struggle, by their lofty standard in December, posting an 8-5 record that saw them lose home games to the Bulls and 76ers.
But that’s nitpicking. This team is as talented as any in the league and more than capable of becoming the Eastern Conference’s second repeat NBA champions since Michael Jordan’s Bulls.
Payton Pritchard’s scoring is up over 40% per game from a season ago and he has shown the ability to lead the second unit while thriving when his role is increased. If this team can stay healthy, it could enter the postseason as the betting favorite, a title with which it entered the season.
We know exactly who this team is and they should enter the postseason on their terms — their schedule down the stretch isn’t too demanding and should allow them to be right where they want to be for the NBA’s second season.
4) Los Angeles Lakers
Luka Dončić.
It really is that simple.
It’s clear that there hasn’t been much in the way of a learning curve and with a pair of Hall of Famer creators alongside of burdening star in Austin Reaves, there’s no reason to think that this recent surge is a flash in the pan.
The Thunder are in their own tier in the West; after that, things are wide open.
Luka ➡️ Vando ➡️ LeBron
Perfect set-up for the LBJ slam 💥💥 pic.twitter.com/SOgbbPZKlL
— NBA (@NBA) February 28, 2025
5) Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets don’t win ball games the same way most teams do in 2025, and that’s just fine.
Nikola Jokić has this team again looking like a real threat despite the lowest 3-point rate in the league for a second straight season. Their 11-10 start is a distant memory at this point, and Russell Westbrook’s production has been a welcomed sight for those worried about this roster’s depth.
The defense remains a concern (third-worst opponent assist-to-turnover rate), but we’ve seen Jokić elevate this offense at such a level that a flaw like that is muted. This isn’t the best roster in the league, but they have the best player, and that is enough to scare any opponent on any night.
Jamal Murray is playing with confidence and a fully functional version of Aaron Gordon is a great piece to hold everything together. If Denver can get a young piece like Julian Strawther to hit his stride at the right time, this team could do damage in the summer months.
Lots of damage.
6) Memphis Grizzlies
Jalen Green lit the Memphis Grizzlies up for 42 points on Jan. 13, but Memphis has been a different team since, and they are showing no signs of slowing down. Ja Morant’s athleticism makes their offense as dynamic as any in transition, and Jaren Jackson Jr.’s (1.5+ blocks and 3PM for a seventh straight season) versatility makes them a tough matchup for anyone on both ends of the floor.
Jaylen Wells is the lesser-known impact player on this roster, but the rookie has accepted a regular role and makes winning plays on a nightly basis. If he can continue to grow as his first season progresses, he will give this team an added level of depth that could prove critical as the season wears on.
This is the fastest-paced team in a league that favors math and as long as they are dictating tempo, they are a handful for every team in this league.
When things slowdown in the postseason ight be a different conversation, but for the remainder of the regular season, there aren’t many concerns here.
7) New York Knicks
Behind Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson, this is the NBA’s second-best offense, which makes them a real threat to run through the Eastern Conference. They won’t be favored over the top few teams, but their ceiling is just as high on a nightly basis, and that gives them hope.
We saw them access their upside with nine straight wins bridging December and January, a run that doesn’t happen without maybe the best role player in the league in Josh Hart. The former Villanova Wildcat is having the best shooting season of his career, and if that growth is here to stay, this offense is going to be a near-impossible cover, even for the elite East teams that check in ahead of them in these rankings.
The defensive woes will need to be solved if they want to pull off an upset this summer, but their offensive excellence should allow them to sustain their current pace for the remainder of the regular season.
8) Golden State Warriors
Is it possible that it wasn’t “Heat Culture” in Miami? Rather “when Jimmy Butler is happy culture”?
He looks like he is having fun again and that has us reminding of how impactful he can be. Stephen Curry is maybe the easiest superstar in team sports to play alongside and he’s thriving in this new marriage (56 points against the Magic on February 27 a nice reminder for anyone who may have forgotten).
The irony in Golden State is that what was once viewed as their primary strength is now a weakness. Do they have enough depth when we get into the postseason?
I was hopeful that we’d see more development from the secondary pieces at this point in the season and without significant growth down the stretch, I’m not going to get there in picking this team to upset any of the top teams in the West this postseason.
9) Houston Rockets
A quiet deadline shouldn’t be viewed as a sign of weakness for the Houston Rockets — the best offensive rebounding team in the league by a wide margin is poised for an extended run this summer. The on-court product is often greater than the individuals involved, and that is when special runs occur.
Amen Thompson’s development is well ahead of schedule, and while Green can be a sporadic player at times, Alperen Şengün’s versatility gives this offense the ability to more than support its hard-nosed defense.
Houston covering point spreads at a top-10 clip tells you how surprising their success has been up to this point — it’s time to change our perception for a team that currently has seven players averaging in double figures.
10) Milwaukee Bucks
Here come the Bucks.
Trading for Kyle Kuzma reflects just how confident this team is in its Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard foundation — they felt it was more advantageous to make a lateral skill move in the name of a healthier body than to try to upgrade in a significant way.
Is this team too reliant on two players?
Well, that depends on your expectations. Are they capable of beating any team in the East?
I’d say yes.
Are they capable of beating any team in the East during a seven-game series.
I’d say yes.
Can they rattle of three series wins to represent the conference in the Finals?
I’d say no.
From a macro sense, I think this roster build is limited, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous in any singular matchup and if I’m a Celtics fan, I’d rather have the Knicks stay as the three-seed than give away that position to a surging Bucks team.
11) Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are the best fast-break team in the league, not a surprise given that they ranked fifth a season ago but impressive with Jaden Ivey out for the season. Cade Cunningham has ascended to superstardom, though he will have to fix his turnover problem (back-to-back double-digit turnover games late in January).
Cunningham has established himself as a game-changing star that is capable of giving his team a chance to win on any night against anyone. Only time will tell if Ivey remains a part of the long-term plan (for the record, I remain very in on him as a pro), but this team is heading in a great direction either way.
Jalen Duren looks the part of a paint presence for years to come and Ausar Thompson’s raw athleticism continues to be of interest.
This isn’t a cute story, this is a legitimate roster on the rise that is miles ahead of the tire fire that they were just 365 days ago.
12) Indiana Pacers
Are the Indiana Pacers the NBA’s version of the Philadelphia Eagles? Philadelphia came out firing last season but peaked way too early and couldn’t do much in the postseason. This year, they hit their stride later in the season and won the NFC and the Super Bowl.
Early last season, Tyrese Haliburton looked like an All-NBA guard before struggling down the stretch (40% from 3 pre-All-Star break; 30.3% afterward). His shooting and team success were tied at the hip last season, and that’s been even more evident this year. However, his shooting has been more stable, allowing the Pacers to recover from a 10-15 start.
It can get ugly (37-point loss in Boston, 30-point defeat in Paris against San Antonio, and, most recently, a 23-point loss in Portland), but the upside is evident with four 15+ point scorers and Haliburton improving his assist-to-turnover rate for a third straight season. Earning home-court advantage for a playoff series is certainly possible, but they are one losing streak from falling into the play-in tier.
From March 4-17, they get the Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks twice in addition to the 76ers (not on a back-to-back) and Timberwolves. If they survive that stretch, they are in good shape. This ranking assumes ups and downs during that stretch, understanding that a streak in either direction could impact their ranking by a handful of spots.
13) Minnesota Timberwolves
After being one of the top stories of the NBA last season, the Minnesota Timberwolves aren’t in as good of a spot as they were last season. The defeats have come in bunches (four losing streaks of at least three games), and the Julius Randle (currently battling a groin injury) fit isn’t what this team had hoped.
Anthony Edwards’ average shot distancing away from the rim has led to efficiency in terms of his shooting percentage, but at what cost? It eliminates, at some level, the pressure he puts on the rim and thus the looks his teammates get. Ant-Man is capable of putting the team on his back at any moment, but the playoff stability scares me with his assist-to-turnover rate dropping off a cliff.
This team is far from perfect, but by hanging with the Thunder on consecutive nights in late February, the ceiling remains enticing. If Randle and Donte DiVincenzo can live up to their preseason expectations, this team is plenty capable of busting the West bracket this summer.
14) Los Angeles Clippers
I’d love to give you hard-hitting analysis on this team, but it really isn’t complicated.
When at full go, they can outscore the Grizzlies 74-45 over two quarters, and when not, they can trail for all 48 minutes against the Pacers.
Asking this team to do more than compete hard for a single playoff series isn’t realistic given everything we’ve seen from this version of this roster. A losing road record this year further makes it difficult to pencil in the Clips for the type of upside that their raw talent suggests is obtainable.
15) Atlanta Hawks
If you’re buying stock in teams, the Atlanta Hawks rank higher than this, but this is a short-term snapshot, and the fact of the matter is that this team still needs some refining before they are feared by the playoff staples in the East.
Jalen Johnson’s (torn labrum) fourth season ending after 36 games hurts their ability to make any noise this season, though it can’t be forgotten that his 18.9 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists will be counted on heavily next season.
Dyson Daniels has proven to be a tremendous acquisition this offseason (he already has more points this season than he did in two with the Pelicans), as he adds offensive potential with defensive playmaking. If Zaccharie Risacher can maintain some of the sparks we’ve seen (he lit up the Cavaliers on Jan. 30 for 30 points on 11-of-14 shooting), this season will be labeled a success for Atlanta, no matter what the final record is.
16) Orlando Magic
I use a statistical résumé to build out these tiers, and early season injuries to seemingly every impactful player on this team result in the uninspiring number next to their name, but is this team at full strength any different than the squad that won 47 games a season ago?
My instinct remains “no”, but they are running out of time to prove it. In a series setting, this is the type of team I’d want no part of if Jalen Suggs is healthy. Of course, we haven’t seen that in a while, but if they are at full strength, talk shows will wonder aloud if this team can pull off a big upset in a playoff series.
Book it.
17) Dallas Mavericks
Kyrie Irving is embracing the heavy usage that has been put in front of him following the Anthony Davis injury and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that some wins have come as a result.
He’s a special player that is plenty capable of taking over in this star driven sport, but asking him to do it for extended stretches is a lot and I worry that we could be trending toward that both down the stretch of this season and into next.
Davis has never been the picture of health and this recent surge has their upcoming draft pick declining. I like the idea of a Jason Kidd led team having a star point guard, but the depth of this roster is something that needs to be addressed this offseason.
18) Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings were a top-10 assist-to-turnover team before trading Fox and now are a team with plenty of questions.
I like Domantas Sabonis as much as anyone, but Sacramento will need him to be something similar to what Jokić is for Denver, and that feels a bit aggressive, even with them hovering around .500.
The stars on this roster garner most of the attention and that’s plenty logical, but I’ll have my eye on the continued three-and-D prowess of Keon Ellis — pieces like that are the ones that playoff teams amplify and if this roster build is going to work out, the third year player out of Alabama will play a factor.
19) Phoenix Suns
Good teams are worth more as a sum of their parts than they are individually — this isn’t a good team.
They have talent, don’t get me wrong, but the pieces don’t appear to be a good fit and with the high-end star power on this roster, I’m not sure how much mobility this franchise has as currently constructed.
Of course, there are the Kevin Durant trade reports and we can get into that when/if it happens this summer, but there’s simply no responsible way to label this as anything other than average (at best) for the remainder of this campaign.
20) Miami Heat
It would appear that Butler is winning this breakup, but at least the younger pieces on this roster are getting drama free development time, something that could pay dividends as early as next season.
Kel’el Ware (15th overall pick this past summer) looks like the real deal (12 points and 12 rebounds against a healthy version of the Bucks at the end of February was impressive), but this franchise needs to figure out, after Ware, Tyler Herro, and Bam Adebayo, who is a part of the future.
Davion Mitchell has my attention and could well hold the key to this rebuild of sorts in South Beach.
21) Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are a team that embraces variance by way of volume from downtown and while I like the focus on math, they simply need more talent if they are going to be even an average team.
Is Josh Giddey a long-term answer? What have we learned about 11th overall pick Matas Buzelis? What does Nikola Vucevic’s future hold?
We have more questions than answers at this point and after a poor February, I don’t see this season ending in an optimistic fashion.
22) Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers have been streaky this season and that’s all you can ask for when it comes to a young team that had no realistic expectations of playing playoff basketball this year.
We’ve seen this team compete with playoff level competition on a semi-regular basis, something we can expect to see more of as this roster develops. There are a handful of teams in this range of the rankings that I like more over the next 365 days, but if we are zooming out for the next five seasons, this fanbase can operate with optimism.
23) San Antonio Spurs
I don’t care what anyone says — the move of the deadline with the greatest long-term impact was the San Antonio Spurs dealing for De’Aaron Fox. I made my feelings known the night of the deal with my “The Spurs Just Recreated a Past NBA Juggernaut” piece and truly believe this team is a legitimate threat to win the West.
With Victor Wembanyama, whenever that is.
Obviously his health is first-and-foremost. This is a serious situation and it’s irresponsible to try to project much moving forward. With a full version of Wemby and De’Aaron Fox, this team can do battle with anyone, but it’s become clear that, without their star duo intact, this is a below average team.
This clunky end to the season could end up being a net positive if it results in the fringe pieces developing in an accelerated manner — I’ll be watching this team closer than any other squad in this range of the rankings.
24) Brooklyn Nets
If you have a lot of sporadic young pieces, do you really have any?
The Nets looked good for the month of February, but the lack of any consistent player development is concerning. Day’Ron Sharpe dominated the Thunder (25 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, three blocks, and two steals) and helped Brooklyn push them to the brink not long ago, but that performance came on the heels of not playing more than 20 minutes for the month prior.
I don’t know what this team has access to talent wise because they don’t know. The individual pieces on this roster can be interesting, but as a collective, this franchise seems to be a ways away from connecting the dots.
25) Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors were never thought to be a serious threat this season (just ask Jakob Poeltl) despite having some interesting pieces in place, and that has proven to be accurate. They’ve competed hard over the past month behind strong play from Scottie Barnes, and that is at least encouraging for #WeTheNorth — his shooting stroke needs work, but his versatility is at the level where he can/should be labeled a major part of this rebuild.
With the play-in tournament likely out of the question, not to mention not a priority, we could see a repeat of last season down the stretch (2-19 in their 21 games coming home) to accelerate their roster reconstruction.
The acquisition of Brandon Ingram gives them two long-term assets on the wing, a spot on the court that is becoming more and more important with each passing season. Immanuel Quickley signed on for the rebuild this summer — this team might be closer to that third tier of Eastern Conference team than their record suggests.
26) Charlotte Hornets
From January 6 through February 21, the Hornets weren’t very good, not glaringly different than any other point this season. They dropped 13 of 20 games over that stretch and their levels of competitive fire were limited.
But … in those 13 losses, they were outscored by 129 points. A team, with no motivation to win, went six weeks with ALL of their losses combined resulting in a -129 point differential.
They lost three games over the next four days by 131 points.
If you’re wondering, yes, that was an NBA record. LaMelo Ball gives this team long-term offensive upside and them being forced to hold onto Mark Williams could be the start of something. That duo with some of the surrounding pieces makes this a playoff team if they were to run hot at the perfect time and earn the rights to Duke’s Cooper Flagg.
27) Philadelphia 76ers
Is it wrong that I feel like the Philadelphia 76ers overachieved in February?
They won one game.
The Joel Embiid story is turning into a tragedy rather quickly, both for him and for the roster that was built around him being available more often than full moons.
Paul George quit podcasting to focus on winning — the jokes write themselves for this team and it appears that, as constructed, this is a talented mess that amounts to very little in terms of winning over the course of an entire season.
From a discussion point of view, this team will be most fun to cover once the season concludes.
28) New Orleans Pelicans
This can be a fun team when Trey Murphy III is making shots and Zion Williamson is fully healthy (27 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists against the Suns on February 27), but this team isn’t going anywhere fast.
Those two building blocks put them in position to improve by 10+ wins should they land an instant impact rookie in June, but this backcourt needs to be ironed out before they are taken seriously.
29) Utah Jazz
Entering March, this team has played 59 games as has two win streaks.
Two.
Not “extended” win streaks. Two win streaks in the most basic definition of “streak”. Utah is going to see their win total decline for a fourth straight season without any clear way to elevate out of this bottom tier.
Keyonte George impressed as a rookie and has been better in Year 2, giving this franchise hope for the future of their backcourt. There’s some young talent on this roster and they’ll add to it this offseason, but until they have any success inside of the conference or exploiting a homecourt advantage, this squad is going to have a difficult time being competitive in any sort of meaningful way.
30) Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards opened February with three straight wins and, less than a week into the shortest month of the year, that assured this franchise of their winningest month up to this point in the season.
This is the team that most needs Flagg and they appear fully committed to maxing out their ping pong ball count. As good as the kid is, this is the only team in the NBA that I’m not sure a single player elevates in a meaningful way immediately.
They are very likely to lead the league in losses this season, but their worst L of the season could come at the lottery if they don’t get the first selection.
