NBA Power Rankings: Lakers Good Vibes, Jalen Duren & More

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Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers

Media day has come and gone in the league, and it did have an impact no the NBA power rankings. There’s certainly reason to be worried about the Detroit Pistons, whose star big man and All-NBA restricted free agent Jalen Duren is pushing things to the brink, not showing up for the intro press conferences and apparently willing to go to Thursday’s deadline for a decision on a contract.

Out West, the Lakers all rallied around Luka Doncic, whose Slovenia trip–just about all Lakers attended–continued to be the talk of the team. There are holes in that lineup, but we’re still bumping them into the Top 10 because of what should be a high-powered offense. There was also a massive disappointment for LA’s other team, as the Clippers are dealing with injuries to Brandon Ingram and Bradley Beal, already.

It happened, too in Golden State where the Warriors saw Kristaps Porzingis’ frustrating injury protocol get underway early–he is already out to start training camp, again with a mystery ailment that we keep being told is not an issue anymore. Alas.

In the East, LeBron James explained why he almost signed with the Knicks, and those same Knicks explained why their pending contract issues won’t affect the team. Busy day, indeed. But with camp now underway in earnest, let’s rank these teams.

NBA Power Rankings Top 10: Thunder Still the Best

The Knicks were the NBA champs, and the Spurs won the West, but it is important to remember that the Thunder had a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals despite playing without the team’s second-best player, Jalen Williams. Maybe the Spurs would have won anyway, and maybe the Knicks could have taken down OKC.

And the Thunder had to dump three players–Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins–for financial reasons this summer.

Still, when healthy, the Thunder have the best roster in the league, and have championship credentials. Said one Western Conference coach: “The Spurs have great young players but no one is more complete than the Thunder.”

Team to watch: Sixers. Eastern Conference scout says, “Philadelphia is a great fantasy league team but I want to see how they make this work on the court. They’re going to talk about sacrifice a lot, and they might want to sacrifice. But doing it is a lot harder.

NBA Power Rankings: Pistons in the Spotlight

The most interesting teams in this bunch are probably the Pacers and Jazz, because both were intentionally terrible last season but stand to bounce back this year. It might be too early to count the Jazz as a legitimate playoff team in the  West, but it’s not hard to envision that unit coming together quickly.

Team to watch: Pistons. Eastern Conference scout: “I think they had holes coming into this season, and there are a lot of questions about whether they will come back to earth a little bit after last year. They added more shooting, but is it quality shooting? Do they have the ballhandling? And now the Jalen Duren stuff, it is complicated there.”

Down at 21-30 .. Bottom of the Barrel

There are a few feel-good stories form the 2025-26 season that might have a hard time repeating their accomplishments this year–namely the Suns and Blazers. Both outperformed expectations last year, but it is reasonable to expect a reversion to the mean here. Portland is hoping that Ja Morant can find his old self again, but there’s little to suggest that is possible.

Team to watch: Grizzlies. Western Conference scout says, “They are a point guard away. They loaded up on size, they are just going to hammer you with big guys. I love what Cam Boozer brings, they got some toughness with (Quinten) Post and (Isaiah) Stewart. You’ve still got (Zach) Edey. They just need that point guard to tie it all together. I thought they should have tried to get that in the draft, but they made size their priority.”