It's an NBA Power Rankings Tuesday

For the last time this season!

This tradition started last season.

One final and full assemblage of Power Rankings from The Committee (of One) to be published on the Tuesday after the regular season ends.

The purpose is twofold:

1. Make sure we memorialize the season for all 30 teams one last time … including the 10 that failed to advance to any part of the NBA's postseason and the fan bases that already miss those teams.

2. Spice up the first night of Play-In Tournament games.

Another crazy day in Dallas in the wake of the Luka Dončić trade sadly kept me from publishing these rankings in the afternoon like I had hoped, well before the Orlando Magic's Play-In victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks, but The Commitee finally got them to the finish line now that the journey to a record-setting seventh NBA champion in a span of seven seasons — or back-to-back titles for the Boston Celtics — is indeed underway.

My overall mission, adhering to a monthly(-ish) rankings cadence rather than weekly like in my ESPN days since moving to this platform, remains unchanged: Establish a 1-to-30 order (at least somewhat) independent of the standings that measures big-picture potential and expectations alongside short-term results. Injuries and other off-court developments, positive and negative, are factored in as well … with some sprinkles of Committee whim mixed in.

You are asked, as always, to register your questions, quibbles or any other pertinent thoughts in the comments section below so we can respond and expound upon our thinking. And remember: Rankings posts are incredibly long. Just click on the main headline to get the web or app version instantly if it proves too unwieldy to consume as an email.

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1️⃣ Oklahoma City Thunder

#thisleague is predictable ... but consistent. The Thunder assembled a regular-season resume that has everything apart from a win total that starts with a 7. Best average point differential in league history (+12.9). A larger lead over the West's No. 2 seed (16 games) than the eventual champs from Boston in last season's East (14). And a 29-1 record against this season's East. They're all absolutely glittering credentials, yet some will inevitably doubt the Thunder and question whether they can go all the way until they do. Because that's the law in #thisleague.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 1

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2️⃣ Cleveland Cavaliers

Such a gem from the scribe known as The Machine: ESPN's Kevin Pelton. Leave it to Pelton to point out that Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell, at 28.1 points per game in the postseason, is the league's No. 7 all-time scorer in the playoffs. The only six players ahead of him — Michael Jordan, Luka Dončić, Allen Iverson, Kevin Durant, Jerry West and LeBron James — have all reached the NBA Finals at least once. Mitchell? He's yet to get past Round 2. So all that same stuff just said by The Committee about the Thunder likely applies to the Cavaliers as well even after their first 60-win season in franchise without James. They will be questioned in some (many?) corners until they do it on the playoff stage.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 2

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3️⃣ Boston Celtics

So often we talk about the Celtics trying to become the NBA's first repeat champions since Golden State in 2016-17 and 2017-18. Can you believe it's been nearly 60 years since Boston itself went back-to-back in 1967-68 and 1968-69 in Bill Russell's final two seasons as player-coach? As sharp as the Celts looked in March when they went 14-1, it is natural to wonder about the state of Jaylen Brown's right knee and a presumably tougher playoff path this spring and what all that means for the defending champs' chances for a second consecutive crown.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 3

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4️⃣ Houston Rockets

I know I bring this up all the time, but I can't help it. I love Strat-O-Matic that much and delight in reminding you that, back in October, my S-O-M pals predicted that the Rockets would have the best record of any Texas team when I asked them to run a computer simulation of the season ahead. This is not to say that S-O-M also predicted Houston's precise record or that the Mavericks would trade away Dončić — because they certainly didn't — but they were ahead of the curve on what the Rockets were capable of with their defense and athleticism and depth. A first-round series with the experienced Warriors would be like going to Playoffs University for Houston … especially given its supposed lack of a proven bucket-getter at crunch time. As riveting a Round 1 matchup as we could see.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 8

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5️⃣ LA Clippers

Fourteen consecutive playoff berths as a franchise. Sixteen consecutive trips to the playoffs in 16 NBA seasons (and with five different teams) for James Harden. Plus Kawhi Leonard looks more like his true Kawhi self than we've seen for some time; Leonard even played both ends of a recent back-to-back sweep of Dallas at home in a baseball series and has averaged 25.0 PPG on 51/44/81 shooting splits since the All-Star break. The Clips let Paul George go to Philadelphia in free agency without compensation and more than survived. They became the defense-first team that no one wants to play right now with much more to be impressive with beyond their fancy new Intuit Dome. And if Leonard can actually go start-to-finish in a playoff series for the first time since Round 1 in 2021 …

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 13

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6️⃣ Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers' success in pulling off the trade heist of Dončić from Dallas — with LeBron James in the midst of his 22nd NBA season at age 40 and with his son Bronny on the roster, too — left little time or oxygen to devote to tracking JJ Redick's introduction to coaching. Which is probably unfair to Redick, who merely delivered a 50-win season as a bench rookie. The various glimpses of Dan Hurley caught by The Committee this season would suggest that maybe, just maybe, Hurley doesn't quite have the temperament to coach in the NBA. How fortunate were the Lakers to land their second choice instead?

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 7

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7️⃣ Minnesota Timberwolves

Man. The Wolves had to finish 17-4 just to lock up the No. 6 seed in what turned out to be the wild and rugged West. It can be argued, crazily enough, that a spot in the Play-In round and a potential first-round matchup with the inexperienced Rockets might have led to the more appealing first-round matchup for Minnesota. Just keep this in mind: There are only four teams leaguewide that finished in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency and the Wolves, for all their supposed shortcomings after abruptly trading away Karl-Anthony Towns on the doorstep of training camp, are one of them. The other three are the 60-win teams: Oklahoma City, Cleveland and Boston.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 9

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8️⃣ Indiana Pacers

The Pacers are 34-14 in 2025. The only three teams with better records since the calendar flipped: Oklahoma City (41-9), Boston (37-12) and Cleveland (35-14). Among the key factors: Tyrese Haliburton is setting the pace by playing his best basketball this season after the All-Star break. Haliburton's numbers since: 20.6 points and 11.0 assists per game while shooting 43.9% from deep. Can't say we get the sense that many are projecting another run to the conference finals for the Pacers, but Indy/Milwaukee should be a delicious first-round matchup.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 10

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9️⃣ Denver Nuggets

The NBA's last MVP to overcome the in-season firing of his coach to win the league's top individual honor: St. Louis' Bob Pettit way back in 1959. If Nikola Jokić were to join Pettit on that short list, mind you, The Committee would argue that he definitely deserves it. All he's done is average a triple-double for the first time and drag the Nuggets to 50 wins despite turmoil everywhere Jokić looked. An NBA coach, after all, has never by fired by a team with a winning record later in a season than Denver's Michael Malone, who was dismissed with just three games to go and replaced by the suddenly 3-0 David Adelman.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 4

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🔟 New York Knicks

When you think about it now, Minnesota trading away Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks on the weekend before training camp — after the Timberwolves' most successful season in 20 years — pretty much set the tone for this circus of a surprise-filled season. How the 51-win Knicks fare in the postseason will naturally depend heavily on Jalen Brunson's health but also on how KAT delivers under Gotham's famed media microscope in the playoffs. The worrying sign everyone sees: Ten of the Knicks' 31 losses were inflicted by Oklahoma City, Cleveland and Boston. The Knicks, yes, really went 0-10 against the league's three 60-win teams.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 6

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1️⃣1️⃣ Golden State Warriors

You've surely heard the history recital by now: Golden State had never won a Play-In game entering Tuesday night's date with visiting Memphis. Dare we say this is the Warriors' time. Losses last week to the Spurs and Clippers were crushing, but they are otherwise 23-5 since the Jimmy Butler trade … or roughly twice as impressive as they were during a 12-3 start. The Committee fully expects the Dubs to handle the reeling Grizz and move to 1-3 in their Play-In Tournament history before proceeding to a fascinating Round 1 date with the Rockets.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 11

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1️⃣2️⃣ Milwaukee Bucks

Legitimate question: Would you have remembered that the Bucks won the NBA Cup in December if we hadn't brought it up here? The Committee declines comment on that one. While ultimately getting to 47-35 isn't terrible if you also remember Milwaukee's 2-8 start, there are considerable concerns heading into the playoffs and a challenging first-round matchup with the surging Pacers. Two primary worries: Uncertainty about Damian Lillard's availability and a stunning 0-10 record this season against Cleveland, Boston and New York.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 12

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1️⃣3️⃣ Detroit Pistons

The best story in basketball ... NBA division. The Pistons tripled their win total from 14 to 42, as predicted by pretty much no one coming into the season, to thrust Cade Cunningham into All-NBA contention on top of his maiden All-Star appearance ... while J.B. Bickerstaff looms as the foremost threat to preventing the coach who replaced him in Cleveland (Kenny Atkinson) from winning Coach of the Year honors. The Committee does not expect Detroit to upset New York and win its first playoff series since 2008. That said: Who expected anything we've seen from the Pistons so far?

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 14

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1️⃣4️⃣ Memphis Grizzlies

The Committee was more than a bit unsure about the Grizzlies and interim coach Tuomas Iisalo and their chances in the Play-In Tournament. Too many teams, for starters, seemingly want to play the Grizz these days. Far more worrisome: Memphis is 1-14 in its past 15 games against teams with winning records. Also factual: Even if the Grizzlies were to get through the Golden State game or a Friday date with the 9 vs. 10 winner, how much Ja Morant can they count on? The six games in a row he appeared in from March 6-14 this season was his longest stretch of consecutive games played since a nine-game run in March 2023.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 5

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1️⃣5️⃣ Orlando Magic

In the West? Forty-eight wins got you the seventh seed. Or the eighth seed in Memphis' case. In the East? At 41-41, Orlando still had enough juice to win the Southeast Division title, which was an NBA first since the merger: No team, since the 1976-77 season, had ever won its division without a winning record before this Magic team. It also earned Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Co. a home date with Atlanta in the Play-In round after this was Team Torn Oblique in the season's first half. Getting past the Hawks, of course, will now pit the league's worst 3-point shooting team (31.8%) against the Celts (who took a league-leading 48.2 3s per game this season) in Round 1.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 17

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1️⃣6️⃣ Atlanta Hawks

When the Hawks visited Orlando on Tuesday night in a 7 vs. 8 Play-In game, they tied the Pelicans for the most Play-In Tournament games (five) in league history. Although it was Atlanta's second straight sub-.500 season, in the team's fourth season overall since Trae Young unexpectedly led the Hawks to a conference finals berth, don't forget that they A) did make it all the way to the NBA Cup semifinals and B) only had promising swingman Jalen Johnson healthy for 36 games.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 19

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1️⃣7️⃣ Sacramento Kings

At 13-30 against .500-or-better teams, Sacramento was worse against quality opposition this season than any top-10 team in either conference ... apart from 12-30 Miami. Of far greater consequence: The Kings find themselves trying to rebound now from their decision to trade Tyrese Haliburton rather than De'Aaron Fox ... after failing to draft Dončić in part because Fox was already on the roster ... and then having neither Haliburton nor Dončić — nor Fox — after the latter forced a trade to San Antonio in February. Beating visiting Dallas on Wednesday night in a 9 vs. 10 Play-In Tournament game, in other words, can only bring so much joy to Sactown.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 15

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1️⃣8️⃣ Dallas Mavericks

The Committee, for more than two months, has written and talked about little else apart from the stunning Feb. 2 trade that turned Lakerland into Lukaland. And we still struggle — daily — to process it … and that's before we even get to all the injuries and chaos since. The Mavericks spent six years trying to build the optimum roster around Dončić, saw their preferred lineup together in just 14 games this season — with a +23.5 net rating over 119 minutes when Dončić played alongside Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington and Dereck Lively II — and then decided to trade No. 77 in the middle of the season (and the middle of the night) when he was not asking out. No. Words. Still.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 16

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1️⃣9️⃣ Chicago Bulls

The Bulls were stuck in the East's No. 10 slot for so long that we had actually begun referring to them as the Intract-a-Bulls. Then they actually moved up in the standings rather than down, fueled by the new backcourt pairing of Coby White and Josh Giddey and an All-Star-worthy season from Nikola Vučević, to finish ninth in the East and earn the right to host Miami in a Play-In game. Does a 3-0 mark against the Heat in the regular season matter much now? Ask us Thursday morning.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 23

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2️⃣0️⃣ Portland Trail Blazers

Maybe a 23-18 second half doesn't sound like much. Yet it clearly was significant in the Pacific Northwest, leading to contract extensions both for GM Joe Cronin and Chauncey Billups, who has absorbed a lot of losses (he's 117-211 overall as Blazers coach) in trying to steer this franchise through its post-Damian Lillard rebuild. Committee fave Deni Avdija had a breakout season, as did Toumani Camara, while Shaedon Sharpe and even Scoot Henderson showed flashes, too. Time will tell whether the Blazers got too excited about a good half-season that was really built upon a three-week stretch before the trade deadline when they went 10-1, but there is some fresh hope here.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 18

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2️⃣1️⃣ Miami Heat

The Heat were a costly 3-11 in one-possession games during the regular season. Only 68-win Oklahoma City, amazingly, had a lower success rate by percentage in games decided by three points of fewer (1-4), contributing mightily to Miami's plight: 10th in the East and desperately needing two wins this week just to make the Eastern Conference playoffs and avoid sending unprotected first-round picks to Oklahoma City (2026) and Charlotte (2028). South Beach life without Jimmy Butler, at 8-21 since the trade deadline, hasn't been so sunny.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 21

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2️⃣2️⃣ San Antonio Spurs

Victor Wembanyama led the league in blocked shots even though he only managed to appear in 46 games and became an All-Star. Chris Paul, at age 39, somehow played in and even started all 82 games. And the Spurs, just like last season, played spoiler during the final week of the season to dramatic effect, helping consign Golden State to the Play-In Tournament via a Harrison Barnes buzzer-beater after San Antonio messed up Denver's seeding as defending champions late last season. The various highs, however, can't camouflage what a difficult season it actually was: From the stroke legendary coach Gregg Popovich sustained in early November that has kept him off the bench ever since … to Wemby's scary Deep Vein Thrombosis diagnosis in February that ended his second season prematurely. The Spurs would naturally prefer to focus on their blockbuster trade for De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle's Rookie of the Year bid. Not so easy given how daunting the health scares were. Nor when Wemby and Fox (who played in just 17 games himself post-trade) managed to appear in just five games together for a total of 120 minutes.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 20

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2️⃣3️⃣ Toronto Raptors

The Raptors, by virtue of a 22-21 mark in their final 43 games, look a lot like the East's answer to Portland this season. The difference: Toronto isn't moving as deliberately as the Trail Blazers ... as witnessed at the trade deadline when Canada's Team acquired Brandon Ingram from New Orleans. Ingram never played a second for the Raptors, missing the rest of the season after an ankle injury with the Pelicans sidelined him Dec. 7, but they continued to do things their way in their 30th anniversary season. The Raps traded for Jakob Poeltl at the 2023 trade deadline when widely billed as a team expected to ship out veterans and then traded for Ingram now in part because they knew they wouldn't have a shot at a player of his caliber in free agency. Interesting approach north of the border.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 25

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2️⃣4️⃣ Phoenix Suns

Suns owner Mat Ishbia is expected to hold an end-of-season press conference Thursday. The Committee feels safe in predicting that, after Phoenix went 3-17 in games Kevin Durant missed and failed to even advance to the Play-In Tournament, will not repeat his proclamation from last May that 26 of the league's other 29 teams "would trade their whole team for our whole team, our draft picks and everything as is." It wasn't true then and it is decidedly less true now. Ditto for Ishbia's insistence in the wake of the Frank Vogel firing that "the house is not on fire" and that the Suns were "in a great position" and that "it's not hard to fix." He has spent nearly $700 million in salary and luxury tax alone over the past two seasons for one first-round appearance and a 36-46 nightmare. Figuring out what they do next — Durant trade? Bradley Beal buyout? Any other suggestions? — has the entire league curious.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 22

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2️⃣5️⃣ Philadelphia 76ers

The role that injuries played in Philly's demise this season probably helped the 76ers dodge Most Disappointing Team status. That unwanted distinction realistically goes to Phoenix ... barely. The Sixers, though, went from near-unanimous champions of the offseason, after signing Paul George away from the Clippers and then re-signing Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, to posting the first losing record in Daryl Morey's 17 seasons as a lead decision-maker. Embiid, George and Maxey played in only 14 games together (7-7) and even promising draft steal Jared McCain succumbed to the injury plague to cost him a shot at Rookie of the Year. After successfully tanking their way to a 24-58 finish that the Sixers hope will enable them to retain their top-six-protected top draft choice ... can you imagine if the pick falls out of the top six and they have to surrender it to Oklahoma City? Just one of the many questions that the Sixers are forced to confront. A list that obviously starts with what sort of bounce-back seasons they can truly expect from Embiid and George when they turn 32 and 36 next season.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 24

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2️⃣6️⃣ Brooklyn Nets

The Nets are poised in June to make their first lottery pick since (checks notes) Derrick Favors at No. 3 in the 2010 NBA Draft. They also have first-round picks en route from Houston, Milwaukee and New York, possess more than $40 million in projected salary cap space and boast a player highly coveted externally in trades: Sharpshooting swingman Cam Johnson. So expect to hear more about Brooklyn during the offseason than you did during the season. To be fair, though, first-year coach Jordi Fernández earned a decent amount of plaudits for his work given that he was piloting a 26-win team. And the Nets were pretty newsy in December when they dealt Dennis Schröder (Warriors) and Dorian Finney-Smith (Lakers) to contenders.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 26

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2️⃣7️⃣ New Orleans Pelicans

As David Griffin's replacement in charge of Pelicans basketball operations, Joe Dumars returns to the front office world for the first time since a three-season advisory/strategic role in Sacramento (2019-20 through 2021-22) with a fair amount to work with. Good health has been the painfully elusive problem for the Pels. Talent, though, is pretty plentiful: Think of the on-the-rise players on the roster — Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones and Yves Missi — before you even consider the Zion Williamson conundrum. This season, of course, Williamson logged zero seconds with both Dejounte Murray and (the since-traded) Brandon Ingram flanking him on the floor on the same time. The Committee can't forget encountering the Pelicans in Dallas during the season's first half and seeing staffer after team staffer just shaking the heads at the seemingly impossible length of their injury list starting with Murray's broken hand on Opening Night.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 28

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2️⃣8️⃣ Washington Wizards

The Committee fully expected Washington to go wire-to-wire this season in the No. 30 slot. Yet we simply couldn't keep the Wizards banished in the basement once you remembered that, despite multiple 16-game losing streaks, they went 4-0 this season against the Hornets. Also: Despite that unsightly average per-game scoring margin of -12.4, Washington went an almost passable 8-14 in March and April. The Wiz also became a bit more interesting when they absorbed the contracts of vets Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart at the trade deadline to pick up some extra draft assets. They were actually 5-4 when both Middleton and Smart played.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 30

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2️⃣9️⃣ Charlotte Hornets

The Hornets were 16-31 when LaMelo Ball played and 3-32 without him. Yet the far more worrisome stat, beyond the wins and losses, is the fact that Ball has been healthy enough to play in just 105 games over the past three seasons. New Orleans' Zion Williamson, by comparison, has played in 129. The Hornets have the league's longest active playoff drought at nine seasons and counting and, in a very related story, have scarcely managed to get Ball, Brandon Miller and (briefly traded to the Lakers) big man Mark Williams on the court together. Yet another illustration of the Hornets' availability issues: Williams 44 games this season represented a career-high.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 29

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3️⃣0️⃣ Utah Jazz

After two nearly identical seasons under Will Hardy, with the Jazz starting 26-26 both times before steadily fading into lottery territory, this was a season unlike any other in franchise history. The Jazz were a 60-loss team for the very first time and, as a result, have the highest possible shot (14%) at the No. 1 overall pick in the May lottery that could lead to the drafting of Duke's Cooper Flagg. The Committee nonetheless remains endlessly fascinated by Lauri Markkanen's situation. The Finn and former All-Star played in just 47 games this season after signing a $220 million contract extension and becomes tradeable anew this offseason. What is the state of his patience level? Markkanen, remember, still hasn't appeared in an NBA playoff game after eight seasons.

Last ranking (Feb. 20): 27