30. Washington Wizards (3-21)
Previous Week Ranking: 30th
Is there anything that the Wizards do that you think is cool on a basketball floor? Surprisingly, yes. Jordan Poole’s new celebration “Drowning in the Poole” is elite. That is where the list starts and ends, but in terms of basketball cellys that is in the running for best of the year.

29. New Orleans Pelicans (5-22)
Previous Week Ranking: 29th
The Pelicans are truly giving the Wizards a run for their money in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. They are on a four-game losing streak and have lost 13 of their last 14 games. New Orleans’ only win came against a Durant-less Suns team which is to say a bad team in its’ own right.

28. Utah Jazz (5-19)
Previous Week Ranking: 28th
Danny Ainge might be playing the super long game in Utah. The number one recruit in the 2025 basketball class shockingly chose to play at BYU next year. It may not be that shocking in the new NIL environment, but reportedly Danny Ainge, Jazz GM, and Ryan Smith, Jazz owner, provided the BYU program with millions to get AJ Dybantsa. Not sure that will help with his NBA destination, but game recognizes game.

27. Charlotte Hornets (7-18)
Previous Week Ranking: 26th
Rumor is that LaMelo Ball will be back in the Hornets lineup tonight. The Hornets are not a winning basketball organization, but without Ball, they went 1-6, which is worse than their usual bad. Against a depleted Sixers team, Charlotte may be able to kick off the week with a win.

26. Portland Trailblazers (8-18)
Previous Week Ranking: 25th
The Trailblazers are holding the league’s longest losing streak, which currently sits at 6 straight. Portland may have the worst loss of the year for the entire NBA during this streak which is a 42-point loss to the Utah Jazz. Utah is not trying to win games and to lose to a team like that by 40+ while failing to score 100 points is beyond embarrassing.

25. Toronto Raptors (7-19)
Previous Week Ranking: 27th
Toronto received tough news this week, and it has nothing to do with Drake’s soft legal case against Kendrick. Scottie Barnes, arguably the team’s best player, tweaked his right ankle and is expected to miss substantial time. Barnes becomes yet another NBA team’s headline player to miss time which Adam Silver must be hating.

24. Philadelphia 76ers (7-16)
Previous Week Ranking: 24th
Philly played one game this week yet they lost so much more than just the one game. Joel Embiid suffered a sinus fracture when elbowed in the face during the Pacers game and then Jared “TikTok” McCain suffered a torn meniscus. Just when you think it really could not get worse for the Sixers, somehow it does. This all feels like a cruel joke and some sort of punishment for the franchise, maybe due to the whole Process thing.

23. Detroit Pistons (10-16)
Previous Week Ranking: 21st
For Sixers fans, the big news coming out of the Motor City is that BBall Paul has been waived by the Pistons. If Philly wants to sign some frontcourt depth with Joel never playing they could always bring back Paul Reed. They probably wish they could have another Piston back (ahem Tobias).

22. Brooklyn Nets (10-15)
Previous Week Ranking: 20th
Brooklyn made some waves in the NBA this week, trading Dennis Schroder to the Golden State Warriors. It was known the Nets would be sellers before the trade deadline, but they have started their offloading early. Schroder and Cam Thomas have been winning more games than the Nets would like to, so expect Cam to be the next man out of Brooklyn, and sooner rather than later.

21. Chicago Bulls (11-15)
Previous Week Ranking: 22nd
If you read The Rankings last season, the theme for the Bulls was that they were stubbornly in no man’s land and were content doing nothing about it. That trend continues again this season as they are clearly not a serious playoff contender yet they have enough talent to not pick high in the draft. After multiple seasons of this, Chicago must pick a direction to go.

20. Indiana Pacers (12-15)
Previous Week Ranking: 23rd
The cliche football coach saying is “Let’s go 1-0″ this week” regardless of the team’s record. Well the Pacers went 2-0 this week, although I dare you to guess the team’s two opponents. Indiana beat Philadelphia and New Orleans, two teams so decimated by injury, they have both appeared shells of NBA quality teams at times.

19. Sacramento Kings (13-13)
Previous Week Ranking: 19th
Sacramento, like Indiana, was a team that got to beat up on the G-League Pelicans this week. They did not really beat up on them though as it took a 32-point, 20-rebound effort by Damontis Sabonis for the Kings to eke out a 2-point victory. You can only play bad teams so long before your flaws start to get exposed and the Kings have serious flaws.

18. San Antonio Spurs (13-13)
Previous Week Ranking: 18th
New jersey, same Chris Paul. CP3 showed his fiery side directed at officials for the first time in San Antonio. He got ejected in the first quarter of the Spurs’ game against the Trailblazers with two techs in less than 90 seconds of gameplay. Who can blame him though as that game was clearly the Tubi Game of the Night.

17. Los Angeles Lakers (14-12)
Previous Week Ranking: 14th
LeBron returned last night after missing two games and helped the Lakers defeat the Grizzlies, who were 9-1 in their previous 10 games. It can be argued that LA should be ranked higher than 17th, but LeBron will not have the ability to take a week off to reset in the playoffs. Their ceiling is high, but the consistency is what is questioned.

16. Atlanta Hawks (14-13)
Previous Week Ranking: 15th
Atlanta is still the dark horse team of The Rankings. Their record has hovered around .500 most of the season, but as referenced last week they have beaten many of the league’s best teams this year. The roster is constructed better around Trae Young than in any prior year and they are a first-round matchup that could be a problem for each and every team in the Eastern Conference.

15. Golden State Warriors (14-11)
Previous Week Ranking: 9th
The Warriors are in free fall having lost 8 of their last 10 games. The loss to the Houston Rockets in the quarterfinals of the Emirates Cup was particularly brutal. Steve Kerr’s unraveling is emblematic of the team’s struggles lately and their hot start may turn out to be the outlier as opposed to who this team really is.

14. Minnesota Timberwolves (14-11)
Previous Week Ranking: 16th
Following Ant’s rant, Minnesota has played with more aggressiveness and looks to have more continuity on the floor. Whether this is a long-term impetus or just a short-term reaction is yet to be seen. When Jimmy Butler did this a few years ago in Minnesota the team responded the other way seemingly imploding chemistry. It will all depend on the makeup of the locker room and the players on that roster.

13. Miami Heat (13-10)
Previous Week Ranking: 13th
This week in South Beach can be summarized as the preface to Jimmy Butler’s departure. Butler’s agent made it publicly known he would be open to being traded to the Warriors, Rockets, Suns, and Mavericks. He is not asking to be traded, just putting that information out into the public domain. If Butler remains in Miami beyond the February trade deadline, I would be stunned.

12. LA Clippers (14-12)
Previous Week Ranking: 10th
In the most subtle surprise of the year, the Clippers casually dropped that Kawhi Leonard may be making his season debut very soon. Kawhi has not played this season and he notably pulled out of the Olympics despite looking good in the USA training camp. If, not when, Kawhi does return, there will need to be a couple of weeks of games before we can determine the true potential of this Clippers team.

11. Phoenix Suns (14-11)
Previous Week Ranking: 17th
Phoenix made a relatively big jump in The Rankings this week, and I will give you one guess as to why that is. Exactly, Kevin Durant is in the lineup and put up 30 in his first game back. The Suns are unquestionably a top-10 and maybe top-5 team when Durant is healthy and we continue to see why. This team is built completely around him and it is noticeable.

10. Orlando Magic (17-11)
Previous Week Ranking: 7th
Isn’t it odd that Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner both suffered the same injury, a torn oblique? It almost seems fake. What is not fake is the effort the Magic are playing with even in the absence of their two best players. Jalen Suggs has taken an on-court leadership role and even though the Magic suffered two losses this week, both were within single digits and against top Eastern Conference teams.

9. Denver Nuggets (13-10)
Previous Week Ranking: 11th
When Denver won the NBA Championship, Jokic was the best player on the team, but Jamal Murray had some of the highlight playoff performances to help secure the title. His play this year has been very criticized, however, there seems to be more to his poor play than just a natural decline. If you go back to the Olympics, Murray played horribly which caused Canada to underperform even with SGA on the team. This leads me to believe Murray has been battling injury since the summer and continuing to play through whatever nagging issues he is having is not making things better. Whether injury or not, a few games off may do him and this team some good.

8. Milwaukee Bucks (14-11)
Previous Week Ranking: 12th
The hottest team in the league might just be the Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee started the year 1-6 and has been 13 and 4 since that point. Khris Middleton is back and providing balance to the Bucks’ defense while Giannis and Dame do Giannis and Dame things. This week they will play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Emirates Cup Final which is must watch TV.

7. New York Knicks (16-10)
Previous Week Ranking: 8th
It may seem a bit of a stretch to say Karl-Anthony Towns should be in the MVP discussion, but in reality it is not a stretch at all. KAT is leading the league in rebounds per game with an impressive career-high of 13.9. At the same time, he is shooting a career-high from three-point range at 43.9%. It is important to remember he is over 7 feet tall and on a new team this season.

6. Houston Rockets (17-9)
Previous Week Ranking: 6th
What team do the Rockets remind you of a few years ago? I think they are a young Boston Celtics. Now the Celtics are the reigning NBA Champions and Houston has not proven anything, but the way they are constructed is similar and I think it goes beyond having the Celtics’ former coach. Houston’s offense runs through up-and-coming wings who can create their own shot and are extremely athletic. Keep an eye on Houston.

5. Memphis Grizzlies (18-9)
Previous Week Ranking: 5th
Before the loss to the Lakers, the Grizzlies had won 4 straight games and 10 of 11. Included in that streak is a win over the Boston Celtics where Memphis was impressive from start to finish. Ja Morant has this team rolling and they look like they are having fun. Taylor Jenkins continue to prove he is the right coach to lead this team of young talent.

4. Dallas Mavericks (17-9)
Previous Week Ranking: 4th
If the Mavericks play like they did against the Warriors last night, they should be the favorite in the Western Conference. Luka was the best player on the court and Kyrie and Klay were more than just supporting cast members. When you take a step back and look at the fact that Kyrie still can be a first option for probably 25 teams in the NBA, this team is scary.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers (22-4)
Previous Week Ranking: 2nd
The Cavs still sit atop the NBA based on record. They are 22-4 and have won 7 of their last 10 games while maintaining their season-long double-digit winning margin. It is still not enough to get them to the top spot in The Rankings. Regardless of how good this team looks and how great of a coach Kenny Atkinson is, the class of the Conferences still belongs to OKC and Boston. Cleveland absolutely deserves to be in the discussion, but they fall just short here.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (20-5)
Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
It is scary to consider the Thunder look like they have not missed a step since Chet Holmgren was sidelined due to injury. That is the short-term concern for many of the Western Conference teams, but the long-term concern should be that the average age for the Thunder roster is 24 years old. This team is this good and they are still among the youngest. SGA plays well above his years and is the unquestionable leader of the West’s best team right now.

1. Boston Celtics (21-5)
Previous Week Ranking: 1st
Last year Boston had a stranglehold on the top spot in The Rankings for a large majority of the weeks and rode that all the way to the end of the season when they held the Larry O’Brien trophy. Will that be the case again this year? If you follow basketball even a little it seems probable. They have few if any glaring weaknesses and can beat you in so many different ways.