play0:45How Donovan Mitchell took the next step in his gameDonovan Mitchell details why the injuries to Max Strus and Darius Garland have forced him to increase his efficiency in all facets of his game.
play0:55Stephen A.: You have to pay attention to the Heat right nowStephen A. Smith weighs in on whether the Heat or the Magic are a bigger threat in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
Perk lays out his concern with the Knicks (1:18)Kendrick Perkins wants to see the Knicks utilize more post-ups on offense and believes they’re relying on jump shots too much. (1:18)
How Donovan Mitchell took the next step in his gameDonovan Mitchell details why the injuries to Max Strus and Darius Garland have forced him to increase his efficiency in all facets of his game.
Donovan Mitchell details why the injuries to Max Strus and Darius Garland have forced him to increase his efficiency in all facets of his game.
Stephen A.: You have to pay attention to the Heat right nowStephen A. Smith weighs in on whether the Heat or the Magic are a bigger threat in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
Stephen A. Smith weighs in on whether the Heat or the Magic are a bigger threat in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
It’s been more than a month since the 2025-26 season started, giving us an early idea of where teams stack up in their respective conferences.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, the defending NBA champions, are at the top of the Western Conference with a nearly perfect 16-1 record. Meanwhile, the Eastern Conference has seen the surprising rise of the Detroit Pistons, while teams expected to contend for the conference faced early struggles.
The season is still in its infancy, but early play is already revealing strengths and weaknesses. Our ESPN insiders took a look at teams with title aspirations in both conferences, answered the biggest question facing each team and weighed in on what each team needs to do to stay among the contenders. These teams were selected based on having at least a 1.5% chance of reaching the finals per BPI.
Jump to a team: ATL | BOS | CLE | DEN DET | GS | HOU | LAL MIA | MIN | NY |OKC ORL | PHI | SA | TOR
Surprisingly, since Young went down on Oct. 29, the Hawks have played the style head coach Quin Snyder preached during camp: moving the ball, drive and space, cutting, sharing the ball, defending and being competitive. Jalen Johnson has played like an emerging star and players are stepping up when others are out. Role players like Nickeil Alexander-Walker have been terrific as Atlanta has gone 9-4 without Young.
The team was trying to develop chemistry during the first five games Young played in with players like Kristaps Porzingis, Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard. Now, the Hawks have begun forming an identity in Young’s absence, and it will take time to develop cohesion when he returns. The good thing is Young is expected back after mid-December, and they have plenty of time to find their stride at full strength. This period without Young will only make the Hawks stronger. — Ohm Youngmisuk
How Donovan Mitchell took the next step in his game
The Cavs were the No.1 seed in the East last year in large part because of an elite offense that was the best in the NBA in efficiency. This year, Cleveland ranks outside the top 10 offenses, still solid, but far from the prolific offense that carried the team last season.
The Cavs are still launching 3s but making them at a much lower clip (35.1%) from their league-leading pace last year. They haven’t been able to generate as many shots at the rim or get in the paint as often, which has led to an offense with much less ball movement.
Donovan Mitchell has had to take on a greater share of the offense, averaging 20.3 field goal attempts per game, numbers more in line with his days in Utah than averages in Cleveland. The Cavs have had Darius Garland, their starting point guard, for only three games this season because of a toe injury. His addition to the rotation will certainly help, but the offense still has a few issues it can iron out without him to start flowing the way it was at its peak last season. — Jamal Collier
How will J.B. Bickerstaff incorporate all his returning players into a rotation that’s been rolling without them?
Bickerstaff played 12 when the game was in contention against Milwaukee. Can he keep that up and put enough shooting on the floor for a team that’s 21st in 3-point shooting? — Vincent C. Goodwill
Stephen A.: You have to pay attention to the Heat right now
Following in the footsteps of the 2024-25 Memphis Grizzlies, the Heat have overhauled their offensive approach. They don’t look like any other team in the NBA: Miami is setting just 15.4 picks per 100 possessions, per GeniusIQ; for context, the previous low for any team in any season in the tracking era (since 2013-14) was 37.9 picks by the 2018-19 76ers.
This unorthodox style has boosted Miami’s scoring — but only slightly. Stripping out garbage time, the Heat ranked 25th, 21st and 21st in offensive efficiency, and they’re up to 13th in 2025-26. Individual players like Norman Powell and Jaime Jaquez Jr. have taken to the new system with aplomb, but as a whole, the Heat are still only an average offensive team, which isn’t good enough to compete for a title when Miami is not a defensive juggernaut.
The impending return of Tyler Herro could help, if he’s able to slot seamlessly into the no-picks offense. (Herro led the Heat with 35 picks per 100 possessions last season.) Bam Adebayo has also missed nearly half of Miami’s games. So while the innovative system might get Miami part of the way to a top-tier offense, more star power appears necessary to complete that journey. — Zach Kram
It’ll be another week before Anunoby is evaluated for his hamstring injury, and given Anunoby’s injury history (playing 70-plus games only twice in eight seasons), it seems being cautious will be the smart play here. In the meantime, head coach Mike Brown has to find a way to unlock Karl-Anthony Towns. He doesn’t seem to fit in the offense so far, and the numbers bear it out. He’s shooting 10 percentage points below his career average and a career-low 31.7% from 3-point range.
It’s such a small sample size that perhaps it’s too early to panic, but it’s noticeable — especially with how the Knicks struggle defensively without Anunoby. On Saturday, Orlando feasted all over the floor, and the Knicks didn’t look good on defense when playing Towns and Mitchell Robinson together. New York is a middle-of-the-pack team on defense with one win on the road. It’s getting late a bit early in Gotham. — Goodwill
Surprisingly, it’s their depth. Toronto has five well-known, highly paid players, but the starting lineup they comprise has outscored opponents by only 5 points per 100 possessions — a decent but unspectacular showing. As expected, the skill sets of Toronto’s starters don’t make for a perfect fit.
The Nuggets profile as one of the biggest threats to the defending champion Thunder despite their biggest offseason addition dealing with an extended slump to start the season.
Steve Kerr has a statistic he has been continually tracking and citing recently. In 18 games, the Warriors are 8-1 when they win the turnover battle and 1-8 when they lose it. Kerr is of the belief that if the Warriors want to get back to the 23-8 version that sprinted to the playoffs following the Jimmy Butler III trade last February, the largest key is better ball security more consistently.
What’s more is that Durant has empowered teammates to find their individual roles. Sengun is transforming into a superstar offensive hub. Thompson is wreaking havoc from the dunker spot. Jabari Smith Jr. is hitting a career-high 39.5% from 3-point range, while Reed Sheppard continues to prove he’s the long-range marksman everyone expected, connecting on 48.8% from range.
Houston’s bigs need to stay healthy to maintain the team’s rebounding dominance. Houston has reeled off two 5-game winning streaks, and it has scored 20-plus second-chance points in an NBA-best eight games, according to ESPN Research. Essentially, the Rockets have bullied their way to the league’s best offense, and that style should be effective in the postseason. — Michael C. Wright
L.A. hit its stride last season in January and February, going 19-7 and ranking in the top five in the league in defensive efficiency as the team not only went through a franchise transformation with the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis swap, but developed a defensive-minded identity on the fly. So far this season, they’ve slipped significantly, ranked 14th in defensive rating per game — allowing a whopping 10.1 points more per 100 possessions than the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder.
As James works to get his wind back after a long layoff because of sciatica and coach JJ Redick tinkers with his optimal rotation now that he has every player at his disposal, leaning on the offense might be the Lakers’ best option to keep winning. — Dave McMenamin
Depth was an edge for Minnesota en route to back-to-back conference finals appearances, but losing Alexander-Walker has turned it into a weakness. Despite getting 13.1 PPG off the bench from former Sixth Man award winner Naz Reid, Minnesota ranks 28th in both minutes and points per game by reserves, according to NBA Advanced Stats.
Given the Timberwolves’ depleted draft assets, developing a replacement for Alexander-Walker is critical. Thus far, 2024 first-round picks Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. (currently sidelined by a bone bruise in his left foot) are both shooting under 40% effective field goal percentage, limiting their playing time.
The closest thing Minnesota has to an in-house solution is 2023 second-round pick Jaylen Clark, a strong perimeter defender who has played the most minutes of the Wolves’ young guards (16.5 per game) and has shot 9-of-25 (36%) from 3. If opponents don’t respect Clark’s shooting, it will be tough to keep him on the court in the playoff crucible. — Kevin Pelton
It’s hard to find nits to pick with the defending champs, who are off to 17-1 start despite All-NBA forward Jalen Williams having yet to play a second this season. Oklahoma City is on pace to smash the record for point differential in a season … for the second consecutive season. Oklahoma City is outscoring opponents by an average of 16.3 points per game, a jaw-dropping improvement from last season’s record-breaking plus-12.9 point differential.