The Detroit Pistons continue to be dominant through the first couple of weeks of play, climbing to the top of the Eastern Conference and 2.5 games ahead of the Toronto Raptors — two teams that have been building momentum after a few undesirable seasons.
While the East has been shaping up to be a gauntlet conference, the West continues to be a battle for everyone except the Oklahoma City Thunder, who remain the only team with only one loss this season. The Los Angeles Lakers have also been surging up the standings, winning their past four games and welcoming the return of superstar LeBron James.
Our NBA insiders break down this week’s NBA power rankings, including where things stand with superstar injuries and which teams are already looking toward the 2026 draft this early in the season.
Note: Team rankings are based on where members of our panel (ESPN’s Anthony Slater, Dave McMenamin, Jamal Collier, Kevin Pelton, Michael C. Wright, Ohm Youngmisuk, Tim Bontemps, Tim MacMahon, Vincent Goodwill and Zach Kram) think teams belong this season.
Minnesota has had some truly desultory losses in the past few days, blowing an 8-point lead in the final minute in an OT loss in Phoenix and then giving up a 10-0 run to end regulation before losing in Sacramento on Monday. That inconsistency could wind up being the difference between the Timberwolves being a top-4 seed in the West and once again fighting to avoid the play-in. — Tim Bontemps
The Hawks have exceeded expectations without Trae Young as several players have stepped up when other key Hawks have been injured, ill or held out of games. But for those who want to use this stretch to say Atlanta is better without its best player, pump the brakes. The Hawks will get tested. They play the Cavs on Friday before traveling to Philadelphia and surging Detroit. Next week, the Nuggets and Nikola Jokic visit Atlanta. Those will be three big tests for Quin Snyder’s team. — Youngmisuk
The Suns have been a surprise early success story this season, and a lot of the credit has to go to Dillon “The Villain” Brooks. Known for his defensive edge, Brooks is averaging a career-best 22 points per game (up from 14.0 a season ago) while also averaging a career-best 1.9 steals per game — tied for fifth best in the league. The Kevin Durant trade to Houston is looking like a rare win-win for both teams so far, with the Rockets No. 4 and the Suns No. 6 in the West. — McMenamin
Chicago has gone 3-7 since racing out to a 6-1 start, and its defense has been getting torn apart after a strong start to the season. The Bulls were 10th in defensive efficiency through the first seven games but rank 24th in that category over their past 10 games. Chicago is in the midst of a four-game road trip against a soft schedule with back-to-back games against Charlotte and Indiana before the Bulls travel to Orlando. — Collier
The Clippers just went through a stretch where they went 2-10 over 12 games and the only wins came when James Harden scored 41 and 55. Harden is certainly one of the most prolific scorers the game has ever seen, recently eclipsing the 28,000 career points plateau, but at 36 years old, he can’t be relied on to be “the system” as he declared when he first arrived to L.A. Getting Kawhi Leonard back, who returned with 20 points on Sunday after a three-week absence, should help. — McMenamin
Rookie Ace Bailey, the fifth pick in the 2025 draft, has been in the Jazz’s starting lineup for the past eight games and seems likely to seize that role permanently. Bailey, 19, has averaged 14.4 points with a .628 effective field goal percentage as a starter. He has also endeared himself to coach Will Hardy by displaying an eagerness to utilize his length and athleticism to make an impact on the defensive end. — MacMahon
Max Christie has been one of the bright spots during the Mavs’ miserable start. Christie is averaging 12.8 points per game while shooting 49.1% from the floor and 45.6% from 3-point range and typically guarding one of the opponent’s best perimeter scorers. Christie, 22, who was acquired in the infamous Luka Doncic deal, has earned a regular spot in the starting lineup and is potentially a long-term fit as the Mavs pivot to building around Cooper Flagg. — MacMahon
With Bennedict Mathurin back in the lineup and Pascal Siakam scoring a career-high 24.8 points per game, Indiana is no longer quite as starved for offense as it has looked at times this season. But that improvement might not translate to many more wins in the immediate future: Other than a game against the lowly Wizards, Indiana’s tough schedule continues over the next week, with games against the surging Raptors, Cavaliers and Nuggets. — Kram
The first two Thunder wins of the season came in double overtime. Two of their next three came by six and seven points. Without their second All-Star, Jalen Williams, there were some early signs of increased competitive fight against the defending champs — false alarm. The Thunder’s next 12 wins have all been by double digits. After setting an NBA record with a plus-12.9 point differential last season, the Thunder are blowing that away this season, upping it to plus-16.9 points in their cruise control of a 17-1 start. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, currently averaging 32.2 points, hasn’t appeared in 11 of the team’s 18 fourth quarters because business was already settled.– Anthony Slater
There is no end in sight for these guys, who are rising in efficiency on both ends of the court and keeping strong as a top-10 team. That’s a prerequisite for a championship profile, especially having a top-five defense without a full roster. They were winless in November 2023 and now stand to possibly go undefeated in November two years later. Jaden Ivey has returned, and although on a minutes restriction, looks close to the blur he has always been. Also, Cade Cunningham went through a franchise-record streak: 25.2 points, 10.4 assists and 6.2 rebounds in 10 games, with his shooting percentage of 47.0 only being negatively affected by that one 14 for 45 showing against the Wizards two weeks ago.– Vincent Goodwill
Peyton Watson, who is headed toward restricted free agency after failing to reach an agreement on an extension of his rookie contract with the Nuggets, will have an extended stretch as a starter to showcase himself with Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon out for weeks because of injuries. Watson has averaged 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds while starting the past six games, highlighted by the two highest-scoring performances of his career (32 and 27 points in wins over the Pelicans and Grizzlies, respectively). Watson is shooting 40% from 3-point range this season, which could be the key to getting the kind of contract he’s seeking. — Tim MacMahon
Rising star Amen Thompson tied a season-high in scoring with 28 against Phoenix on Monday, with 8 rebounds and 7 assists, marking his second performance this season with at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, as Kevin Durant dealt with a personal matter that kept him away from the team. Alperen Sengun, meanwhile, has scored at least 10 points with 5 rebounds and 5 assists in every game, good for the seventh-longest streak since 1950 to start a season, according to ESPN Research. Houston plays 9 of its next 11 on the road.– Michael C. Wright
Donovan Mitchell was just named the Eastern Conference player of the week after averaging 31.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5 assists while Cleveland went 3-1 last week. He’s averaging 29.9 points while shooting 50% from the field, both of which are career highs, carrying the Cavs while Darius Garland still works his way back into form from injury. But Mitchell stated earlier this month, scoring and individual accolades aren’t his focus this season — “I want a ring,” he said after a victory against Milwaukee. — Jamal Collier
During Toronto’s current eight-game win streak, six of those wins have come against unimpressive competition. Beating the likes of Charlotte, Washington and Brooklyn counts in the standings, but it shouldn’t change the perception of a team. However, the other two victories in the Raptors’ streak carry much more importance: Toronto beat Cleveland twice within the past two weeks. That’s a potential playoff preview, and the Raptors are already 3-0 against the Cavaliers this season, including a win in NBA Cup group play (when, admittedly, Donovan Mitchell was inactive); the Cavaliers are 0-3 against the Raptors and 12-4 against everybody else. — Zach Kram
The Heat could get even scarier now that Tyler Herro is back. With Norman Powell out with a groin injury, Herro scored 24 points in 29 minutes, making 12 of 18 shots to go with seven rebounds and three steals. He didn’t have any assists after averaging 5.5 a season ago. Of course, Herro and the Heat will need time to adapt to the new free-flowing offense. But for Miami to add its best player before December is a terrific boost for a team that has won five straight and eight of the past 10 games. — Ohm Youngmisuk
There was a sigh of relief coming from Madison Square Garden because of two things: One, Jalen Brunson’s ankle injury didn’t cost him a month like it did last season — and it would’ve been disastrous this time around, with the way things are lightly teetering in the standings. He only missed two games. And two, against the woeful Nets, the Knicks discovered Karl-Anthony Towns in ways they haven’t yet this season. His 37 and 12 on 70% shooting feels more like normal, compared to the splits of 43/30 in the previous 12 games. All odd things to say considering OG Anunoby is halfway through missing time because of a hamstring injury. — Goodwill
Orlando lost for the second time in three meetings to the Celtics, but there were some positives to take away from Sunday’s loss in Boston. It was the second of a back-to-back after the Magic beat the Knicks in Orlando the day before, and they were still without Paolo Banchero (left groin strain), Wendell Carter Jr. (ankle), and Goga Bitadze (ankle). Still, Orlando cut a 26-point deficit down to six in the final 1:11, getting a glimpse of future potential as Jett Howard and Jase Richardson combined for 36 points in the fourth quarter. This week will test Orlando’s defense as the Magic will try to slow down the Pistons in Detroit on Friday. — Youngmisuk