RADIO
Welcome to 2025! We gave you an extra day this week to get caught up and ready for our power rankings because we had a feeling you’d be a little slow yesterday morning. Things may have felt slower and more excruciating than watching a Charlotte Hornets game without LaMelo Ball but hey, be proud of yourself because you made it through and that should be celebrated! Hooray! Now sit back a see who we’ve got in the top spot of our power rankings this week.
30. Washington Wizards (6-25)
Last Week: 30
It’s actually a razor thin margin here between the Wizards and the Pelicans for the bottom spot of our rankings. Washington’s been able to rack up a few wins in the last two weeks. We’ll ignore that two of them came against the Hornets, but Wizards fans must be happy with the result. Kyle Kuzma finally returned to the court on Monday. Let that be your distraction from the Kuzma trade rumors that even his mom is chiming in on this week. Better days are ahead for the Wiz, just not this season.
29. New Orleans Pelicans (5-29)
Last Week: 29
Winners of just one game since Thanksgiving, sports fans in New Orleans don’t have much to be getting excited about outside of the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras. It’s rumored that the Pelicans are making a Brandon Ingram trade a priority. A Zion Williamson trade isn’t off the table either as NBA execs are rumored to believe the Warriors and Bulls may be good fits for the big man. But both are often injured which will dwindle down their potential returns in a trade. It’s unclear how long it may be before those two are shipped out, if they’re able to trade them, but New Orleans’ downfall certain marks them as the most disappointing team in the NBA this season.
28. Charlotte Hornets (7-25)
Last Week: 27
With just a 49.0% eFG% over their last 10 games, the Hornets are shooting the ball the worst in the league during that span. LaMelo Ball has only been active for four of those games, none amounting to wins. Charlotte’s fate for this season has been written on the wall for quite some time and without much noise about them being in the trade market it should be much of the same for them going forward. Hornets fans are simply hoping for healthy campaigns from Brandon Miller and Ball as they continue to develop and aim for better results in the 2025-2026 season.
27. Utah Jazz (7-25)
Last Week: 28
If I asked you to name the five teams with the best eFG% over the last 10 games there’s exactly a 0% chance you’d rattle off the Utah Jazz as one of them. But it’s true! Their 57.4% eFG% ranks fourth overall in the last ten games, putting them in the same company as teams like the Cavaliers, Nuggets, Knicks and Pacers. Yet they’re 2-8 in that span thanks to a porous defense. At 9.0 GB of the final play-in spot their fans are probably not too upset at recent results, but they’re a sneaky underdog going forward that you can’t overlook on the schedule.
26. Portland Trail Blazers (11-21)
Last Week: 26
Owners of the second-worst net rating over the last 10 games at -11.3, the Blazers are just 3-7 over that span. Those three wins were decent wins for them (Denver, Dallas, Utah) but the rest have generally been blowout losses. Anfernee Simons isn’t shooting particularly well from deep, hitting at just a 33% clip this season and a drop from his career average at 38.1%. Though there’s an outside chance at them sneaking into the play-in (5 GB) a lot would need to go right for them and it just doesn’t appear to be there for them right now.
25. Brooklyn Nets (12-21)
Last Week: 25
The fire sale’s on in Brooklyn. Next out the door is Dorian Finney-Smith as he got shipped to the Lakers in exchange for former Net D’Angelo Russell. More may be on the way with Cameron Johnson’s name popping up in recent trade rumors. Brooklyn’s just 2.5 games behind the Bulls for the final play-in spot but it’s hard to feel confident in their abilities to make a run with all these trade rumors popping up. Anything is possible in the East, but a jump into contention amidst all these rumors feels like a tough ask.
24. Toronto Raptors (8-26)
Last Week: 24
Time may be up in Toronto. They’re posting up the worst net rating in the league over their last 10 games (-13.8) and were 0-10 in that span prior to their 130-113 win over Brooklyn on Wednesday. Constant injuries with Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett have held them back. And now with a seven game deficit for the final play-in spot it’s a long, long uphill battle if they think they can take it. It doesn’t look good for the Raptors as they may have to face some questions about their roster heading into the trade deadline.
23. Sacramento Kings (15-19)
Last Week: 19
The Kings made noise this week for all the wrong reasons. After blowing a 14-point 4th quarter lead to the Detroit Pistons and losing their fifth straight game, Sacramento fired head coach Mike Brown as he was driving to the airport for their game against the Los Angeles Lakers (which they also lost). How it was handled was heavily criticized across the league. A change at head coach may not fix the Kings’ issues, especially amid De’Aaron Fox trade rumors. They were able to notch a win against the Mavericks on Monday despite shooting for just a 47.0% eFG%. They’ll need to be better in January to calm down the chaos around their organization.
22. Chicago Bulls (15-19)
Last Week: 21
There’s a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde complex here in Chicago. At times they’ll surprise you can take care of teams like the Boston Celtics then turn around and lose to the Milwaukee Bucks when Milwaukee sits its two best players. Or it can take a 17 point lead in the fourth quarter in Atlanta and get doubled up 50-25 and lose by eight. Or they may simply lose to the Wizards. Cue the “What is going on?” GIF of Jim from The Office because that exemplifies the Chicago Bulls experience perfectly. They’re in the play-in with the tenth seed, but that will likely change if they’re serious about trading Zach LaVine and/or Nikola Vucevic.
21. Golden State Warriors (16-16)
Last Week: 14
Our biggest drop this week. Once a threat in the West, they Warriors are just 4-10 since Thanksgiving. In their last 10 games they have a -7.5 net rating. That net rating only surpasses the Wizards, Hornets, Pelicans, Blazers and Raptors. In their current state, they are a bad team. And that’s been driven by their ineffective offense, shooting for just a 49.7% eFG% in their last 10 games, second worst in the league. Major roster changes will need to happen through the trade deadline for the Warriors to become competitive again. You always have a chance when Steph Curry is on your roster, but the Warriors are just 3-7 in the last 10 games Curry has played. What’s bad is getting worse in the Bay Area.
20. Detroit Pistons (15-18)
Last Week: 23
Speaking of that 14-point fourth quarter lead that got Kings coach Mike Brown fired, let’s give some real credit to the Pistons for orchestrating it. Cade Cunningham scored or assisted on 21 of Detroit’s 37 points that quarter while putting up 33 points and 10 assists overall. He now has double-digit assists in seven of his last 12 games. They’re holding onto the ninth spot in the East, but a scary looking injury to Jaden Ivey may damper the mood in the Motor City. If he’s lost for a significant amount of time, Detroit may be looking at a real uphill battle to hold onto a play-in spot.
19. Phoenix Suns (15-17)
Last Week: 17
An interesting time is certainly being had in Phoenix right now. After losing Devin Booker to a groin injury the Suns have proceeded to go 1-5 with their one victory coming over the Nuggets on Christmas night. Oh yeah, there was a giant fight with the Mavericks mixed in there too that led to suspensions for three players, including Suns center Jusuf Nurkic. If you’re going to lose and least make it interesting and go down swinging, right? OK maybe not literally, but Phoenix keeps dealing with injuries and won’t move up until their big three is all healthy at once. And with Bradley Beal getting injured on Tuesday night, it may be a while before that happens again in Phoenix.
18. San Antonio Spurs (17-16)
Last Week: 18
Death, taxes and the 2024-2025 San Antonio Spurs holding steady with a .500 record. Amidst the chaos of the league around them, they’re staying steady and moving a bit under the radar. An absolute thrashing of the Clippers on Tuesday night may start to get some people paying attention to the Spurs, though. They’re in the ninth seed and playing well enough to stay ahead of the pack. An intriguing January schedule should be a real test for this young team to see where they’re truly at. Expect Victor Wembanyama to continue excelling as the young superstar is averaging 29.6 PPG and 9.3 RPG over his last nine games.
17. Philadelphia 76ers (13-18)
Last Week: 22
The early season disasters are behind Philly as the Sixers have gone 7-3 in their last 10 games. Joel Embiid is starting to put up the offensive numbers we expect out of him, averaging 32.0 PPG in his last two games. Tyrese Maxey has continued to be the savior for this Sixers’ season, leading the team with 27.3 PPG and 6.1 APG in the Sixers’ last 10 games. They may not be getting what they expected out of Paul George, who’s only scored 20+ points three times in the last 10 games, but if it means a 7-3 record in that span then Sixers fans may not mind it. Philadelphia is trending up and turning into the team we expected them to be.
16. Los Angeles Lakers (18-14)
Last Week: 16
The Lakers have won five of their last seven games, hopefully easing a lot of the tensions Lakers fans had after going 1-4 in their previous five games. Now three of their last five wins have come over the Sacramento Kings, so maybe there’s a grain of salt given Sacramento’s dysfunctionality, but the Lakers are fighting through. A Christmas victory over the Warriors after Anthony Davis exited early was a nice boost for the Lakers too. At the seven seed and holding a two game lead over the Warriors for the final play-in spot, LA’s in a good spot headed into 2025.
15. Indiana Pacers (16-18)
Last Week: 15
Indiana has started to turn things around, going 7-3 in their last 10 games prior to their Tuesday loss against Milwaukee. Their 117.1 offensive rating in that span ranks fifth overall in that span, giving us a taste of last season’s Pacers team that started to make a name for itself. Their +3.5 net rating in their last 10 ranks 8th overall. A decent turnaround for a team that was on the downswing headed into December. Their January schedule, outside of a two game series against the Cavs, is a bit of a mixed bag. We’ll have a chance to see who exactly this Pacers team is in January.
14. Miami Heat (17-14)
Last Week: 13
The Jimmy Butler trade rumors continue to drive things in Miami. Team President Pat Riley stated on the day after Christmas that the Heat would not be trading Butler, disputing reports that Shams Charania of ESPN had put out just one day before. Butler’s said the noise of rumors doesn’t bother him, even going as far to say, “it’s good to be talked about. Even better to be wanted.” When asked if him and his agent Bernie Lee have spoken to Riley about his future he simply said, “Next.” That doesn’t make it sound like they’re on the same page, giving Miami an interesting month ahead.
13. Atlanta Hawks (18-16)
Last Week: 20
After a three game slide, Atlanta bounced back and won four straight before getting smacked by Denver on Wednesday. A ridiculous 50-25 fourth quarter against the Chicago Bulls showed just how much offensive firepower they can pack. There also may not be a better current sixth man than De’Andre Hunter, who averaged 22.7 PPG off the bench for Atlanta in December. The former Atlanta starter has thrived in his sixth man role and has been rumored to be a major trade target for teams like the Nuggets. But are the Hawks sure they’d want to trade him? Currently in the seventh seed, Atlanta is just 1.5 games back of the Magic and could jump them if Orlando’s injury issues catch up to them. Trading such an important piece could derail the momentum Atlanta’s built.
12. Orlando Magic (20-15)
Last Week: 12
Holding steady for now, the Magic are doing just enough to tread water. After a big win against the Celtics before Christmas, the Magic have gone 1-3 and failed to break 90 points in two of their three losses. They’ve got quite a few tough tests in January. Luckily they’ve built enough wiggle room for them to be able to at least stay in the play-in picture should things blow up before Paolo Banchero returns, but they’ve shown enough fight that they shouldn’t drop too far before his return. Atlanta may overtake them for the Southeast division lead, but they should stay in contention even with a tough January schedule.
11. Minnesota Timberwolves (17-15)
Last Week: 11
After losing three straight, the Timberwolves have bounced back and won three straight after running through all of the Texas teams. A Christmas Day win against Dallas and a 37-28 fourth quarter comeback against the Rockets mark the highlights for this Minnesota team that’s still struggling on offense but keeping it together on defense. Their 109.2 defensive rating ranks eighth best in the league over the last 10 games. This team has made it clear that defense will win them games. Currently in the eight seed, they’ll need strong defense to continue staying in contention if the offense doesn’t flip a switch soon enough.
10. Los Angeles Clippers (19-14)
Last Week: 10
Los Angeles just continues to do what they do without much real attention being paid to them, it seems. Winners in five of their last seven, they’re holding onto the five seed in the West, tied with the Denver Nuggets. Surprisingly they’re posting the seventh best defensive rating in the league over their last 10 games at a 108.5 mark. Kawhi Leonard’s return is just around the corner as it’s rumored he’s aiming for Saturday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks for his season debut. The Clippers have done more than enough without him. Now to see what this season’s roster will do with him.
9. Denver Nuggets (19-13)
Last Week: 9
Perhaps the only thing holding this team back is its mental approach against lesser opponents. Denver’s 8-5 in its last 13 games. Two of those losses came at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers, which shouldn’t be surprising. The other losses came to the Wizards, Blazers and Devin Booker-less Suns. Even with those bad losses, the Nuggets are holding onto the fourth seed in the West. The talent is clearly there but the mental focus needs to improve. That may be tough with constant trade rumors about Michael Porter Jr. swirling, but Denver needs to find a way through it to return to the NBA Finals for just the second time in franchise history.
8. Memphis Grizzlies (23-11)
Last Week: 7
You look away for half a second and all of a sudden the Grizzlies’ injury report becomes long enough to barely fit on a CVS receipt. Ja Morant suffered an AC joint sprain and is week-to-week. Marcus Smart is out yet again. Rookie Zach Edey has a concussion. Santi Aldama is out with an ankle sprain. All those injuries helped contribute to a 24-point loss at the hands of the Thunder but didn’t stop them from beating the Suns on Tuesday night. As the two seed in the West, they’ve got plenty of cushion to be able to absorb any losses these injuries lead to, but with just a 4.5 game lead over the final play-in spot they can’t allow themselves to fall too far.
7. Dallas Mavericks (20-14)
Last Week: 5
I’ve mentioned in the last few updates on these Power Rankings that it’s what the Mavericks have done without Luka Doncic that’s impressed me. Well, there’s going to be more time to show what they’ve got now as Doncic will be out for a “significant amount of time” after sustain a calf injury on Christmas against Minnesota. Dallas is 7-5 without Doncic this season and lost three of four without him after Christmas. January doesn’t appear to be the easiest month for them on their schedule so they’ll be in for a real test to see just how good their are without their MVP candidate active.
6. Houston Rockets (22-11)
Last Week: 6
After a nice 6-1 run in December the Rockets lost back-t0-back games against the Timberwolves and the Heat before dispatching the Mavs on Wednesday. The game against Miami proved to be a real fight (I’ll see myself out) that led to a two-game suspension for Amen Thompson and fines for Jalen Green and Ime Udoka. On offense Houston has gotten a bit better, though they still are posting the fifth worst eFG% in the league over the last 10 games at a 51.4% mark. Similar to Minnesota, defense wins them games. January’s schedule may test this young team to see what they’ve really got as they’ll face the Celtics and Cavaliers twice.
5. Milwaukee Bucks (17-14)
Last Week: 4
The NBA Cup champs aren’t quite facing an NBA Cup hangover, rather it’s been issues with the availability of their two best players that’s causing them to look like they’re slipping.. Since defeating the Thunder to win this season’s NBA Cup, the Bucks are 3-3 and have score 115 points or more just once. Defense has driven them, but they’ve clearly been missing the offensive impact of the Damian Lillard – Giannis Antetokounmpo combo. They’re also posting a negative net rating in their last 10 regular season games prior to Tuesday’s win over the Indiana Pacers. Part of that’s injuries, the other part is just ineffectiveness. We know how good this team can be, but they need their superstars to be available in order to dominate.
4. New York Knicks (24-10)
Last Week: 8
New York just continues to pile on the wins. In December they posted a +12.1 net rating, good enough for third best in the league behind only Cleveland and Oklahoma City. Jalen Brunson averaged 24.4 PPG in December while Karl-Anthony Towns cleaned up the boards at a massive rate, averaging 14.6 RPG. They look to be for real, but that will be put to the test for the rest of the season as they have the hardest remaining strength of schedule according to Tankathon. As of now they’re in great position, sitting in the third seed just a half game behind Boston while having a 4.5 game lead over the 4th seed Magic and a five game lead over the 5th seed Hawks. The Knicks have established themselves as contenders in the East.
3. Boston Celtics (24-9)
Last Week: 3
Just 2-4 in their last six games before Tuesday, Boston is starting to fade. In a similar vein to what I mentioned with the Nuggets, the Celtics sometimes fail to stay mentally focused and lose games to inferior opponents. Their four most recent losses have come to the Bulls, Magic, Sixers and Pacers. When this team is on there’s almost no one that can stop them. But when they slack, an issue they’ve had the past couple seasons, opponents tend to take advantage. A tough four-game Western Conference road trip will put them to the test in January to see just how well they can bounce back.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (27-5)
Last Week: 2
Since the NBA Cup loss doesn’t count towards regular season results, the Thunder are technically on an 12-game winning streak in December with their only losses coming to Houston on 12/1 and Milwaukee in the NBA Cup championship game. Their +14.2 net rating in December ranks second best behind only the Cavaliers. They posted the best defensive rating during the month with the fifth best offensive rating. They’re doing it on both sides of the ball as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 32.8 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 5.5 APG. A tough four game stretch in early January that features the Knicks, Celtics, Cavaliers and the Knicks again, will really test this young squad.
1. Cleveland Cavaliers (29-4)
Last Week: 1
Staying in our top spot is the Cleveland Cavaliers. Their +15.5 net rating during the month of December was best in the league as they went 11-1. All but one victory during the month was by double-digits and they scored at least 115 points in all but two games. Their schedule in January doesn’t feature a whole ton of tough tests for the Cavaliers either outside of two games against the Thunder. Cleveland is rolling under new head coach Kenny Atkinson and they don’t appear to be slowing down any time soon. The top spot is theirs until proven otherwise.
