2024-25 NBA Power Rankings: Every Team’s Starting Position + a Wild Preseason Stat

Since this may be the last chance to share this number, I have to do it just one more time.

Last season, the San Antonio Spurs were minus-6.3 points per 100 possessions. But when Victor Wembanyama shared the floor with Tre Jones (an actual point guard, as opposed to the “Jeremy Sochan is a point guard” experiment) and Devin Vassell (a rotation-level NBA wing), the Spurs were a whopping plus-10.2 points per 100 possessions.

And that wasn’t on some minuscule sample size. San Antonio played the equivalent of about 17 full games with all three on the floor.

Now, with Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes on the roster, it’ll be harder for San Antonio’s coaching staff to avoid traditional alignments.

So, while it might be nice for the Spurs to be bad one more year (just imagine Wembanyama playing with Flagg), they might not be able to chase the top pick in 2024-25.

This is the era of parity in the NBA. From here on out, every team in this slideshow can reasonably believe it’ll make the playoffs.

That starts with a young Houston Rockets squad that exceeded expectations by going 41-41 last season.

Alperen Şengün had a very real All-Star case for much of the early portion of 2023-24 as a playmaking big. Jalen Green looked like a dynamic scorer over the later months of the season. Jabari Smith Jr. has shown potential to be a high-impact, three-and-D forward (who can even play some small-ball 5).

Moderate improvement from those three, Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore will make it hard to keep the Rockets out of the play-in tournament.

If incoming rookie sharpshooter Reed Sheppard is good enough to force his way into the rotation (and maybe even the starting five by January or February), the play-in might start to look like the floor.

The Miami Heat’s ceiling is largely dependent on the availability of Jimmy Butler. There’s plenty of talent beyond him. Bam Adebayo is an All-Star and one of the best defenders in the NBA. Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. make up one of the league’s most interesting young wing duos.

But a surefire top-six finish and a return to legitimate contention will take the presence of “Playoff Jimmy” for more than just the playoffs.

Given his expiring contract and the chance he has to earn one last big deal, it’s reasonable to think he’ll push a little harder in the regular season than he has in the past.

If the New Orleans Pelicans have any desire to start games with a traditional-looking lineup, there aren’t many options on the roster for it.

They could toss rookie Yves Missi into the fray, but he’s likely far from ready to contribute to a playoff contender. Daniel Theis has significantly more experience, but he’s 6’8” and has spent most of his career as a reserve for a reason.

If you’re going to be that small anyway, you might as well embrace the small-ball lineup staring you in the face, start Zion Williamson as the nominal 5 and just try to run opponents out of the gym.

Those lineups would struggle to defend, but surrounding Zion with Dejounte Murray’s playmaking and the three-and-D prowess of Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III would make them a nightmare to keep up with on both ends.

It’ll probably take a little time to figure out the division of labor for the new-look Sacramento Kings, who added DeMar DeRozan to the well-established duo of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.

Simple lack of familiarity is obviously part of that, but some of the overlapping skills of those three will be a factor, too.

DeRozan has done much of the offensive damage throughout his career in the mid-range. Fox’s effectiveness has a lot to do with his ability to slash through the paint. And Sabonis does a lot of his playmaking inside the three-point line, too.

Things could get crowded.

But on sheer talent, the Kings could once again have one of the league’s more potent attacks, especially since there are multiple high-volume three-point shooters to flank the star trio.

Keegan Murray, Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk getting up plenty of triples will be crucial.

The Indiana Pacers’ long odds to win it all are a reflection of the way most fans and media have discussed them this offseason.

Yeah, the Eastern Conference Finals run was cool. Sure, Tyrese Haliburton is a star. And it’ll be nice to have Pascal Siakam for an entire season.

But Indiana benefitted from a lot of opponents’ injuries. And in a conference with the Boston Celtics, beefed up New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers and “we’re still here” Milwaukee Bucks, it’ll be tough for Indiana to make it to the third round again.

The Pacers could certainly spin the doubt into some motivation. They wouldn’t be the first team to embrace the “nobody believes in us” mentality.

And there’s certainly a lot of talent here.

Myles Turner has become one of the league’s more underrated three-and-D bigs. Andrew Nembhard is a solid combo guard who can run the offense when Haliburton is out. Aaron Nesmith is emerging as a dangerous three-and-D wing.

But truly proving the doubters wrong will probably take some kind of leap from one of the up-and-comers (like Bennedict Mathurin or Jarace Walker).

Even after the loss of Klay Thompson, it’s not hard to argue that the Golden State Warriors got better this offseason.

Aside from the expected, natural development of younger players like Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Moses Moody, Golden State added multiple veterans who could’ve helped just about any contender.

Buddy Hield is one of the best high-volume three-point shooters in NBA history (Thompson and Stephen Curry are the only players who match or exceed both of his career marks for three-point percentage and threes per game). Kyle Anderson is a multipositional defender who can run an offense as a 4 or 5. De’Anthony Melton can take on difficult perimeter assignments while also having some combo guard chops of his own.

Add all that to the fact that the Warriors were plus-6.1 points per 100 possessions when Curry and Draymond Green played without Klay in 2023-24, and it’s pretty easy to imagine a return to the postseason.

This might seem a little high for a team that’s been in the play-in tournament in each of the last two (and three of the last four) seasons.

That’s especially true when you remember that the only meaningful additions from this past offseason were non-lottery pick Dalton Knecht and a late second-rounder whose dad is on the team.

But the Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching change could be a meaningful one, in part because JJ Redick has already publicly committed to a starting five that Darvin Ham took way too long to get to.

L.A. was plus-6.6 points per 100 possessions when D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Anthony Davis were all on the floor.

And if that first group’s supporting cast is a little healthier than it was in 2023-24, the Lakers should be a tough out on most nights.

Paolo Banchero understandably gets most of the love from the media (he was a No. 1 pick whose tough shotmaking is the kind of thing that draws in casual fans), but Franz Wagner was arguably better in 2023-24 (according to catch-all metrics and a blind poll pitting both players’ stats against each other).

That’s not meant to be hot-takey or anything. The point is more that the Orlando Magic have two All-Star-level forwards who are 6’10”, can handle the ball for themselves and others and are 23 and under.

That duo gives the Magic one of the best young foundations in the league, and they’re part of why Orlando is a near-lock to get back to the playoffs.

With even minor improvements from those two, Jalen Suggs and Wendell Carter Jr., the Magic might even finish in the top four and get home-court advantage in the first round.

It was already pretty easy to buy the Memphis Grizzlies as an obvious bounce-back candidate this season.

Just getting Ja Morant back should’ve put them squarely back in the mix for a playoff spot. During his career, the Grizzlies are plus-7.0 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor with Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr.

But a return to the postseason feels even more likely after just a few preseason appearances from incoming rookie Zach Edey.

The 7’4″ big man has scored in double-figures in three straight preseason games, including a 23-point outing against the Indiana Pacers. And while the questions about his defensive mobility probably won’t be answered for at least a few more months, it looks like he could be a dangerous finisher inside as early as opening night.

If he’s already a legitimate, starting-caliber 5, Memphis might even be ranked a little too low right now.