NBA Power Rankings: Making sense of the post trade deadline landscape

The trade deadline delivered a ton of player movement, both stars and role players. We take it all into account in our latest NBA Power Rankings.

In case you fell off the grid the past few days, a lot has changed. Kevin Durant is a member of the Phoenix Suns. Kyrie Irving is with the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers traded almost everyone and the Toronto Raptors traded almost no one.

With one of the busiest trade deadlines in recent memory passed, we’re updating our NBA Power Rankings to see what’s changed. These rankings reflect current rosters (with long-term injuries factored in) and how I see things shaking out between now and the end of the regular season. Basically — if the season started today with these rosters and lingering injuries, how would I expect the regular-season standings to look?

Who lands on top of our NBA Power Rankings with the trade deadline behind us?

Poeltl is gone and the tank is on.

The Houston Rockets finally got their Eric Gordon trade but they’re still playing for the lottery and internal development at this point.

The Pistons took a flyer on James Wiseman, a reasonable move except it will mean taking minutes from Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren, both potential-laden big men who are further along than Wiseman and just in need of developmental reps. But I guess this is the time to experiment.

The Hornets moved some pieces at the deadline but none of the big ones and mostly for small rewards. Everything is in a holding pattern until the offseason.

The Wizards didn’t do anything after the Rui Hachimura trade. So the plan is to re-sign Kyle Kuzma, extend Porzingis, dump buckets of money on Bradley Beal … and chase .500 again?

There are some nice pieces here for the future (Nic Claxton and Mikal Bridges) but it’s going to take a bit for the Nets to sort it all back out again. They’ll have a busy offseason in front of them.

The Jazz finally made the trades we had all been expecting, even if the return was smaller than they were likely hoping. The rest of this season is about developmental opportunities for Walker Kessler and Ochai Agbaji and helping Collin Sexton and Lauri Markkanen grow together.

The Magic are likely buying out Patrick Beverley so they didn’t really make meaningful changes at the deadline. But ennui is going to set in among other tanking teams and this is the time for their young core to make a run and build momentum for next year.

What are we doing here folks? Not a single trade at the deadline? Letting Nikola Vucevic’s contract expire and wishing on shooting stars for Lonzo Ball’s knees to heal?

The Thunder have been surprisingly frisky and, like the Magic, this second half of the season is a good time for their young core to keep gelling and build momentum for next season. And a play-in spot is not entirely out of the question.

Once the Pacers extended Myles Turner, their path was set for the rest of this year. Time to start scouting for their three first-round picks in the 2023 NBA Draft.

The Trail Blazers weren’t really going anywhere meaningful this year anyway but Josh Hart to Cam Reddish feels like a downgrade and Damian Lillard isn’t getting any younger.

The Hawks didn’t trade John Collins but they did add Saddiq Bey. Hopefully, he doesn’t take any minutes from A.J. Griffin but the Hawks still appear headed for some sort of fundamental reckoning and resetting at the end of the season.

Dumped Dewayne Dedmon and didn’t do anything else. I guess the plan is just hoping Kyle Lowry starts hitting 3s again at some point?

Josh Hart is a meaningful upgrade for a team that’s not just kind of good but seems to have kind of good vibes for like the first time in forever?

Maybe Masai Ujiri not making a trade and telling everyone to get back in the locker room and figure it out will be enough to get this group playing up to their immense potential. Jakob Poeltl doesn’t hurt either.

I did my own research and Kyrie Irving’s teams have a historical track record of under-performing and then spontaneously combusting. Weird…

If Zion can get back healthy the Pelicans can make some noise in the playoffs. If not, they’ll have some big existential questions to wrestle with in the offseason.

Mike Conley is going to help so, so much, both on the court and in the locker room. The Timberwolves have been playing better lately, he’s going to give them a boost and if Karl-Anthony Towns ever comes back this season they could make a surprising playoff run.

The Lakers absolutely got better at the trade deadline, although those improvements might be getting a bit overinflated because they’re the Lakers. But they have more shooting, more defensive versatility and theoretically better vibes with Westbrook gone. They also still have a lot of work to do in a loaded Western Conference.

I still wouldn’t bet against the Warriors in a playoff series but not doing anything with James Wiseman except get Joe Lacob some luxury tax relief and bring back Gary Payton feels like … not enough.

The Kings didn’t make any big moves at the trade deadline but things are going well enough, maybe they didn’t need to? When you’ve been this bad for this long, an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach is probably the right one.

The 76ers have been hot and turned an unplayable Matisse Thybulle into Jalen McDaniels, a bigger wing who can also defend but actually contribute on offense. It’s a meaningful upgrade but I still think they’re a step behind the best teams in the East.

The Cavs might have missed an opportunity by not grabbing a wing like Saddiq Bey or Royce O’Neale. But they still have Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and a powerful defense. That might be enough in the East.

The Clippers got a lot better, swapping Luke Kennard for Eric Gordon, and adding Bones Hyland and Mason Plumlee. I’m not wild about the idea of adding Russell Westbrook but if they’re healthy, they need to be included in the inner circle of contenders.

I don’t think Jae Crowder really moves the needle as much as they’re hoping but they still have the pieces to make a championship run.

Luke Kennard is going to play off the bench but he’s a potential game-changer for the Grizzlies with his shooting and complementary playmaking. They bring an inherent element of chaos but they are a scary playoff team.

They landed Kevin Durant and kept Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. I think their depth is pretty suspect but their starters can compete with anyone and they can still tinker with their lineups on the buyout market.

I think the Nuggets should have gotten more for Hyland and Thomas Bryant, while very good, doesn’t really fill a need. They are still the best team in the West but I think their margin for error shrunk.

Mike Muscala was a sneak good pick-up for the Celtics, even though he’s only going to play a small and situational role. They’ve been the best team in the league for most of the season and with the Nets crumbling, their potential path to the Finals might have gotten a touch easier.

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