While the NBA and its fans are focused on the upcoming trade deadline, the games keep coming — and the best keep separating themselves from the rest.
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1. Oklahoma City Thunder (35-7, Last Week No. 2). Oklahoma City showed how dominant its defense can be in shutting down Cleveland last Thursday, earning some revenge for the week before (and with that win, the Thunder move back to the top of these rankings). It also helped that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked like an MVP dropping 40 in three quarters. While the Thunder have the trade assets to make a move at the deadline, expect nothing or, at most, a move on the margins — they have the roster everyone else in the West is trying to figure out how to beat, don’t change it up now.
2. Cleveland Cavaliers (36-6, LW 1). Donovan Mitchell likely gets named an All-Star starter this week, but one can make a legitimate case Darius Garland deserves that spot more with his play this season (I also voted for Evan Mobley to start over KAT, but that likely doesn’t happen). Cleveland’s name has come up at the trade deadline with talk of them trying to add Cameron Johnson from Brooklyn as a wing. The trade can work (the Cavs would have to send out two first-round picks — the current Brooklyn asking price — plus a combination of Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, George Niang, and a minimum contract), but the question becomes, is it worth it? If the Cavaliers think they have a legitimate title shot (and they do), then now is the time to go all-in.
3. Boston Celtics (30-13, LW 3). Two games in the past week highlight the roller coaster this team has been on. Last Wednesday, there was a low point in the season with a loss to tanking Toronto where Boston couldn’t knock down a shot from 3 or in the paint and finished with 97 points. Then they turn around Monday and thrash the struggling Warriors by 40. Which version of the Celtics will show up against the Clippers and Lakers this week? One guy we can count on to show up is Jayson Tatum, who will be named an All-Star starter this week. Jaylen Brown should get in as a reserve.
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4. Houston Rockets (28-14, LW 4). Will the Houston Rockets have an All-Star? They absolutely deserve it as a team, but they are not going to have a starter, which leaves it up to the coaches to put in Alperen Sengun instead of guys like Jalen Williams of the Thunder, or maybe Luka Doncic (due to injuries). As for the trade deadline, GM Rafael Stone seems to be true to his word about not wanting to break this team up, there has been no buzz about a Rockets trade. If something does happen, keep an eye on Cam Whitmore, who has fans around the league but can’t consistently crack the Rockets’ core rotation.
5. Memphis Grizzlies (28-15, LW 7). Ja Morant is going to be an All-Star and remains the face of this franchise. However, what has taken this team to the next level and makes them a postseason threat is this is no longer just the Morant show. Jaren Jackson Jr. leads the team in scoring (22.6 a game) — he deserves to be an All-Star but may get squeezed out in the deep West — and from there the Grizzlies have balance with Desmond Bane (17.5), Santi Aldama )13), rookie Jaylen Wells )11.8 and even Scotty Pippen Jr. with 10 a night. This is a good team and maybe the biggest playoff threat to OKC in the West. If not them then…
6. Denver Nuggets (27-16, LW 5). Denver has won 8-of-9 and started to look like a contender thanks to finding their offensive grove — the Nuggets have the best offense in the NBA over the last 15 games. Nikola Jokic being great is a given — he has four consecutive triple-doubles — but what has sparked things is Jamal Murray looking healthy and closer to his 2023 self. His pull-up jumper is falling again, like when he dropped 45 on Dallas this week. If Murray is healthy and playing like he has the past couple of weeks, the Nuggets loom as the most serious postseason threat to the Thunder.
7. New York Knicks (29-16, LW 6). The Knicks will likely end up with two All-Star Game starters Thursday: Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Both are deserving. The Knicks are 5-4 so far in a stretch of 12-of-14 games at home (with one of the “road” games being Brooklyn on Tuesday night, a New York win). The Knicks remain comfortably the No. 3 seed in the East but have not used this stretch to walk down a stumbling Boston team. New York is home for its next five with some interesting tests in there, including Memphis next Monday.
PLAYOFFS OR BUST
8. Milwaukee Bucks (24-17, LW 9). Milwaukee is red-hot, having won four in a row and 7-of-8, and a lot of that has to do with Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is about to be named an All-Star starter on Thursday. In his last four games, Antetokounmpo has averaged 32 points on 66.7% shooting, 12.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists a game. The Bucks’ defense has been top-10 solid all season, but with the Greek Freak on this tear, they have the fourth-best offense in the league over the past five games. Milwaukee has eight of its next ten games on the road.
9. Indiana Pacers (24-19, LW 10). The Pacers are in Paris this week for a couple of games against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs. Indiana heads to France having won 9-of-11, but is this late push enough to get the coaches to vote for Tyrese Haliburton as an All-Star reserve? Go ahead and make the case that Pascal Siakam is more deserving of a spot if you want, but if anyone from Indiana is headed to San Francisco, it will be Haliburton.
10. Los Angeles Clippers (24-18, LW 15). Kawhi Leonard has looked a little better each game. He’s still on a minutes restriction, but in the minutes he does play, he looks like vintage Kawhi, making plays on defense and just getting to his spots and hitting mid-rangers on offense. James Harden deserves to be named an All-Star reserve, although the coaches may lean another direction. Norman Powell deserves some recognition — put the man in the actual highlight event of the weekend, the Saturday night 3-Point Contest.
11. Minnesota Timberwolves (22-21, LW 8). Donte DiVincenzo being out indefinitely with a Grade 3 big toe sprain (likely turf toe) is a huge blow to an already inconsistent Timberwolves team. DiVincenzo had looked his best since being inserted into the starting lineup for Mike Conley and in his last five games averaged 18 points a game while shooting 42.9% from beyond the arc. The one silver lining is this does open the door for rookie guard Rob Dillingham to get more run. Against Memphis on Monday Dillingham scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting in 17 minutes of action. Minnesota lost that game to Memphis and has dropped 3-of-4, with Dallas, Denver and Atlanta on the schedule this week.
12. Sacramento Kings (22-20, LW 11). One of Domantas Sabonis or DeAaron Fox will get named an All-Star reserve in the West, and my money is on Sabonis (sorry Kings’ fans, the depth of the West means they are not getting two All-Stars — it’s more likely both get snubbed — but look four some Kings to show up in other events during the weekend). The Kings are 9-2 since the coaching change to Doug Christie, with the fourth-ranked offense and ninth defense in the league during that stretch. Kings management got what it wanted, this looks like a playoff team, but the test starts Thursday with 10-of-12 on the road.
13. Dallas Mavericks (23-20, LW 12). The Mavericks are 4-9 in the 13 games Luka Doncic has missed with a calf strain, with the 26th-ranked offense in the league during that stretch and a -3.7 net rating (Kyrie Irving missed a number of games in there, too). Doncic is an interesting All-Star case, clearly he should be in San Francisco in terms of talent, but while he’s expected to be healthy by then the coaches likely leave him off to make way for players who have been healthy and around more this season (such as Alperen Sengun).
14. Los Angeles Lakers (23-18, LW 17). This season the Lakers are living on the margins, and they know it. “We don’t have a huge margin for error,” J.J. Redick said. “We don’t have a guy on our team that’s going to be able to get past his guy one-on-one and get to the paint and spread it out to the perimeter. Like, that’s just not our team.” LeBron agreed: “That’s how our team is constructed. We don’t have room for error — for much error.” The Lakers are trying to improve on those margins by making a trade at the deadline, likely for another big man who can play next to Anthony Davis. Just don’t expect an all-in blockbuster move (which may frustrate LeBron and AD).
15. Miami Heat (21-21, LW 13). The Jimmy Butler cloud continues to hang over this team — Miami just suspended him for two games (for missing a team flight) to help alleviate the distraction. The Heat are actively looking for a trade but not many other front offices want to get into the Butler business, which has slowed things down. There is no bidding war. Even with all the focus on Butler, what was evident in an ugly loss to Portland on Tuesday, is how much Tyler Herro has come to mean to this team. Herro was out (groin soreness) and more than his shooting, Miami missed his playmaking. Without him the looks were not as good (the Heat missed the good ones they did get, anyway). Tough games this week with the Bucks and Magic on the schedule.
16. Atlanta Hawks (22-20, LW 19). Quin Snyder has made a move a while in coming: Clint Capela has been moved to the bench in favor of Onyeka Okongwu. Capela has averaged 9.3 points and 9 rebounds a game, and the Hawks have been outscored with him on the court last season. Okongwu is younger (24) and is averaging 11.5 points and 7.6 rebounds a game coming off the bench, and he has a higher true shooting percentage (61.1 percent). Or, look at it this way: Okongwu signed a four-year, $62.2 million extension this summer, while Capela becomes a free agent after this season. The Hawks have a stretch of winnable games this week at home: Detroit is no pushover, but then are two games against Toronto.
17. Detroit Pistons (22-21, LW 18). We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Cade Cunningham has to be an All-Star reserve in the East. He’s earned it, averaging 24.5 points, 9.3 assists and 6.5 rebounds a game and lifting Detroit into position to make the postseason. Pistons management has suggested this team is looking to buy at the deadline, not sell, but they are the only team with cap space and if there are enough sweeteners Detroit has to consider being the third team in a larger deal.
18. Orlando Magic (23-22, LW 14). Paolo Banchero is back, but the Magic are 1-5 in those games, including dropping four straight. Maybe the better way to look at this, however, is the Magic are 2-7 since Jalen Suggs went out with a back issue (Cole Anthony has had his moments but is not the defender nor as consistent). All the losses piling up have knocked the Magic from a solid No. 4 seed in the East to No. 8, and while they still look like a solid postseason team, their path through the playoffs gets just that much harder.
PLAY IN HOPEFULS
19. Phoenix Suns (21-21, LW 20). Phoenix made a win-now move, trading away their 2031 first-round pick (unprotected) for three first-round picks in 2025, 2027, and 2029. While all three of those picks are likely in the 20s (the 2025 pick is Cleveland’s and looks like it will be 29 or 30), this opens the door for Phoenix to include multiple picks as sweeteners in a trade for Jimmy Butler (the picks help convince a team to take on Bradley Beal and his contract) or to help move center Jusuf Nurkic (Phoenix wants to trade him but will have to attach a pick). Stay tuned, more is coming after that deal.
20. Golden State Warriors (21-21, LW 21). Draymond Green is out for at least a week with a strained calf. While that is a blow defensively because of his versatility, it may be a bigger blow on offense this season — Golden State outscores opponents by 4.2 points per 100 possessions this season when he is on the court (and gets outscored when he is off) because he is a critical facilitator for this team. More concerning, the Warriors have a -10.9 net rating when neither Green nor Stephen Curry is on the court, and that was evident in a 40-point blowout loss to Boston on Monday when the Warriors struggled mightily when Curry rested, digging themselves a hole they could not climb out of. The Warriors need wins and have tough games against the Kings and Lakers this week.
21. San Antonio Spurs (19-22, LW 16). Victor Wembanyama has returned to Paris as an NBA star, which is a great story, with his Spurs taking on the Pacers for two games (Thursday and Saturday). That does mean Wemby will be out of the country when the NBA All-Star starters are announced, there is a chance he jumps Kevin Durant (or maybe even LeBron) to be a starter, but either way he will be in San Francisco. Hopefully for Spurs fans, a week of good French wine and jambon beurre are what the Spurs need to turn things around, having lost three in a row and six of seven.
22. Chicago Bulls (19-25, LW 22). The Bulls are still one of the teams that comes up when you ask people around the league who will most likely make a trade at the deadline. Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic’s are available. However, the smarter play may be to trade for Lonzo Ball, then re-sign him next summer — in his last five games, Ball is averaging 9.8 points a game, shooting 30.5% from 3 plus dishing out 4.2 assists a night in about 25 minutes. That is exactly the kind of backup guard (or starting guard in limited minutes) a lot of teams could use.
23. Philadelphia 76ers (15-27, LW 23). Will Tyrese Maxey make the All-Star team as a reserve? We’re not going to talk about Joel Embiid (out again with swelling in the knee) or the disappointing play of Paul George, Maxey is the one guy to soldier on through all of it, but will that be enough to get him to San Francisco. In the big picture, the 76ers sit 11th in the East, three games out of the last play-in spot, but with 7-of-8 coming up at home, so this is the chance to turn things around.
CAPTURE THE (COOPER) FLAGG
24. Charlotte Hornets (11-28, LW 28). Will LaMelo Ball be an All-Star Game starter? The fans voted him in but it’s hard to imagine the media or players chosing him over Jalen Brunson and Donovan Mitchell. If Ball doesn’t get in as a starter, it’s a long shot he makes it at all because the coaches are not going to pick him, despite Ball averaging 29.3 points and 7.6 assists a game. The Hornets have won 4-of-5 and on Friday start a nine-game homestead.
25. New Orleans Pelicans (12-32, LW 25). New Orleans has won four in a row and 5-of-6, with Zion suiting up for three of those (including the one loss). He’s on a minutes limit (around 25) but scored 20+ points in each of the last two games he played (plus he had 21 rebounds total in those games). New Orleans will have representation All-Star weekend, rookie Yves Missi will be part of the Rising Stars challenge.
26. Portland Trail Blazers (15-28, LW 27). In his last five games, Scoot Henderson is averaging 22.l4 points a night while shooting 51.4% on 3-pointers — this is the best stretch of his career. Without question. Whether he can sustain it is something to watch, but this is a promising development for a team needing all the promising developments it can get this season.
27. Toronto Raptors (11-32, LW 29). Star players can get dragged down by their teams when it comes to individual awards, which may be the case for Scottie Barnes. His per-game numbers are close to last season when he was an All-Star (his 3-point shooting has fallen off o 27.7% this season). The Raptors have two games in Atlanta this week.
28. Utah Jazz (10-31, LW 24). That trade with Phoenix was vintage Danny Ainge — a long-term bet against the Phoenix Suns. In 2031 — when current seventh graders are entering the NBA draft — Phoenix will be without Kevin Durant and very possibly struggling. Utah might not hold onto that pick, depending upon how the next few years shake out, it could trade that pick for something more immediate. I can’t say Utah won that trade because it will depend on what Phoenix does next with the picks it got, but the Jazz didn’t lose that trade.
29. Brooklyn Nets (14-30, LW 26). Cameron Johnson trade rumors continue to fly around the league, with teams including the Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly interested (but not OKC, despite earlier reports). With all that interest, and the fact Brooklyn would be happy to hold on to him, there is no reason for the Suns to drop their asking price of two first-round picks (plus matching salary). This trade likely happens closer to the deadline.
30. Washington Wizards (6-36, LW 30). Jonas Valanciunas trade rumors continue to swirl, he is the Wizards most likely to be traded at the deadline. However, with Kyle Kuzma’s performance down this season — at least partly due to injuries he has dealt with — his market is thin. It’s possible Kuzma could be with Washington through the end of the season.
