The NBA last played games on Thanksgiving in 2010.
Do you miss them?
I think most of us are fine with having no live NBA action to watch on this holiday, but the mere topic got me thinking: Why not convene The Committee (of One) to whip up a piping hot batch of (roughly) 20-games-in rankings to give you something good to read when you need a break from gorging … or from family … or just want to get ready for Friday’s 11-game slate?
Thursday thus made more sense than Tuesday for this pulse take for where the league as a whole stands with nearly one quarter of the regular season complete. The mission as always on our monthly(-ish) rankings cadence — as opposed to the weekly rankings I cooked up for 15 years in my ESPN days — remains unchanged: Establish a 1-to-30 order (at least somewhat) independent of the standings that measures big-picture potential and expectations alongside short-term results. Injuries and other off-court developments, positive and negative, are factored in as well … with some sprinkles of Committee whim mixed in.
You are asked, as always, to register your questions, quibbles or any other pertinent thoughts in the comments section below so we can respond and expound upon our thinking. And remember: Rankings posts are incredibly long. Just click on the main headline to get the web or app version instantly if it proves too unwieldy to consume as an email.
There is no denying the fact that the reigning champs have amazingly faced the league’s weakest schedule to date thanks to a composite opponent winning percentage of just .431. It just doesn’t matter all that much on this scorecard when the Thunder boast an average nightly scoring margin of +16.5 (which would easily establish a new single-season record if it holds) and when All-Star swingman Jalen Williams (wrist) hasn’t logged a single second of court time. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, has played in the fourth quarter in just eight of the season’s first 19 games while the Thunder have amassed one of just five 18-1 starts (or better) in league history. So, yeah: OKC is in a class of its own until proven otherwise.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 1
The jumbo-sized Rockets are certainly doing this their way. No established point guard to step in for the injured Fred VanVleet. Hoisting the fewest 3s on a per-game basis in the league. Somehow rebounding two out of every five shots they miss (better than 40%). Playing zone nearly 20% of the time. If you were looking for a specific team that makes you blurt out #thisleague … you’d struggle to come up with many better nominees than 12-4 Houston.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 6
The Pistons were pretty much the best story in basketball last season (referring specifically to the regular season before Indiana’s Cinderella playoff run) when they jumped from 14 wins to 42. And they are legitimately building another strong case for that mythical crown this season thanks to a storybook 15-3 start. The ongoing rise of Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren‘s bet-on-himself leap to a potential All-Star berth, just living through that 28-game losing streak in 2023-24 and getting to the other side … The Committee is moved by all of it.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 12
Praise has been in curiously short supply for the team tied with Denver in holding the West’s second-best record. While true that the Lakers haven’t shot the ball well at all as a collective and rank 16th leaguewide in defensive rating, it’s worth remembering that LeBron James has played all of three games after never missing an Opening Night in his previous 22 seasons. The Lakers have edged into the top 10 offensively (at No. 9) and will surely keep rising there given how Luka Dončić is playing. Mavericks at Lakers on Friday night — with Anthony Davis likely to play for the first time since Oct. 29 — will be the most anticipated game of the season where The Committee lives.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 11
We were prone to agree with Nikola Jokić when he recently announced that the Nuggets’ 12-4 start is “not the real picture.” It’s actually a 13-4 start now, but long-term injury setbacks for Christian Braun (ankle) and Aaron Gordon (hamstring) inevitably make you wonder what sort of toll this winter is going to take on maybe the greatest Jokić we’ve ever seen. Even with Jokić and Jamal Murray both starting the season in top form, Denver is about to learn more about the state of its revamped depth than it ever wanted to this early.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 2
File this one under the heading of Good Problems To Have: Toronto has no outright claim to Most Surprising Team In The East status because Detroit and Miami are also off to such unforeseen starts. Yet something tells me that no one north of the border is going to spend too much time worrying about that conversation or jabs about strength of schedule if the Raptors (who happen to be 3-0 against Cleveland) can maintain their status as one of just three teams leaguewide with a top-seven offense and defense alongside Oklahoma City and Houston. (Or is that offence and defence?) The Committee was legitimately tempted to bump the Nuggets out of the top five and give that slot to Canada’s Team.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 19
In a recent interview with my pal Marc J. Spears, Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell insisted that this season’s bumpy start is better for his team in the long run than last season’s 15-0 launch. Mitchell should know his own team better than we do, so we’ll take what he’s saying on board, but the deeper concern here is that these Cavaliers are asking him to do a lot in these early stages of the season with Darius Garland and Max Straus missing so much time already and Cleveland seemingly never able to play its four best players at the same time. Our well-chronicled worrier tendencies can’t help but fear that there will be a down-the-road price to pay for Mitchell’s first-half exertions. Let’s see.
Last ranking (Oct. 21.): 4
Erik Spoelstra has been through too much already in 2025 to properly capture it all in the usual compacted space of a rankings comment. From Miami’s two home playoff losses to Cleveland last spring by a combined 92 points … to the honor of being named as the new Team USA Olympic coach … to the unspeakable personal devastation of losing his home in a recent fire. All we can do is send him heartfelt Thanksgiving wishes and say chapeau in his honor for the tremendous coaching flexibility we’ve seen from Spo in his 18th season on the Heat’s bench. Playing at the league’s fastest pace (105.2 possessions per 48 minutes) and doing so without his best returning offensive player (Tyler Herro) until this week while keeping Miami in the league’s top five in defensive efficiency (at No. 2!) … it’s a Coach of the Year start for a guy who has stunningly never won the award.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 22
My sense is that most front office occupants leaguewide, if pressed, would still pick the Knicks or the Cavaliers to win the East rather than any of the teams currently above them at the top of the conference ladder. Yet the Knicks, just like the Cavaliers, have endured an uneven start undoubtedly impacted (just like Cleveland) by injuries that have sidelined Jalen Brunson briefly and OG Anunoby and now Landry Shamet for a longer term. They are also still adjusting to a new offense installed by new coach Mike Brown —especially Karl-Anthony Towns — but it’s difficult to have these guys any higher when the Nets have just as many road wins (three).
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 3
Orlando has gradually picked it up since a 1-4 start and, even though Paolo Banchero has been sidelined by a groin injury, is happily watching Franz Wagner expand his game to push for an All-Star spot in his fifth NBA season. The Magic, though, did not make an all-in trade in June for Desmond Bane to scuffle in the Play-In Tournament range. The Magic, frankly, thought they would have taken residency in the top three in the wide-open East by now like Toronto and Miami have. Seeing them in the No. 6 slot in offensive efficiency but only 13th in defensive efficiency counts for two more Thanksgiving surprises.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 7
Reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle appears to have taken a sophomore leap and Victor Wembanyama began the new campaign in a dominant mood to suggest that his first two NBA seasons were the last two for a while that he plans to miss out on the playoffs. It just didn’t feel right, even with the Spurs at a tidy 12-5, to put them in our top 10 when both of those key cogs are currently injured. Wemby has been sidelined by a calf injury, Castle is carrying a hip flexor and De’Aaron Fox‘s recent return from a hamstring problem has been offset by the in-and-out status of June’s No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 15
The Hawks are being watched closely by rival teams with Trae Young sidelined all month by a knee sprain. Will Atlanta see enough success without Young to truly make him available via trade? Are people (as we suspect here) rushing to that conclusion before Hawks officials actually decide? What’s clear in the ATL: Jalen Johnson is living up to his all-around promise with heady averages of 21.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game. The only other players leaguewide who can boast the same type of production in all three categories: Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Alperen Şengün and Josh Giddey.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 10
With all of the surprising starts in the East — obviously a list topped by Detroit, Toronto and Miami but also stretching to teams like Chicago and Philadelphia that inevitably cooled off — there hasn’t been much national discussion about the Jayson Tatum-less Celtics. (The Committee certainly couldn’t have imagined placing Boston this high.) Yet that might be changing after Jaylen Brown and Co. brought a halt to the Pistons’ 13-game winning streak on Wednesday night. If the 10-8 Celts continue to play better-than-.500 basketball without Tatum, as well as the exiled Kristaps Porziņģis, Jrue Holiday and Al Horford, questions about Tatum coming back from his Achilles’ tear before the end of the season will only get louder.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 18
Is Jordan Ott poised to become the first coach hired (or inherited) by new Suns owner Mat Ishbia to make it to a second season in charge? The signs are certainly promising after the first (nearly) 20 games of the Ott Era. Ishbia told the world after last season’s 36-46 nightmare that he wanted to see a team in the desert that played with “some grit, some determination, some work ethic, some grind, some joy.” Nine of the Suns’ 12 wins have come against sub-.500 teams and Phoenix has enjoyed the league’s second-easiest schedule to date, but the undersized roster that surrounds Devin Booker is indeed delivering the characteristics that Ishbia asked for … led by a better-than-ever Dillon Brooks. And we’ve barely seen Jalen Green to this point.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 26
A year ago, we frequently spoke of The Ant Effect that landed the Timberwolves on the national television schedule for both Opening Night and Christmas. This season? The overriding media discussion about the Wolves has focused on the fact that Minnesota-based media outlets generally aren’t traveling to road games. In truth that says far more about the health of the newspapers in the region than the team’s actual outlook, but there’s no dodging the notion that the Wolves’ start to the season has underwhelmed. You expect better from Anthony Edwards and Co. than 0-7 against .500-or-better teams after back-to-back trips to the Western Conference finals. They also absorbed humbling defeats in recent days to Phoenix (squandering an eight-point lead in overtime) and Sacramento (after ‘Sota began the season at 10-0 against sub-.500 teams).
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 5
The Bulls’ 6-1 start, fueled by their fast pace and strong bench contributions in support of a starting group led by a better-than-ever Giddey, was only going to last so long. In all candor: Chicago is only this high on our ladder because so many teams below them are in more worrying shape at this early juncture. This roster has obvious limitations, especially defensively, which is why so many around the league are curious about the Bulls’ willingness to try to package their various tradeable contracts to swing an uncharacteristically splashy move. In the meantime: Matas Buzelis‘ development continues and Coby White is back from a calf injury to see if he can reignite the strong second-half partnership he formed with Giddey last season.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 24
Given their travel-heavy start to the season (12 of the first 17 games on the road in a span of 29 days) and the fact that Stephen Curry has already missed four games and is injured again with a quad contusion, maybe 10-10 doesn’t sound too bad. The reality, though, is that this team already relying heavily on various thirtysomethings is now both undersized and banged up, with Draymond Green (foot), Jonathan Kuminga (knee) and Horford (sciatica) all either playing through various ailments or outright sidelined. Yet another shock to the system that even the aforementioned chaos doesn’t fully explain: The Warriors are a solid No. 10 in defensive rating … but a hard-to-believe No. 22 in offensive rating. How?
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 8
Some important bursts of clarity have crystalized in Philly since the start of the season: VJ Edgecombe has proven to be NBA-ready after the 76ers made him last June’s No. 3 overall pick out of Baylor, Quentin Grimes continues to establish himself as free agent likely to be coveted next summer … and this most definitely is Tyrese Maxey‘s team now. Yet when it comes to Joel Embiid (who has played in just six of the Sixers’ first 17 games) and Paul George (who has played in just three), uncertainty not only persists about their day-to-day availability but tends to be the storyline that dominates all discussion about this team. Sadly.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 23
Most Improved Player? Better yet: Western Conference All-Star? The Blazers’ Deni Avdija is a legit contender for both honors thanks to his emergence as a dependable scorer and steadying force in the face of numerous backcourt injuries in the Pacific Northwest as well as the stunning federal indictment of head coach Chauncey Billups as part of an FBI gambling probe that was sprung on the franchise just one game into the season. The truth is, though, that the Trail Blazers have been sliding since their 5-3 start — undoubtedly hurt by all the guards they’ve been missing while Billups remains away from the team on indefinite league-imposed leave — and realistically landed in the top 20 because they’re the only team on the NBA map that knows what it’s like to beat the Thunder this season.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 21
“I’m fine in the West.” Remember that Ja Morant declaration? Morant issued it in December 2022 … nearly three full years ago. As December 2025 approaches, Morant has been sidelined by a calf injury and neither Brandon Clarke nor Ty Jerome is expected to play for the Grizz until 2026 as this franchise continues to weather injury after injury. Zach Edey‘s rebounding and mammoth presence have been bright spots, but the increasingly pessimistic projections in circulation about Morant’s trade value might be the most worrisome development of them all for Memphis. The decline in Morant’s 3-point shooting and willingness to attack the rim (from nearly 40% of his shots as a rookie to the 15% range this season) have been well-chronicled. And he turned people off further just last weekend by getting into a needless public spat with Klay Thompson.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 16
The Committee is fond of saying that, with Giannis in the lineup, we will always give a puncher’s chance to the Bucks to make some playoff noise in the East … even with Milwaukee coming off three successive first-round playoff exits. The problem, of course, is that Antetokounmpo is currently plagued by a left adductor strain that has sidelined him for the past four games. Worse yet: Just hearing the words adductor strain unsettles us greatly after Anthony Davis arrived in Dallas with a similar injury last February. With Antetokounmpo on the floor, even though it’s obviously a small sample size, Milwaukee sports a gaudy offensive efficiency of 123.5 points per 100 possessions. Yet whenever the Bucks have to play without him it quickly becomes apparent how significant the load is that he’s carrying as well as the limitations of the players around him. In the Bucks’ current state, it proved impossible to keep them out of the league’s bottom third.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 13
I can’t think of a team leaguewide that was as collectively misread in the offseason by the so-called experts as these Clippers. They won almost universal praise for letting Norman Powell go and replacing him with a slew of vets who haven’t contributed as expected: John Collins, Brook Lopez, Bradley Beal and Chris Paul. James Harden, meanwhile, has been turning back the clock and it has scarcely even mattered for the league’s oldest team … while Powell has emerged as a legit All-Star candidate since relocating to South Beach. Will there be anything to celebrate this season at Intuit Dome apart from All-Star Weekend?
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 9
The Mavericks have the league’s youngest player (Cooper Flagg doesn’t turn 19 until Dec. 21) yet still boast the league’s sixth-oldest roster thanks to fielding six players in their 30s. The Mavericks also happen to be the only team ranked in the league’s top 10 in defensive rating with a losing record. Such is life with the 30th-ranked offense and a league-worst record of 4-11 in clutch games. Here’s the deal: If you aren’t dynamic at the offensive end, too, fashioning the league’s No. 3 team scheme on D — impressive as it is that Dallas has done so with AD limited to five of 19 games thus far — doesn’t provide much joy or comfort. Davis’ imminent return from a 14-game injury absence (left calf strain) is the only thing that kept the Mavericks out of the bottom five.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 14
The Jazz were briefly as high as 10th in the West at a passable 5-9 … meaning that there were actually five teams below them in the conference standings for a bit. Lauri Markkanen has looked every bit the EuroBasket monster we saw in the fall and Ace Bailey has made contributions to a strong start for several members of the 2025 rookie class. These are all modest developments in the grand leaguewide scheme, true, but probably better days than anything the Jazz enjoyed last season. The true downer was the loss of Walker Kessler to a season-ending shoulder injury.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 30
Remember the old Power Rankings jinx that The Committee had to hear about for years in our ESPN days? Maybe our around-the-league notebooks at The Stein Line have the opposite spurring effect. Ever since my colleague Jake Fischer wrote that the Kings have already emerged as a known seller in advance of the Feb. 5 trade deadline, they’ve been playing better. Sacramento won back-to-back games over Denver and Minnesota in the wake of a Jake piece that identified Keegan Murray and Nique Clifford as the lone Kings regarded as off-limits in trade talks this winter … and after eight straight losses in which the closest game was a 13-point defeat and the low point was a 41-point hammering inflicted by the Morant-less Grizz. Russell Westbrook, for the record, has played as well as the Kings could have hoped and duly forced his way into the starting lineup. The issues here (starting with a meniscus injury that has sidelined the typically sturdy Domantas Sabonis) remain plentiful. It was certainly interesting, though, to hear DeMar DeRozan proclaim of Murray recently: “It’s his team.”
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 25
Critics who assailed the Pelicans for failing to make a coaching change in the offseason were validated by an 0-6 start that reached 2-10 before New Orleans finally gave in and dismissed Willie Green. Encouraging flashes from rookies Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears can’t mask the unsightly realities that persist for the Pels even after Green was replaced by interim coach James Borrego: Zion Williamson has only been able to suit up for nine of 19 games thus far … meaning that we will continue to hear about the two draft-related trades New Orleans made in June that are look scarier by the day.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 20
The Pacers’ 1-13 start was the worst for an NBA Finals team since Milwaukee’s 1-13 launch way back in 1974-75. As the injuries piled up, it was increasingly hard for Indiana to even be competitive; five of its first seven losses came by single digits … but the next six were all by 15 points or more. At least now Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard are back to provide poor Pascal Siakam with some offensive assistance, but until then Siakam must have felt like Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Empty Room Meme that anyone active on social media can surely picture.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 17
The Kon Knueppel hype has been undeniably fun. Knueppel’s fellow rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner has had his moments, too. The Hornets, however, have quickly sunk right down into the muck of the Leastern Conference like they’ve too often sunk in amassing the NBA’s longest playoff drought at nine seasons and counting. They likewise appear destined to spend the next two months under a will-they-or-won’t-they trade cloud regarding star guard LaMelo Ball, whose desire to stay a Hornet is being openly questioned despite Ball’s insistence to the contrary. The ongoing injury woes that have plagued Ball and Brandon Miller obviously only add to the angst.
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 27
Where is the hope? Shouldn’t a team that made five selections in the first round of last June’s draft be generating more than the Nets do? Are we being too harsh if we don’t immediately point out that four of those five selections were 19th in the first round or lower? Or if we don’t reference a recent surprise win over Boston? I’m asking Nets fans who read us for some help here: Can you provide a temperature check to The Committee? How do you feel about where this team is and where it’s going?
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 29
The Wizards are 1-1 this season against Dallas and 1-0 when they play with The Committee in attendance. In all other games? Washington is 1-13 and thus on pace to post a sub-20-win season for the third campaign in a row. The good news: Tuesday’s rout of Atlanta ensured that the Wiz would not slink into Thanksgiving as the only team in #thisleague with less than two wins. The bad news: They need to muster 18 more to avoid becoming the first franchise to endure three successive seasons with a sub-20s win total since Philadelphia’s “The Process” teams in 2013-14 (19-63), 2014-15 (18-64) and 2015-16 (10-72).
Last ranking (Oct. 21): 28