Post-Free Agency NBA Power Rankings: 76ers rise up after draft, Celtics are the biggest fallers 📈📉

Post-Free Agency NBA Power Rankings: 76ers rise up after draft, Celtics are the biggest fallers 📈📉

All right, nobody loves a list the way I do, so there’s no such thing as way too early power rankings. Not even two weeks removed from game seven of the NBA Finals. NBA writer Colin Ward Henninger has his rankings up on CBSports.com right now with trades, the draft, and free agency all factored in. And Colin joins us now on HQ. All right, Colin, the the Thunder the season on top. You have them ranked number one right now going into next season. Maybe no surprise, but no additions. Also, no subtractions really for the defending champs. And so, is this just built on last year’s success? Yeah, absolutely. And the key phrase there is no subtractions. I mean, this team is built for long-term success. And if you talk about a team that just won the NBA title, this is the youngest team in the NBA. I mean, they were the second youngest team to ever win the NBA title. So, it’s not like, oh no, they need to make some changes. is bringing some new pieces. Like all these guys are getting better, right? Jaylen Williams is an allNBA player. He’s only hitting the cusp of his prime. You’ve got a guy like Chad Homegrren who only has a handful of NBA games under his belt. He’s only going to get better. And then of course you talk about the MVP, the league’s leading scorer, the finals MVP, Shay Gildas Alexander. Oh, hey, guess what? He turns 27 next week. He’s not even in prime yet. So, uh, this team is built for success. Uh, I don’t think you really have to worry about anything in terms of, oh no, they didn’t change the roster. They have the formula. It’s the allworld, all historical defense that they have coupled with Shay Gildas Alexander’s absolute majesty on the offensive end. Uh, they have a system that’s going to continue to win regular season NBA games. You want to talk about the playoffs, okay, they were pushed to a game seven a couple times. Who knows what happens if Tyrese Hallebertton doesn’t get hurt. However, uh the regular season, this team is going to be an absolute juggernaut again. I don’t think you have anything to worry about if you’re an Oklahoma City fan. Yeah, scary thought for the rest of the NBA. And Colin, so much of that Thunder roster built through the draft with an embarrassment of first round picks that uh the franchise has acquired over the years. The Knicks got roasted pretty good in what seemed like a directionless search at times for their next head coach after firing Tom Tibido. Now they’ve hired former twotime NBA coach of the year Mike Brown. You have them third overall. That’s up a couple of spots. What do you like about the Brown hire and of course maybe the addition of a guy like Jordan Clarkson. Yeah, I think you know Mike Brown, you mentioned the search was kind of hilarious at times. They kept asking for permission to interview other teams head coaches and of course they were like no we’re not doing that. But they ended up with Mike Brown who you know I’ve spent a lot of time around Mike Brown. Uh he was a Golden State assistant. and I’m out here in the Bay Area and then of course the head coach of the Sacramento Kings led that incredible turnaround where they made the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. It obviously went south after that, but you know, I think a lot of people around the league think that the firing of Mike Brown was really unjust. So for the Knicks to get a guy like him, uh you talk about a 180 here. Tom Tivido is this doom and gloom kind of dark cloud walking into every room. Mike Brown’s the exact opposite. You won’t meet one person who has talked to this guy, have met this guy, who has one bad word to say about Mike Brown. Incredibly upbeat, incredibly positive. And I think that’s kind of the change that the Knicks were looking for here. Uh clearly the attitude, maybe he had lost uh that locker room a little bit and talking about Tom Tibido. So to bring in a guy who’s kind of a players coach, an upbeat guy is maybe the change they’re looking for. And then if you’re talking about X’s and O’s, you mentioned Jordan Clarkson. Uh they want a guy who’s going to use their bench a little bit more. They also added Gershon Yabusale over the off season. So, those are two pieces uh proven bench players who can come in and contribute and I think Mike Brown will make a little bit better use of them. Uh and also a little more creativity offensively. Mike Brown was the head coach of a team, a Sacramento Kings team that had the best offense in the league a couple seasons ago. Uh so, not just Jaylen Brunson pick and roll every single time. Uh we’re going to mix things up. We’re have a little more player movement, a little more ball movement. So, I think those were the reasons that they went with Mike Brown. And in terms of the Knicks being number three, it it’s really, you know, addition by subtraction. The Celtics are out of there. The Pacers are moving down because of injuries. Uh so I think the Knicks, you know, number three spot is legit, but it’s also because of some injuries in the Eastern Conference. Yeah. A couple of reasons right there why a lot of people are saying the East feels wide open. Although I know you have the Cavs one spot ahead of the Knicks in your power rankings. One of Mike Brown’s former teams, the Lakers, made a move to fill a need at center by signing DeAndre Aon this week. LeBron opted in. Luca is looking slim, but LA is sliding in these rankings. Why? Well, I mean, if you look at the teams around them and what they’ve done, the Houston Rockets added Kevin Durant, stole Dorian Finny Smith from them, uh got a couple bench pieces. Uh you look at a team like the Minnesota Timberwolves coming off another Western Conference Finals run. Uh the Lakers are fine, but it was proven last off season that they simply just didn’t have enough pieces to compete in the playoffs. And when you look at what they’ve done this off seasonason, look, DeAndre Aiden, it depends on how you want to look at it, right? Glass half full, glass half empty, former number one pick, a guy who was helpful on a Phoenix Suns team that went to the NBA finals, but also a guy who basically got run out of town in Phoenix, a guy who the Portland Trailblazers just decided to pay to leave because they didn’t want him around. Uh he’s kind of like, you know, one of those streaming shows that you watch and you watch the pilot and you’re like, “Oh my god, this show’s amazing. I love it and then episode two is like, okay, it’s not as good as the first one. And then by episode four, you’re like, why am I still watching this? That’s what DeAndre Aiden has been throughout his career. So, I think the first 20 games are going to be great for the Lakers. You know, he’s super athletic, totally skilled, uh, but t has tends to to lose that effort as the season goes on. So, we’ll see how that goes. And then, of course, there’s the LeBron James thing that’s just hanging over everything. He opted into that to that contract, uh, that $52 million. He didn’t extend a lot of the Lakers moves reportedly they’re operating. They’re saying we don’t want anything that’s more than two years out. This team is building around Luca Donic and LeBron James has never been in this situation his career. He’s never been on an expiring contract. He’s always had extensions or long-term contracts. So, uh word around the league is that there’s a high likelihood that the Lakers are going to look around in terms of trades for LeBron James, which sounds crazy. Uh, but if they are building towards the future, if they looked around and said, “Look, the Western Conference has gotten better. We haven’t had to be able to add any meaningful pieces, maybe a LeBron James trade is really the only way to go here and build around the slimmer Luca Donic for the future.” Man, even age gets the greatest of the greats at one point or another. All right, Colin. The Celtics might look more different than any other playoff team from last season. Holiday and Porzingis are out. Anthony Simons is in. And of course, Jason Tatum could miss all of next season with that Achilles injury. Where do you have Boston considering all of that and some apparent uncertainty with guys like Jaylen Brown and Derek White? Yeah, it’s crazy to see the Celtics drop. I mean, they’re perennially number one or two in these power rankings for the last few years. Uh, and suddenly they’re down in the teens just just because uh not only Jason Tatum’s injury, which obviously would have knocked them down a few pegs, uh, but we thought the Celtics were going to make some moves, right? Maybe trade one of Drew Holiday or Chris Espro. No, we’re getting them both out of the door immediately. Luke Carnett’s gone. Who knows what the future holds for Jaylen Brown and Derek White. If those guys are on the team, they’re still going to be really competitive. Uh they’re well coached. Uh they’re a really good team, but uh losing those pieces obviously takes them out of the top of the Eastern Conference in terms of contention. So that, you know, opens the door for teams like the Cavs, the Knicks, etc. So, uh, you know, uh, adding a guy like Anthony Simons, I think that’s a good piece for them. I think he’s a good player and might thrive in their system, but when you talk about the losses that they had in terms of Holiday, Porzingis, and possibly Tatum for the whole season, adding Anthony Simons, I just don’t think it’s going to be enough. Yeah. And I like Simons maybe more than others who just call him a gunner or a scorer. He’s he’s a really good young player. All right. If there’s one team that is ultimately banking on health being the big difference maker between 2024 and 2025, it may very well be the Sixers. And Philly is your biggest riser on this list. Well, they have to be. It’s not fair. I have to do these power rankings, you know, guessing what’s going to happen at the beginning of next season. Of course, if they’re healthy, is it? There’s not much to say about the 76ers. You know, they have Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxi, they just added VJ Edgecomb. They might have a healthy Jared McCain. If those guys are all on the court, they’re going to be great. Uh if not, uh it’s going to be a lot of what we saw last season. So, it’s hard to gauge what the Sixers are, but you can’t forget that if all those guys are healthy, if Joel Embiid can play 60 games and be healthy for the playoffs, they’re going to be a really competitive team. Well, that’s a big if, but it’s a fun if because you’re right, Philly could be a real power in the East if fully healthy. All right, Colin, thank you so much. And you can find Collins full NBA power rankings on cbsports.com. Right now, here’s a look at the odds to win it all. Next, Sunroer in align with what Collins says as the Thunder being the number one team in all the NBA at plus 260, followed by the Knicks. Nuggets made a lot of moves in this off season already, as have the Rockets. Both tied there at plus 850.

NBA Writer Colin Ward-Henninger joins CBS Sports HQ with his way-too-early NBA Power Rankings for the 2025-2026 Season.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/user/CBSSports

WATCH
CBS Sports HQ: https://www.cbssports.com/live/
Paramount Plus: https://www.paramountplus.com

FOLLOW US ON:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/CBSSports/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/cbssports/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/CBSSports

#nba #nbapowerrankings