Wednesday's are when we update our NBA Power Rankings here at The Whiteboard, but this is an extra long addition with the chaos Draymond Green caused last night and Zach LaVine trade rumors to talk through. For now, let's start by ranking the best teams in the league.
NBA Power Rankings, Week 3:
As we covered yesterday, the Wizards are playing terribly with the bad vibes to match. Jordan Poole already looks disengaged and it's going to be a long season in Washington.
It's hard to imagine the Grizzlies making a move before Ja Morant returns. But without Steven Adams for the entire season, the hole may be too deep even 14 games from now.
The Pistons continue to slide and Cade Cunningham's shooting struggles are starting to be a serious concern. Better shooting around him would help but the Pistons still have a lot to figure out.
Brandon Miller has been a bright spot and LaMelo Ball is putting up big numbers. But his shot selection continues to be a work in progress and this is a roster in transition with several veterans likely to be traded.
Shaedon Sharpe has been fantastic and Jerami Grant is picking up the scoring slack. But they really need to get Scoot Henderson back and healthy, even if the dividends he's paying won't be realized for a few years.
The Jazz have a two-game win streak and their frontcourt is really clicking. If they could just get steady backcourt contributions they'd be ready to start moving up.
The Spurs have hit a rough patch and Victor Wembanyama has gone cold, shooting just 12-of-37 from the field and 2-of-12 from beyond the arc in their past two games. But he won't stay down forever and they will get better as the season goes along.
The only thing that's really changed for the Bulls is, apparently, their willingness to trade Zach LaVine (more on that latter). One way or the other, change is coming for this Bulls' roster.
The Clippers have dropped more than any other team, having now lost four straight since trading for James Harden. They have the talent to turn it around at any point but they also have an enormous collection of egos and the longer they struggle the more volatile they could become.
Injuries are continuing to take their toll on the Cavs and everyone has is tasked with doing a little more than they probably should be. The results have been middling at both ends and they just really need to get their roster whole.
So far this season, the Suns haven't played even a single minute with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal on the court together. Durant has played just over 50 minutes with each of them individually and the Suns have been outscored in both cases. It's all chaos if they can't get healthy and get a rhythm together.
The Raptors have played some great games and some absolute stinkers. They are sitting in the same middle ground they've been in — not quite good enough to shake-off trade rumors, not quite bad enough to demand a rebuild.
The Pelicans got off to a hot start but were derailed by a five-game losing streak before picking up a huge win over the Mavericks. They have the talent to be much better but have been below-average at both ends to this point.
The Magic have been one of the best defenses in the league but the offense is struggling and they really need Markelle Fultz and Gary Harris healthy and a few more open 3-pointers to start going down.
R.J. Barrett has been phenomenal and the bench has been a real strength. But, stop me if you've heard this one, Julius Randle has been a hot mess, missing everything and still dominating the ball. He should progress toward the mean but if he doesn't the Knicks have to make a trade.
The Warriors have muddled through a brutal stretch, losing four-in-a-row with a pair of losses to the Timberwolves and another to the Nuggets. Curry is the only player doing anything on offense and Draymond Green is likely to be suspended for a significant stretch (more on that below). It might take a while for the Warriors to climb out of this hole.
Even without Cam Thomas, the Nets have taken care of business picking up wins of the Wizards and Magic. They're building some rhythm and should continue to get better as they get healthier.
The Lakers are keeping their heads above water but the supporting cast is still struggling with consistency and they need more from Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell, Taurean Prince and more.
I don't think the Rockets are nearly as strong as their record indicates — Dillon Brooks isn't going to keep shooting 53.3 percent from beyond the arc and their opponents aren't going to keep shooting 32.2 percent. But they've won six in a row and wins are wins.
The offense has started to improve and De'Aaron Fox is finally back healthy. They appear to have turned the corner on some of their early-season struggles and are beginning to make up ground.
Trae Young has been historically inefficient but he's doing enough creation and the supporting cast has been strong enough to keep them winning. I'm not confident the formula keeps working but they're going to ride it for as long as it does.
The still can't stop anyone but they have the most efficient offense in the league by a healthy margin and now have logged meaningful wins over the Cavs (twice), Bucks and 76ers. If they can make any kind of improvement on defense they could be extremely dangerous.
The Heat took advantage of a softer patch in their schedule, notching wins over the Hawks, Spurs and Hornets. They're now on a six-game winning streak and are getting great contributions from Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler.
Chet Holmgren has been fantastic at both ends of the floor, Cason Wallace looks like the steal of the draft, the bench is clicking the Thunder have won four of their last five. This might be coming together more quickly than anyone thought.
The defense is still struggling and Damian Lillard has suffered through a handful of shaky shooting performances. But the Bucks are winning enough to buy themselves time to keep tinkering and figure things out by the time the playoffs start, which is the ultimate goal.
Luka Doncic has regressed, but only from unbelievable to exceptional. The supporting cast is doing the job and younger players like Jaden Hardy, Dereck Lively and Dante Exum give them upside. (Yes, Exum is 28 but his NBA experience is limited). This might be the year for the Mavs.
Everything is working for the Celtics right now and they have everything they need for an NBA Finals run. The rest of this regular season is about staying healthy, jockeying for seeding and getting their bench players enough reps to be ready for the playoffs.
The 76ers dropped their first game since opening night, a 132-126 track meet against the Pacers. But Tyrese Maxey just keeps getting better and the vibes are immaculate right now.
The Timberwolves are taking every opportunity to notch statement wins and have now beaten the Heat, Nuggets, Celtics and Warriors (twice). The defense is phenomenal and they still have plenty of upside on offense as they work out the balance and rhythm between Edwards, Towns and Gobert. This is what everyone thought they'd see from Minnesota last season.
The Nuggets will be without Jamal Murray for a bit but they still have the best record in the NBA, the best player in the NBA and all the swagger they earned in last season's championship run. For now, they're the best team in the NBA.
Draymond Green is going to be out for a while
We are almost immune to wild bursts of violence and anger from Draymond Green. Over the years, we've watched him punch a teammate in the face and kick a half-dozen opponents in the groin. But last night was something different.
Just seconds into Tuesday night's matchup against the Timberwolves, Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels got tangled up and began shoving each other. Rudy Gobert ran up to try and separate them. Draymond came flying in from out of frame to put Gobert in a chokehold which lasted nearly 10 seconds as he dragged him nearly 20 feet.
Thompson, McDaniels and Green were all ejected but Green is the only one likely to be suspended, and, all things considered, it should be a fairly lengthy one. With the Warriors at 6-6 and struggling to build momentum, this could be a pretty big disruption in their season.
READ MORE:
- Rudy Gobert calls out Draymond Green's 'clown behavior' as he wins latest spat by Jon Krawczynski and Sam Amick, for The Athletic
- Green, Thompson, McDaniels ejected after Wolves-Warriors fight
by Kendra Andrews, for ESPN
QUICK HITTER: Two off-the-wall Zach LaVine trade ideas
Shams Charania has reported that the Bulls are open to trading Zach LaVine, an obvious solution to their disappointing status quo that they have resisted in the past.
The Heat, Lakers and 76ers have all been mentioned as possible landing spots but I think there are more interesting, and instructive, scenarios to be found elsewhere. Here are two of my favorites.
This one is both incredibly absurd and incredibly unlikely but I think it has some logic that's hard to find in many other hypothetical LaVine deals. I am still of the mind that the Hawks would be better off without Young but there are almost no plausible trade partners for them because a team would have to be willing to build their entire offensive structure around him.
The Bulls, in a deck-clearing rebuild, are one of the few teams that would be in position to give Young the kind of offensive primacy he demands. LaVine makes a ton of sense for the Hawks as a spot-up shooter and secondary creator, working next to Dejounte Murray and their deep roster of complementary players.
Their salaries line up perfectly. No picks or additional filler needs to be involved. Just two teams swapping their problems and hoping the grass is greener on the other side.
The return from the Bulls comes in so many parts it can't fit in the graphic, but they'd also be getting Richaun Holmes for salary matching purposes and the Mavs 2026 first-round pick. They'd probably like a much larger return in picks and young players for someone of LaVine's age and accomplishments, but I'm just not sure there are enough viable suitors out there to really drive up the price.
If not this specific package to this specific team, they may have to settle for something like this — a pick, a couple of young players who might be useful, some salary relief and a couple of veterans who can hopefully be flipped in additional trades down the road.
It's certainly not sexy but neither is the path the Bulls are on right now.
Recommended Reading:
1. Life, uh, finds a way: "Wembanyama and Holmgren, nailing 3s on offense and using their 8-foot and 7-foot-6 wingspans, respectively, to block 3s with their long, bony fingertips on the other end, can reach for even more. Facing off for the first time in the regular season on Tuesday, the two massive Rookie of the Year front-runners are bound to be compared for the rest of their careers. But they both have bigger ambitions, with league-altering implications. Borrowing from the past to forge a new present, Wembanyama and Holmgren have the potential to force the game to adapt to them." The NBA's Giants of Tomorrow Are Here
2. WOOOOOOOOO EEEEEEEEE: "Obviously, this is highly unusual. It's the first time since the Warriors became the Warriors that they're getting out-scored with Steph on the floor, and only the second time that they're out-scoring opponents with him on the bench. Even crazier, they have been MASSIVELY better so far this season (13.94 points per 100 possessions, per PBPStats.com) with Steph out of the game." What's Up With That? The Warriors Without Steph
3. Bulls lead the league in self-delusion: "Chicago doesn't like to use the r-word, but the Bulls are rebuilding, even if they don't know it. They have a good young player in Patrick Williams—who himself is off to a dreadful start—and a couple of interesting prospects (Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White) to start over with. It's not great, but nothing about the Bulls is these days." Early-Season NBA Panic Meter: Who Should Really Be Concerned?
