"How does your NBA team look heading into the 2025-26 season? What about in 2028? The NBA Future Power Rankings are ESPN's projection of the on-court success expected for each team over the next three seasons: 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28. Can the Oklahoma City Thunder become the first team to break an NBA-record streak of eight consecutive seasons with a different champion?"
"Houston is proof of how quickly these rankings can shift. The Rockets were among our bottom-five teams in four of the five rankings from May 2021 through October 2023, and they never finished higher than 22nd. But last year, the Rockets leapt to seventh after hiring coach Ime Udoka and amassing one of the best young cores in the league."
The Future Power Rankings project NBA team performance across 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28. Teams are rated in five categories and ranked relative to the rest of the league to produce forecasts. The rankings show substantial volatility, with nine franchises shifting by double digits year over year. Houston exemplifies rapid improvement after hiring Ime Udoka, building a strong young core and adding Kevin Durant, earning top-five marks in players, management and draft assets. Key storylines include whether Oklahoma City can end a streak of rotating champions, how quickly Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio can contend, and the Lakers' outlook entering a Luka Doncic era.
#nba-future-power-rankings #houston-rockets #oklahoma-city-thunder #san-antonio-spurs #team-projections
Read at ESPN.com
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