EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe games are still weeks away and the practices haven't even started, but the 2026-27 NBA season is fast approaching.Now that nearly all of the league's important offseason transactions have concluded, and now that the season preview machine is revving up its engines, it's time to take a first broad look at the upcoming landscape. It's too early to conduct an exact 1-to-30 ranking, but we can place each team into a larger tier based on its anticipated standing.Let's start with the first of eight tiers, featuring the three best teams in the league. (Note: Teams are ordered alphabetically within their tiers.)Jump to a tier:The championship favoritesThe flawed West contendersWin machines | High upsideThe Southeast Goldilocks tierPotential play-in participantsNot competitive: Div. A | Div. BChampionship favoritesNew York KnicksOklahoma City ThunderSan Antonio SpursThis trio proved to be the top tier of teams last season, and the Knicks, Thunder and Spurs were the only ones to win a game in the conference finals. And they're still in a tier unto themselves. The group will collectively return 14 of the 15 starters in 2026-27, with All-Defensive wing Luguentz Dort (traded from OKC to Atlanta) the only exception.All three teams enter the new season with championship expectations, and all three are eminently capable of achieving that goal. The Knicks and Thunder are the two most recent winners, and the Spurs reached the Finals much earlier than expected in June, before adding a solid veteran in Tobias Harris over the summer.Flawed West contendersDenver NuggetsHouston RocketsLos Angeles LakersMinnesota TimberwolvesThese four teams finished in the 3-to-6 spots in the Western Conference last season, and they're projected to repeat that feat this campaign. Each franchise, however, took a different approach to the offseason.The Lakers and Timberwolves largely remade their rosters around a couple of stars. The Lakers imported a handful of free agents, led by center Walker Kessler, while the Wolves traded for LaMelo Ball and signed Jonathan Kuminga. But losing LeBron James and the Julius Randle/Naz Reid combo, respectively, could strain both teams' forward rotations, making their offseason transactions high-risk, high-reward endeavors.Conversely, the Nuggets and Rockets mostly stood pat, with their only roster changes coming to the bench, most notably Denver's loss of Peyton Watson; although Houston would argue the return of Fred VanVleet, who missed all of last season, is the biggest upgrade. The Rockets also extended forward Amen Thompson to a five-year deal last week, ensuring his future with the team's young core of Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason.Regular-season win machinesBoston CelticsCleveland CavaliersDetroit PistonsBoston, Cleveland and Detroit represented three of the top four Eastern Conference teams in the 2025-26 regular season, and all three should remain in the 50-plus-win range despite the conference's boost in overall depth. The Celtics had the biggest personnel loss of the group with the Jaylen Brown trade, but they also should benefit from a full season of Jayson Tatum, after he played only 16 games last season.The bigger question for this threesome, however, is how much postseason upside there is, even if each team lands another high playoff seed. The Celtics seemed to lose some championship equity when they traded their recent Finals MVP, coming off the best season of his career.After taking the East's No. 1 seed last season, the Pistons didn't address their greatest weakness this summer, as they still lack secondary scoring behind Cade Cunningham. And as of this writing, All-NBA center Jalen Duren remains unsigned in restricted free agency.And finally, while the Cavaliers took a big, necessary swing by trading a bunch of depth (and an unprotected first-round pick) for Peyton Watson, it's still unclear whether a backcourt built around two extremely offense-first guards in Donovan Mitchell and James Harden can hold up in the playoff pressure cooker. The Cavs took a step forward by making the East finals, before getting swept by the Knicks. Watson hasn't proved himself in a postseason setting, either, after missing the 2025-26 playoffs due to injury.High-upside Finals candidatesIndiana PacersMiami HeatPhiladelphia 76ersToronto RaptorsIt's unclear whether any of these teams, all of which won 46 games or fewer last season, will break into the top four in the East standings. But they still have significant playoff upside because there is so much combined star power: Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard (presumably) and Scottie Barnes.There's a reasonable argument for each team to reach the Finals, as long as one important what if goes the right way. The Pacers could return to the Finals if Haliburton plays like his former self in his return from an Achilles tendon tear. The Heat could reach the Finals if Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. provide enough shooting and supplemental offense around the frontcourt stars. The 76ers could reach the Finals if the stars mesh and Embiid is fresh in April and May. And the Raptors could reach the Finals if Leonard, Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles lead the conference's best defense.Solid Southeast squadsAtlanta HawksOrlando MagicThese Southeast Division rivals occupy their own sort of Goldilocks tier: Their ceiling is too low to fit in any of the earlier groups, but their floor is too high to go any later.Their similarities extend further than that:They finished in close proximity to each other last season, as Atlanta won 46 games and Orlando won 45, and both threatened to pull off a playoff upset before fading. And both made meaningful offseason upgrades, as the Hawks traded for Luguentz Dort and Aaron Wiggins, while the Magic hired new coach Sean Sweeney in an attempt to turn all of their potential into better production.Potential play-in participantsCharlotte HornetsDallas MavericksGolden State WarriorsMemphis GrizzliesNew Orleans PelicansPhoenix SunsPortland Trail BlazersUtah JazzWashington WizardsThe largest tier features teams that could conceivably finish near the bottom of the standings but also could sneak into the playoffs.In the East, Charlotte could take a step back this season after its scorching finish to the 2025-26 campaign. Trading LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges might have been the best move for the franchise's ultimate long-term plans, but Ball, in particular, was integral to the team's run last season. In the crowded East race, it wouldn't be a surprise for the Hornets to finish outside of the top 10.The Wizards are attempting to crash that party -- and could do so, if Trae Young, Anthony Davis and No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa all mesh and stay healthy. But they have a long way to climb after winning just 15, 18 and 17 games across the past three seasons, and full health from Davis is far from guaranteed.The largest takeaway from this tier comes out West, though, where the race looks incredibly jumbled after the top six.Phoenix and Portland both reached the playoffs last season, though neither seems to raise a very high ceiling. New Trail Blazers coach Micah Nori will have to integrate a newly star-studded yet injury-prone backcourt featuring Damian Lillard and Ja Morant. Meanwhile, Golden State didn't make any splashes this offseason and will await Jimmy Butler III's return from a torn ACL.Elsewhere, the Mavericks and Jazz could surge up the standings thanks to full seasons from Kyrie Irving and Jaren Jackson Jr., respectively, as well as further development from Dallas' Cooper Flagg and Utah's young guards. New Orleans won only 26 games last season and didn't do much beyond adding Bennedict Mathurin this summer, but there is still plenty of talent -- Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, Dejounte Murray, Herbert Jones -- on its roster.Finally, don't sleep on Memphis, with its sneaky upside. Ty Jerome and Zach Edey were excellent in limited playing time last season, and No. 3 pick Cameron Boozer could provide instant impact, even as a rookie. If all three players stay healthy, the Grizzlies could approach a .500 record.Noncompetitive, with their own pickChicago BullsSacramento KingsThe final two tiers occupy the same broad space in the standings, as the five teams within them are unlikely to contend this season. But one key difference separates Chicago and Sacramento from the final trio: The Bulls and Kings possess their own 2027 first-rounder, which means they're incentivized to win enough games to maximize their lottery odds, due to the new rules that penalize the teams with the three worst records in the league.The Bulls should be good enough to avoid that fate, after adding veterans Norman Powell and Nic Claxton in the offseason; although Chicago's primary goal should be developing the young frontcourt duo of Matas Buzelis and rookie Caleb Wilson.Meanwhile, Sacramento hopes a full season of Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine and Keegan Murray -- after the trio combined to play just 81 games last season -- will boost its win total out of the so-called relegation zone, though the Kings' eyes are set on a future led by rookie guard Darius Acuff Jr.Noncompetitive, without their own pickBrooklyn NetsLA ClippersMilwaukee BucksUnlike the Bulls and Kings, these final three teams won't even reap the rewards of their own subpar record next spring: The Nets owe a pick swap to Houston, the Clippers owe a pick swap to Oklahoma City and the Bucks owe their first-rounder outright to either Atlanta or New Orleans.Counterintuitively, those deals could make tanking more likely from this trio, because they shouldn't care if their traded picks' lottery odds are depressed. Still, there's enough talent here to make 60-plus losses fairly unlikely.Brooklyn added Julius Randle while retaining Michael Porter Jr. The Clippers have two recent All-Stars in Darius Garland and Brandon Ingram (assuming the Kawhi Leonard deal goes through). The Bucks lost Giannis Antetokounmpo, of course, but they now have a half dozen quality guards on their roster, including former All-Star Tyler Herro on a contract year.
