There is officially less than one month until the 2026 NBA trade deadline, and already, big names are floating around the market. Most notably, as reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania on Monday, the Atlanta Hawks and Trae Young are open to trade talks as the four-time All-Star will explore his options to start the year.
It’s yet to be seen how this year’s trade deadline will impact the standings, but until then, both the Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder stand firmly at the top of their conferences. However, the race for the postseason is beginning to heat up as we slowly approach the midseason mark of the 2025-26 regular season.
With a lot happening around The Association in the coming months, our NBA insiders broke down where each team stands ahead of Feb. 5. Here are this week’s rankings:
Note: Team rankings are based on where members of our panel (ESPN’s Anthony Slater, Dave McMenamin, Jamal Collier, Kevin Pelton, Michael C. Wright, Bobby Marks, Tim Bontemps, Tim MacMahon, Vincent Goodwill and Zach Kram) think teams belong this season.
Previous rankings: Preseason | Oct. 29 | Nov. 5 | Nov. 12 | Nov. 19 | Nov. 26 | Dec. 3 | Dec. 10 | Dec. 17 | Dec. 24 | Dec. 31
Jump to a team:
ATL | BOS | BKN | CHA | CHI | CLE
DAL | DEN | DET | GS | HOU | IND
LAC | LAL | MEM | MIA | MIL | MIN
NO | NY | OKC | ORL | PHI | PHX
POR | SAC | SA | TOR | UTAH | WAS
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
2025-26 record: 30-7
Previous ranking: 1
Next games: vs. UTAH (Jan. 7), @ MEM (Jan. 9), vs. MIA (Jan. 11), vs. SA (Jan. 13)
Rival executives are predicting a quiet deadline for the Thunder. They’re 6-6 in their previous 12 games, but there’s a sense that it’s more of an inevitable lull than some fatal roster flaw for the 30-7 defending champions. If general manager Sam Presti did go searching for an upgrade, he has plenty of draft assets to dangle. But the rotation is stocked full and the Thunder’s future financial flexibility is limited. Extensions for Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren kick in next season, bumping their combined salary from $20.2 million to $83 million. — Anthony Slater
2. Detroit Pistons
2025-26 record: 27-9
Previous ranking: 4
Next games: vs. CHI (Jan. 7), vs. LAC (Jan. 10)
Monday’s demolition of the Knicks sent a message to the rest of the East about what the Pistons need as the deadline approaches: It might be nothing.