Early 2026-27 NBA Power Rankings: Contenders only edition

The 2025-26 NBA season is in the books, and the New York Knicks are your champions.

It is time, then, for your way-too-early 2026-27 power rankings (contenders only edition).

We granted the Knicks through their championship parade before informing them that they are not, in fact, No. 1 in our rankings. I’m sure they are just devastated by this news. Their fans will have to wipe their tears with all that championship gear they purchased.

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But, c’mon, man: The Knicks weren’t supposed to win the title. That’s what made it so fun.

By my count, there are 11 teams, as currently constituted, that can win next year’s crown, and that is being generous, because I have to be, because the 53-win Knicks just won the freaking championship. Here we attempt to put them in order from least to most likely to win the 2027 NBA championship, giving New York one more chance to prove us wrong.

(Dillon Marshall/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

The Rockets lost All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet to an ACL injury prior to last season, and then lost starting center Steven Adams to season-ending ankle surgery in January. They never replaced either and still managed to win 52 games during the regular season.

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In the playoffs, though, the absences showed. A 41-year-old LeBron James, performing entirely without Luka Dončić and mostly without Austin Reaves, grounded the Rockets, who could not match the Lakers’ organization and physicality in the opening-round exit.

Still, they have talent, starting with Kevin Durant, who made the All-NBA Second Team at age 37. Maybe the returns of VanVleet and Adams cure what ails them. Maybe collective improvement from the under-25 contingent — Alperen Şengün, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard among them — propels them into more serious contention.

The 19-win Pacers are contenders? They are, so long as All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton returns to form from an Achilles injury that kept him out all of last season. He is that special, capable of coalescing a roster into a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

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Indiana returns All-Star forward Pascal Siakam…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/early-2026-27-nba-power-rankings-contenders-only-edition-141325508.html

Author : Ben Rohrbach

Publish date : 2026-06-19 14:13:00

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