The NBA's Final Power Rankings Tell You Exactly Who Met Their Moment and Who Completely Whiffed
The 2025-26 NBA regular season is in the books, and it's time to sort out who showed up and who folded. Some teams walked in with massive expectations back in October and delivered. Others? Well, they're already thinking about next year. Our ESPN panel of insiders just dropped their final power rankings, and the story they tell is wild.
The Thunder Machine Keeps Rolling Despite Everything
The Oklahoma City Thunder finished at 63-16 and held the top spot, which honestly shouldn't shock anyone at this point. But here's the brutal part: they got there while dealing with absolutely punishing injuries. Jalen Williams missed 46 games. Isaiah Hartenstein missed 33. Alex Caruso missed 24. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed 12. Chet Holmgren missed 11. That's not depth. That's survival.
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👉 Claim Your Free $10 at KalshiYeah, it wasn't quite as historically dominant as that 24-1 start made people think. Insiders were predicting a 73-win season back then. It didn't happen. But this team still enters the playoffs as the favorite to repeat, and they've gone 130-30 over the past two seasons. That's not a fluke. That's a machine.
San Antonio's Fairy Tale and the Young Guns Taking Over
The San Antonio Spurs came in at 60-19 in the second spot, and what they pulled off is legitimately impressive. Rookie Dylan Harper basically walked into his introductory press conference and said the franchise's postseason drought was done. Bold words. They backed it up by winning more than 25 more games than last season, marking the third 20-win improvement in franchise history.
A healthy Victor Wembanyama anchored this whole thing, putting out several MVP-caliber performances as the team built chemistry night after night. Beyond Wembanyama, that backcourt of De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Harper is San Antonio's most dangerous group. Inexperience is still a real concern heading into the playoffs, but coach Mitch Johnson has something special brewing in the Lone Star State.
Dallas Faces the Cold Reality of Year One
The Dallas Mavericks won the lottery last year and nabbed Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick. Great start, right? Wrong. Their rookie star's first season has been a disaster, and the team is looking ahead to next year instead of the playoffs. That's not what you're supposed to happen when you land a generational talent.
The regular season wraps this Sunday with all 30 teams playing their final games. Come playoff time, we'll know for sure who actually delivered and who was just hoping for better luck next October.
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