It’s finally 2024, and teams are racing into the new year as the battle for the top spots in the Eastern and Western conferences remains tight.
Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers have stopped a post-in-season tournament slide, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks three times this season as their budding rivalry continues.
And the Sacramento Kings have climbed back into our top 10 after an up-and-down December.
A few stars are making their way back from injuries, as Kyrie Irving returns for the Dallas Mavericks, Kawhi Leonard for the LA Clippers and Bradley Beal for the Phoenix Suns. But as the NBA trade deadline approaches in February, teams are starting to reevaluate their needs.
What are teams missing in their lineups? Who will make a blockbuster trade? And which star needs a change of scenery? Let’s check in with our first Power Rankings of 2024!
Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (Kendra Andrews, Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Andrew Lopez, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball and which teams are looking most like title contenders.