Tim BontempsOct 13, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
- Tim Bontemps is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com who covers the league and what’s impacting it on and off the court, including trade deadline intel, expansion and his MVP Straw Polls. You can find Tim alongside Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast.
The NBA might be in its depth era, but star power still wins the day.
In a sport in which only five players take the floor for each team at a time, a concentration of stars has been a clear way to build a championship-level team.
But even when a team doesn’t have a trio of ready-made stars, looking at the top three players on each roster is a good way to measure both the short- and long-term health of an organization and where a franchise is headed over the next few months and next few years.
With that rubric in mind, we not only have laid out the cores of all 30 NBA teams, but also ranked them in comparison to one another. And we’ve done so by taking into account both the group’s present and future value — along with the likelihood that these players will be with their respective teams for the medium to long term.
Jump to a tier:
A league of their own | Knocking on the door
Best of the East | Ascendant young teams
Gap Years | Old stars with big questions
Changing the course | Stuck in the middle
Starting a rebuild | Rebuilding
Tier 1: A league of their own
Oklahoma City Thunder:Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams
Who else could be atop this list? Not only did the Thunder win 68 games and their first championship last season, but they also did so with one of the youngest title-winning rosters in NBA history. Then, to cap things off, general manager Sam Presti went out this summer and proceeded to lock all three of his young cornerstones into long-term contract extensions — officially cementing the Thunder as the perennial favorites to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the foreseeable future.
Last year:Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren, Williams
Tier 2: Knocking on the door
Denver Nuggets:Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray
Denver is a pair of rough Western Conference semifinal Game 7s — blowing a 20-point lead at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves two years ago before playing without Gordon against the Thunder last season — from having a potential chance at ripping off three straight titles. Denver still has the best player in the sport in Nikola Jokic, though, and a pair of co-stars who fit extremely well alongside him in Murray and Gordon. They both have delivered repeatedly in huge playoff moments.
Last year:Gordon, Jokic, Murray
play
1:20
Is Nikola Jokic the best player in the NBA?
The “NBA Today” crew discusses a preseason poll naming Nikola Jokic the best player in the NBA.
Tier 3: Best of the East
Cleveland Cavaliers:Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley
The Cavaliers, like the Thunder, have a trio of prime-age or younger stars locked into long-term contracts and a team that won 64 games last season. Unlike the Thunder, however, Cleveland was unable to follow it with playoff success, losing in five games to the Indiana Pacers in the second round. That is why the Cavaliers are placed here and not even higher up this list. A strong playoff run next spring, and that will quickly change.
Last year: Garland, Mitchell, Mobley
New York Knicks: OG Anunoby, Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns
New York enters the season having moved on from coach Tom Thibodeau after reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years — a clear indication that the Knicks believe this group is good enough to finally snap a half-century championship drought. Brunson and Towns are two of the best offensive point guards and centers, respectively, in the league, while Anunoby is as good as any defender on the wing on top of becoming an excellent 3-point shooter, too.
Last year: Anunoby, Brunson, Towns
Tier 4: Ascendant young teams
Atlanta Hawks: Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Zaccharie Risacher
For the second straight season, the Hawks have the same trio leading the way, all while the franchise has undergone a rapid and fascinating reimagining of the roster by newly installed general manager Onsi Saleh. Trae Young remains this team’s best player. Kristaps Porzingis could be its second. And yet, both players are able to be unrestricted free agents next summer. Meanwhile Daniels was last season’s Most Improved Player, Johnson — if he can stay healthy — is a popular breakout candidate and Risacher, although no Cooper Flagg or Victor Wembanyama, had a fine rookie season after Atlanta selected him No. 1 in the 2024 draft.
Last year: Daniels, Johnson, Risacher
Detroit Pistons:Cade Cunningham, Ron Holland, Ausar Thompson
A year ago, there were massive questions about the Pistons’ roster. They began with Cunningham, and whether he was capable of being the kind of star leader a franchise needs to become a factor in the playoffs. Cunningham responded with a brilliant campaign, earning All-Star and All-NBA honors for the first time while leading Detroit back to the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Questions remain about the rest of the roster, but there are several intriguing young players such as Holland, Thompson, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren, who could all fill the remaining core spots around Cunningham.
Last year:Cunningham, Holland, Ivey
Houston Rockets:Alperen Sengun, Reed Sheppard, Amen Thompson
A lot has changed in Houston over the past year. Thompson was a very near miss from inclusion in this group a year ago, and in hindsight that was an obvious mistake. The No. 4 pick in the 2023 NBA draft continues to blossom into a star and has a chance to take another massive leap forward this season due to the unfortunate torn ACL for Fred VanVleet last month during preseason workouts. Although I’m sure you’re thinking, “No Kevin Durant? Really?” remember the purpose of this list. Durant remains — at least for now — without a contract extension, and Sheppard could be the team’s starting point guard this season and remains a key player for Houston long term.
Last year:Sengun, Sheppard, VanVleet
play
1:26
Perk: The Rockets are going to be the NBA’s best offensive team
Kendrick Perkins breaks down his optimism for the Rockets’ offense after an impressive performance vs. the Jazz.
Minnesota Timberwolves:Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle
After advancing out of the first round of the playoffs once in its first 34 years of existence, Minnesota has now done so in back-to-back seasons, reaching the Western Conference finals before losing to the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder, respectively. The question now is how Minnesota will find a way to advance further — especially with the Thunder looming over the West moving forward. The answer will begin with continued improvement from Edwards and McDaniels. Randle moves into the core after inking a long-term extension with the franchise this offseason.
Last year: Edwards, McDaniels, Rudy Gobert
Orlando Magic: Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, Franz Wagner
Orlando’s season going sideways last year when Jalen Suggs suffered a knee injury is a sign of just how important he is — despite the fact that he, unlike Banchero and Wagner, is not on a max contract. But Orlando paid a king’s ransom to land Bane — a perfect complement to its three young homegrown players — this summer, and Suggs is still sidelined with the knee injury, so Bane moves into the core for this group. The Magic’s season will likely hinge on whether Banchero and Wagner can make improvements in their efficiency this season — which, if they can, could lead to huge success in a wide-open East.
Last year:Banchero, Suggs, Wagner
San Antonio Spurs: De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper, Victor Wembanyama
How do you get picked fourth and win Rookie of the Year, as Stephon Castle did last season, and fall out of a team’s core? By that same team trading for an All-Star point guard (Fox) and drafting another (Harper) with the second pick after jumping up in the lottery, as the Spurs did over the past few months. How all of these different players fit around the one certain core player in San Antonio for the foreseeable future, Wembanyama, will be one of the big stories of the upcoming NBA season.
Last year: Wembanyama, Castle, Devin Vassell
Tier 5: Gap years
Boston Celtics: Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Derrick White
A year ago, Boston was coming off raising banner No. 18 to the TD Garden rafters and looked poised to have a real chance at claiming a 19th title. Then came Tatum’s unfortunate torn Achilles in May against the Knicks in the conference semifinals. Now, Boston is likely to spend this season spinning its wheels waiting for Tatum to get back and give this group a chance to potentially be back in the title fight again in 2026-27. Until then, though, Brown and White will still remain two of the better wing players in the NBA, and the envy of most of the opponents they’ll come up against this season.
Last year:Brown, Tatum, White
play
2:22
Jayson Tatum: ‘I haven’t said I’m not playing this season’
Jayson Tatum tells Stephen A. Smith he hasn’t ruled out playing this season and has spoken to Tyrese Haliburton about them both suffering with an Achilles injury.
Indiana Pacers:Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Pascal Siakam
Entering Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Indiana was likely going to be right near the top of this list after a remarkable playoff run that featured a series of historic comebacks fueled by the style of play coach Rick Carlisle and Haliburton have employed in Indianapolis. But after Haliburton suffered an Achilles tear in that final game of the 2024-25 campaign, the Pacers are also staring at a long 12 months until his likely return at the start of next season. One silver lining? Although Bennedict Mathurin fell out of the team’s core thanks to the emergence of Nembhard, who had another brilliant playoff run, Haliburton’s absence could give the former lottery pick a chance to reestablish himself with the Pacers.
Last year: Haliburton, Siakam, Mathurin
Tier 6: Old stars with big questions
Dallas Mavericks: Anthony Davis, Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving

Things are drastically different in Dallas compared to a year ago, when the Mavericks had Luka Doncic and Irving together in a backcourt that was coming off an NBA Finals appearance. Now, Irving has a torn ACL, Doncic is in Los Angeles and — after a stunning bit of lottery luck — Flagg is the star of the show, playing alongside Davis in the Mavericks’ frontcourt. It’s all pretty hard to believe, even months after it all took place. Still, Dallas could have a chance to be a factor this season — but that will require Flagg to instantly contribute, Davis to remain healthy and Irving to come back from his knee injury ready to go by playoff time.
Last year: Irving, Doncic, Dereck Lively
Golden State Warriors: Jimmy Butler, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green
Last season, the Warriors went 22-5 with Butler and Curry both available after acquiring Butler at the trade deadline from the Miami Heat, and they feel they’d have advanced to the Western Conference finals if they hadn’t lost Curry for the rest of the series against the Minnesota Timberwolves with a hamstring injury. There’s little doubt this team has a very high ceiling — if healthy. But given their core is all 35 or older, the “if healthy” question is going to follow this group around all season long.
Last year:Curry, Green, Brandin Podziemski
LA Clippers: James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Ivica Zubac
The Clippers had a very productive offseason, going out and landing John Collins, Brook Lopez, Bradley Beal and Chris Paul, and should get strong seasons from both Harden and Zubac. Questions about Leonard — both on and off the court — hang over this team like a lead balloon, however. Can Leonard, who has missed just over 40% of the possible games he could’ve played for the Clippers over the past six seasons, and played just 37 last season, stay healthy? And, with the investigation into potential cap circumvention ongoing, will that cause any issues for him and the Clippers? Only time will tell on both fronts.
Last year:Harden, Leonard, Zubac
Los Angeles Lakers: Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves
The Lakers — fairly — believe a team led by Doncic and James can contend with anyone. However, that requires both players to be healthy. And with James already dealing with a sciatica problem that threatens the start of his season for the first time in his remarkable career — plus his status as the league’s oldest player, who is approaching his 41st birthday — health is going to be a constant question. And that’s before the potential shooting issues, as well as the perimeter and interior defensive concerns for this team.
Last year:James, Reaves, Anthony Davis
Milwaukee Bucks:Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis, Myles Turner
As ESPN’s Shams Charania reported last week, Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee is a much-discussed — and planned-for — topic around the NBA. But as the season approaches, he remains a Buck, and he should be an MVP candidate this season if he remains healthy given how much he’s going to have the ball in his hands. Although Turner slots in for Brook Lopez as the floor-spacing center in the core, the drop-off from Damian Lillard — now back in Portland — to Portis (or Kyle Kuzma or AJ Green or whomever you choose for the third person to be) is massive and shows why it could be a challenging year in Milwaukee, even with a healthy Antetokounmpo terrorizing opponents.
Last year: Antetokounmpo, Lillard, Lopez
Tier 7: Changing the course
Memphis Grizzlies: Cedric Coward, Jaren Jackson Jr., Ja Morant
Here’s all you need to know about the state of things in Memphis: Jackson is recovering from offseason surgery; Morant is now likely to miss the start of the season with an ankle sprain; Zach Edey is also recovering from offseason surgery; and both Jaylen Wells, No. 3 in last season’s Rookie of the Year balloting, and Coward, whom Memphis leapt up in the draft to take at No. 11 this past June, ended last season hurt. The Desmond Bane trade reconstituted the Grizzlies’ roster — Memphis subsequently placed a big bet on Coward — but this team can still go only as far as Morant and Jackson can take it. This is also another reminder of how fast things can change in the NBA, as it wasn’t long ago that Morant-Jackson-Bane was seen as one of the elite, young cornerstone foundations in the league.
Last year: Morant, Jackson, Bane
Philadelphia 76ers: VJ Edgecombe, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey
Questions? In Philadelphia? Never! Jokes aside, obviously the elephant in the room is the health of Embiid, let alone that of Paul George. If the two of them can stay on the court this season, Philadelphia could be a factor in the East. But there’s no certainty of when, or how often, we will see the two 76ers stars out there. George, meanwhile, is in the second year of a max extension that he signed as a free agent last summer, but he falls out of the core this season in favor of Edgecombe, the third pick in June’s draft.
Last year: Embiid, Maxey, George
play
1:35
Shams Charania expects Erik Spoelstra to coach Team USA for multiple cycles
Shams Charania joins “The Pat McAfee Show” to discuss Erik Spoelstra being named the head coach for Team USA men’s basketball.
Tier 8: Stuck in the middle
Chicago Bulls: Matas Buzelis, Noa Essengue, Josh Giddey
This is a franchise perpetually stuck in the mud. One could argue the Bulls should be in a lower tier than this — but that would be saying the Bulls are definitely going to be committed to bottoming out and rebuilding. History suggests they will win 38 or 39 games and be in the play-in — which, in this season’s East, is very possible. After signing a long-term deal this offseason, Giddey is a core player. Coby White, although the team’s best player, is not as he enters the season on an expiring deal. Instead, the No. 12 pick in this year’s draft, Essengue, is one alongside Buzelis, last year’s No. 11 pick.
Last year: Giddey, White, Patrick Williams
Miami Heat:Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware
The Heat are not a team accustomed to being stuck anywhere, but that’s where they seem to be after yet another play-in finish last season. With Butler now having decamped to Golden State, the Heat are officially on the hunt for their next long-term star to pair with Adebayo. Perhaps that player is Herro, if he can make another big leap after a great season earned him his first All-Star berth. Ware, too, has a lot of promise as a super-active, long defensive big. But this team needs more if it’s going to leap out of the doldrums — even in the East.
Last year: Adebayo, Herro, Jimmy Butler
Sacramento Kings: Zach LaVine, Keegan Murray, Domantas Sabonis
The seven-game series against the Warriors in the first round of the 2023 playoffs feels like a decade ago now. De’Aaron Fox is now in San Antonio, Mike Brown is now in New York, and the Kings have morphed into a bizarro version of the Chicago Bulls with LaVine and DeMar DeRozan back together again. Murray is likely to get an extension done with Sacramento in the coming days, but he’s the one long-term bright spot on this roster despite missing the first several weeks of the upcoming season with a thumb injury. The rest? Either in their prime or aging out of it, and it’s unclear what path this team will take from here.
Last year:Murray, Sabonis, Fox
Toronto Raptors:Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, Collin Murray-Boyles
Barnes was guaranteed to be a part of this core after agreeing to a massive max contract extension, but who would be alongside him? It turns out, it’s last season’s big trade deadline acquisition, Ingram, and Toronto’s big offseason acquisition, Murray-Boyles, the No. 9 pick in June’s NBA draft. Still, it’s hard to see the long-term upside of this group to be anything more than what the tail end of the previous Raptors playoff team was: one good enough to make it and lose in a competitive first-round series.
Last year: Barnes, Gradey Dick, Immanuel Quickley
Tier 9: Starting a rebuild
Charlotte Hornets: LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller
The Hornets, now in their second full season under general manager Jeff Peterson and coach Charles Lee, will hope to see their collection of interesting young talent on the court far more often this season, after a number of injuries — including to Ball and Miller — precluded it last season. What the injury woes did do, however, was give the Hornets the chance to land Knueppel with the fourth pick in June’s draft. He should be a perfect complement alongside Ball and Miller on the wings. The questions, though, are inside, where Charlotte is back to square one after sending Mark Williams, a core member last season, to Phoenix in June after the failed trade to the Lakers back in February.
Last year: Ball, Miller, Williams
New Orleans Pelicans: Jeremiah Fears, Derik Queen, Zion Williamson
Williamson showed up for training camp in great shape for New Orleans, and the Pelicans hope that finally translates into sustained health and high-level play from him this season. But although Dejounte Murray and Trey Murphy remain in New Orleans, the man who traded for Murray and drafted and extended Murphy — David Griffin — is not. So, instead, the two lottery picks from the new front office, Fears and Queen, become core members for the Pelicans going forward. Queen will be fascinating to watch given all the attention around the trade the Pelicans made to acquire him, which included giving up an unprotected pick in next year’s loaded draft to Atlanta.
Last year:Williamson, Murray, Murphy
Phoenix Suns:Devin Booker, Ryan Dunn, Khaman Maluach
What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, the Suns had a wildly expensive roster built around three big stars — Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. Now, Durant and Beal are gone, Booker remains, and the Suns — who have dead money on their books for the rest of the decade and none of their own draft picks under their control for the same time period — are starting a rebuild. There are some interesting young players, led by Dunn and Maluach, but it’s going to take time for Phoenix to turn this around — and the Suns are going to need to show more patience than they have at any point since Mat Ishbia bought the team two-plus years ago.
Last year: Booker, Beal, Durant
Tier 10: Rebuilding
Brooklyn Nets: Nic Claxton, Egor Demin, Nolan Traore
If you need any hint to the direction of the Nets, look no further than June’s NBA draft, when Brooklyn had five first-round picks — and kept all of them, drafting Demin, Traore, guards Drake Powell and Ben Saraf, and big man Danny Wolf. They, along with Noah Clowney, a first-round pick two years ago, are the future in Brooklyn — along with whomever the Nets land in the 2026 draft. Claxton remains a core member because he’s on a long-term deal and, given he’s in his mid-20s, should still be able to rediscover his prior form. Cam Thomas, on the other hand, is not, after he signed the one-year qualifying offer this offseason.
Last year:Claxton, Clowney, Thomas
Portland Trail Blazers: Toumani Camara, Donovan Clingan, Shaedon Sharpe
There are few teams harder to parse in terms of their direction than Portland. The Blazers have a roster full of interesting young talents, such as Clingan, Sharpe, Scoot Henderson and Yang Hansen. But then they went out this offseason and traded for Jrue Holiday and re-signed Lillard, who won’t play all season. Will Jerami Grant start? Will Henderson when he comes back from a hamstring injury? Where does Deni Advija, who was arguably the team’s best player last year, fit in the starting five – or does he? There’s just so much noise here that it’s hard to know exactly what Portland’s goals are — which will make for a very fascinating season.
Last year:Clingan, Henderson, Sharpe
Utah Jazz:Ace Bailey, Walter Clayton, Lauri Markkanen
The Jazz, once again, kept the dubious distinction of having never moved up once in the NBA’s draft lottery, causing them to land the fifth pick after having the league’s worst record. Still, they wound up drafting Bailey, who spent all season as a consensus top-three selection, as the first move of Austin Ainge’s tenure as the team’s president of basketball operations. He quickly followed it up by landing Clayton, the national championship-winning point guard, with the No. 18 pick to make him a core player, as well. Walker Kessler, without a contract extension, isn’t one, and Markkanen will look to get back to the form he showed two years ago.
Last year:Markkanen, Keyonte George, Kessler
Washington Wizards:Bilal Coulibaly, Tre Johnson, Alex Sarr
Another team that had its high lottery hopes dashed in the lottery, the Wizards are once again committed to playing and developing their young talent. That’s why Coulibaly, Sarr and Johnson — their top picks in each of the past three drafts, respectively — remain the top three players in Washington’s core. This season, though, will be about continuing to see who can emerge from the many young players the Wizards have assembled, as they’re now up to 10 players on first-round rookie contracts on their roster.
Last year:Coulibaly, Sarr, Bub Carrington
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