NBA Power Rankings: 30 teams, 30 weaknesses

Welcome back to another installment of HoopsHype’s power rankings! Last time, we looked at X-Factors. This week, I wanted to do something a little different by examining a major weakness for each team.

It’s not always the biggest weak spot because those become boring: Team X can’t shoot, Team Y can’t defend, rinse, repeat. Sometimes, I can’t escape the low-hanging fruit, but I try to find something worthy of more analysis for most teams.

This column isn’t about hating, although it may come off that way at times. This is a clear-eyed examination of what is dragging a team down.

The NBA trade deadline is just a few days away, so some squads may address their shortcomings soon! Let’s dive in.

1. Oklahoma City

Weakness: A power forward-sized power forward

Shooting is an acceptable answer here, too – the team is average in both volume and frequency – but too many opposing power forwards have had their way with OKC this year. I swear they’ve played PJ Washington 20 times in the last eight months.

No non-center in the Thunder rotation cracks 6-foot-6. Despite the prodigious strength and tenacity of guys like Lu Dort and Jalen Williams, sometimes, you just need more size.

The answer might be in-house. Injured bamboo stalk Chet Holmgren should return sometime after the All-Star break, and he’ll likely play big minutes next to Isaiah Hartenstein to form a monstrous defensive duo. But that answer is still hypothetical. It remains to be seen if Holmgren truly has the foot speed or strength to keep up with the West’s barrel-chested fours like LeBron James (or Anthony Davis, depending on if the Lakers make a move for a center), Kevin Durant (or Jimmy Butler), Jaren Jackson Jr., Aaron Gordon, Kawhi Leonard, Julius Randle, etc.

I’m optimistic, but relying upon optimism is a fool’s errand. Given the Thunder’s treasure trove of assets, making a move for a defensive-minded four seems like a wise contingency plan.

2. Cleveland

Weakness: Defensive rebounding

The Cavs are just 23rd in defensive rebounding rate. That, and red-hot opponent shooting, have combined to drop Cleveland’s overall defense to 29th in January – yeesh!

The overall defensive rating is likely just a minor sample size blip from a tired team that spent the first 10 weeks of the season decimating opposing squads, but the specter of the playoff loss to the Knicks two years ago –  when the Cavs were battered, bludgeoned, and bullied – looms large.

The team rebounds just fine when Evan Mobley is on the court, even without Jarrett Allen. But the second Mobley hits the bench, teams blitz the boards. Most people think Cleveland needs a small forward to go with their big four, but Dean Wade, Caris LeVert, Max Strus, and Ty Jerome have done enough at that position. Quietly, the Cavs might need some more beef.

3. Boston

Weakness: Scoring, somehow?

Here’s something wild – the Celtics offense, which felt bulletproof to start the year, has been just the 13th-ranked attack in January. The major problem is that none of the team’s Top 8 players is shooting even 44 percent from the field in 2025 except Kristaps Porzingis.

Other teams that struggle with shotmaking usually try to earn points at the charity line or by attacking the offensive glass, but neither plays to Boston’s strategies or strengths. Their scoring difficulties have been both from deep and at the rim – a universal malaise.

It’s tempting to hand-wave the struggles away as a defending champion going through the motions until the playoffs arrive, but I promise you this –  no NBA player mails in the offensive side of the ball. Maybe we’ll look back in the summer and laugh at concern over a small-sample blip… but maybe, we won’t.

4. Houston

Weakness: Layups

Frankly, the Rockets haven’t been able to shoot from anywhere on the court. But I’m particularly concerned by their inability to convert layups – they’re making just 64 percent of their rim attempts this season, in the bottom quarter of teams and the worst of any serious playoff contender.

Jalen Green and the effervescent Amen Thompson are the only rotation players shooting above the positional median at the rack. Hilariously, Fred VanVleet’s ugly 56 percent mark actually ties a career-high, so can’t ask for much more from him! Dillon Brooks is shooting even worse than that. Alperen Sengun has fantastic footwork, but he’s not an explosive two-foot jumper, limiting his ability to score at will near the rim. The team’s lack of three-point shooting also means that the paint is crowded, making it even harder for a group that doesn’t have a ton of finishing talent:

Houston keeps winning games, and their offense hasn’t been half-bad overall, thanks to insatiable offensive rebounding. However, teams need to find a way to make shots in the playoffs, particularly the easy ones, and the Rockets haven’t demonstrated much ability to do that.

5. Memphis

Weakness: Fouling

Memphis is as well-rounded a team as exists in the league outside of Oklahoma City, but their biggest flaw is an inability to stop hacking opponents.

The Grizzlies commit the second-most fouls per game in the league. Some of that is by design; they generate a lot of turnovers and try to ensure that teams feel them. But they lean a little too far in that direction for my liking.

Rookie big man Zach Edey is adjusting to the NBA’s physicality, and even though Jaren Jackson Jr. has vastly improved, he’s still a foul magnet. Scotty Pippen Jr. is a fantastic defender who seems determined to push the refs as far as possible. And Brandon Clarke, in his return this season from a torn Achilles, has looked a half-step slow – he’s fouling opponents on more than five percent of possessions, one of the worst marks in the league.

No one’s asking the Grizzlies to stop fouling entirely; physicality can be a strategy that scales well into the playoffs. But fouls like this are why coach Taylor Jenkins’s hairline is in full retreat:

6. Denver

Weakness: Say it with me now… the bench

Sometimes, you just gotta go with the obvious.

Yet again, the Jokic-less minutes have gone disastrously for the mile-high club. The team performs -26.4 points per 100 possessions worse when he’s taking his scant breathers.

However, is it possible that Denver found something? The Nuggets have won their minutes without Jokic in 13 of their 45 games (including games he didn’t play, in which they have actually gone 2-4). Five of those 13 came in January, including the non-Jokers’ four largest point differentials.

A change in the lineup may have been key. Russell Westbrook was dynamite with the starters during Aaron Gordon’s injury, and Gordon has graciously accepted a bench role upon his return to keep the Nuggets’ machine rumbling. And guess what? Lineups with Gordon and without Jokic have been slight positives, boasting a net rating of +0.8 (albeit in just over 200 possessions).

If Denver has managed to cobble together a more reliable bench (and I’ll need to see far more before I fully believe it), go ahead and throw them into the inner circle of contenders.

7. New York

Weakness: Offensive variety

This may be a surprise; after all, the Knicks currently boast the second-ranked offense in the league. But it does feel like opponents are slowly starting to figure them out. They’ve dropped to ninth in January, and as Marc Campbell and Neil Paine point out here, the Jalen Brunson/Karl-Anthony Towns pick-and-roll has had diminishing returns every month so far.

OG Anunoby has struggled with his outside shot and isn’t much of a distributor. Mikal Bridges’ playmaking is adequate and nothing more. Josh Hart averages a ton of assists, but the team’s offense falls off a cliff whenever he’s on the floor, and I worry about what happens when playoff teams focus on exploiting him. Hart thrives in transition, but those chances often dry up in the playoffs.

The team has little depth to turn to. No, it hasn’t hurt them so far, and the team’s defense is certainly worse than their offense. But while I’m not sure how the defense can get much better unless Mitchell Robinson’s impact exceeds even optimistic expectations, it does feel like there are ways for the coaching staff to work in more offense wrinkles. The playoffs are about optionality and counters. Hopefully, the Knicks have more up their sleeve.

8. Milwaukee

Weakness: Point-of-attack defense

Although the Bucks’ point-of-attack defense has been stronger than last season, when the woefully miscast Malik Beasley played matador to every team’s best ballhandler, it hasn’t been a plus this season. Milwaukee has made a concerted effort not to overhelp as much as they did a year ago, so they aren’t getting burned by as many of the ping-ping passing sequences that resulted in open threes. And Gary Trent Jr. has been a much more capable defender than Beasley.

But Milwaukee’s straight-up pick-and-roll defense remains problematic, particularly when Damian Lillard or Bobby Portis are involved. Portis’ inattentiveness and lack of communication have done whatever the opposite of “shone” is all season:

Per Synergy, Milwaukee has been third-worst guarding opposing pick-and-roll ballhandlers. It’s not hard to see how that could be problematic against potential Eastern Conference playoff foes like Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton, Cade Cunningham, and Trae Young.

9. LA Clippers

Weakness: Alpha dog

The Clippers have been one of the season’s most enjoyable under-the-radar storylines. A brass-knuckle defense headlined by personal favorites Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. and anchored by big man Ivica Zubac has kept the Clippers in playoff position.

But they have a gaping hole where their No. 1 scorer should be. Norm Powell has been unbelievable shooting the ball this year (he’s a worthy contender for MIP), and James Harden is somehow holding onto a decent true shooting percentage (the turnovers are another story). That said, this team will enter any potential playoff match with significant concerns about their offensive ceiling.

Of course, Kawhi Leonard is playing again. I wouldn’t expect him to return to last year’s All-NBA level, but can he play something like an All-Star? The supporting pieces are here for the Clippers to be one of those teams nobody wants to play, but they need a primary offensive driver.

(For what it’s worth, the Clippers are 6-1 with Kawhi on the floor, and he has yet to crack 25 minutes.)

10. Dallas

Weakness: Big depth

PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford have played well for Dallas again this season, but the team will be without Maxi Kleber and Dereck Lively II for extended stretches (and perhaps into the playoffs), thanks to foot injuries. Even backup center Dwight Powell is nursing a hip injury.

Olivier-Maxence Prosper will continue to get a chance, and players like Kessler Edwards, Naji Marshall, and Klay Thompson may need to play up a position. But there simply aren’t enough healthy big bodies on the Mavericks right now, particularly with Luka Doncic still on the mend.

Unless the Mavericks make a move, we might see a distressing amount of Markieff Morris over the next few weeks – which is to say, any at all.

11. Indiana

Weakness: Haliburton in the paint – or not

The Pacers are riding high, and everyone’s happy because Tyrese Haliburton has rediscovered how to shoot the three-pointer. But am I the only one concerned that just 11 percent of his shot attempts are coming at the rim?

That’s less than Khris Middleton, who had surgery on both ankles this offseason and was recently benched. That’s less than Al Horford, who I haven’t seen cross the three-point line in two years. That’s the same number as Sam Merrill, the Cavaliers’ sharpshooter who routinely goes multiple games without shooting a two-pointer from any distance.

11 percent is a career low by a solid margin, and it’s actually decreased in January, when only 9 percent of his shots have been at the rim. He’s had similar declines in his drives per game, too, despite having more touches per game. His lack of dribble-drive explosiveness, which is presumably injury-related, is still evident even as he’s found ways to be an effective perimeter scorer.

We’re a half-season in. Haliburton’s inability to get to the rack might just be the new reality.

12. Minnesota

Weakness: Point guard

This pains me. I’ve been a huge Mike Conley fan ever since [brag alert] I once played pickup basketball with him, and he told me, “Nice pass!” after I dropped a particularly pretty dime to his friend (the mildest flattery will earn my undying devotion). But while I refuse to believe he’s totally washed, he’s at least turned on the shower. I’m not sure the injured Donte DiVincenzo or Anthony Edwards can run the position full-time.

Rob Dillingham has had some fun moments lately, and he’s shot the ball well. If he can provide 20 minutes of steady point guard offense (everyone else will have to help with the defense), this might not be as glaring an issue. But I’m reluctant to trust undersized rookie point guards in the playoffs.

13. Orlando

Weakness: Shooting

I try to find other things to say about teams that are bad at shooting because it’s just so elementary and boring to talk about, but the Magic really, really need to get better at three-pointers.

The team as a whole has shot less than 31 percent in non-garbage-time minutes, the lowest figure in the league. Even the team’s supposed shooters have been dry ice. Not a single rostered player has shot better than 36.0 percent from deep.

It’s almost impossible for a team to stay this bad, but it’s not like Orlando overfloweth with bombers. If they don’t make a move for someone with a jumper at the trade deadline, I might launch a one-man riot (as soon as I get out of Disney World).

14. LA Lakers

Weakness: Transition defense Speed

The Lakers have been a Top 10 transition defense team in 2025. Is it fixed? Who knows, but it’s been consistent enough for long enough that I had to find a new nit to pick.

Instead, I want to focus on the team’s slowness. They take 16.1 seconds to get up a shot after an opponent scores a basket, the fourth-slowest in the league. They’re also 27th in time-to-shot after a forced turnover and even 24th after an offensive rebound. They’re slow!

Slow offense isn’t always bad, but the general rule of thumb is that faster equals better. The Lakers aren’t so dominant offensively in the halfcourt that they should be eschewing transition and semi-transition chances, particularly when Anthony Davis or LeBron James are on the bench.

15. Phoenix

Weakness: Defensive playmakers

Truthfully, I could have picked the team’s 30th-ranked rim frequency as the biggest concern, but that’s been fairly well-covered at this point. Another issue is the team’s defense, which is hampered by the fourth-lowest forced turnover rate. (A certain coffee salesman in South Beach might help with both those problems…)

The recently traded Josh Okogie was the team’s best chaos engine. Without him, there aren’t many guys reliably blocking shots or getting their hands in the passing lanes – the team also ranks fourth-lowest in deflections.

16. Detroit

Weakness: Free Throws

The Pistons attempt the fifth-fewest free throws in the league on a per-possession basis. It’s not impossible to construct a great offense without free throws; the Thunder attempt the second-fewest, and they’re shoving the ball through the peach basket just fine. However, it is often a leading indicator of other problems, whether systemic or personnel-based.

Emerging star Cade Cunningham is still learning the tricks of drawing freebies, and without Jaden Ivey around, the team doesn’t have many of the dynamic north-south drivers who can put defenses into disadvantageous positions.

Future iterations of Detroit will be better at this, but I’m not sure there’s an easy in-season fix right now.

17. Sacramento

Weakness: Rim pressure

The Kings are a jump-shooting team. While they’ve heated up from long range recently, particularly compared to their cold start, they still haven’t found a way to translate any improved spacing into layups, as they rank just 29th in shots at the rim this season (and that hasn’t changed much under Doug Christie). The fact that DeMar DeRozan has only taken 13 percet of his attempts at the rim blows my mind, even acknowledging Sacramento’s relatively cramped spacing.

Sadly, that extends to dunks, too. The Kings have only made 172 dunks on the year – the fifth-fewest in the league (like last year, Chicago is at the bottom of the barrel).

18. San Antonio

Weakness: Pick-and-roll aggression

Look, Chris Paul is a master pick-and-roll tactician even as he starts eyeing Medicare, but he can’t turn the corner and attack the rim like he once did. Devin Vassell can do it in spurts. Every other Earth-born terrestrial is limited as a ballhandler or scorer in some way.

The Spurs need someone who can break defensive shells with their dribble drive. Stephon Castle might be that guy one day (his Derrick Rose-esque two-handed tomahawks are fun as hell), but teams are comfortable going under the pick right now and/or stationing their center on him. Same with Jeremy Sochan.

Even the best big men need a pick-and-roll partner who can be a scoring threat in their own right. The Spurs aren’t quite good enough to contend yet, but their time is coming too quickly for them to rest on their laurels.

19. Miami

Weakness: High-end talent

Even if they keep the current version of Jimmy Butler, the Heat feel like they’re missing the oomph required to get them past a playoff foe. Tyler Herro’s emergence as an efficient scoring option has been encouraging, but nobody is under the impression he can be the best player on a great team.

Coach Erik Spoelstra can magick up some points on the margins, and the team hopes that sophomore Jaime Jaquez Jr. and rookie Kel’el Ware can vacuum up some of Butler’s departed usage. But a team that claims always to harbor championship aspirations can lie to itself no longer.

Miami’s recent history of playoff runs and their renowned role-player factory have obscured the fact that while they can turn borderline NBA players into capable ones, they haven’t unearthed enough star talent to compete in an increasingly optimized league.

20. Atlanta

Weakness: Sloppy passing

Here’s something interesting: the Hawks lead the league in bad-pass turnovers by a mile, with 320 compared to second-place Toronto’s 287. Trae Young is posting the worst turnover rate of his career, and that’s a big factor. But typically, the Young-led Hawks have actually had pretty good team turnover rates despite his personal sloppiness with the ball.

Not so this year. Jalen Johnson’s emergence as a secondary ballhandler and initiator has been incredible, but there have been some growing pains as he adjusts to a more prominent role:

Dyson Daniels has (not) done his part, too. Those three combined have had more bad-pass miscues than a handful of teams.

21. Golden State

Weakness: Bucket-getters

This one isn’t really so numeric, but if you look at the Warriors’ roster, where do tough points come from? Who can create a shot when things go south? Steph Curry, sure, but the team’s second-best scorer, Jonathan Kuminga, isn’t close to a recovery.

Andrew Wiggins has had a solid year; he’s no longer second-banana material (if he ever was). Buddy Hield has cooled off faster than bathwater in a blizzard. Dennis Schroeder was supposed to help, but he has been a disaster so far in his limited appearances as he adjusts to an offense that doesn’t play to his strengths (pick-and-roll attacking).

There’s a reason the Warriors have been mentioned in trade rumors around every player capable of scoring in the teens.

22. Portland

Weakness: Overlap

Portland is surprisingly feisty, winners of four straight before their seemingly predetermined loss Sunday night to Oklahoma City.

Whether that’s good or bad depends on your view. Portland won’t be making the play-in tournament this year, and they shouldn’t want to. This is a rebuilding team that needs its eyes on the lottery.

The biggest issue is that the team has a surprising number of veterans helping them win games and limiting the playing time of the youth, a double whammy. I don’t hate having Jerami Grant still here as much as most people; it’s good for a young team to have at least some semblance of reliable two-way play, and I’m not convinced Grant will fetch a big return on the trade market at this point. But Anfernee Simons is likely not part of Portland’s future; same with Deandre Ayton (whose contract makes him borderline unmovable without an attached asset). Even if the Blazers don’t want to sell low on those players, a more developmental mindset might help them in the short and long term.

23. Philadelphia

Weakness: *Shrug*

Daryl Morey built this team around the hope that Joel Embiid could play 55+ games, but they’re not trending the right way. Paul George has battled health problems and consistency, and Tyrese Maxey isn’t equipped to be the only scorer on a winning team.

It’s hard to say for sure where a healthy 76ers team would struggle, given that we haven’t really seen them yet. They’re somehow only one game out of the play-in, though, and the team has outscored the opposition with Maxey and George on the floor even when Embiid sits.

Naturally, George left Saturday’s win over Chicago with a finger injury. Hope isn’t quite extinguished, but it’s living on a prayer.

24. Chicago

Weakness: Interior defense

The Bulls give up the most points in the paint per game and the second-most on a per-possession basis.

Nothing surprising here. Center Nikola Vucevic has always been an offense-first, -second, and -third player, Josh Giddey can’t jump, and power forward Patrick Williams isn’t known for his help defense. The team’s red paint may as well be a red carpet inviting opponents to the rim.

One bright spot is rookie Matas Buzelis, who has shown some fun shot-blocking instincts while posting an absurd block rate in his limited minutes:

25. Toronto

Weakness: Chemistry

As of this writing, the trio of RJ Barrett/Immanuel Quickley/Scottie Barnes have played just 88 minutes together this season after logging just 439 last season. That’s barely 500 minutes together in total.

We don’t know if those three can be a winning core, and constant injury issues have hampered efforts to find out. Hopefully, the second half of this lost season will give the Raps more clarity on the triumvirate’s potential.

26. Charlotte

Weakness: Wings

News that promising second-year player Brandon Miller will miss the rest of the season has devastated already-sad Hornets fans and left the Hornets perilously thin on the wing.

Josh Green has largely disappointed, particularly defensively. Tre Mann is injured. Rookie Tidjane Salaun doesn’t look like an NBA player yet. Nick Smith Jr. has his moments, but he’s an undersized second-year guard still struggling to find a way to make an NBA impact.

Prepare yourselves for a whole lot of Josh Okogie (which actually might be kind of fun!).

27. New Orleans

Weakness: Clarity

What do they do with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram?

Truthfully, they probably don't have any choices with Zion; it’s hard to imagine a team willing to part with substantial value for the oft-injured, odd-fitting power forward. Ingram, in the last year of his deal and seeking major moolah, isn’t an easy sell, either.

But how often can they run the same race and finish the same way? It feels like every year, injuries cripple the Pelicans, then they finish strong, talking themselves into just one more time. Is this the breaking point?

28. Utah

Weakness: Stopping the ball

The Jazz allow opponents to get into transition nearly 20 percent of the time, the highest frequency in the league by far. They miss a lot of shots and turn it over like a pastry chef, but this isn’t a new problem: the Jazz were dead last in opposing transition frequency in 2023-24 and 2022-23, as well. This has been a problem even when the team wanted to win games!

If coach Will Hardy and the Jazz want to work on their porous defense, this is a good place to start developing better habits.

29. Brooklyn

Weakness: Time

Keeping with the theme, let’s keep this one short. We don’t know who will still be in Brooklyn in a few weeks, much less in a few seasons. I like watching the Nets give players trying to find a toehold in the league their shot (hello, Tosan Evbuomwan), but I certainly won’t blame any fans who want to hit the fast-forward button for the next season or three.

30. Washington

Weakness: Third quarters

I’m paralyzed by choice. The Wizards have so many weaknesses, but that’s to be expected for a team often starting three rookies and a raw second-year player. This is not a squad designed to win basketball games this year.

But one stat that leaps off the page like a Bilal Coulibaly dunk: Washington has a net rating of nearly -20 in third quarters. That’s preposterous. It’s by far the worst mark of any team in any quarter this season.

The Wizards also have a terrible net rating in the second quarter, but it feels like opposing squads come out of halftime trying to stomp out whatever flickering embers of hope the Wiz have of victory. They’re almost always successful.

Don’t worry, Washington fans. Better days are ahead, I promise. 

For more from Mike Shearer, check out his irreverent blog Basketball Poetry, where he deep-dives the NBA several times per week.

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: NBA Power Rankings: 30 teams, 30 weaknesses