Album of the Week: “Voodoo,” D’Angelo (2000)

How does it feel? Our long national nightmare has returned!

Last year, I presided over these Power Rankings like your new boss who wanted to get to know everyone and get their feet wet while gently making suggestions. But this year, I know all of you, and I’m doing things like Usher in 1997.

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I’m not going to trouble you here with niceties. This year’s rankings will be for your entertainment and my entertainment. We will push the envelope so far that the postman will beg for mercy. I hope you have a good time with these, but I’m definitely going to have a good time.

Now, about your NBA teams. Let me be the first to inform you that your team will probably not win the 2026 NBA championship. I’m 96.7 percent sure of that. And the team that does? Asterisk. Get ready to defend your team’s incredible accomplishment on your least favorite social media app. The players will get gaudy championship rings; you get to fend off haters.

But as you know, Power Rankings aren’t about championships. They’re about the friends we make along the way, friends who show up in the comments and my mentions … every single week. I figured that since we’ve been gone so long (thankfully), the season premiere of these Power Rankings should be as explosive as possible.

So I’m giving the people what they want: final standings and postseason predictions for all! We’ll get to how teams are actually playing when the games start, but for now, I went through each team and projected a playoff field. I assessed each team’s offense, defense and intangibles; so I’ll discuss that here. I’m nothing if not vulnerable for you all.

Fine print: These Power Rankings won’t just rank every team; we’ll also retain the tiers that teams will be promoted into and relegated out of. Each week, there will be five tiers:

Top Contenders — Locked at five, these are the class of the league

In a Good Place — Could be one team, could be seven teams

The Bubble — Not to be confused with Walt Disney World. The middle of the pack

Not the Tier to Fear — Not playing the worst ball in the league, but with a lot of work to do

Basement Floor — Bringing up the rear

A few housekeeping notes:

These are my subjective rankings. I will consider a variety of objective measures, but it’s my call.

These rankings are not simply a review of the past week — we are projecting forward as well, so it is a balance of the two.

These are subjective, but not biased. There are no agendas in the Power Rankings, and we strive for an inclusive meritocracy

The one quality that these rankings possess: “Ruthless aggression.”

Enjoy the games, and enjoy the rankings, please!

For Week 1 of The Athletic NBA Power Rankings this season, we will preview the year for each team. Win-loss records and efficiency ratings will show up next week, and the previous ranking is from the offseason Power Rankings special in July, a much more conventional ranking.

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Tier 1: Top Contenders

1. Oklahoma City Thunder

Last ranking: First

2024-25 season results: 68-14, first in West, won NBA Finals

2026 playoff prediction: First in West, win NBA Finals in six

Someone has to be first in these initial rankings of the season, and trust me, I wanted to find every reason I could to not pick the artists formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics. The easiest reason is something you will hear all season: No NBA champion has repeated since 2018. There have been seven different teams to win the championship over the last seven seasons. Unlike four of the previous five champions, the Thunder showed postseason mortality, needing to win Game 7s against two 50-win teams. I do feel like the opportunity for improvement for important players such as Jalen Williams (already an All-Star and All-NBA performer) and Chet Holmgren (a unicorn-type who missed 50 games) can make the Thunder better around MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But I don’t foresee another record-breaking season from the Thunder. In fact, I’d rather take the field over Oklahoma City. I just don’t like any other team enough to actually pick it. Don’t consider this an endorsement, Oklahoma City. You should be better than every other team.

2. LA Clippers

Last ranking: Seventh

2024-25 season results: 50-32, fifth in West, lost West quarterfinals

2026 playoff prediction: Second in West, lose Western Conference finals vs. Thunder

Speaking of endorsements! That’s enough low-hanging fruit. We can see how the basketball gods will respond to this franchise down the road. In the meantime, I’m going to point out that the Nuggets humiliated the Clippers in Game 7 with a fully healthy Kawhi Leonard and then dedicated their entire offseason of team-building around it. The result is Pacific Ocean’s 11, a nickname that is old but also a whole lot more talented than most of the teams they will play against. The Clippers’ starting lineup should be good, but the second unit could open up sizable margins.