Our NBA power rankings were updated on Friday 30 October 2026. The next set lands on Monday 2 November, once the weekend’s games are in.
The Spurs start the season on top of our NBA power rankings. Their Squawka Rating is 76, and they win the title in 20.6% of our simulated seasons. Victor Wembanyama is putting up 25.0 points and 11.4 rebounds for the Spurs. San Antonio lost its first two games, to Oklahoma City and Houston, and has won three straight since.
Injuries shape this first table more than results do. Indiana, Golden State, Minnesota and Toronto all sit well below the rating they’d have with everyone fit. Tyrese Haliburton is out for at least two weeks for the Pacers, Kawhi Leonard for three to four for the Raptors. Two clubs are still unbeaten, yet Houston sits 7th and Memphis 16th, because the betting market has the Rockets near 54 wins and the Grizzlies in the high 30s, and five games aren’t enough to overrule a whole season’s view. Not yet.
NBA power rankings, 30 October
How to read this table
The order is the Squawka NBA Rating: how good each club is this week, with expected absences taken off. Record and last game are there for context. They do not set the order on their own, because a few games tell you less than the schedule and the absences behind them. A club can sit above a team with a better record if it has faced tougher opponents or is missing fewer players.
Make playoffs counts a top-six finish or a way through the play-in. Win title is the share of 10,000 simulated seasons that end with that club as champion. Green arrows are up on last week and red are down. A dash means no change, or a move too small to matter.
Who is missing the most
The gap between a club’s rating this week and its rating with everyone fit is what its absences cost. Indiana loses 26 rating points and Golden State 26, the most in the league. Jimmy Butler is recovering from a torn ACL and could be back for the Warriors between January and February, while Kristaps Porzingis is away from Golden State indefinitely.
Each absence counts for the part of the coming week it covers. Someone ruled out for one night costs his club far less than a player out for a month, so a single missed game won’t drop anyone down this table.
| Club | Missing | Rating today | Full strength | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana Pacers | Tyrese Haliburton, Ivica Zubac, T.J. McConnell | 30 | 56 | −26 |
| Golden State Warriors | Jimmy Butler III, Kristaps Porzingis, Moses Moody | 20 | 46 | −26 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo | 43 | 62 | −19 |
| Charlotte Hornets | Kon Knueppel, Coby White, Grant Williams | 28 | 46 | −18 |
| Orlando Magic | Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs | 35 | 52 | −17 |
| LA Clippers | Brandon Ingram, Jordan Miller, Max Strus | 16 | 33 | −17 |
The contenders, 1 to 8
Rating 76 – | Full strength 78 | Make playoffs 98% – | Win title 20.6% – | Last game W 117-111 at Utah |
San Antonio dropped its first two games, to Oklahoma City and Houston, and has won the three since by 16 points a game. Wembanyama has played all five, and three guards, De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle, each score between 15 and 18 a night. Tobias Harris (calf) is the only absence. No club has a higher win total on the board.
25.0 and 11.4 Victor Wembanyama’s points and rebounds per game.
Rating 64 – | Full strength 68 | Make playoffs 91% – | Win title 8.6% – | Last game W 125-124 vs Nets |
A 121-113 loss in Detroit in their opener, then three straight wins, one of them 134-99 over Chicago and another a one-point escape against Brooklyn. Jayson Tatum leads Boston with 28.0 points. Paul George adds 22.2 a game. Devin Carter has mononucleosis and no timetable for a return.
8.0 assists per game from Tatum, alongside his scoring.
Rating 63 – | Full strength 64 | Make playoffs 82% – | Win title 5.5% – | Last game W 133-127 at Chicago |
The Knicks are 2-3 and still 3rd. Their three losses came by six, four and nine points, two of them against Philadelphia and Boston. Since then: 111-97 over Detroit and 133-127 in Chicago. Jalen Brunson scores 25.8 a night. The defending champions are still priced close to 50 wins.
13.8 rebounds per game for Karl-Anthony Towns, who also scores 21.8.
Rating 63 – | Full strength 77 | Make playoffs 96% – | Win title 17.6% – | Last game L 96-120 at Dallas |
Only San Antonio rates higher at full health than Oklahoma City, at 77. This week the Thunder are well short of it. Jalen Williams had surgery on a fractured left fibula and will be re-evaluated before the end of the regular season. Cason Wallace needs surgery on a torn labrum, and Alex Caruso has a sprained ankle. Their first loss came in game five, 120-96 in Dallas.
26.0 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s scoring average as he chases a third straight MVP.
Rating 61 – | Full strength 63 | Make playoffs 87% – | Win title 5.7% – | Last game W 114-109 at Indiana |
Philadelphia is 4-1, and the only loss was a 106-93 defeat at home to Detroit. Joel Embiid has 21.5 points and 10.0 rebounds a game, Jaylen Brown 20.6 points and LeBron James 15.5 points with 6.8 assists. Wins over New York, Cleveland and Indiana are already banked. Dominick Barlow’s back keeps him out for at least two weeks.
28.4 Tyrese Maxey’s average, the best on a roster with Embiid, Brown and James.
Rating 60 – | Full strength 60 | Make playoffs 79% – | Win title 3.5% – | Last game L 111-114 at Atlanta |
Cleveland and the Lakers are the only top-ten clubs with nobody listed as Out. The Cavaliers’ three wins came by four, two and ten points, and both losses were close too: 114-106 in Philadelphia, 114-111 in Atlanta. Donovan Mitchell leads them at 24.2 points. Evan Mobley adds 18.2 points and 8.8 rebounds, and James Harden is running the offence.
2 points separated Cleveland and Minnesota in a 127-125 win, the tightest of the Cavaliers’ five games.
Rating 60 – | Full strength 65 | Make playoffs 93% – | Win title 6.6% – | Last game W 132-100 at Milwaukee |
Houston is 5-0, with a win in San Antonio, two over Atlanta and a 132-100 rout in Milwaukee. Alperen Sengun has 24.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists a game, and Kevin Durant 22.4 points. So why only 7th? Five games, however good, count for less than a season-long market view. The Rockets are also short: Reed Sheppard is out against Dallas on Friday, and Steven Adams could miss a week or two.
14.2 Houston’s average winning margin. Only Toronto’s is bigger.
Rating 58 – | Full strength 66 | Make playoffs 82% – | Win title 5.2% – | Last game L 103-124 vs Memphis |
Portland is 3-1, with a 124-83 win over Phoenix and a 136-129 win over the Lakers in Los Angeles, and its only loss was 124-103 at home to Memphis. Shaedon Sharpe tore a meniscus and will be out about six months. His is the only absence. Ja Morant, Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday share the ball in the backcourt.
22.8 Deni Avdija’s average, with 7.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists.
The playoff pack, 9 to 16
Rating 58 – | Full strength 58 | Make playoffs 82% – | Win title 2.3% – | Last game W 103-87 at Clippers |
Winning by almost ten points a game, the Lakers are 4-1. Nobody is listed as Out. Luka Doncic has played four of the five games, and Austin Reaves adds 24.4 points. The lone loss was a 136-129 shootout at home to Portland. The Raptors visit on Sunday.
36.0 Doncic’s scoring average, the best in the league so far.
Rating 56 – | Full strength 59 | Make playoffs 81% – | Win title 2.9% – | Last game W 104-91 at New Orleans |
Denver is 2-2. Both wins came against New Orleans. The losses were in Oklahoma City and at home to Golden State, 134-114. Nikola Jokic has 22.0 points and 10.5 rebounds a game. Kitchener’s Jamal Murray scores 22.5. Cameron Johnson was questionable against Phoenix on Friday, and Julian Strawther remains out.
9.0 assists a night for Jokic, one shy of a triple-double average.
Rating 53 – | Full strength 54 | Make playoffs 64% – | Win title 1.7% – | Last game W 114-111 vs Cleveland |
Atlanta is 3-3. The Hawks won 128-81 in Charlotte and then lost three straight, two of them against Houston, before beating Cleveland 114-111. Jalen Johnson has 19.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 8.5 assists a game. Toronto-born Nickeil Alexander-Walker scores 20.5, and Montreal’s Luguentz Dort is the club’s second Canadian.
47 points was the margin in Charlotte, the biggest of any game this season.
Rating 52 – | Full strength 52 | Make playoffs 54% – | Win title 1.1% – | Last game W 129-117 at Atlanta |
Miami is 1-4 and still 12th, because the market expects the Heat to win a little over half their games from here. They lost to Minnesota by 25 and Detroit by 17, then dropped two close ones. The first win came in game five, 129-117 in Atlanta. Andrew Wiggins, from Thornhill, Ontario, is on the roster.
27.6 Giannis Antetokounmpo’s average in his first five games for Miami, with 11.2 rebounds.
Rating 50 – | Full strength 63 | Make playoffs 87% – | Win title 5.7% – | Last game W 97-89 vs Charlotte |
With wins over Boston, Philadelphia and Miami, Detroit is 4-1. It sits 13th only because Jalen Duren will be re-evaluated in two weeks with a right hamstring strain. Duren played two games before the injury, and the rating also uses his numbers from last season. That’s the whole gap. Cade Cunningham has 22.6 points and 7.8 assists a game, and the only loss was 111-97 in New York.
13 rating points lost to Duren’s absence: 50 this week, 63 with him.
Rating 46 – | Full strength 61 | Make playoffs 78% – | Win title 4.4% – | Last game W 129-99 vs Orlando |
Toronto has the best average winning margin in the league. That’s 15 points a game. They beat Chicago 135-92 and also won against Washington and Orlando, losing only 117-94 in Minnesota. Kawhi Leonard scored 19.5 a game in his first two games as a Raptor before a knee injury that should keep him out for at least three to four weeks. RJ Barrett leads the team at 22.0 points, with Scottie Barnes at 19.8.
61 is Toronto’s rating with Leonard, against 46 without him. Only six clubs are missing more this week.
Rating 43 – | Full strength 62 | Make playoffs 79% – | Win title 3.8% – | Last game L 114-119 vs Golden State |
Minnesota has lost two in a row, 127-125 in Cleveland and 119-114 at home to Golden State. Anthony Edwards had an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee on Thursday. Every Timberwolves win came by 22 points or more, in Miami, in Orlando and at home to Toronto, which is why their rating with Edwards, 62, sits so far above this week’s. Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles) is also out.
33.2 the scoring average Edwards takes into his knee procedure, behind only the Lakers’ Luka Doncic.
Rating 40 – | Full strength 40 | Make playoffs 43% – | Win title 0.2% – | Last game W 124-103 at Portland |
Memphis is 5-0, with four of the wins on the road. The market isn’t convinced. The Grizzlies’ win total is still in the high 30s, and their opponents so far have a combined losing record. Rookie Cameron Boozer has 15.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 6.2 assists a game. Toronto-born Zach Edey and Montreal’s Olivier-Maxence Prosper give Memphis two Canadians.
25.8 Ty Jerome’s average, the most on the roster.
Play-in territory, 17 to 23
Rating 37 – | Full strength 45 | Make playoffs 43% – | Win title 0.3% – | Last game L 114-125 at Oklahoma City |
Phoenix has played only three games. A 124-83 loss in Portland weighs on all of them, and only Sacramento and Chicago have a worse average margin. Devin Booker scores 23.0 a night. Mark Williams had surgery on a torn labrum in his left shoulder on Thursday and will miss an extended period. Mississauga’s Dillon Brooks adds 14.7.
3 games played, the fewest of any club.
Rating 35 – | Full strength 52 | Make playoffs 50% – | Win title 1.3% – | Last game L 99-129 at Toronto |
Orlando is 1-3, and Paolo Banchero is out for four to six weeks with a high ankle sprain. Jalen Suggs will be re-evaluated in two weeks with a bone bruise in his knee. Franz Wagner has 19.5 points and 6.0 assists a game. The win was 111-102 in New York, and the losses include a 129-99 defeat in Toronto.
24.5 Banchero’s average in two games before the sprain.
Rating 35 – | Full strength 37 | Make playoffs 30% – | Win title 0.1% – | Last game W 120-96 vs Oklahoma City |
Dallas is 3-2 and beat Oklahoma City 120-96 in its last game. Kyrie Irving has played four games and scores 18.0 a night. The Mavericks’ win total sits around 35, which is why a winning record still leaves them 19th. Santi Aldama was doubtful against Houston on Friday.
25.2 Cooper Flagg’s average in his second season, with 6.8 assists.
Rating 32 – | Full strength 39 | Make playoffs 21% – | Win title 0.2% – | Last game L 111-121 at Cleveland |
Washington is 2-3, with Trae Young and Anthony Davis both scoring over 20 a game. A foot injury will cost Justin Champagnie several months. AJ Dybantsa, the rookie, scored 19 in his only appearance so far. Kitchener’s Will Riley is on the roster.
10.4 assists a night from Young, who also scores 20.6.
Rating 30 – | Full strength 56 | Make playoffs 58% – | Win title 1.9% – | Last game L 109-114 vs Philadelphia |
Only Golden State has as big a gap between this week and a healthy roster as Indiana, now 2-3. Tyrese Haliburton will miss at least two weeks with a hamstring injury after averaging 21.8 points and 9.5 assists. T.J. McConnell is out too, and Ivica Zubac misses Friday’s game against Miami. Pascal Siakam carries the scoring at 24.0 points, with Aurora’s Andrew Nembhard at 16.5.
26 rating points between this week’s Pacers and a healthy roster.
Rating 28 – | Full strength 46 | Make playoffs 38% – | Win title 0.5% – | Last game L 89-97 at Detroit |
Charlotte has won three of five yet been outscored by 7.2 points a game, mostly because of one result: a 128-81 loss at home to Atlanta. Kon Knueppel, Coby White and Grant Williams are all out, though Knueppel was set to practise with the G League’s Greensboro Swarm on Thursday.
25.6 Brandon Miller’s average with three teammates out.
Rating 27 – | Full strength 31 | Make playoffs 11% – | Win title <0.1% – | Last game W 132-120 vs Sacramento |
New Orleans lost its first four, three of them by six points or fewer. Then came a 132-120 win over Sacramento. Dejounte Murray adds 17.8 points a game to Zion Williamson’s scoring. Yves Missi has a bone bruise in his left knee and will miss an extended period. Bennedict Mathurin, from Montreal, is on the roster.
21.8 Zion Williamson’s average over five games.
Long way back, 24 to 30
Rating 25 – | Full strength 25 | Make playoffs 4% – | Win title 0.0% – | Last game L 100-132 vs Houston |
This is Milwaukee’s first season since the Bucks traded Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami, and the start is 1-4. Only Brooklyn and Sacramento have lower win totals. The lone win was 110-102 over Indiana. Most recently, Houston won 132-100 in Milwaukee.
23.4 Tyler Herro’s average, the Bucks’ best.
Rating 22 – | Full strength 36 | Make playoffs 15% – | Win title <0.1% – | Last game L 111-117 vs San Antonio |
Utah is 1-4 and without two of its bigs. Jaren Jackson Jr. tore the MCL in his right knee, and Jusuf Nurkic has a partial plantar plate tear in his right foot that will cost him at least four weeks. Keyonte George scores 24.4 a night. Ace Bailey, in his second season, has 14.2 points and 8.0 rebounds. The only win was 120-119 over New Orleans.
6 to 8 weeks is the timeline for Jackson after the MCL tear.
Rating 21 – | Full strength 23 | Make playoffs 2% – | Win title 0.0% – | Last game L 124-125 at Boston |
Still winless at 0-4, Brooklyn came within a point in Boston, 125-124. Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr. both score over 22 a game. Only Sacramento has a lower win total, and no club except the Kings rates lower at full health.
1 point was the margin in Boston, the closest of the Nets’ four defeats.
Rating 21 – | Full strength 28 | Make playoffs 6% – | Win title <0.1% – | Last game L 127-133 vs Knicks |
Chicago is 1-4 and has been outscored by 16.2 points a game; only Sacramento’s margin is worse. The low point came in Toronto. Norman Powell scores 21.6 a night, and rookie Caleb Wilson has 20.8 with 7.0 rebounds. Nic Claxton (hamstring) hopes to rejoin practice next week. Thornhill’s Leonard Miller is on the roster.
135-92 Chicago’s heaviest defeat so far.
Rating 20 – | Full strength 46 | Make playoffs 35% – | Win title 0.3% – | Last game W 119-114 at Minnesota |
Golden State is 28th this week, and only Indiana is missing as much. Jimmy Butler is recovering from a torn right ACL and could return between January and February, and Kristaps Porzingis is away from the team indefinitely while the Warriors explore trades involving him. Moses Moody is working back from a ruptured patellar tendon. Even so, the Warriors have won their last two, in Denver and Minnesota.
28.8 Stephen Curry’s average, carrying a short-handed roster.
Rating 16 – | Full strength 33 | Make playoffs 12% – | Win title <0.1% – | Last game L 87-103 vs Lakers |
The Clippers are 1-3 and short-handed. Brandon Ingram (Achilles) is set to miss at least one more week, and Jordan Miller and Max Strus are out as well. Darius Garland scores 21.5 a night. They beat Sacramento 121-96; two of the three losses came against the Lakers.
87 points in a home loss to the Lakers, the Clippers’ lowest total this season.
Rating 2 – | Full strength 14 | Make playoffs <1% – | Win title 0.0% – | Last game L 120-132 at New Orleans |
Winless at 0-5, Sacramento has the worst average margin in the league, minus 16.6 points, and the lowest win total too. Zach LaVine scores 26.0 a night, and rookie Darius Acuff Jr. 24.0. Domantas Sabonis has 17.0 points and 7.2 assists a game.
16.2 rebounds a night from Sabonis.
Where the Raptors and Canada’s players rank
Toronto is 14th, on a rating of 46 that rises to 61 with Kawhi Leonard in the lineup. No club has a bigger average winning margin. But Leonard is expected to miss at least three to four weeks with a knee injury, and the table judges the Raptors as they’ll line up this week. RJ Barrett leads them at 22.0 points a game. Their playoff chance stands at 78%.
Sixteen Canadians are on NBA rosters. Of their clubs, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder rank highest, at 4th. Shaedon Sharpe’s Trail Blazers come next, though Sharpe is out for about six months with a torn meniscus.
| Player | Home | Club | Club’s rank | Club’s playoff chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Toronto, ON | Oklahoma City | 4 | 96% |
| Shaedon Sharpe | London, ON | Portland | 8 | 82% |
| Jamal Murray | Kitchener, ON | Denver | 10 | 81% |
| Ryan Nembhard | Aurora, ON | Denver | 10 | 81% |
| Luguentz Dort | Montreal, QC | Atlanta | 11 | 64% |
| Nickeil Alexander-Walker | Toronto, ON | Atlanta | 11 | 64% |
| Andrew Wiggins | Thornhill, ON | Miami | 12 | 54% |
| RJ Barrett | Toronto, ON | Toronto | 14 | 78% |
| Trey Lyles | Saskatoon, SK | Minnesota | 15 | 79% |
| Olivier-Maxence Prosper | Montreal, QC | Memphis | 16 | 43% |
| Zach Edey | Toronto, ON | Memphis | 16 | 43% |
| Dillon Brooks | Mississauga, ON | Phoenix | 17 | 43% |
| Will Riley | Kitchener, ON | Washington | 20 | 21% |
| Andrew Nembhard | Aurora, ON | Indiana | 21 | 58% |
| Bennedict Mathurin | Montreal, QC | New Orleans | 23 | 11% |
| Leonard Miller | Thornhill, ON | Chicago | 27 | 6% |
How the Squawka NBA Rating works
The Squawka NBA Rating says how many points a club would beat an average team by on a neutral floor this week. It sits on a scale where 50 is average, and every 3.5 rating points is worth a point of margin a game.
Scoring margin, adjusted for the opponent. Every game this season counts, and each margin is judged against who it came against and where. Blowouts are capped at 30 points, so garbage time cannot move a club. Beating the Kings by ten at home says less than beating the Spurs by ten on the road.
Who was missing. One player moves an NBA team more than one player moves a hockey team. For every game we know who did not play and what those players usually produce. A loss without a club’s best player counts for less. The same measure takes this week’s absences off the rating, and the Full strength figure on each card is the club with everyone back.
The market’s view of the season. Before many games are played, a rating built only on results is mostly noise. So each club starts from the win total that six major US sportsbooks set for it, read on 30 October 2026. That starting point is worth about 13 games of results. It counts for less each week and for nothing by game 60.
The rest of the schedule. The playoff and title figures come from playing out the rest of the season 10,000 times: every remaining game, the play-in and all four playoff rounds. Injured players miss the games their club’s latest update suggests, then come back.
Before we published a single ranking, we tested the method on the last two seasons, predicting every game only from what was known on the morning it was played. On 2025-26 it picked the winner of 71.1% of 1,230 games, against 55.4% for backing the home team every time. On 2024-25, a season it was not tuned on, it picked 67.9%. Counting who was missing was the single biggest gain in both seasons.
What this table gets wrong
This isn’t a betting model. It orders 30 clubs and turns that order into season chances, and a sportsbook’s prices already know most of what it knows.
Injuries come from public updates. When a club gives no timeline, we assume ten days, and day-to-day players count as available. A surprise return or a longer absence will move a club next week.
Chemistry, a new coach’s system and stars resting in March are all invisible to it. So is a trade, until the traded player has played for his new club.
Betting on the NBA in Canada
Where you can bet on the NBA depends on your province. Ontario and Alberta have licensed private sportsbooks, and elsewhere the provincial lottery platform is the legal route. Our NBA betting hub covers each province, and the list below is matched to where you are.
Prices for the season are on our NBA championship odds and NBA MVP odds pages. For tonight, the NBA games tonight board has every tip-off, and the NBA injury report has every club’s list.
NBA power rankings FAQ
Every Monday through the regular season, once the weekend’s games are in. Each update shows how far every club has moved since the week before.
From scoring margin adjusted for the opponent and home court, and from who was missing from each game. The sportsbooks’ win totals are the starting point, and they fade through the season. This week’s injuries are then taken off each rating.
Early in the season a record is a handful of games. A club that has faced tougher opponents, lost close games or played without its best player can be the stronger team. The rating says so.
Yes. Anyone listed as Out comes off his club’s rating until he’s back, so a star’s injury can drop a contender a few places in a week.
No. They rank the 30 teams and estimate their season chances. They are not a price, and they do not try to beat the sportsbooks.
19+ (18+ in AB, MB and QC). Picks are opinion, not advice, and odds change constantly. Availability varies by province. Please play responsibly. ConnexOntario: 1-866-531-2600 for Ontario residents; see your province’s helpline for resources elsewhere.