Just a few months ago, the NBA Postseason wrapped up following an epic series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, which saw OKC bring home its first Big Four pro sports championship in city history. Now, after just a few short months, we are starting to gear back up for basketball season after last week’s release of NBA 2K26.
There is excitement in the air for this upcoming season, with all thirty fanbases excited that this could be their year (except for the Nets, those poor bastards). NBA 2K26 acts as a sort of unofficial power ranking before the season begins, attempting to put a number on how talented each team is.
Utilizing the attributes of the top eight players on each team (which gives us an accurate look at the talent level of their day-to-day roster), we can see where NBA 2K26 sees each team’s skill level overall and in different attributes. Below is a list of the ten best teams in the game. If you want to know how this compares to last year’s list, you can click here.
1: Oklahoma City Thunder
- Conference: Western
- Overall: 85
- Inside Scoring: 72
- Outside Scoring: 87
- Athleticism: 83
- Playmaking: 75
- Defending: 82
- Rebounding: 55
- Intangibles: 66
- Best Overall Player: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – 98 OVR
It’s not surprising that the Thunder are number one on this list, after all, they are the defending champs with the league MVP as their leader. The Thunder’s roster is deep and has impact players all over, from defensive standouts like Lugentz Dort and Jalen Williams that help them earn the only 80+ defensive team rating in the game, to three-point shooters like Isaiah Joe and Ajay Mitchell, which gives them a top-five three-point shooting grade in the league.
The Thunder are set up for a potential dynasty after some shrewd trades and front office decisions over the past half a decade. You could argue that what they are doing down in Oklahoma is the closest thing we can get to Moneyball in the NBA, but of course, unlike the Oakland Athletics, they are actually willing to pay their stars like SGA, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams.
2: New York Knicks
- Conference: Eastern
- Overall: 84
- Inside Scoring: 77
- Outside Scoring: 84
- Athleticism: 83
- Playmaking: 71
- Defending: 61
- Rebounding: 59
- Intangibles: 72
- Best Overall Player: Jalen Brunson – 93 OVR
The Knicks are an up-and-coming team that needs to show more year-over-year consistency before I consider them as a true number two team in the league, but that hasn’t stopped NBA 2K26 from asserting just that they are. The Knicks aren’t elite in any one category, only earning a top five ranking in two of the seven main attribute categories (fifth in playmaking and second in intangibles), so it’s a bit surprising to see their overall be so high, but when you have Jalen Brunson, KAT, OG Anunoby, and Mikal Bridges, I suppose that is what happens. I tend to think that they are a bit overrated, though.
3: Los Angeles Clippers
- Conference: Western
- Overall: 83
- Inside Scoring: 77
- Outside Scoring: 81
- Athleticism: 79
- Playmaking: 70
- Defending: 72
- Rebounding: 56
- Intangibles: 59
- Best Overall Player: Kawhi Leonard – 92 OVR
This team may have a high overall rating, but they might not be the best option in MyLeague, though, because of their extremely old roster. With their stars consisting on players like Kawhi Leonard (34), James Harden (37), Bradley Beal (32), Brook Lopez (37), and Chris Paul (40) as well as several other role players that are well over 30 years old, this year’s Clippers team has the oldest roster in NBA history with an average age of 33.2 years old! That is a lot of regression and retirements to contend with if you want to have a multi-year franchise experience.
4: Los Angeles Lakers
- Conference: Western
- Overall: 83
- Inside Scoring: 86
- Outside Scoring: 87
- Athleticism: 85
- Playmaking: 84
- Defending: 60
- Rebounding: 60
- Intangibles: 64
- Best Overall Player: Luka Doncic – 95 OVR
The Lakers may not be your first thought as an underrated and “under the radar” organization, but it could be argued that in NBA 2K26, they are just that. With an 83 overall average that puts them in the same boat with 20% of the league, they clearly stick out with their attribute grades. They rank in the top five of teams in five of the seven main categories, only falling out of defense and intangibles, and they lead the league in inside scoring and playmaking, leaning on the dominant attributes of Luka Doncic and LeBron James for most of those averages.
5: Cleveland Cavaliers
- Conference: Eastern
- Overall: 83
- Inside Scoring: 76
- Outside Scoring: 83
- Athleticism: 85
- Playmaking: 76
- Defending: 72
- Rebounding: 56
- Intangibles: 65
- Best Overall Player: Donovan Mitchell – 93 OVR
Potentially a contender for the Eastern Conference championship, the Cavs have a well-built roster consisting of four stars and a collection of role players. The stars consist of franchise shooting guard Donovan Mitchell, reigning defensive player of the year Evan Mobley, electric shooting point guard Darius Garland, and the veteran big man Jarrett Allen.
The attribute that makes them truly special is their athleticism, which is propped up by their big three in Donovan Mitchell (95 speed), Darius Garland (88 speed), and Evan Mobley (72 speed, a solid number for a big 6’11 center).
6: Denver Nuggets
- Conference: Western
- Overall: 83
- Inside Scoring: 79
- Outside Scoring: 87
- Athleticism: 77
- Playmaking: 74
- Defending: 65
- Rebounding: 58
- Intangibles: 69
- Best Overall Player: Nikola Jokic – 98 OVR
Despite not winning the league’s MVP last year, I still think there is a clear-cut case for Nikola Jokic being the definitive best player in the NBA currently. He can do everything on the court, and he makes it look easy while he does it. He runs that offense from the center position in a way I don’t think we’ve seen before. Despite him not getting as much national attention, I think what he has done for his team in Denver is akin to what LeBron did in Cleveland. However, Jokic needs to win quite a few more championships for that comparison to get any actual credibility.
7: Dallas Mavericks
- Conference: Western
- Overall: 83
- Inside Scoring: 73
- Outside Scoring: 85
- Athleticism: 81
- Playmaking: 71
- Defending: 69
- Rebounding: 63
- Intangibles: 66
- Best Overall Player: Anthony Davis – 93 OVR
Even without Luka Doncic on the roster, this team is still a dangerous unit, especially with Anthony Davis and now potential future superstar Cooper Flagg. Flagg is only an 82 overall right now, but don’t be surprised if that changes very quickly in the coming months and years. This could be a big three unlike any other by the end of the regular season, with Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis, and Kyrie Irving leading a team with a fairly impressive bench presence as well.
8: Houston Rockets
- Conference: Western
- Overall: 83
- Inside Scoring: 84
- Outside Scoring: 83
- Athleticism: 80
- Playmaking: 77
- Defending: 69
- Rebounding: 64
- Intangibles: 67
- Best Overall Player: Kevin Durant – 93 OVR
The Rockets went and got Kevin Durant this offseason, completely transforming their team from a home-grown young contender that had numerous potential stars with opposing teams needing to play whack-a-mole to try and guess who to stop on a given night into a generic super team that is heavily reliant on one elite veteran to carry the franchise. While they still have Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson, I just feel as though they won’t be as effective in a system designed just to give Kevin Durant the ball, but hey, maybe I’m just a jaded cynic who hates super-talented legends like Durant. The game seems to think so, as they’ve rated the Rockets the same as the Clippers, Lakers, Cavs, Nuggets, and Mavericks in terms of average overall.
9: Indiana Pacers
- Conference: Eastern
- Overall: 82
- Inside Scoring: 73
- Outside Scoring: 88
- Athleticism: 80
- Playmaking: 75
- Defending: 68
- Rebounding: 52
- Intangibles: 75
- Best Overall Player: Tyrese Haliburton – 93 OVR
As the reigning Eastern Conference champions, it is a bit surprising to see this team so far down on this list, especially since it’s not taking into consideration Tyrese Haliburton’s injury that will likely sideline him all year. With Haliburton, you would think this team, after accomplishing what they did last year, would be closer to the Knicks in terms of overall, but instead, they are down here, roughly two overall points below New York and seven whole places in the ranking. I understand that without Hali, they are likely out of contention this year, relying on Pascal Siakam and a quartet of low-80 overall players like Aaron Nesmith and T.J. McConnell.
10: Minnesota Timberwolves
- Conference: Western
- Overall: 82
- Inside Scoring: 80
- Outside Scoring: 78
- Athleticism: 81
- Playmaking: 66
- Defending: 65
- Rebounding: 56
- Intangibles: 71
- Best Overall Player: Anthony Edwards – 95 OVR
The Timberwolves are certainly a dark-horse contender in this upcoming NBA season. With a team that is thought of as relying on Anthony Edwards, I was surprised to see that NBA 2K26 had the Timberwolves with five players at 82+ overall ratings. Edwards, of course, had a 95 overall, good for the fifth-best rating in the game. They also have Julius Randle at 86, Rudy Gobert at 84 (a bit underrated for the former multi-time DPOY, I thought), Naz Reid at 82, and Jaden McDaniels also at 82.
