By Law Murray | The Athletic, 2026-07-25 02:57:55
费城——没错，我此刻就在费城，刚刚还跟当地的年轻人说勒布朗·詹姆斯 (LeBron James) 不会来这儿。哎呀，这可糗大了。
赶去机场之前，请允许我介绍一项新尝试：跳球版实力排行榜！咱们先在中圈跳个球定下归属，然后迅速发榜。不分档次，不加佐料。给30支球队各写一句快评，然后收工。就像得来速，不停车。
要说我对詹姆斯离开洛杉矶湖人、选择加盟费城——我的家乡——感到震惊，那都算轻描淡写了。我本以为自己的下巴不会再惊掉。如今，詹姆斯要和杰伦·布朗 (Jaylen Brown) 并肩作战，那个曾声称布朗尼不是职业球员的家伙；还要和乔尔·恩比德 (Joel Embiid) 当队友，而恩比德八年前就告诉过詹姆斯，湖人永远是科比和魔术师的球队。
看来恩比德说得没错：“相信过程。”
总之，我们会在几周后推出那份烹饪到火候的休赛期实力榜。现在，先来一份“决定”后的快评，至于问题嘛，稍后再问（关于2025-26赛季总决赛后的实力榜/赛季终章，请点击此处）：
1. 纽约尼克斯： 身为卫冕冠军，他们理应对此消息不为所动。尼克斯球迷大概会很高兴在自己的另一个主场看到詹姆斯。
2. 圣安东尼奥马刺： 维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 刚接受降薪，损失的部分将由NBA 2K游戏来弥补。
3. 俄克拉荷马城雷霆： 他们刚在贾伦·威廉姆斯整个系列赛都缺阵的情况下，在西部半决赛横扫了詹姆斯的老东家。
4. 克利夫兰骑士： 詹姆斯·哈登 (James Harden) 和勒布朗同队这件事从未显得靠谱，所以，恭喜哈登即将续约留守克利夫兰。
5. 费城76人： 对于一支哪怕有史以来首次和恩比德闯进东部决赛都会大肆庆祝的球队，这个排名已经是我能给的上限了，但这总比迈克尔·乔丹时期的奇才期望值要高。
6. 底特律活塞： 杰伦·杜伦 (Jalen Duren) 成了自由球员里唯一的全明星，不过我不认为我们会为此进行直播追踪。
7. 洛杉矶湖人： 詹姆斯未来两年只拿800万美元（含球员选项），却要去国家另一头打球，而不是留在他刚刚效力的前东家。
8. 明尼苏达森林狼： 在交易走朱利叶斯·兰德尔 (Julius Randle) 和纳兹·里德 (Naz Reid) 之后，他们本来非常需要一名大前锋。
9. 丹佛掘金： 佩顿·沃特森 (Peyton Watson) 的受限制自由球员处境，就是今年的乔纳森·库明加 (Jonathan Kuminga) 翻版，只不过沃特森没有老东家放出的那些鼓吹，而且丹佛之外确实有人对他垂涎三尺。
10. 多伦多猛龙： 他们终归会想方设法得到科怀·伦纳德 (Kawhi Leonard) 的。
11. 波士顿凯尔特人： 詹姆斯太恨凯尔特人了，所以他才加盟了那支让凯尔特人3-1领先却惨遭翻盘的球队，而且这支球队阵中已有绿军2024年的总决赛MVP在等着他。
12. 迈阿密热火： 各队理应缩紧内线来对付扬尼斯·阿德托昆博 (Giannis Antetokounmpo) 和巴姆·阿德巴约 (Bam Adebayo)，但热火文化应该会带来一些安慰奖式的引援。
13. 休斯顿火箭： 凯文·杜兰特 (Kevin Durant) 即将年满38岁，弗雷德·范弗利特 (Fred VanVleet) 刚从十字韧带撕裂中康复，但签下马库斯·斯马特 (Marcus Smart) 和投篮教练奇普·恩格兰德 (Chip Engelland) ，对这支球队来说是暗藏杀招的妙手。或许他们只有一年时间抓紧出成绩，之后就得进行大洗牌了。
14. 亚特兰大老鹰： 他们对攻防两端怎么打都有清晰的思路，外周线深度也颇为雄厚。
15. 印第安纳步行者： 考虑到上赛季他们那么糟糕，以及泰雷斯·哈利伯顿 (Tyrese Haliburton) 需要不少时间找回状态，这个排名大概已经是天花板了。
16. 波特兰开拓者： 只要把球队留在太平洋西北地区就行。
17. 菲尼克斯太阳： 德文·布克 (Devin Booker) 难得不用换主教练，这次换了球衣号码。
18. 奥兰多魔术： 依然是东部身体天赋最骇人的球队之一，但这可能是保罗·班凯罗 (Paolo Banchero) 和弗朗茨·瓦格纳 (Franz Wagner) 这对搭档的最后机会了。
19. 夏洛特黄蜂： 他们有深度、着重文化建设，也有资产，可问题是谁来吸引包夹？
20. 金州勇士： 拜托告诉我，德雷蒙德·格林 (Draymond Green) 拒绝超过2700万美元的合同，可不是为了眼下这光景。
21. 洛杉矶快船： NBA联盟，你可长点心吧，都快等得没耐心了。
22. 犹他爵士： 我对这支拥有真正首发阵容、真心要努力在交易截止日后赢球的队伍很感兴趣。
23. 达拉斯独行侠： 各种前场深度配上库珀·弗拉格 (Cooper Flagg) 和即将回归的凯里·欧文 (Kyrie Irving)，但他们仍缺少组织策应和投射能力。
24. 华盛顿奇才： 特雷·杨 (Trae Young) 和安东尼·戴维斯 (Anthony Davis) 提高了下限，AJ·迪班萨 (AJ Dybantsa) 能拔高上限，但要让全队齐心协力，仍需时日。
25. 布鲁克林篮网： 他们也许不会强，但阵中老将天赋和扎实的教练组配置都太充裕了，不至于刚从训练营出来就烂得一塌糊涂。
26. 萨克拉门托国王： 比起留在国王的球员，我更关心两位在2000年代被选中的未来名人堂成员——前国王首发德马尔·德罗赞 (DeMar DeRozan) 和拉塞尔·威斯布鲁克 (Russell Westbrook)——最终会去向何方。
27. 新奥尔良鹈鹕： 贾·莫兰特 (Ja Morant) 等人都被交易了，所以2019届新秀中，还留在原队的首轮秀只剩下蔡恩·威廉森 (Zion Williamson) 和圣安东尼奥的凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) ——分别是该轮第一个和倒数第二个被选中的球员。
28. 孟菲斯灰熊： 一支没有成名老将的球队意味着，卡姆·布泽尔 (Cam Boozer) 在最佳新秀竞争中已抢占先机。
29. 芝加哥公牛： 他们不会强，但说不定会打出全联盟得分最高的比赛。
30. 密尔沃基雄鹿： 小加里·特伦特 (Gary Trent Jr.) 未来两年的薪水比勒布朗·詹姆斯高出不少。
由生成式 AI 翻译，翻译内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
查看原文：NBA Power Rankings: Where every team stands after LeBron James’ move to 76ers
NBA Power Rankings: Where every team stands after LeBron James’ move to 76ers
PHILADELPHIA — That’s right, I’m here in the city of Philadelphia, where I just told the youth that LeBron James isn’t coming here. Whoops.
Before I go to the airport, let me introduce a new endeavor: the jump-ball Power Rankings! We have a tie-up, and we need to go to center court and hand out some quick rankings. No tiers, no seasonings. One thought for 30 teams and we’re out. Drive-thru, no parking.
To say that I am shocked that LeBron James left the Los Angeles Lakers and picked Philadelphia — my hometown — is an understatement. I didn’t think I had any flabbers left to gast. LeBron is playing with Jaylen Brown, the dude who said Bronny wasn’t a pro. He’s playing with Joel Embiid, the guy who told LeBron eight years ago that the Lakers would always be Kobe and Magic’s team.
I guess Embiid was right: “Trust the process.”
Anyway, we’ll do the fully-cooked offseason Power Rankings in a couple of weeks. Let’s just do a quick post-Decision check and ask questions later (for the 2025-26 post-NBA Finals Power Rankings/season finale, see here):
**1. New York Knicks:**They’re the defending champs and should be unbothered by this news. Knicks fans will probably be happy to see LeBron in their other home arena.
2. San Antonio Spurs: Victor Wembanyama just took a pay cut that will be made up in part by NBA 2K.
3. Oklahoma City Thunder: They just swept James out of the Western Conference semis without Jalen Williams available for any of the series.
4. Cleveland Cavaliers: James Harden and LeBron being on the same team was never happening, so congrats on Harden’s impending extension to stay in Cleveland.
5. Philadelphia 76ers: This is as high as I can get for a team that would celebrate simply reaching the Eastern Conference finals with Embiid for the first time ever, but that’s better than Michael Jordan’s Wizards expectations.
6. Detroit Pistons: Jalen Duren is now the lone All-Star free agent, and I don’t think we’ll be live-blogging that one.
7. Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron is making $8 million over the next two seasons (including a player option) to play on the other side of the country instead of for his most recent former team.
8. Minnesota Timberwolves: They could have really used a power forward after trading Julius Randle and Naz Reid.
9. Denver Nuggets: Peyton Watson’s restricted free agency is this year’s Jonathan Kuminga situation, except Watson doesn’t have the propaganda coming from his incumbent team and is actually coveted outside of Denver.
10. Toronto Raptors: They’re going to get Kawhi Leonard one way or another.
11. Boston Celtics: James hates the Celtics so much that he joined the team Boston blew a 3-1 lead to, with their 2024 Finals MVP already there.
12. Miami Heat: Teams ought to pack the paint against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, but the culture should bring in some consolation prizes.
13. Houston Rockets: Kevin Durant is turning 38 and Fred VanVleet is coming back from a torn ACL, but adding Marcus Smart and shooting coach Chip Engelland are sneaky good moves for a team that may have only one year to make something happen before another major move is required.
**14. Atlanta Hawks:**They have a clear idea of how they want to play on both sides of the ball, with some strong perimeter depth to go with it.
15. Indiana Pacers: This is probably as high as you can go after how bad they were last year and how much time Tyrese Haliburton might need to return to form.
**16. Portland Trail Blazers:**Just keep the team in the Pacific Northwest.
17. Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker changed his number after not needing to change his head coach for once.
18. Orlando Magic: Still one of the East’s most physically imposing teams, but this is probably the last chance for the Paolo Banchero/Franz Wagner tandem.
**19. Charlotte Hornets:**There is depth, an emphasis on culture and there are assets here, but who draws a double-team?
20. Golden State Warriors: Please tell me that Draymond Green didn’t turn down more than $27 million for this.
21. LA Clippers: Any day now, NBA.
22. Utah Jazz: I’m intrigued by this team with a real starting lineup that will actually try to win games past the trade deadline.
23. Dallas Mavericks: All kinds of frontcourt depth to go with Cooper Flagg and a returning Kyrie Irving, but they still lack playmaking and shooting.
24. Washington Wizards: Trae Young and Anthony Davis raise the floor, and AJ Dybantsa can raise the ceiling, but getting this team on the same page will take time.
25. Brooklyn Nets: They might not be good, but there’s too much veteran talent and too much solid coaching for them to be terrible right out of camp.
26. Sacramento Kings: I’m more interested in where two future Hall of Famers who were drafted in the 2000s — former Kings starters DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook — end up than the players left in Sacramento.
27. New Orleans Pelicans: Ja Morant, among others, got traded, so the only first-round picks left from the 2019 NBA Draft still on their original teams are Zion Williamson and San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson — the first and second-to-last selections of the round.
28. Memphis Grizzlies: A team with no established veteran talent means that Cam Boozer has the inside track on Rookie of the Year.
29. Chicago Bulls: They won’t be good but they might have the league’s highest scoring games.
30. Milwaukee Bucks: Gary Trent Jr. is making significantly more than LeBron James over the next two seasons.
By Law Murray, via The Athletic