NBA Power Rankings: Which players are under the most pressure? - ESPN

We're two weeks out from the NBA trade deadline, and tensions are high across the league.

Will superstar Jimmy Butler be in another city before the month comes to a close? Have the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder solidified their spots in the standings for the rest of the regular season?

The pressure is on for teams and players to perform as we approach the midway point of the 2024-25 NBA season.

This week, we asked our NBA insiders to break down the player under the most pressure on each team. Whether it's concerning the Feb. 6 trade deadline, end-of-season awards or general pressure for postseason success, which names should we be watching for the rest of the season?

Here are this week's updated Power Rankings for all 30 teams.

Note: Team rankings are based on where members of our panel (ESPN's Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Michael Wright, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin, Ohm Youngmisuk, Chris Herring and Kevin Pelton) think teams belong this season.

Previous rankings: Preseason | Oct. 30 | Nov. 5 | Nov. 13 | Nov. 20 | Nov. 27 | Dec. 4 | Dec. 11 | Dec. 18 | Dec. 25 | Jan. 1 | Jan. 8 | Jan. 15

Jump to a team:
ATL | BOS | BKN | CHA | CHI | CLE
DAL | DEN | DET | GS | HOU | IND
LAC | LAL | MEM | MIA | MIL | MIN
NO | NY | OKC | ORL | PHI | PHX
POR | SAC | SA | TOR | UTA | WAS

1. Oklahoma City Thunder

2024-25 record: 35-7

Previous ranking: 2

Next games: vs. UTA (Jan. 22), vs. DAL (Jan. 23), @ POR (Jan. 26)

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might be on the path to claiming his first MVP this season as Oklahoma City cruises toward claiming the West's top seed for the second straight season. Fair or not, Gilgeous-Alexander will likely deal with some harsh scrutiny if the Thunder don't make a deep playoff run — and perhaps even if