The 2025–26 NBA season is barely a month old and it already feels loud. The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder still look like the league’s measuring stick, the Detroit Pistons have flipped from meme to menace, Giannis is bulldozing the East again, and the first wave of real trade rumor mill smoke is starting to drift over Dallas, Chicago, LA, Utah and more.
Oklahoma City came into the season as the betting favorite to repeat after last year’s title run behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and so far that call looks smart. The Thunder sit near the top of every power index and early power ranking, playing like a team that knows exactly who it is and what it takes to get back to June.
Thunder on top, Pistons wake the East up
The biggest shock is happening in Detroit. ESPN’s latest power rankings have the Pistons sitting among the league’s elite, with the note that they not only top the Eastern Conference but trail only OKC in overall record. Social feeds tracking nightly standings show Detroit riding a double-digit win streak and “lowkey waking the league up,” which is wild considering this franchise set the record for 27 straight losses just two seasons ago.
Behind Cade Cunningham’s jump as a full-blown superstar and Jalen Duren’s dominance in the paint, the Pistons suddenly look more like a playoff lock than a rebuild. Head-to-head stat comparisons with teams like Milwaukee underscore how real the leap is – Cunningham’s flirting with double-digit assists while still scoring high-20s per night, hanging right there next to Giannis on the production charts.
Giannis still terrorizing, chaos all around the middle
Milwaukee’s start is exactly what you expect from a Giannis team: heavy pressure at the rim, big scoring nights, and constant “is this sustainable?” talk from the national media. Recent power rankings highlight the Bucks as one of the biggest climbers, leaning on Giannis’ monster line of 30-plus points and double-digit boards.
Everywhere else in the East, it’s traffic. Cleveland is firmly in the mix thanks to Donovan Mitchell dragging them to wins in games that should’ve gotten away. Toronto’s early-season bump after trading for Brandon Ingram has cooled just enough that people are already debating whether the money and long-term fit make sense, even while acknowledging his impact.
Brooklyn is on the opposite side of that spectrum, openly rebuilding, staring at a stacked 2026 draft and taking a long-view approach while their fan base watches the loss column. That kind of tank-adjacent strategy is a big reason trade rumors feel louder than usual this early.
Spurs punched by the injury bug, NBA Cup adds extra stakes
In the West, San Antonio’s vibe changed in a single injury update. Victor Wembanyama was cooking to start the year, averaging over 26 points, nearly 13 boards and close to four blocks per game, while helping push the Spurs to a strong 9–4 start. Over the weekend, the team confirmed he’s dealing with a left calf strain and will be sidelined at least two to three weeks, with reevaluation scheduled later in the month.
That’s a legitimate plot twist, especially with San Antonio in the middle of NBA Cup group play. The league’s in-season tournament is in its third year, and we just saw Steph Curry rip a game away from the Spurs in one of the more chaotic finishes of the event so far. Now, national TV schedules built around Wemby have to adjust while the Spurs try to survive his absence and avoid sliding down the standings.
Between the Cup games and regular-season standings being tracked night-by-night on NBA.com and ESPN, the message is simple: there’s no soft launch this year. Every week is pressure.
Mavericks mess sets the tone for trade rumor activity
No franchise has more drama attached to its name right now than the Dallas Mavericks. Nine months after the front office shipped Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis and picks, Dallas fired GM Nico Harrison after a 3–8 start and a fan revolt that never really paused.
That move poured gasoline on every trade-machine conversation around the league. ESPN and other outlets are already breaking down Dallas’ options in detail: trade Davis now, ride it out and hope for a late-season surge, or lean completely into the tank and position themselves for the 2026 draft, which multiple reports describe as loaded at the top.
Chicago is the team most loudly tied to Davis, for obvious reasons. He’s a hometown star, the Bulls have a pile of expiring money, and speculative packages involving Coby White, Nikola Vučević and future firsts are making the rounds on talk shows and blogs. Nothing is close, but the idea of AD going back to his city while Dallas resets around Cooper Flagg is exactly the kind of storyline that won’t die until the deadline passes.
Stars on the block: LaMelo, Ja, Lauri and more
Dallas isn’t the only team sitting on hard decisions. A recent SBNation breakdown ranked seven stars as “on the trade block,” with LaMelo Ball and Ja Morant among the big names who could theoretically be moved if their teams decide the current build has hit a ceiling. Yahoo’s insider reporting has echoed the idea that executives around the league are at least gaming out what Morant or Davis deals might look like, even if the path is complicated by contracts, off-court history and public relations.
Out West, Lauri Markkanen is the name everyone keeps circling, but Utah is making it clear they’re not in any rush. Jazz coverage out of Salt Lake City says the front office has “stonewalled” most conversations, and any trade would only happen if a team massively overpays. Translation: you can call, but don’t bother unless you’re sending real stars or a war chest of picks.
On the wing front, one international outlet reported that the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to pursue DeMar DeRozan, now on the Sacramento Kings, as they try to add a reliable mid-range scorer next to their new core. Given how much draft capital LA already used to land Dončić, any serious DeRozan talks would probably require a third team to step in, but the rumor says a lot about how wide open this season feels. If you think you can get into the top tier, you’re shopping.
Trade Rumor 2025-2026: Where this could go next
It’s still November, but the combination of an aggressive NBA Cup schedule, a stacked upcoming draft, and a few franchises already wobbling has pushed the timeline forward. Oklahoma City and Detroit look locked in. Milwaukee, San Antonio, Boston, Cleveland and a few others are trying to stay close enough to strike if injuries or fatigue hit the favorites.
On the other side, Dallas, Brooklyn and a handful of fringe teams are staring at the standings, their cap sheet, and that 2026 class of prospects and wondering how long they want to pretend they’re in the race. The more that question tilts toward “not long,” the louder those Anthony Davis, LaMelo Ball, Ja Morant or Lauri Markkanen phone calls are going to get.
For now, the story of the 2025–26 season is simple: the top teams look serious, the young cores in places like OKC and Detroit are arriving ahead of schedule, and trade rumor activities are already warming up instead of waiting for February.
