How will your team perform over the next three NBA seasons?
The Future Power Rankings are ESPN's projection of the on-court success expected for each team over the next three seasons: 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Consider this a convenient way to see the direction in which your favorite team is headed. To determine the Future Power Rankings, we asked ESPN analysts Kevin Pelton, Bobby Marks, Andre Snellings and Tim Bontemps to rate teams in five categories and rank them relative to the rest of the league.
Since the last version of the Future Power Rankings dropped in March, we've seen the Golden State Warriors return to the top of the NBA mountain. But was another title — and locking up Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins to contract extensions — enough to return the Warriors to the top of our rankings?
An explanation of each category and a full view of how each team did in each category is at the bottom of the rankings. Each team also received an overall Future Power Rating of 0 to 100, based on how well we expect it to perform over the next three seasons. Here are our latest rankings.
Note: The last version of these rankings was released in March.
1. Memphis Grizzlies
Losing a hard-fought second-round series against the eventual champion Golden State Warriors has done nothing to dampen our enthusiasm about the Grizzlies, who top the future rankings for a second consecutive installment. With Ja Morant leading three starters 24 and younger (Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. are the others), Memphis is tied for second in the players category. The Grizzlies still have the cap and draft-pick flexibility to swing a trade and add to their core. No wonder Memphis management finished sixth overall.
(Previous rank: No. 1)
2. LA Clippers
The Clippers have been at the top of the this-team-could-win-a-championship lists every season since they signed Kawhi Leonard and Paul George as their centerpieces. Injuries to those two have likely prevented that championship. But the team's ability to reload with affordable, productive veterans and remain competitive even without its stars has made the Clippers a championship favorite again now that said stars have returned. The team has high-end talent, a deep roster and enough resources to keep putting a championship-level product on the court for the foreseeable future. That was enough to get the Clippers within a spot of the top.
(Previous rank: No. 6)
3. Boston Celtics
After breaking through and returning to the NBA Finals for the first time in 12 years last season behind a core of players in their mid-20s, the Celtics leapfrogged the Milwaukee Bucks and jumped into the top spot of these rankings in the player category. The only downside is the sudden suspension of coach Ime Udoka for the season on the eve of training camp and the elevation of 34-year-old assistant Joe Mazzulla in his place, which led to Boston landing 17th in the management category, down from 13th in the spring. Otherwise, the Celtics might very well have landed the top spot in these rankings.
(Previous rank: No. 5)