The New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors headline our NBA Power Rankings for two very different reasons.

We’re roughly at the one-month mark of the 2024-25 NBA regular season and we’re partying like it’s 2016. The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to be the most dominating team in the Eastern Conference and the Golden State Warriors are running through the West. In what could be described as an unlikely start to the season, the two teams dominating are probably not what the public thought would be the case through the first weeks of the season. Nevertheless, both the Cavs and Warriors have been playing extremely well to start the year.

On the other hand, there are a few teams that continue to fight through their early-season struggles. One of the most unlikely teams that is trying to play its way into rhythm is the New York Knicks. After making two bold moves for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns during the offseason, the overwhelming opinion was that they might be the biggest threat to the Boston Celtics in the East. At least so far this season, that’s not exactly how things have panned out. The Knicks shouldn’t be hitting the panic button just yet but you can feel the anxiousness from their fan base. We tackle all of that and more in our second NBA Power Rankings of the regular season.

After the first month of the season, I can pretty confidently say that the Utah Jazz have taken a bit of a step back in the Western Conference. And that’s a problem. Considering this is essentially year three of their rebuild, it is concerning that the Jazz still don’t have any clear foundational pieces on their roster other than Lauri Markkanen. And specifically this season, the team is on pace to lose another 50-plus games, and the young teams on their roster continue to leave much to be desired.

At some point, there could be a chance that the patience runs out in the front office and they elect to make a big – and perhaps rash – move. I’m not sure if that would end up being a good or bad thing. However, one thing is becoming abundantly clear – and it’s the fact that something has to give for the Jazz. Either they continue down this slow rebuild (and trade Markkanen) or they elect to make a move that could help the team begin to complement Markkanen. Maybe we get the answer to this question before the NBA Trade Deadline.

Even though the Washington Wizards have had about as rough of a start as most expected from them, there are clear signs of encouragement so far this season. Rookie Bub Carrington is putting together a Rookie of the Year-type start to the season and Jordan Poole is looking more like the player he was during his breakout season with the Golden State Warriors. Perhaps the biggest development for the Wizards is the play of Bilal Coulibaly. It’s still early on in the season but he’s very much enjoying a breakout campaign.

The Wizards are probably going to lose a lot of games this season. That shouldn’t come as a big surprise. However, what Washington is beginning to see from their young core is truly encouraging. And if Alex Sarr can make any strides in his development between now and the end of the year, this is a team that will be in an even better position heading into the offseason.