NBA Power Rankings Week 1: Thunder take over the top – Champion Knicks not quite there

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents NBA Power Rankings Week 1: Thunder take over the top – Champion Knicks not quite there.

The Athletic has published the first Power Rankings of the new 2026/27 NBA season – and the surprise is already in the headline: “Knicks are the champions, but not quite No. 1.” The New York Knicks may be heading into the new campaign as defending champions, but they don't top the editorial board's league rankings. The team at the top is a different one.

What makes The Athletic's Week 1 Power Rankings special

Power Rankings typically sort the league week by week based on current form. The first edition of a new season is different: the editorial team evaluates without game results, on the basis of roster changes, offseason moves, and advance credit. The Athletic makes this particularly transparent. The authors open the article with a clear statement: “Welcome to the 2026-27 season. Let's start by offering a full playoff field and finish for each team.” What this means concretely: they aim to assess all 30 teams on whether they will reach the playoffs – and where the season is expected to end. That's considerably more depth than a pure weekly ranking.

Welcome to the 2026-27 season. Let's start by offering a full playoff field and finish for each team.

Thunder, Knicks, Raptors – these three teams are in focus

Which franchises the editorial team particularly puts in the foreground is revealed by the URL of the article: Thunder, Knicks, Raptors – in that order. The hierarchy in the address line corresponds to the ranking in the Power Rankings. The Oklahoma City Thunder thus position themselves ahead of the reigning champions from New York at the start of the season, with the Toronto Raptors completing the top trio. That fits the headline statement: “Knicks are the champions, but not quite No. 1.”

What this means for the NBA season opener

For NBA fans in Germany, this means: the new 2026/27 season begins with a clear statement from the analysts. The defending champion isn't automatically the league leader – at least not in The Athletic's assessment. The coming weeks will show whether the Thunder defend their position or whether the Knicks climb back to the top. The article was published on October 19, 2026, and thus marks the start of a new NBA season – with an initial assessment that will either confirm itself or be quickly corrected in the coming weeks.