Unskew the League

Conference-Adjusted NBA Rankings

Our goal is to offer NBA league-wide rankings that have been adjusted to reflect the differences in conference difficulty. This website was inspired by the March 8, 2024 episode of the Greatest Of All Talk podcast. For more information on these conference adjustments, review our methodology.

How much weight should be placed on the conference adjustments?

None

Low

Medium

High

Inter-Conference Performance

99
Inter-Conference Games Played: 45
Eastern Conference Wins: 54
Western Conference Wins: West
Stronger Conference: 0.91
Eastern Conference Win Value: 1.09
Western Conference Win Value

Adjusted Rankings

#	Team		Adj. Record	Win %
1	Thunder	-	25.5 - 2.0	92.6%
2	Pistons	-	19.1 - 4.9	79.6%
3	Nuggets	-	18.7 - 6.1	75.5%
4	Rockets	-	16.2 - 6.1	72.7%
5	Spurs	↑ 1	18.5 - 7.1	72.3%
6	Knicks	↓ 1	17.1 - 6.8	71.4%
7	Lakers	-	17.6 - 7.1	71.4%
8	Timberwolves	-	16.5 - 9.2	64.4%
9	Celtics	-	14.4 - 9.9	59.2%
10	Suns	↑ 5	15.1 - 11.2	57.4%
11	76ers	↓ 1	13.1 - 9.8	57.2%
12	Magic	-	14.2 - 10.8	56.7%
13	Cavaliers	↓ 2	14.2 - 10.9	56.6%
14	Raptors	↓ 1	14.0 - 10.9	56.2%
15	Heat	↓ 1	13.8 - 11.0	55.7%
16	Hawks	-	13.8 - 11.9	53.7%
17	Warriors	-	13.6 - 13.1	51.1%
18	Grizzlies	-	11.8 - 14.0	45.7%
19	Bucks	-	10.4 - 14.8	41.1%
20	Bulls	-	9.6 - 13.9	41.0%
21	Mavericks	-	10.0 - 16.1	38.3%
22	Jazz	-	9.1 - 15.1	37.5%
23	Trail Blazers	-	9.5 - 16.1	37.0%
24	Hornets	-	6.5 - 17.8	26.8%
25	Clippers	↑ 2	6.2 - 19.1	24.5%
26	Kings	↑ 2	6.2 - 19.3	24.3%
27	Nets	↓ 2	5.6 - 17.8	24.0%
28	Pacers	↓ 2	5.8 - 19.0	23.5%
29	Pelicans	-	4.0 - 22.3	15.2%
30	Wizards	-	2.9 - 19.7	12.9%

Unadjusted Rankings

#	Team	Record	Conf	Win %
1	Thunder	24 - 2	20 - 2	92.3%
2	Pistons	20 - 5	15 - 5	80.0%
3	Nuggets	18 - 6	13 - 5	75.0%
4	Rockets	16 - 6	9 - 5	72.7%
5	Knicks	18 - 7	14 - 7	72.0%
6	Spurs	18 - 7	12 - 6	72.0%
7	Lakers	17 - 7	12 - 5	70.8%
8	Timberwolves	16 - 9	11 - 8	64.0%
9	Celtics	15 - 10	11 - 7	60.0%
10	76ers	14 - 10	12 - 9	58.3%
11	Cavaliers	15 - 11	12 - 8	57.7%
12	Magic	15 - 11	12 - 9	57.7%
13	Raptors	15 - 11	13 - 7	57.7%
14	Heat	14 - 11	8 - 6	56.0%
15	Suns	14 - 11	13 - 10	56.0%
16	Hawks	14 - 12	8 - 8	53.8%
17	Warriors	13 - 13	10 - 8	50.0%
18	Grizzlies	11 - 14	10 - 8	44.0%
19	Bucks	11 - 15	9 - 11	42.3%
20	Bulls	10 - 14	7 - 10	41.7%
21	Mavericks	10 - 16	5 - 11	38.5%
22	Jazz	9 - 15	5 - 11	37.5%
23	Trail Blazers	9 - 16	7 - 11	36.0%
24	Hornets	7 - 18	6 - 12	28.0%
25	Nets	6 - 18	5 - 13	25.0%
26	Pacers	6 - 19	4 - 10	24.0%
27	Clippers	6 - 19	4 - 12	24.0%
28	Kings	6 - 19	4 - 16	24.0%
29	Pelicans	4 - 22	2 - 19	15.4%
30	Wizards	3 - 20	2 - 16	13.0%

Methodology

To account for the difference in skill levels across conferences, we analyze all games played between teams from the Eastern and Western Conferences throughout the season. From this inter-conference data, we determine the adjusted weight for a win against each conference, referred to as the "Win Value." The stronger conference will have a Win Value greater than one, indicating that a victory against teams from this conference will carry more weight in our adjusted rankings. Conversely, wins against the weaker conference will contribute less to the adjusted rankings. Losses are also considered but are not weighted as heavily as wins, so losing to a weaker conference opponent is slightly more favorable than losing to a stronger conference opponent. You have the option to manually adjust the extent to which conference adjustments influence the rankings.