#5: Chicago Bulls – Current Record: 10-5

DeMar DeRozan (26.6 PPG) and Zach LaVine (26.2 PPG) have made up the best scoring duo in the league this season and with Nikola Vucevic, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso all being high-level threats as well, the Bulls look like they have a championship contending team on their hands.

This may very well be the best Chicago Bulls team we have seen since the 2010-11 Bulls that went 62-20 en route to the Eastern Conference Finals! With a great balance of offense and defense, Chicago has been extremely impressive to begin the year, but their biggest question lies on their bench. 

The Bulls rank 28th in the league in bench points per game and outside of Alex Caruso, they really do not have many scoring threats in their second-unit. Chicago will almost definitely look to add one or two more scoring talents to their bench-unit ahead of the trade deadline this year, but overall, this team seems near flawless. 

Just one of their five losses on the year have been by double-digits and with three terrific All-Star talents, the Bulls are going to be a force in this league all year long. 

#4: Brooklyn Nets – Current Record: 11-5

Without Kyrie Irving, many have been questioning if the Brooklyn Nets can win a title and Kevin Durant has made the answer of “yes” very clear to us all. When a professional athlete suffers an Achilles injury, they are normally not the same play post-injury as they were pre-injury, but that does not seem to be the case with Kevin Durant. 

Not only is he the same high-level scoring threat that he was before tearing his Achilles, but Durant may actually be better than he was before the injury, which is scary to think about! 

Kevin Durant is just 0.9 points per game back from Stephen Curry for the league-lead in scoring and has looked like one of the early season favorites for MVP, averaging 28.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists and shooting 56.7% from the floor, 42.7% from three-point range. 

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There is nothing KD cannot do on the floor and with James Harden by his side, this team is still a title favorite. With Patty Mills, LaMarcus Aldridge and others beginning to find their role in this system, Brooklyn is only going to get better as the season goes on and they should be considered the team to beat in the Eastern Conference right now. 

#3: Phoenix Suns – Current Record: 11-3

Winners of 10 straight games, the Phoenix Suns are the hottest team in the league right now, no pun intended! Devin Booker has been sensational on the offensive-end of the floor over this win streak, but the Suns as a whole have been impressive defensively. 

They are only allowing 101.0 points per game over their last 10 games and they have even held six of their opponents to 100 or less points in the game! 

Chris Paul is once again proving why he is one of the most important players in the league given his ability to lead this team on both ends of the floor and with offseason additions of Landry Shamet and JaVale McGee starting to play well, this Western Conference Championship team from a season ago is even better now. 

Phoenix does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon and being one of the most balanced teams in terms of depth, defensive and offensive production, they have everything they need to make it back to the NBA Finals. 

#2: Miami Heat – Current Record: 11-5

Jimmy Butler has been playing at an MVP level this season and while the Heat also have two other All-Stars in Kyle Lowry and Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro has been the main headline for this team. 

After drawing criticism for his play near the end of last season, Herro has bounced-back in a huge way for this team this season, averaging 21.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and shooting 45.4% from the floor, 38.9% from three-point range. 

The young shooting guard is the early favorite to win Sixth-Man of the Year and he is also in the running for being this year’s Most Improved Player as well! Between being the 7th best rated defensive team in the league and the 4th best rated offense, the Heat have everything they need to possibly get back to the NBA Finals for the second-time in the last three seasons. 

The most impressive thing about this team is that while they do not appear to have the most depth, they just always find ways to win games, even when guys are out of the lineup. Their “Big 3” have only played in 9 games together this year and they have all missed time sporadically, yet this team still finds themselves at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. 

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Whether it is on defense or offense, the Heat have numerous ways to win games and with Herro giving this team a ton of production off-the-bench, they are going to be a tough team to beat as the season goes on. 

#1: Golden State Warriors – Current Record: 13-2

Look who we have here at the top of the NBA rankings for what seems like the first-time in forever. Stephen Curry is the best basketball player on this planet right now and it is not really close. The 2x league-MVP has been sensational so far this season, but he is not the only reason the Warriors are the best team in the league right now. 

Injuries and lack of overall depth really hurt the Golden State Warriors over the last two seasons, but they are basically fully healthy now and they have the most depth out of any team in this league. 

The Warriors have the No. 1 rated defense in the league and the No. 2 rated offense in the league and they are still without both James Wiseman and Klay Thompson! This team is going to get even better and deeper than they are now when Wiseman and Thompson return to the court and the scariest thing to think about is the fact that Steph Curry will get even more open looks than he is already getting when Klay is by his side. 

There is no way to stop the Warriors right now and with a +13.7 average point differential this season, Golden State has just cruised past the early portion of their schedule. With four guys scoring in double-figures on the season and this team ranking first in the league in points, field goal percentage, rebounds, assists, and opponent’s field goal percentage, Golden State looks like the clear-cut title favorites if they remain healthy.