NBA Power Rankings and the Rest of the league's "Rotation"

It has been a season-long coming out party for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Photo by Joshua Gateley/Getty Images)

The NBA tying games played to seasonal awards has been a godsend to NBA fans.

While “load management” still exists, the incentive for teams and players to partake in it to the extent that we have seen in the past few years, is off the table.

And what we’re left with, is a league where the best stars more times than not, show up regularly and in doing so, show the world why they are the best.

It provides added value and incentive to pay attention to the regular season where the play of each respective conference could not be any more different than what we’re seeing at the top.

In the East, you have the traditional powerbrokers in Boston, Milwaukee and Philadelphia holding their own at the top of the charts, while the Miami Heat continue to surge towards front-of-the-pack status.

Out West, it has been bizarro world when you talk about the usual suspects trying to sneak into the back in the playoffs, like Minnesota and Oklahoma City, are now leading the way out West while the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets are, no surprise, in the mix as well.

Here’s a closer look at this week’s starting five teams, the rest of the “top-tier” rotation, as well as teams that are on the rise and bringing up the rear, the best of the rest.