By InsideHoops.com

Our power rankings rate the entire league from top to bottom. A very opinionated feature, obviously. InsideHoops.com power rankings are updated every now and then during the summer, and usually every week during the season.

InsideHoops.com NBA Power Rankings
Updated April 5, 2009

Records are current 2008-09 regular season

THE CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS

1) LA Lakers (60-16) - Many fans out there may feel the Cavaliers deserve to be on top, but if it was Lakers vs Cavs in a seven game series I'm picking Lakers in six.

2) Cleveland (62-15) - LeBron James and friends really work as a unit. The InsideHoops.com NBA MVP vote is going to James.

3) Boston (58-19) - Their playoff success depends on the health of Kevin Garnett.


ALMOST CONTENDERS

4) Orlando (57-19) - Can their Dwight Howard inside, everyone else outside scheme work deep in the playoffs?

5) San Antonio (49-27) - Not the championship Spurs of old, but still good enough to give anyone a good postseason run.

6) Denver (51-26) - Have won 9 of 10 and look like a fantastic unit, fueled by Chauncey Billups' leadership and Carmelo Anthony's scoring.


GOOD TEAMS

7) Portland (48-27) - Very good team but their youth suggests more experienced teams can overcome them in the playoffs.

8) Houston (48-28) - They're better without an injured Tracy McGrady, but not better without a healthy one.

9) New Orleans (47-28) - Chris Paul and David West are rock solid, but their teammates need to stay healthy and step up.

10) Utah (46-30) - The Jazz are as dangerous as almost any top West squad.

11) Dallas (46-31) - Generally written off, the Mavericks may wind up the first round opponent of the Lakers. That'll be great to watch.

12) Atlanta (43-34) - The best of the 'second tier' East playoff teams, the Hawks have spunk.

13) Phoenix (42-35) - Lost a huge game to Dallas on Sunday. The summer could bring big changes to Phoenix.


THEY WIN SOME, THEY LOSE SOME

14) Philadelphia (40-35) - Clinched a playoff spot yesterday, but the 76ers are in a race to avoid falling from 5th to 6th in the East.

15) Miami (41-36) - Dwyane Wade has played on an MVP level this year. But his team doesn't win enough to hand him the award.

16) Detroit (36-40) - Winners of just 3 of their last 10 games, and Allen Iverson is done for the season. Big changes could come this summer.

17) Chicago (37-40) - The always underrated John Salmons has been a huge help since coming to Chicago.


THESE ARE TEAMS, TOO

18) Charlotte (34-42) - Boris Diaw is my favorite player on this team. Extremely high basketball IQ.

19) Indiana (32-44) - Still not sure of their future direction or what moves they should make.

20) Milwaukee (32-46) - Tough season with huge injuries to Andrew Bogut and Michael Redd. Though even when healthy the Bucks didn't look great.

21) New Jersey (31-45) - The Nets summer needs to be spent getting some forwards with game.

22) New York (29-47) - The team is just trying to be entertaining, and free of contracts, for 2010 free agency.

23) Toronto (30-45) - A disappointing team that should have been 'somewhat almost decent' instead of awful.


BARELY IN THE NBA

24) Golden State (27-49) - Welcome to the circus. Top to bottom, stuff is goofy here. Fantastic fans, though. And fun to watch, even when they lose. Bright spots are Stephen Jackson and Jamal Crawford.

25) Minnesota (22-54) - With a healthy Al Jefferson they'd probably have been as good as the Warriors.

26) Memphis (22-54) - Looking good lately. They're enjoyable to watch.

27) Oklahoma City (21-54) - Well, Russell Westbrook is a top rookie.

28) LA Clippers (18-58) - The Clippers are living up to being the Clippers.

29) Washington (18-60) - Even with all the injuries, I thought they should have been five or seven games better than this.

30) Sacramento (16-59) - Should sign InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner.