It’s early August, the deadest of dead zones on the NBA calendar.
Summer League’s over, the draft is a distant memory, and free agency’s been picked clean like the nacho tray at a Super Bowl party by halftime. There’s nothing to do except get irrationally mad at meaningless preseason content.

And right on cue, NBA.com blessed us with the perfect spark: the 2025 Western Conference power rankings.

Here’s the thing about August rankings—they’re like vacation rental photos. You know they’re staged, you know half of it’s not real, but you still look at them, get mad about the prices, and start imagining all the ways they’re wrong.

No surprise here—they earned it.

They were the consensus West favorite last year, and they delivered: 68–14 in the regular season, blew through the playoffs, survived Nikola Jokic in one round and Anthony Edwards in another, then outlasted Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers in a Finals that was way closer than the casual fan probably remembers.

And they’re running it back. Same roster. Same coach. Same swagger. If this were the BCS era of college football, OKC would be the unanimous preseason No. 1.

Fine. No problem here. Moving on.

And here’s where Wolves fans start to squint.

Denver’s sitting in the No. 2 slot, which—on paper—makes sense if you just look at “best player in the world” logic. Jokic is still Jokic. They won the title in 2023. They took OKC to seven in the second round last year. They’ve been here before.

But then you remember the Wolves have been to back-to-back Western Conference Finals… and Denver hasn’t sniffed that round in two years.

Yes, they added Cam Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas. Solid pieces. But they also lost Michael Porter Jr. and Russell Westbrook—two guys who, while not exactly All-NBA, were important rotation players.

So is this roster actually better than last year’s? Or is this just a “benefit of the doubt” bump because of the gold banner hanging in Ball Arena?

If you’re telling me Jokic gives them a higher floor in April than Minnesota, fine. But if we’re rewarding recent playoff résumé? The Wolves have the edge.

This one… I actually laughed out loud when I saw it.

Houston was the two-seed last year, sure. But they got bounced in Round 1 by the Warriors.

To me, this is all about Houston taking the biggest swing of the offseason by bringing in Kevin Durant.

Look, I love Durant. He’s a generational scorer. But he’s also 37. The last time he made it past the second round we all thought “social distancing” meant blocking your uncle on Facebook. Durant is joining a roster that just lost Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks—two guys who, flaws and all, were key contributors.

Yes, Houston added Dorian Finney-Smith and Clint Capela, which gives them more defensive versatility… in theory. But this “KD will put us over the top” thing? Phoenix just tried that with him and failed. Brooklyn tried it before that. It’s been a while since “Add Durant, print Finals tickets” was an actual thing.

Let’s maybe see them win one playoff series before slotting them ahead of a team that’s already living in the Conference Finals neighborhood.

4. Minnesota Timberwolves

Here’s where the insult lands.

The Wolves are fourth. Behind the reigning champs? Fine. Behind Denver? Debatable. Behind Houston? Nope.

I get that the offseason headline for Minnesota was basically “ran it back, minus Nickeil Alexander-Walker.” No splashy free-agent signings. No blockbuster trades. And if you just scan transactions like it’s a fantasy football draft board, you could trick yourself into thinking they stood still.

But this is ignoring context. This is ignoring the reality that this team spent the first half of last season learning how to integrate Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, took some lumps, and then transformed into a cohesive, dangerous playoff machine by April.

Anthony Edwards is 24 now and still improving. Randle’s acclimated. Rudy Gobert is still anchoring an elite defense. And there’s a legit wave of young guys—Terrence Shannon Jr., Jaylen Clark, Rob Dillingham, and rookie Joan Beringer—who could all make incremental contributions.

Continuity isn’t sexy in August power rankings. But in May? It wins you games.

Why It Matters (Even Though It Doesn’t)

Yes, preseason rankings are meaningless. Yes, this is just August filler content. But if you’re a Wolves fan, this is two years in a row where you’ve been told, “Nice run, but we’re not taking you seriously yet.”

Denver gets historical credit. Houston gets shiny-object credit. And Minnesota gets the “yeah, but…” treatment.

The truth is, the Wolves have been a top-four team in the league for two straight years. They’ve taken big swings (Gobert, Randle), nailed the supporting cast moves (Conley, DiVincenzo), and built a roster that knows how to win together.

Maybe this fourth-place ranking will just become bulletin-board material. Maybe they’ll leapfrog both Denver and Houston by the All-Star break. Maybe we’ll look back at this list in May and laugh at how wrong it was.

Either way, we’re in August—so we’re allowed to get irrationally mad about it now.