Two weeks into the 2026-27 NBA season, we're starting to see which preseason title hopefuls are living up to the hype and which are falling woefully short thus far.

The defending champions have gotten off to a slow start, although they've turned their early-season doldrums around by feasting on cupcakes. Teams that made blockbuster moves this offseason are having decidedly mixed experiences in the early going. A tidal wave of injuries across the league isn't helping, either.

Let's hand out some grades to the teams that were viewed as the leading title contenders in the preseason based on what they've done so far and their outlook moving forward.

San Antonio Spurs: B+

Fresh off an earlier-than-expected run to the NBA Finals, it was fair to wonder what Victor Wembanyama would look like coming into this season. Would he fully embrace Terminator mode? Which ancient martial art did he study this offseason to help develop him further?

Until Wednesday, the answer was… just about the same as last year? He was averaging a career-high 25.7 points per game, but his efficiency had plummeted from 51.2 percent shooting last year to only 46.9 percent this year (including a career-worst 26.2 percent from deep). He was averaging a league-high 4.0 blocks per game, naturally, but he hadn't appeared to have taken another stratospheric leap just yet.

Then he put up a stat line Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks that hasn't been seen since the Wilt Chamberlain days.

Victor Wembanyama is the only player to record 50+ points, 20+ rebounds & 10+ stocks in a game since blocks & steals were official in 1973-74.

Wilt Chamberlain is the only player to do it prior.

— Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau) November 5, 2026

The Spurs began their season with losses to the Thunder and Rockets before rattling off six straight wins that helped ease concerns in San Antonio. Granted, beating up on the injury-ravaged Utah Jazz and the Anthony Edwards-less Minnesota Timberwolves hardly answers whether the Spurs can go all the way this season.

Tobias Harris has yet to make his Spurs debut, which could eventually lead to some questions about whether they stick with their three-guard starting lineup. That's a problem for later, though. For now, they just need to keep stacking wins, particularly since they're in a soft part of their schedule.

Oklahoma City Thunder: C

The Thunder get an average grade through no fault of their own. Such is life when you lose two starters to potentially season-ending injuries in the first two weeks of the season.

The Thunder's injury woes didn't just stop with Jalen Williams (fibula/ankle) and Cason Wallace (shoulder), though. Chet Holmgren is also out for eight to 10 weeks due to a patellar tendon tear, per ESPN's Tim MacMahon, while Alex Caruso missed three games because of an ankle injury before returning Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Despite that avalanche of injuries, the Thunder have still managed to jump out to a 6-2 start, fueled largely by two-time reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. While their season-opening thrashing of the Spurs is a distant memory at this point, their pair of short-handed wins over the Cavs this week sent a reminder that the league should write off OKC at its own peril.

With J-Dub, Wallace and Holmgren sidelined for the time being, the Thunder now have a much longer runway to evaluate Ajay Mitchell, Jared McCain, Bennett Stirtz and Aday Mara. Even when they suffer catastrophic injuries, they still somehow stay winning.

Philadelphia 76ers: A

Can we revisit some of the offseason narratives about the Sixers, if only to make fun of how wildly off-base they were? Any concerns about there only being one ball and who would be their alpha have already been washed away amidst the Sixers' league-best 8-1 start to the season.

It's not like the Sixers are feasting on cupcakes, either. They've already toppled the defending-champion Knicks twice, beat the Detroit Pistons once and came back from a 29-point first-half deficit against the (potentially fraudulent) Cavaliers. Their lone loss came against the Pistons on the second night of a back-to-back sans both Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe.

The Sixers do still have some real concerns, from their lack of three-point shooting in their starting lineup to their dismal backup center situation. They also need to start hitting the glass harder, if only to help fuel their deadly transition attack. But they've shown far more cohesion than expected in the early going, particularly in crunch time, and their defense is way ahead of schedule as well.

Maybe assembling a team of talented, high-IQ players is actually a good thing? Who knew?

New York Knicks: C-

The defending champions have shaken off their 0-3 start to the season with four victories in their past five games, although those came against the Jalen Duren-less Detroit Pistons and two Eastern Conference bottom-feeders in the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets. Meanwhile, they've already lost close games to the Sixers (twice!) and Boston Celtics, and they lost to the Paolo Banchero-less Orlando Magic as well.

"Games like this will tell us, our crap stinks. It does," Knicks head coach Mike Brown told reporters after the loss to the Magic. "And we're the only ones who can do anything about it. There's no light switch we can just turn on and go and win the ballgame. Nobody's giving us anything, so we have to be better with the little things until we start shooting the ball."

Any concerns about Karl-Anthony Towns' stalled extension negotiations impacting his play haven't played out, as he's averaging 19.9 points and 13.6 rebounds in only 31.3 minutes per game. However, Mikal Bridges is off to a dismal start offensively with only 6.3 points per game on 33.3% shooting overall and 29.6% shooting from deep.

The bloom has already come off Andre Drummond after a strong season-opening performance, but Mitchell Robinson isn't walking back through the doors of Madison Square Garden anytime soon. No one should write off the champs entirely, but anyone who crowned them as the clear class of the East heading into the season should already be reevaluating that.

Houston Rockets: A-

Heading into the season, the Spurs and Thunder were almost unanimously considered the top two teams in the West. Given the Thunder's deluge of injuries, the Rockets have now entered that chat.

Alperen Şengün is averaging career highs in points (22.4), assists (8.1) and steals (1.3) to go with 9.1 rebounds per game. Jabari Smith Jr. is shooting the lights out from deep, hitting 3.0 triples per game at a 49.1% clip. Fred VanVleet is struggling efficiency-wise (39.0% overall, 34.0% from distance), but he's averaging 13.0 points, 6.3 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals in only 30.0 minutes per game. And while Amen Thompson's counting stats have decreased, his defensive impact certainly hasn't.

The Rockets already have a 21-point win over the injury-ravaged Thunder, a pair of victories over the Atlanta Hawks and a 16-point win over the Celtics. They also beat the Spurs after Thompson defied gravity and stuffed Wemby on a potential game-tying shot at the rim.

At this point, the Rockets deserve to be taken seriously as title contenders. Is it an overreaction to say they could be the best team in the West?

Boston Celtics: B+

Paul George made a splash in his Celtics debut—seven of them, actually—when he went off for 38 points on 12-of-21 shooting (including 7-of-12 from deep) against the Detroit Pistons. However, the Celtics promptly blew a 22-point second-half lead once George cooled off and Jayson Tatum couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

Tatum has since bounced back, although his efficiency still leaves much to be desired (41.8% overall, 22.9% from deep). Derrick White (29.3%) and Payton Pritchard (31.0%) haven't been much better from long range, which is alarming for a team that largely predicated its offense last year on winning the math game.

The Celtics do have early-season wins over the Knicks and short-handed Magic, but they've otherwise largely feasted on bottom-feeding cupcakes such as the Bulls, Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. They're poised to continue their empty-calorie binge with upcoming games against the Bucks and Charlotte Hornets.

We won't get a chance to gauge how seriously to take the Celtics until their schedule stiffens up later this month, but they shouldn't be penalized for beating up on bad teams. That's the bare minimum for championship hopefuls.

Minnesota Timberwolves: B

Had Anthony Edwards not undergone a knee procedure that could sideline him up for upward of two months, the Timberwolves likely would have gotten an A here. But with Edwards perhaps out until around Christmas, it's harder to muster major optimism.

Despite Edwards' injury, there have been plenty of positives in Minnesota thus far. Jaden McDaniels has taken another step forward offensively. Jonathan Kuminga is shooting 46.3% from three-point range (!). LaMelo Ball looks like a seamless fit next to Edwards. Terrence Shannon Jr. and Ayo Dosunmu are stepping up in Edwards' absence. And Joan Beringer might be A Thing moving forward.

The question is whether the Timberwolves can stay afloat until Edwards returns. Even if they're able to hover around .500, that should keep them in the playoff race. Their three upcoming games against Portland over the next month look far less daunting with Ja Morant sidelined by a hamstring injury, which could help.

Once Edwards returns, the T-Wolves should be right back in the mix with the Spurs, Thunder and Rockets to vie for Western Conference supremacy. Until then, they just have to tread water.

Toronto Raptors: B-

What, you thought injuries would sweep across the NBA in the early going and Kawhi Leonard would remain unscathed? Pshaw.

On Oct. 27, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Leonard was "expected to miss a period of weeks due to swelling in his left knee." But on Tuesday, the Raptors announced that Leonard had "successfully completed treatment to address" the swelling and will now begin the "return-to-play process," which will sideline him for at least another week.

Leonard played only two games before getting shut down, which makes it difficult to draw sweeping conclusions about this new-look Raptors squad. Scottie Barnes has been a two-way dynamo, as usual, while RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley are providing solid complementary scoring.

However, Collin Murray-Boyles has been less of a factor than anticipated in the early going. He's averaging only 9.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per game, and he's started only two games thus far.  

Just like in 2019, the Raptors' ceiling revolves around getting Leonard to mid-April healthy. They've got plenty of intriguing complementary pieces—Ja'Kobe Walter Hive, stand up—but the oft-injured 35-year-old is the skeleton key to make it all work.