There’s going to be dozens of NBA teams vying for the coveted 2024-25 championship next season. But at the bottom of the league, a different battle is brewing between teams looking for top draft picks who hope to join the list of true contenders in the next several years.

Let’s take a look at the best NBA rebuild’s currently underway, and who’s best positioned to contend in the coming years:

If San Antonio only had 7-foot-4 phenom Victor Wembanyama they’d still top this list, simply due to his impending NBA MVP candidacy. But the Spurs have done a good job of amassing talent around him, too.

Players like Jeremy Sochan and the recently-added Stephon Castle add defense and passing chops, and the team still has plenty of NBA veterans it will be able to offload for value, too.

The Spurs only need to stay the course. 

While most probably wouldn’t classify the Hornets few recent years as “successful,” they do have two of the better players on this entire list in LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, and at least seem to be on the right track in terms of roster construction.

They made the right add with an upside play in Tidjane Salaun as the 2024 NBA Draft, and have other fun pieces in Mark Williams, Tre Mann and Nick Smith Jr.

If they can land one more top selection next season, they’ll likely be in business.

The Raptors are fairly new to the whole rebuilding thing, having offloaded its win-now veterans just a season ago and missing out on its top draft pick this year.

Still, All-Star Scottie Barnes is as good a starting point as any in terms of building for the future. The team is riding the line of rebuild with players like fifth-year RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, but if it can garner at least one more top selection to add to Gradey Dick and Ja’Kobe Walter, they’ll be back to winning games soon enough.

Another team that isn’t quite a success story, the Pistons are in the rare space of having added talent in recent years, but having done very little with it.

They have a bona fide star in Cade Cunningham, and talented up-and-comers in Jalen Duran, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland. 

For now, the Pistons need to figure out how to mesh their pieces together. But they have a leg up on others simply due to their recent draftees.

The Trail Blazers are in a similar situation to Detroit, having drafted Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, Donovan Clingan and more, but having no synergy just yet.

There’s still plenty of time for their backcourt duo to pan out, and the team seems primed to still add talent in 2025. 

Even better, they’ve got veterans ready to offload in order to add more talent down the line.

The Wizards are just a few draft picks into their rebuild, meaning their lower ranking on this list doesn’t mean much just yet.

The lottery players they have added — Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr and Bub Carrington — are solid picks for now. But the team will be looking at the 2025 and 2026 drafts to add its franchise-changing talent.

The Nets bottom out on this list for a few reasons, but still have plenty of hope due to the reclaiming of their own draft picks.

They’re the newest rebuilding team in the league, having only traded off Mikal Bridges this offseason. But they’re also somewhat behind in terms of young talent.

They have hyper-scorer Cam Thomas and a defensive stalwart in Nic Clayton, but otherwise have ground to make up in that department.

Honorable Mention: Utah Jazz

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