It's strange having the NBA trade deadline so close to the All-Star break. The mid-season break provides a natural checkpoint to take stock of where every team sits, and yet -- especially given the monumental activity around this year's deadline in both quantity and quality of players -- a lot of teams will look vastly different over the final two months of the season.

The NBA All-Star Break is here, and the Los Angeles Lakers are a team on the rise. Let's see where they clock stack up to the rest of the league in our latest power rankings roundup.

With the NBA landscape shifting after blockbuster trades and breakout performances, the 2024-25 season has given us a clearer picture of contenders, pretenders, and teams planning for the future. The Lakers,