The modern NBA is typically a league built around competitive windows rather than perennial contention. Every team has missed the playoffs at least once in the past decade, except for the Boston Celtics (who last missed in 2013-14).

As they build and pay their rosters -- especially under the current collective bargaining agreement -- teams must understand their competitive cycles and strategize accordingly. As the 2025-26 season begins, which teams need to win now, and which would prefer to compete later instead?

It's that question that informs our Now or Later rankings, which use a mathematical model to place all 30 teams along that spectrum.

The Now or Later rankings are made up of two parts with equal weight. The first is money score, based on each team's projected total payments

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