NBA 2K26 Ratings Update 5: Kawhi Leonard Climbs as LaMelo Ball Slumps

• Primary Subject: NBA 2K26 Season 4
• Key Update: Kawhi Leonard rises to 94 OVR (+2), LaMelo Ball drops to 86 OVR (-2)
• Status: Confirmed
• Last Verified: January 23, 2026
• Quick Answer: The biggest winners are Kawhi Leonard and Jaylen Brown (both +2), while LaMelo Ball, Jalen Williams, and DeAndre Ayton saw significant drops.

This has been another disastrous season for the Clippers. As of this writing, the Clippers are a-.500 team, even with both James Harden and Kawhi Leonard getting the most games played together in all of their seasons combined since joining forces.

Sure, there are a lot of factors to consider when you're trying to dissect the real reason for a shoddy season, but the truth is that age has finally caught up to this franchise; they have virtually no draft picks, and their most important pieces are aging superstars that are injury prone so I'm not going to be surprised if this team enters "rebuild mode" in a season or two.

If you're playing as the GM of the Clippers, your dream come true is trading off the vets in return for some youth. You can of course, try to win with the roster as it's constructed now, since NBA 2K26 Kawhi is significantly healthier than his real-life counterpart, and you're not going to be stranded with load management, but you also have to think about acquiring some assets for the 2026 draft class, which is shaping up to be a lot stronger than Cooper Flagg's 2025 class.

All that said, The Klaw (when he's available) is playing some of his best basketball this season, averaging a career-high 28.1 points per game as he tries to single-handedly drag the Clippers out of a bad spot in an already super-competitive Western conference and this doesn't go unnoticed in NBA 2K26's fifth ratings update, as Leonard earns a well-deserved two-point bump, which brings his OVR to 94, while other players mired in trade rumors and controversy like Lamelo have stumbled a bit.

Let's dig in.

The Biggest Winners in the Fifth Update

Credit: 2K

Let's start with the good news. Several players saw significant jumps in this update, but the most notable ones are Kawhi (94 OVR) and Jaylen Brown (95 OVR), whose common denominators seem to be carrying the load this season.

The Klaw is playing like his 2019 version, and his two-way dominance on both offense and defense is nothing short of admirable, while Jaylen Brown, who's currently without his superstar duo, Jayson Tatum, is making a strong case for being his own Batman. Personally, I think you can build a franchise around Jaylen Brown since he's a very versatile player who can shoot the lights out but isn't lacking on defense. Other than that, the other winners in this update are a bunch of role players.

LaMelo is the Biggest Loser

There's no shortage of LaMelo Ball's highlight reels, and while there's no debating that he's a premier, superstar point guard, those highlight reels don't tell you the entire story, and that is the fact that he has been unable to find his place under a new system and coexist with other ballhandlers like Colin Sexton.

That's also not discounting the fact that second-year rookie Kon Knueppel is shooting the lights out and playing so well with the same squad. So it may not be surprising that the Hornets may lean the other way and find LaMelo a new home.

On the other side of the conference, OKC's Jalen Williams takes a hit to his rating, which brings him down to 86 OVR. While the Thunder are atop the Western Conference, sporting a 37-8 win/loss record as of this writing, they've been battling multiple injury bugs throughout the season, with the most recent being Williams right hamstring strain. But with a roster that's so deep, it would take much more than just injuries to bring the reigning champs down.

That's not the case for the Lakers and DeAndre Ayton, who's now closer to being a mediocre center at 81 OVR, as we've seen him once again benched in the final minutes in their previous game against the Clippers. This is becoming a recurring theme for the starting center of the purple and gold, and to be fair, it's infuriating to see such a talented center be glued to the bench in moments where you might need him most.

However, he's also plenty to blame since he does head-scratching plays and often refuses to finish easy looks. It's the same problem he's had in Phoenix with Booker and the same problem he's had in Portland. What's intriguing is that he seems to be the needle that determines if his team will win or lose. The Lakers are undefeated in the 14 games Ayton has scored 17 or more points, and they're 10-1 when he gets 11 or more rebounds.

In NBA 2K26, you might want a better center like a Brook Lopez who can shoot threes if you want more finesse, or go with Rudy Gobert if you want a more defensive presence since Ayton is in a spot where he's very much limited to the paint, but has very little athleticism to offer for someone who you'd want fighting for positioning or rebounds in the post.

And there you have it! The biggest winners and losers in NBA 2K26's fifth player rankings update.

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