Category: Basketball

The Los Angeles Lakers revamped their roster this offseason, officially making Luka Dončić the focal point.

As Dončić enters his third season in Los Angeles, he has already seen the legendary franchise be sold twice, but the All-Star guard has remained supportive of the ownership changes as the front office has continued to support him.

Dončić has proven he has what it takes to be a franchise star, leading a team to the NBA Finals when he took the Dallas Mavericks to the title series to end the 2023-24 season. The Boston Celtics beat the Mavericks 4-1.

It may take some time before there’s a better idea of what this Lakers team can look like and what that ceiling might be, but there have been some early glimpses during the preseason.

How does Luka Dončić look with new Lakers roster?

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and the front office made a trade for Walker Kessler and re-signed Austin Reaves to a $185-million contract to help create a foundation alongside Dončić this offseason.

The Lakers' new big three came together for the first time against the Denver Nuggets in the preseason finale on Oct. 16, with the trio playing together in the first half. 

That one half indicated it will still take some time for the trio to jell, finishing the outing at a minus-four in their 13 minutes together.

While Kessler appeared a bit out of rhythm against Nikola Jokić, he called it "a lot of fun" to play together as a trio for the first time.

Outside of the big three, Dončić showed he also has a connection building with Lakers newcomer Ziaire Williams, who was also in the starting lineup. The veteran guard found Williams for multiple lobs during the first half.

Can Luka Dončić stay healthy?

The biggest question for Dončić is whether he can stay healthy.

Dončić has continued to put in the work as well during the offseason, taking his training seriously for a second straight season.

He’s come into the season in shape and looking lean to improve his on-court mobility and overall condition.

The guard had faced criticism throughout the early years of his career because of his weight and lower-body injuries.

Dončić took a step forward, playing in  64 games last season, the most he has played since the 2023-24 season when he played 70 games.

He earned his second scoring title, averaging 33.5 points per game last season. He also averaged 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds for Los Angeles.

Dončić will have to play like an MVP candidate again this season to help push the Lakers beyond the Western Conference semifinals.

The Oklahoma City Thunder swept the Lakers 4-0 in the conference semls last season without Dončić. He missed the Lakers' playoff run due to a Grade 2 left hamstring strain.

Luka Dončić takes on leadership role

Dončić hosted his teammates for a minicamp in an attempt to build team chemistry after the team overhauled the roster in August.

The All-NBA player’s decision to have the minicamp in the home country allowed him to remain close to his two daughters.

Dončić and his longtime girlfriend ended their engagement in March, leading to an ongoing custody battle over the daughters.

More: Luka Doncic files international petition to bring his daughters back to US

When do Lakers play in the season opener?

Dončić and the Lakers will host coach Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday, Oct. 21, in the season opener.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is Lakers' ceiling with Luka Doncic as Los Angeles' focal point?

After two seasons of collecting top picks in the 2025 and 2026 drafts, the Nets seem ready to compete again. Brooklyn has little incentive to lose on purpose, as the Houston Rockets own swap rights to the Nets’ 2027 first-round pick.

Brooklyn already has forward Michael Porter Jr.,who had a career year in 2025-26. With the addition of three-time All-Star Julius Randle via trade, the Nets now have two players to rely on to create shots. But can the rest of the team’s youth join them for the ride? Let’s dive into what this season should look like.

Scoring combo

The addition of Randle should help address Brooklyn’s offense that ranked dead last in offensive efficiency (108.2 points per 100 possessions) last season. Over the last several years, Randle has proven that he can create his own scoring opportunities, averaging over 20 points a night six of his last eight seasons. But where he should have the most impact is creating looks for others. The power forward has averaged at least 4.1 assists in all of the past six seasons.

Brooklyn can run its offense through Randle, who is capable of initiating through pick-and-rolls as a screener or ballhandler. He should also help put Brooklyn’s other players in more advantageous positions to score. A beneficiary from Randle’s presence will be Porter. The small forward is coming off a strong debut season with the Nets, averaging 24.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 52 games.

Despite the career year, Porter’s efficiency dipped slightly. Adding a scorer and playmaker like Randle should allow Porter to slot into a role as second option with easier scoring opportunities. This year is important for Porter. He’s eligible for a contract extension, so proving that last year wasn’t a flash in the pan will be important for his future with the team.

Despite making three All-Star teams, Randle does have his flaws. He can be careless with the ball, creating turnovers. His defensive effort waxes and wanes on a regular basis. And he’s a career 33.2 percent shooter from the three-point line, making him a suboptimal floor spacer.

But Brooklyn is aiming for respectability, which Randle brings as a proven veteran. And we’ve seen Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez excel in the past despite a limited roster. 

Show-and-prove

The Nets have had seven first-round picks over the past two years. Two of those seven players seem guaranteed to receive consistent minutes: Egor Dëmin and rookie Mikel Brown Jr. 

The sixth pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, Brown had a decent Summer League. He only played in Brooklyn’s preseason finale after missing time with an injury. At 20 years old, Brown has potential as a shot creator and playmaker at the point guard position. But it will likely take him time to establish a consistent NBA rotation player. 

Entering his sophomore season, Dëmin was spoon fed minutes in his rookie campaign, where he showed that he makes good reads as a passer. Dëmin also shot 38.5 percent from the three-point line. However, he needs to improve as a driver and finisher around the paint to be a starting caliber player. There are high hopes for his second season.

Brown and Dëmin will be given tons of opportunity. And with Dëmin’s 6-9 frame, they both should be able to play in the backcourt together. 

Outside of Randle, the Nets made a couple of moves in free agency, signing center Moe Wagner and guard Keon Ellis to contracts. Reserves Josh Minott and Terance Mann could also see some time.

With very few veterans on the roster there will be opportunities for the five other recent first-round picks. Nolan Traoré, Ben Saraf,Danny Wolf, Drake Powell and Joshua Jefferson will all have chances to crack the rotation. Specifically, Traoré, Saraf, Wolf, and Powell are all entering their second season. They will have to show some progress to justify a long-term roster spot past this season.

Starting caliber

To acquire Randle, the Nets had to send mainstay Nic Claxton to the Chicago Bulls in a three-team deal. Claxton’s defense and rebounding had dipped over the past few years. The center’s departure creates an opportunity for Day’Ron Sharpe to start at the five. Sharpe re-signed on a two-year, $20 million deal during the offseason.

Sharpe has been a per-minute darling over the past several years, dominating opposing backup centers by feasting on the offensive boards and finishing around the basket. Over five seasons, Sharpe is averaging 16.3 points, 13.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per 36 minutes. His work on the offensive glass will be a big help to Brooklyn creating more scoring opportunities. When Sharpe is on the floor, the Nets have played better. Teams outscored Brooklyn by 4.3 points per 100 possessions in 1,160 minutes last year, a figure far better than the -12.9 net rating the Nets had in Claxton’s minutes.

The question is can Sharpe be healthy and withstand a bump in minutes? He’s never played more than 62 games in a season and never averaged more than 18.7 minutes in a season. Also, he will now be matched up with the likes of Nikola Jokić, Karl-Anthony Towns and Bam Adebayo, a step up from his days as a backup.

Prediction

The Nets should be better than last year. The addition of a multi-time All-Star like Randle is a step in the right direction. And the NBA’s arrangement to disincentivize tanking of the draft will make the team naturally more competitive. But that also means the competition will also be trying.

Brooklyn’s lack of depth and heavy reliance on unproven youngsters means it’s unlikely the club will be competing for a playoff spot. Dëmin and Brown will need to wildly exceed expectations for a massive leap. Let’s go with 30-52.

The Knicks entered last season with the highest expectations in recent franchise history. This year, they enter the campaign having finally met them for the first time in 53 seasons.

For many that would be enough, but this squad looks intent on repeating, which would break the NBA’s streak of eight consecutive different title winners. 

With the roadmap already laid out for more or less the same roster, there’s no reason New York shouldn’t be right there once again.

Here's SNY's 2026-27 season preview...

What worked

Head coach Mike Brown was brought in for one reason -- to get his team over the hump behind increased communication, a reformed offensive system, and heavier reliance on their depth. He accomplished all of the above, giving the Knicks a blueprint of a championship season they can fall back on if things get tough.

But Brown’s success wasn’t immediately apparent. As promised, he spent much of the regular season experimenting with schemes and rotations. 

At times, that left some members of the team unsure of their roles. At others, the team was stuck in a rut. But everything clicked beginning with Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs in Atlanta.

Everybody comfortably settled into their roles at once, with the big change being how the team utilized Karl-Anthony Towns' playmaking. Each player locked in defensively and flourished as part of the team concept offensively.

Jalen Brunsoncontinued his postseason heroics while mixing in enough off-ball play to keep him fresh.OG Anunoby put together a historically efficient scoring run.

They found basketball nirvana, entering a flow state of ball movement and abandoning any other motives. How much of this can they carry over with the ground shifting underneath them?

What’s changed? 

While the Knicks brought back most of their championship roster, this team isn’t identical to the one that won it all. They lost Mitchell Robinson, their backup center who was a key man all season but especially in slowing down Victor Wembanyama in the NBA Finals. 

Replacing him is Andre Drummond, another rim-runner with a knack for offensive rebounding, though generally considered a tier below Robinson overall. Drummond will bring durability, free throw shooting and a couple other skills Robinson lacked, but this potential downgrade could impact their title hopes. 

While the rest of the core roster is more or less the same, the conference surrounding the Knicks has improved dramatically. Philadelphia added LeBron James and Jaylen Brown after their Eastern Conference Semifinals beatdown at the hands of New York, Indiana is getting a healthy Tyrese Haliburton back, the Heat added Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Toronto added Kawhi Leonard.

This, while contenders like Boston, Cleveland, and Detroit remain in the picture. Even if the Knicks wholly recapture their magic, facing stiffer competition makes repeating much harder. 

But perhaps the biggest year over year difference is the black cloud that’s hung overhead the past few weeks -- extension talks. Towns, Josh Hart, and Miles McBride can all test free agency relatively soon, with the front office shelving extension talks until later in the season.

Playing through uncertain long-term security can be a distraction, and if the Knicks re-engage on talks before the trade deadline unsuccessfully, it could open a much bigger can of worms. But all parties seem to want to come together on this, so there’s reason for optimism. 

Finally, how does Brown adjust to all of this? Fans shouldn’t expect him to stay content with last year’s playbook and approach, and to continue experimenting with options through this regular season.

He’s mentioned evolving the Towns hub package as well as working in additional pick-and-roll reps for Anunoby and Mikal Bridges. There’s sure to be additional twists on the winning formula as well. 

What to watch

The Knicks open up their repeat run against a slew of contenders, so the first month of the season will serve as an early test of the team’s preparedness. How they set the pace - hangover or hunger - will tell us a lot about the season to come.

It’ll be interesting to see how else Brown messes with his talent. One name that deserves added attention is Mohamed Diawara, who had an impressive though short-lived rookie season. 

He’s arguably the team’s most tantalizing prospect, and as a big wing helps address a couple needs. If he can keep up his 40 percent shooting clip from three and show a little more consistency in his dribble and defensive games, watch out. 

Then there’s James Wiseman, the former second overall pick that was brought into training camp and earned himself the third string center spot. That may not seem like a crucial position, but Towns' recurring foul trouble and the scarcity of reliable backups make him a pivotal piece.

Can he shake off his injury history to recapture some of his lottery upside? 

Bench ball handling is another point of emphasis, with Jordan Clarkson moving more into a wing role and McBride potentially on the chopping block. Jose Alvarado has been their go-to but can have rough stretches, leaving Tyler Kolek as the remaining option here.

Whether we see more opportunities for Kolek or a trade, getting Brunson adequate ball-handling help proved invaluable during last year’s playoffs and will be this year, too. 

Finally, the age old question for any contender. Now that everybody’s individual sacrifices paid off, will they continue to sacrifice, or will some guys now look to cash in on their own success, especially with extensions and aprons being a hot button issue? 

Prediction

The Knicks have some concerns on the margins, but this group is returning healthy and largely intact, giving them some of the best title hopes in the league. The Knicks repeat as champions, 4-2 in the NBA Finals over San Antonio. 

This upcoming regular season is the most exciting and anticipated one of this era of Sixers basketball and then some. Not only has Philadelphia loaded up their roster with aspirations of winning the conference and more, but over half the East has done the same.

The word bold would normally go before the word “predictions” in a piece like this. Between the reigning NBA champions, some of the biggest offseason moves in league history, and the potential for former powerhouses to return from injured form, this is one of the hardest seasons to predict. None of these feel like particularly bold predictions, but here are five Sixers things I’m expecting to happen this season.

Joel Embiid leads the Sixers in scoring again

Though I don’t expect him to qualify for any sort of scoring title. The big question for this team is how are they going to spread just the one basketball around such a talented starting five. How often that starting five actually plays together will go a long way in answering that question. At the risk of jinxing him, I do think Embiid will be on the court a lot this season barring something really going wrong (knock on every piece of wood you can see).

When Embiid is on the court, he’s the one starter I see the rest of the team bending their game to the most. Working out of the free throw line area, Embiid makes as much sense as any to operate as a hub from the free throw line area. He proved last season that when he’s going offensively, he’s still plenty dominant to command double teams as he tries to attack the basket.

Those double teams will be deadly with the full starting five on the court — there’s just not going to be anyone on the floor the defense feels comfortable leaving alone. If that premise is true, and Embiid is who the healthy starting five functions around, he will be the leading scorer on this team easily.

After wracking up multiple scoring titles, Embiid’s points per game obviously took a big hit in the 2024-25 season when he was only able to play 19 games. He spent a good part of the first half of last season ramping back up into shape and only got on the floor for 38 games, but he still nearly caught up to Tyrese Maxey in points per game despite Maxey’s torrid start to the season. Embiid finished last year at 26.9 points per game compared to Maxey’s 28.3. With all the messaging from the team, including Maxey himself that he’s going to be playing off the ball more this year, I predict the Sixers to have a new top scorer this season. Well, somewhat new.

Dominick Barlow is the best internal option at backup center

Speaking of messaging, I’m not loving what we’re hearing about Barlow out of training camp so far. He’s one of three Sixers who didn’t play in preseason this year with an injury. While Anfernee Simons and Adem Bona are back on the practice court, the Sixers have yet to provide a timeline on Barlow as he deals with some sort of back issue.

The sooner he’s able to get back on the floor the better, as the season-ending injury to Ariel Hukporti has put stress on the backup center position before the regular season has even started. Barlow didn’t play a ton of minutes at the five last season, only 10% of his minutes, according to Cleaning the Glass.

The biggest sample might have been their second round slaughter by the New York Knicks, where Barlow was thrown in there as a necessity with Embiid and Andre Drummond just unable to keep up with New York’s big men. Barlow acquitted himself fairly well in that time, helping provide some of the only competitive minutes of that series.

He doesn’t give you the option to stretch the floor like Jabari Walker is appearing to, he is not going to protect the rim with the springiness of Bona, but he does meet in the middle of those two in terms of rebounding prowess and athleticism. He’s generally been long enough and strong enough to defend centers bigger than him. There will be nights where the Sixers wish they have a bigger look or one with more rim protection, but Barlow is currently the best option to backup Embiid on any given night, and the Sixers should hope he’s able to get back on the floor sooner rather than later.

Tacko Fall plays real minutes

To that end, hopefully this Barlow injury isn’t serious. The backup center situation is such a conundrum because the Sixers can’t do much about it for quite some time. They can’t sign another free agent until mid December, and then they’ll only have a minimum contract to offer. They can make a trade, but those are difficult with how close the Sixers are to their first apron hard cap.

They’re going to have to get creative to eat innings Embiid is not available for, especially if their supposed backup option is already dealing with an injury. Walker and Bona can hopefully fill a lot of these minutes, but they, as well as Barlow, lack the true size for the biggest matchups in the league. While Fall may not be able to provide anything else, he certainly provides that.

It may become apparent quick that Fall, who hasn’t played in the NBA since 2022, was only on an Exhibit 10 contract that was converted this weekend, and missed most of training camp with a hip injury, isn’t a playable option at all. When the Sixers run into some big teams early, such as the Detroit Pistons on a back-to-back in the first week of the season, they may be pulling out all the stops at the center position.

The Sixers finish exactly as the four seed

This will definitely be the one you can yell at me for. While there will certainly be some growing pains as this group figures each other out, I’m not as concerned with this as others have expressed. Despite the backup center concerns, the roster is objectively improved over the group that won 46 games last year, and there’s enough infrastructure to improve on that.

The problem is the East is loaded and there could be some teams to rack up some wins. It’s been hard to predict the seeding of this conference because I do think the Sixers will win a lot of games — I also think there might be some regular season machines in the East. Of these four teams, I expect three to finish ahead of the Sixers in the standings: the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Pistons and Toronto Raptors.

The Raptors could very well have the best defense in the league. They are going to be annoying to play no matter how many times Kawhi Leonard is in the lineup. Detroit won the most games last season and while they had a weird offseason, there’s nothing to indicate they can’t come close to replicating that regular season success.

The Celtics have been lock for over 50 wins, and now they’re getting their best player back for what they hope is a full season of health. If there’s one team in this group that might fall behind the Sixers, it might be the reigning champions. The vibes in New York haven’t felt great as they’ve struggled to give contract extensions to some of their biggest pieces. It’s also a group that has coasted through stretches of the regular season in years past.

This season I predict the Sixers to have homecourt in the first round of the playoffs, but it will be a battle to get it, which would create a whole lot of discourse around my next prediction.

Four out of five Sixers’ starters make the All-Star game

This year’s Sixers will come just short of matching the 2015 Hawks. Embiid, Maxey, LeBron James and Jaylen Brown are all going to have really good years. VJ Edgecombe will too, he’ll make the kind of second year leap that will have everyone in the Delaware Valley thanking their lucky stars the ping pong balls fell the right way in 2025.

He’ll fall just short of making his first All-Star game in his second season for one reason: the Sixers won’t be high enough in the standings to justify their entire starting five making an All-Star game. For better or for worse, team record does come into account in close calls when it comes to All-Star voting. The entire starting five will make great cases this year, but voters will have a hard time putting them all in if there are a few teams ahead of the Sixers in the standings.

For the first time since the 2022-23 season, the Washington Wizards will be trying to win games. That’s not an innovative endeavor in professional sports, though it’s not one the franchise has successfully implemented for…well…decades.

The team made a series of moves during the 2025-26 season and in the offseason to boost the overall talent level. The big additions are Trae Young (who appeared in five games last season before getting parked), Anthony Davis (zero games last season), and AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

Those three are — at least theoretically — massive talent upgrades. I say “theoretically” because of the health histories of Young and Davis and the perfectly normal “how soon does he get it?” questions about any 19-year-old, even enormously gifted ones like Dybantsa.

They further improved their big man rotation by trading for Deandre Ayton.

The front office made sure they had strong veteran leaders by bringing back Khris Middleton and Anthony Gill. And they shuffled some names at the end of the bench with a trade to absorb the contract of Tre Mann and the selection of Felix Okpara in the second round.

The roster is…interesting. In Davis, Young, Ayton, and Middleton they have a group that might have formed the nucleus of a good team 3-5 years ago. In Dybantsa, Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Bilal Coulibaly, Tre Johnson, and Bub Carrington they have a group of youngsters who could form a good team 3-5 years in the future.

The new try to win strategy will increase scrutiny on Brian Keefe, who sports one of the worst winning percentages in league history. The team made some changes to the coaching staff, promoting Adam Caporn (well respected around the league, and also coach of the Australian national team) to lead assistant, Cody Toppert from his role coaching the Capital City Go-Go, adding Patrick Ewing as a big man coach, and former NBA head coach Steve Clifford as an advisor.

David Vanterpool, who’d been the lead assistant the past three seasons, moves into a front office job.

A Few Words on Minutes

This year’s forecast presented some unique challenges. Biggest of these was guesstimating minutes. For the holdover Wizards, past may not be prelude. More productive youngsters (Sarr, Coulibaly, George) likely missed games and saw reduced minutes because of the team’s commitment to losing — not because the various injuries and ailments would have kept them out of games if they’d been trying to win.

On the other hand, Carrington played more than 2,200 minutes (and all 82 games) in each of his first two seasons. Odds of him playing another 2,000+ minutes this season are minuscule.

Veterans like Young and Davis have missed time throughout the past few seasons due to injury, including huge chunks of last season. Both could have played more last season…if the Wizards had been trying to win. Both have fairly recent seasons with high minutes.

Davis played 2,700 regular season minutes in 2023-24. But he’s missed a lot of time since. Compounding the challenge is that he’s 33-years-old, which is when NBA players typically do two things: get injured and get worse. So, while I anticipate Davis will play more than he has the past couple seasons, I’d be surprised if he cracks 2,000 minutes. My guesstimate for him is 1,650.

Young, on the other hand, has been reasonably healthy. He played 2,739 minutes in 2024-25, and has appeared in less than 2,000 minutes just twice in his career. In one of them, he played 1,942 minutes. He surely would have played much more last year if wasn’t for The Tank. Bottom line: Young has been reasonably healthy throughout his career, and can probably be counted on to be available. I have him guesstimated at 2,375 this season.

2026-27 Player Forecasts

These forecasts use my Player Production Average (PPA) metric. PPA is an all-around rating tool that credits players for things they do that help a team win, and debits for things that don’t — each in proportion to how individual players contribute to NBA wins and losses. PPA is pace neutral and includes accounting for defense, role and the level of competition a player faces when he’s on the floor. In PPA, average is 100, higher is better, and replacement level is 45.

Below are results from four different forecast approaches: one using my Statistical Doppelgänger Machine (DOPP), another using a predicted PPA based on an age-adjusted career curve (dubbed MILK in honor of sports economist David Berri, who wore that NBA players, “…age like milk…”), a simple weighted three-year average PPA (SIMP) and another that applies an aging adjustment to that weighted three-year average (SAGE).

I estimated minutes by using a weighted average of each player’s minutes in recent seasons, as well as my best guess at each player’s role in the team’s rotation this season.

Key

• Last PPA = PPA last season
• DOPP = forecasted PPA using the Doppelgänger approach
• MILK = forecasted PPA using last season’s PPA and an age adjustment
• SIMP = forecasted PPA using a “simple” weighted three-year average PPA
• SAGE = forecasted PPA using a “simple” weighted three-year average and an age adjustment
• BLEND = forecasted PPA using an average of the four approaches above

The *** represents my best guess of which forecast is most probable for each individual.

Before getting into the forecasts, I’m dubious about the SIMP and SAGE approaches, at least for younger players. The SIMP approach (weighted three-year average) forecasts lower scores for young guys, who typically play their worst as rookies and then improve. The age adjustment in the SAGE method improves that estimate somewhat, but still has the same underlying issue.

My feeling based on having done these for a few years is that DOPP and MILK are probably going to be better for players in their first 3-4 seasons, and that SIMP and SAGE will be applicable to established veterans.

Trae Young

Sublime and inventive passer with a ton of skill and craft across his offensive game. Young’s penchant for jacking up long threes is something of a drain on his offensive efficiency, and his adventurous passing leads to a lot of turnovers. Still, he’s a dynamic offensive player, who has a history of generating a high number of trips to the free throw line.

He’s been one of the NBA’s worst defenders for eight seasons because he’s small, slender, and hasn’t played with much alertness or effort on that end. In Washington, he says he’s going to work harder, which seemed to be the case in preseason.

• Last PPA: 137
• DOPP: 131
• MILK: 134
• SIMP: 137
• SAGE: 134
• BLEND: 134***

Kyshawn George

Skillful and competitive player, who improved his shooting last season. He tries hard on defense, and he’s huge — at least 6-8 and getting stronger because of a borderline psycho offseason regimen.

The competitiveness has led to excessive fouling and turnovers, which have undermined his overall impact. He was named a starter at the beginning of trainging camp, and he had a great preseason.

Players most like George tended to improve at this point in their careers, though the improvement was somewhat modest. George seems primed for a major leap, however.

• Last PPA: 87
• DOPP: 88
• MILK: 100***
• SIMP: 68
• SAGE: 78
• BLEND: 84

AJ Dybantsa

The uber talented, hyper-athletic forward was Washington’s prize for sustained losing. He was the No. 1 overall selection in a historically good draft, and he has all the tools to be an elite scorer for the next dozen years.

The Wizards may have to wait to see him in regular season action — he turned an ankle in the final preseason game and is listed as day-to-day. (My guess: he plays. He’s 19-years-old and is probably already fully healed.)

For forecasting rookies, I use a system based on production over the past decade from players in a similar draft position.

• Forecasted Rookie PPA: 121

Anthony Davis

Davis has been a great player, especially on the defensive end in the postseason. His regular season defensive impact has been more hit or miss, which could be said of his shooting away from the basket (though more miss than hit). And he’s tended to get hurt a lot. And he’s aging. And he wants a massive contract extension.

My guess is he’ll miss time again, though not as much as previous seasons. I don’t think he’ll appear in enough games to qualify for awards. The hope is that he’s healthy enough for long enough that Sarr and the other youngsters can learn from his defensive communication.

Don’t be shocked if he’s elsewhere by the trade deadline.

• Last PPA: 157
• DOPP: 143
• MILK: 130
• SIMP: 169
• SAGE: 140
• BLEND: 146***

Alex Sarr

The No. 2 overall selection in the 2024 NBA Draft, Sarr is another of Washington’s tanking prizes. After one of the least efficient offensive seasons in NBA history as a rookie, Sarr improved significantly at that end. He showed off a much improved post game, better shooting from everywhere, and even some passing chops.

His strength seemed to be on defense, where he held his own switching onto perimeter players and was a busy and effective rim protector. The presence of Davis and Ayton should alleviate some of the burden he had to shoulder, which could result in a more efficient and effective player.

Still just 21-years-old, Sarr could develop into a truly great player over the next few seasons. The next two are when NBA players typically make their biggest leaps.

• Last PPA: 132
• DOPP: 140
• MILK: 191
• SIMP: 116
• SAGE: 168
• BLEND: 154***

Bilal Coulibaly

This is a make or break season for French wing. Coulibaly is long, quick, fast, and bouncy, which helps make him into an effective and disruptive defender.

His offensive game has been an adventure. Passive at times, over-aggressive at others. His three-point shooting has been deficient, though defenders have had trouble staying in front of him when he decides to drive.

He’s improved each season of his career and is at a crossroads — he’s a restricted free agent at the end of the season, unless he unexpectedly reaches an agreement on an extension.

• Last PPA: 101
• DOPP: 112***
• MILK: 131
• SIMP: 88
• SAGE: 114
• BLEND: 111

Deandre Ayton

Acquired to be a backup big and an insurance policy against Davis’ frequent outages, Ayton is also at a career crossroads. He’s talented and fairly productive, and his teams keep wanting to get rid of him.

In Washington, he’ll primarily come off the bench for the first time in his career (assuming Davis plays) but should get plenty of minutes. If he buys in and produces, he’ll likely command at least an MLE-level deal going forward. If not, he could be relegated to minimum salary deals.

• Last PPA: 144
• DOPP: 140
• MILK: 141
• SIMP: 137
• SAGE: 134
• BLEND: 138***

Bub Carrington

Carrington has yet to miss a game in his two NBA seasons. He’s competitive and shot above 40% on threes last season. He’s likely to play less this season, and probably wouldn’t have played so much on a better team.

The quality of his play didn’t tick up despite the better shooting. He’ll need to get better at both ends to maintain a spot in the rotation.

• Last PPA: 61
• DOPP: 77***
• MILK: 88
• SIMP: 60
• SAGE: 87
• BLEND: 78

Tre Johnson

Good-maybe-great shooter. The question on Johnson is whether he can show more dimension to his game — some playmaking, a few more rebounds, better defense. It wouldn’t hurt to get a lot stronger, which may take some time since he’s still just 20-years-old.

• Last PPA: 61
• DOPP: 74***
• MILK: 67
• SIMP: 61
• SAGE: 67
• BLEND: 67

Khris Middleton

Entering his age 35 season, Middleton figures to be at the end of the team’s rotation. He’s the team’s elder statesman, and he’s seen it all — winning a title with the Milwaukee Bucks, missing huge chunks of seasons with a series of injuries, battling back to be productive even as he’s aged.

Odds are, Middleton’s days as a productive player are in the rearview mirror. He still has a lot of veteran savvy to contribute, and there will probably a game or three or five where he comes through big time for the team.

• Last PPA: 67
• DOPP: 67
• MILK: 50
• SIMP: 90
• SAGE: 50
• BLEND: 64***

Justin Champagnie

Good player the past couple seasons, but he appears to be the odd man out of the rotation — at least to start the season. My guess is he’ll still get more than a thousand minutes this season, and that he’ll be pretty good again. I would not be surprised to see him end up elsewhere as part of a multi-player and draft pick trade.

• Last PPA: 105
• DOPP: 106***
• MILK: 108
• SIMP: 104
• SAGE: 107
• BLEND: 106

2026-27 Prediction

The good news: this year’s Washington Wizards will be more competitive this season. At least some of the youngsters will improve — perhaps significantly — and the team has some skilled veterans with histories of high-level performances.

The bad news: they’re still not ready to be good. The youngsters are still a few years from their primes. The oldsters are likely past their primes already. That’s a statement that includes Young and Ayton, who are both entering their age 28 season, by the way.

The years of tanking have given the Wizards two potential stars in Dybantsa and Sarr, though both are likely several seasons from achieving that status. George and Coulibaly seem like probable rotation-level players. Davis, Young, and Ayton will outproduce guys previously on the roster, even if they fall short of their previous heights.

The various forecasting approaches yield the following forecasted wins totals:

• DOPP: 32.2 (last season’s forecast 15.6)
• MILK: 34.3 (15.2)
• SIMP: 28.3 (14.8)
• SAGE: 31.8 (15.2)
• BLEND: 32.3 (15.8)

While the above feels kinda disappointing, even the worst of these would mark significant improvement for the Wizards. Last season, they managed just 18 wins.

If everyone reaches their best-case forecast, I guesstimate the team could reach 36 wins. In an all-peaks scenario, they could get to 41.

My prediction is a season of significant improvement. I anticipate the older players will be good, though well short of their previous peaks and that the youngsters will continue improving. I would not be surprised to see a veteran or two departing midseason as the front office tries to position the team to arrive in the postseason as a contender.

Final Prediction: 34-48 and 11th in the Eastern Conference.

Greetings, Knickerbocker fans. As the 81st NBA season draws near, the Posting and Toasting crew has assembled to answer questions and offer predictions as the defending champions pursue a repeat under sophomore skipper Mike Brown.

Commence the speculation!

1) Where will the Knicks finish in offensive and defensive rating, and what will drive the biggest change?

Antonio Losada: Let’s do something not-so-fun and revisit last year’s takes, carrying 53 years (well, not so many in my personal case) of suffering with them. I had the Knicks finishing with both a top-six offense and defense last season, and I nearly got it right, as they posted the third-best ORtg and seventh-best DRtg. Nothing other than losing Mitchell Robinson has changed, I don’t expect anything to deviate a lot from what we saw last postseason, and everybody — including Mike Brown — has been together for a full season, so I’ll ramp up my prediction for a top-three finish in both cats this campaign.

Michael Zeno: As Antonio said, the Knicks gave us a good baseline with third and seventh in offensive and defensive rating, respectively, so my answers will be pretty similar. I’m not sure if they can achieve Celtics-esque offensive harmony from behind the arc, but this offense will reach a new level with their new playmaking hub in the middle. On defense, I wonder if Andre Drummond will be a steep drop-off from Mitchell Robinson, but also if the strides Karl-Anthony Towns made in the postseason will carry over. Whaddya know, the man angling for a max extension is the X-factor for both. I’ll say third and ninth.

Moritz Wollert: If they really wanted to I could see them finishing top three in both categories. The people in Atlanta, Philly, Cleveland and down there in Texas surely remember how dominant this Knicks group can be, even if they lost Mitchell Robinson over the summer. For a veteran championship team like our Bockers (damn, it feels good to type that) though of course there are many things a lot more important than statistical milestones. So I could see them pacing themselves, trying out some things over the course of the year and finish comfortably 5th on O and 8th on the defensive end.

Kento Kato: The Knicks have the roster and ability to be a top three team on both ends of the floor, especially if they play the way they did in the postseason. While they did lose Mitchell Robinson, a full regular season of Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and Mikal Bridges playing they way did en route to a championship could see them absolutely dominate the regular season. That being said, I do think some early season regression and complacency is natural, even with this group of motivated and focused core. That, along with an improved conference and the fact that teams can’t possible continue putting their centers on Towns like they did at the beginning of last season makes me believe that they’ll be a top five offensive team and top ten defensive team, but not quite top five in both.

Russell Richardson: I hate this question and I wrote it. Prediction: Top 15 defense, top 10 offense . . . like ninth. The loss of Mitch’s gravity drops them defensively (see my A to Q6 below), and I expect Brown to limit the mileage on his best offensive players: they’ve already played a lot of basketball this year and this is an older team. Unless the plan is to burn through them this season and start rebuilding soon after, Mike’s gonna try to keep them fresh. Which would affect the win total (also see below).

2) Which Knick will take the biggest step forward, and who could have trouble matching last season?

Losada: The fact that everybody is familiar with the system, how Brown guides his pupils, and what everyone can and can’t do, I think we’re facing a very real possibility of watching these Knicks level up once again. If I have to pick someone taking a step forward, that’d be Mikal being confident from game one through 82 and beyond. Someone we might start to worry about sooner rather than later is Josh Hart, if only because of what he’s great at — never-tiring chaos causing — and his wheels getting so much run. Talking strictly about performance, I don’t see any clear candidate to regress, roles factored in.

Zeno: I also think a big season is coming for Mikal Bridges. If anyone can benefit from the weight being lifted off his shoulders after a title, it’s Mr. F— Them Picks. OG Anunoby is getting the early hype for All-Star consideration, but why can’t Mikal do it if he can finally blend his scoring and defense? As for regression, it’s either Jose Alvarado or Landry Shamet, just because the two were so incredible last year. I’ll lean Shamet, not because I don’t think he’s a great bench piece for this team, but because he set some lofty expectations in the playoffs.

Wollert: I agree with Michael that Shamet could have trouble matching last season since it’s hard to be a bench superstar for multiple years. My ultimate vote goes to KAT though with his contract situation lurking in the background and the reality that it is hard to keep your focus for an entire season. He gave the Knicks so much mentally in the playoffs and I have a tough time seeing that commitment in January against the Sacramentos of the world. On the other end of the spectrum I really hope Mo Diawara keeps his trajectory going upwards. So many of the other players were so close to their optimum at the end of last year that I could see him being the one guy who can really give more with a more defined role.

Kato: I’m tempted to go with Diawara just because he has arguably the most room to grow of any of the rotation players. And even though I think he’ll be fine, he has had a relatively inconsistent series of exhibition games between Summer League and preseason. I also think Bridges is a fun answer given the confidence boost and the lack of worry he may be playing with. As is Towns, who is coming off of a triumphant postseason run that proved just how impactful he could be on both sides of the ball. That being said, I think Bridges is still going to more or less be the same player in the regular season. And I do think it will be difficult for Towns to be the postseason version of himself for the entirety of the regular season. My vote goes to Anunoby, who we’ve seen be pretty aggressive in preseason. If he can up his free throw rate like he started off preseason doing, and continues to get on-ball initiation reps, I can see him making his first All-Star appearance.

Richardson: OG will have a few more thirty point games this season, so maybe that qualifies for a leap? And Cap will have a hard time. His skills and discipline remain unchanged, but living up to expectations after a championship is a major weight. No NBA player has a bigger target on his back. And I pray every night for his ankles.

3) Which reserve will matter most to the title defense? Who needs a bigger role before the playoffs?

Losada: So much has been made of the third-string center, but right now I’d care the same about having James Wiseman or placing a broomstick on the bench. It’s a clear-cut name here for me, and that’s Deuce McBride. Yes, the Knicks won it all with a poor postseason run from McBride, but I don’t think that can repeat itself, and hey, the better he plays, the better package the Knicks will do in return for him at the deadline, also boosting their title-defense chances! No bigger roles for nobody, status quo on the rotation.

Zeno: Yep, Deuce. I do not care how rough he looked for much of the playoff run. He barely got his conditioning back from a multi-month core injury before ramping up to high-stakes playoff games. He’s a guy who needs to prove he’s worth the $15 million a year that a player of his archetype deserves, and while I’m very skeptical he will be a Knick beyond this year, he is the player who can most expand this team’s ceiling.

Wollert: It clearly is Jordan Clarkson with his voodoo like abilities that healed OG and kept almost the entire team healthy throughout the postseason. No matching that for any opponent. On a serious note I really hope Andre Drummond can give the Knicks a little something of what Mitch gave them off the bench for years. Not only the rebounding but a physical, gigantic presence with elbows, bumps and bruises for the opponent. If he can’t provide it there probably isn’t anyone else who can.

Kato: The backup center position is noteworthy. But one, Robinson wasn’t necessarily a force to be reckoned with in the Finals, and two, the backup center in the postseason may not even be on the roster right now. I still agree with the others and lean McBride. I know the Knicks won it all despite a poor offensive showing from him last Finals, but he’s still so valuable and has the ability to raise the ceiling of the guys he shares the floor with and ultimately, the team, unlike any other reserve.

Richardson: Landry Shamet will get votes for sixth man of the year. But I believe the most important bench player is not yet on the team. (Dun dun dunnnnnhhh)

4) Which Eastern Conference opponent poses the biggest threat, and what about that matchup worries you?

Losada: I will never not fear the Celtics the same I will never trust the Sixers to keep the puzzle together for more than short stretches of games, let alone a playoff series. Perhaps watching Toronto in the last preseason game and how tight things were, the Raps have something big in store for these Knicks when the postseason comes. KAT ate the Raptors alive on Thursday, but not the only one that matters in Scottie Barnes, so we’ll see how that goes when the bright lights are on.

Zeno: If the Sixers somehow find the magic elixir that keeps LeBron youthful and gives Embiid some fresh knee cartilage, it’s them, but they’ll be starting Adem Bona by playoff time most likely. If Kawhi stays healthy (not as much of a guarantee as some seem to believe), the Raptors could move the needle. Maybe if the Celtics’ shooting gets hot in the playoffs, or Miami gets enough from Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. You know what? It’s the Pacers. It’s a WWE-esque storyline that’s setting up here if these two meet for a third time in four years. The only team in the last three years to beat the Knicks in a playoff series will have that confidence every time they play them this season.

Wollert: Pacers are a good pick, even if they look vastly different this time around. Philly only worries me because the world is unfair and could have us losing to that group of not exactly likable fellas. From a pure matchup standpoint there isn’t one team in the East that the Knicks can’t handle, they all have major weaknesses and question marks. New York has them aswell obviously but certainly with this group have provided a lot more answers than anybody else.

Kato: The scary and the fun part about the eastern conference this season is that you can argue that eight, maybe nine, teams will consider anything short of a conference finals appearance a failure. But for, the only one I that I think has not just the talent, but the matchup, to beat the Knicks four our of seven times is the Pacers. Maybe it’s just because of recency bias that I feel that way. But I can’t fully trust the 76ers’ ability to stay healthy, defend, or get collective buy in to sacrifice. The Raptors are scary defensively, but do they have enough offensively? The Heat are likely a year or a couple pieces away. The Pistons are still flawed for postseason basketball in my eyes. And the Cavaliers, well, they just aren’t beating the Knicks in a playoff series anytime soon for a myriad of reasons.

Richardson: Everybody’s sleeping on Charlotte, huh? Make mine teal!

5) What is your boldest Knicks prediction for 2026–27? Give us something we can hold against you in April.

Losada: Knowing Leon Rose and writing this against the backdrop of the Dolan-second apron summer, I’m going to go bold and say Rose completes a trade we don’t ever see coming. And no, I’m not talking about the likes of Dadiet, Diawara, or Kolek. Not talking about landing a first-round pick. I’m talking about a foundation-shaking deal, involving one or multiple of KAT, OG, Hart, and Bridges.

Zeno: Josh Hart finishes the season coming off the bench. This starting lineup has been together for two years under two different coaches, has played thousands and thousands of minutes together, and has found a groove in the playoffs. That said, there are limitations, and an injury to Hart (or some complications with his gnarly finger) could push him to the bench for Shamet or McBride.

Wollert: James Wiseman will become an important rotation piece and is a major contributor come playoff time. Opponents will fear him on the offensive glass and have no answers for him as a lob threat – atleast not with their second units. Yes, that preseason kool-aid is still tasting like magic. If it ever wears off in the next few days I’d join Antonio in the “KAT might get traded” camp. Not because they don’t value him but because they don’t want to lose him for nothing down the road. His value is at an all time high too.

Kato: I know the Knicks recently announced that they wouldn’t be negotiating extensions until later in the season. The uneasiness of hearing that have lead many fans to take that as the team saying they won’t be negotiating at all this season. My prediction is that a Towns negotiation happens at some point this season. As I’ve done in the past in pregame and preseason predictions, this is another instance of me trying to speak something into existence. But I do think that the two sides will budge a bit and realize that they not like like each other, but are good for each other, and get some sort of deal done.

Richardson: The NBA goes on strike, not to fight for more equitable treatment of mid-tier employees, but to screw the Knicks out of their repeat bid.

6) What will the Knicks’ final record and playoff seed be, and how will their season end? Would anything short of a repeat feel disappointing?

Losada: I stopped taking John Hollinger seriously or reading his content a few years ago, but I tend to agree with his prediction for the Eastern Conference’s regular season. I see as many as six teams ending within two or three games’ distance, and perhaps none of them winning even 50 games. The Cavaliers or the Pistons will win the 82-game circuit because that’s all they win, if anything, and the Knicks will likely take it easy and finish in the 4-6 seed. Give me a 49-33 record for New York and a first-round matchup against the Raptors or the Celtics. Regarding the back-to-back title: I’m set for life with last year’s chip. That’s it for me.

Zeno: No idea. The East is stacked; this team is built for the playoffs, and they don’t seem to be as gung-ho in the regular season. I have a hard time believing this team will regress that much from their pre-KAT hub days as a 53-win team, but what if someone gets hurt? All bets are off. I’ll stake my claim on 51-31, a No. 3 seed, and a trip to the NBA Finals, where the grown-up Spurs get revenge. I will not be mad if this team doesn’t repeat, especially when I spent much of my life thinking they’d never win one, but if they lose to someone like Indiana or Philly or even Boston? I’ll be annoyed.

Wollert: Top seed in the East, baby, 55 wins and not looking in the rearview mirror. I’ve never been as pleased and happy going into a season, just cool, calm and collected. In due time that will wear off, plenty of things will go wrong and the all out pessimist in me will kick the little angel off my shoulder. But before it’s pitchfork time I believe that these Knicks can do no wrong, will get back to the Finals and beat the Spurs for the repeat. If they fall short I definitely will be dissapointed but will surely get over it quicker than in the past. I should, right? Maybe? No, it will still be awful.

Kato: The east is back to being a beast. The team is one year older and coming off of a championship. And they lost Robinson. I do think a lot of that will be offset with the fact that they unlocked a level of basketball perfection that the team had never previously sniffed. But it’s hard to keep that up for all 82 games, especially when finishing first in the regular season does not mean much for them. They’ve proven they relish playing on the road, and I can see them coming out the gates a bit slow, and taking the regular season slightly lightly. They’ll still be great, but I expect them to win 51 games and finish as a third or fourth seed after the 76ers, Celtics, and maybe the Pistons.

Richardson: Under 50 wins, sixth seed. A winner hasn’t repeated in seven or eight years, and this team won’t break the streak. NY was blessed with health last season. Making Towns an offensive hub in the playoffs added a complexity that opposing teams had no time to prepare for. Mitch was more important in five minute stints than we fully understand. And by confronting the team about their petty dislikes, Brown got everyone pulling in the same direction for the playoffs. Staying healthy is hard, especially with a so-so second unit forcing the starters to play longer; rival teams have added players to counteract NY’s offense; Drummond is good, but will not alter opposing strategies the same way Mitch does; and winning has a way of distorting egos. I could see an ECF. I can’t see the Finals again. And based on my optical prescription, it’s clear I can barely see at all.

Knicks in five.

Five years ago, the Stephen Curry led Golden State Warriors won a fourth title together over the Boston Celtics. Steve Kerr, Draymond Green, and Curry are all still in place, and yet these Warriors are perhaps as far off as they’ve ever been from their championship winning days. Father time is undefeated, and often times the end of an era can be a bit unceremonious. The Warriors are a dying dynasty at best, or in reality, a dynasty that’d been dead for a few seasons now. As they look to what’s next, can they give the Curry era an ending that it deserves?

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Golden State Warriors: Over/Under 36.5 regular season wins (-110/-115)

To win Pacific Division: +430

To win Western Conference: 35/1

To win NBA Finals: 75/1

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Last season: 37-45, lost in second play in game

Key additions: Yaxel Lendeborg (12th pick in Draft), Brandon Williams (Dallas)

Key losses: Jonathan Kuminga (Minnesota), Quentin Post (Memphis), Pat Spencer (Phoenix)

The Warriors have pretty clearly reached the place that no NBA franchise wants to be. They are stuck in the middle, with a clear ceiling and a floor that make you wonder exactly what the plan is here. Jimmy Butler is still working his way back from a knee injury he suffered last year, and Steph, Draymond and Al Horford aren’t getting younger. Beyond that, Kristaps Porzingis still has a mystery illness, apparently. 

When you look at the roster to try and find the next generation of guys who will try and get the Warriors back to making deep runs in the playoff, they’re banking on Yaxel Lendeborg being that guy. Of course, Lendeborg won a national title at Michigan with Dusty May, Morez Johnson Jr. and the rest of their group, so he knows how to be a part of winning basketball. I just wonder what the long term path is here. I get giving Curry all the tools he deserves to give it an earnest shot, but there is very little in the way of future assets to build around. In the immediate, the Warriors figure to be around the same as they were last year. But in the long term, there’s many reasons to be concerned about the long term viability of this franchise.

Prediction: unenthusiastically over 36.5 wins

Last year’s Toronto Raptors were one of the most fun teams in the league, a whirling dervish on defence that could be absolutely devastating in transition. But, the team’s lack of shooting hamstrung its halfcourt offence, forcing athletic slashers like Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett to operate in a phone booth, leading to some close losses at the end of fourth-quarter slogs. While swapping Brandon Ingram for Kawhi Leonard will undoubtedly give the offence a boost, the question remains: have the Raptors done enough to address their shooting deficiency?

Outside shooting is a force multiplier in today’s NBA. Not only can a hot shooter flip a scoreline in an instant, but the threat of a marksman with a quick trigger pulls defenders away from the paint, giving his teammates more room to attack the paint, especially important for teams like Toronto who are built around a young star who lives at the rim.

Leonard, the headline-grabbing new addition, knocked down 38.7% of his outside shots last year and was above 41% the three seasons before that. He’s an excellent three-point shooter, but he really makes his money in the midrange, where he’s one of the game’s premier iso scorers. In some ways, he’s a more physically strong and deadlier version of Brandon Ingram. His shooting skill will be a boon and he shot more threes (6.8 per game) than ever last season, but, for the Raptors, whether or not his teammates can space the floor for him is just as vital as whether or not he can space the floor for others, since he’ll have plenty of the ball at the end of the shot clock.

If we assume that the Raptors’ last preseason starting lineup (Leonard, Barrett, Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, and Jakob Poeltl) will be their regular season starting unit, only two of those players (Leonard and Quickley) shot above league average from three last year. Barrett has had a 40% season in his past, but has only shot 36% or better one other time in his seven seasons in the league and, like Leonard, he doesn’t toss them up at particularly high volume. Barnes is a career 30.1% shooter from beyond the arc and will be treated as a non-shooter in the playoffs, and Poeltl’s range barely extends beyond the basket. Quickley has a fast release and is unafraid to pull up from well beyond the arc, but he’s more streaky than automatic. He’ll probably need to up his three-point volume even more (he was at 6.8 attempts per game last year, the same as Kawhi) to really move the needle for a team that was just 26th in three-point attempts and 21st in percentage last season.

In fact, of the top eight Raptors in minutes per game last season, only Ingram (gone, but accounted for by Kawhi’s arrival), Quickley, and Sandro Mamukelashvili (also gone) shot better than league average from deep and only one other regular (Ja’Kobe Walter, at a sizzling 40.9% on 3.7 attempts per game) did so. Even if the Raptors opt to finish games with Collin Murray-Boyles at centre instead of Poeltl, CMB is still an unproven shooter who hit 34% last year on less than one try per night. Even a super small-ball lineup with Barnes at the five might not have particularly great spacing, unless Walter has a breakout season or Barrett finds consistency from deep. Jamison Battle can really shoot, but it’s not clear he’ll have a big enough role to make a significant impact and their best defensive guard, Jamal Shead, has only made 32.2% of his threes in the NBA.

This year’s Raptors team will still be plenty dangerous and they’ll be an absolutely miserable team to have to play against, whether in the regular season or the playoffs, but it may take another roster move, or a breakout shooting performance from CMB, Walter, or Shead, for them to have enough offence juice to take down the league’s elites in a playoff series.

In late September, the NBA announced its points of emphasis and areas of focus for officiating, which included videos with narrated examples of the league’s new “points of education.” A week later, NBA.com’s Jeff Zillgitt broke them down in prose. So, with NBA Opening Day on October 20—and the Bucks’ season officially starting on October 21—it’s time fans hit the books. Of course, that’s arduous. So here, condensed for your convenience, are the “Cliff Notes.”

Offensive off arm

The point of emphasis: The league is cracking down on offensive players using their off arm to push off and create space.

Why you should care: Defenders might finally be able to, you know, have some semblance of a chance to defend again. And with Taylor Jenkins prioritising a return to defensive aptitude—and Bucks fans wanting a return to the dawg days—this could work in their favour. Then again, as Zillgitt wrote, “There is some leeway, a fine line in which the player can use his off arm against the defender as the player with the ball uses his off arm to firm up or feel for the defender.”

Need more? Check out the NBA’s official video:

Two-handed screens

The point of emphasis: Screeners better do so legally—and that means without two hands.

Why you should care: Jericho Sims committed 28 offensive fouls last year, tied with Victor Wembanyama for the 10th most in the entire league. But Sims isn’t called for the same type of offensive fouls that Giannis was—he’s not barreling through opponents on his way to the cup. No, Sims’ come mostly from illegal screens. Don’t believe me? Just ask the Gyro Step podcast’s Rohan Katti:

F it Jericho Sims illegal screens from last season https://t.co/KdYgh3Gwve

— Rohan Katti (@RKattiJr) August 28, 2026

Get your nose in the books and your reps in the lab, Jumpman!

Flopping

The point of emphasis: Players called for flopping will receive a non-unsportsmanlike technical foul and the opposing team will be awarded a free throw. But for such a foul to actually be called, it has to meet the STEM criteria:

• Secondary
• Theatrical
• Exaggerated
• Movement

Head snaps do not. They are embellishments, drawing attention to something that is illegal, so they are permissible.

Why you should care: Call me defeatist, but you probably shouldn’t. How can a referee possibly process a call that has its own set of four criteria in an instant? This will likely go the way of past points of emphasis—called several times early in the season only to be forgotten by December.

Reckless closeouts

The point of emphasis: Don’t be reckless when closing out. Simples.

Why you should care: If the Bucks’ preseason is anything to go by, they’ll be hoisting up a lot of long-range bombs this season. With that, they’ll face an increased number of closeouts. And with that, they’ll (potentially) face an increased number of reckless closeouts. Notably, “the shooter can fall to the floor in a sitting motion if he feels he’s protecting himself on a closeout.” Moreover, doing so “is not considered a flop.” So, pull up a pew, fellas. Stay safe!

Want more on these? Check out the NBA’s official video:

Wasting time before free throws

The point of emphasis: This one’s on the defensive team. They—players and coaches—need to stop time-wasting once a foul is called. Either challenge the call or don’t. Any filibustering will result in a delay of game violation.

Why you should care: For all the joy that NBA games bring, at times they drag on so much that it’s as if you’re back in the year 2000 listening to The Opposite of H20. This point of emphasis, then, might give you a few of those oh-so-precious minutes back. Paired with the absence of Giannis’ free throw routine, you might even find yourself looking for things to do!

And, just in case you truly are a sicko and want the tape, here it is:

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What do you think, Brew Hoopers? Has the NBA got its points of emphasis right? And if you were in charge, what rules would you like to see emphasised?

It might be harder to predict the NBA right now than it has been at any point in league history. The last eight years have produced eight different champions, and no team has even made back-to-back NBA Finals appearances over that time. The second-apron is breaking up contenders early, and an added emphasis on pace-and-space is leading more injuries that make it so much harder to sustain success year-over-over.

The NBA season rarely plays out how we think it’s going to. The New York Knicks weren’t exactly a popular preseason pick to win it all last year, and absolutely no one saw the San Antonio Spurs morphing from a 44-win team to the Western Conference champions. The Indiana Pacers made a darkhorse NBA Finals run in 2025, the Dallas Mavericks did the same in 2024, and Miami Heat got all the way there as an 8-seed in 2023. You might think we can already fast-forward to a Thunder-Spurs rematch in the Western Conference Finals this year, but there tends to be a lot more chaos in this era of the league than ever before.

With the 2026-27 season here, let’s make our picks for the 2027 NBA Finals and every major award. For more NBA preview coverage, check my list of breakout player candidates, preseason standouts, and preseason rookie rankings.

The Raptors win the Eastern Conference

I think it’s fair to frame the East as the Knicks vs. the field. I respect the Knicks, but I’d still take the field in that equation, just because it’s so hard to put together consecutive Finals runs in this era. I was choosing between the Raptors and Celtics for my East pick, and I’m going with Toronto for a few reasons. You usually need a top-5 player to make a Finals run, and Kawhi Leonard looked like that type of player last year. I’m well aware of his constant injury issues late in the season, but hey, Toronto did a good job pacing his body last time he was there in 2019, and I think they can do it again. Scottie Barnes is going to have a monster year as Leonard’s sidekick, and when the two share the floor with sophomore Collin Murray-Boyles, it’s going to be impossible to score on Toronto. Ja’Kobe Walter and Jamal Shead are very good role players for this team, and I think Allen Graves can be a contributor off the bench as a rookie, too. Toronto games won’t be pretty, but Kawhi gives them the halfcourt scoring they lacked a year ago, and the rest of the squad should be ready to win a rock fight every night out.

The Spurs win the Western Conference

The Spurs won 62 games and were the only team in the league to place in the top-3 of both offensive and defensive efficiency last year. The scary thing is I think they will be even better this year. Obviously, it all starts with Victor Wembanyama, who is in the rare position of already being the best player in the world while still having so much room left to improve. Wemby’s defense is multiple levels above any other player on the planet, and I expect we’ll see a more well-rounded offensive game from him this year. Dylan Harper’s sophomore leap is coming, and he’s going to be one of the best guards in the Western Conference before you know it. I’m fascinated to see how San Antonio handles the dynamic between Harper and De’Aaron Fox, but Fox should be better than he was in last year’s playoffs on a bum ankle, and his bloated salary is a problem for another day. Even if I’m not the biggest Stephen Castle guy (cut down the turnovers, man!), San Antonio still has some other great role players, led by Julian Champagnie and Devin Vassell. I think Tobias Harris’ scoring can help out in the halfcourt in a pinch, and I liked their draft haul, too. If any team can sustain consecutive title runs in this era, it’s the Spurs.

NBA Finals 2027 prediction: Spurs over Raptors in 6

Kawhi vs. the Spurs for a championship would be absolute cinema. Get me an alternate feed with Uncle Dennis’ color commentary! Toronto’s defense will be nasty, but Wemby is a problem without a solution. I have Wemby getting his first chip at 23 years old.

NBA MVP 2027 pick: Victor Wembanyama

Boring answer, I know. Luka Doncic was my backup choice. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in 2025 is the only NBA MVP to win the championship in the last decade, so it won’t be easy, but it feels like Wemby is destined to pull off a few of these double-dips in his career. Might as well start now.

NBA Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama

It’s a lock if he plays 65 games. If he doesn’t, I’d go with OKC’s Chet Holmgren, who is fantastic when he plays anyone but Wembanyama.

NBA Rookie of the Year 2027 pick: Cameron Boozer, F, Memphis Grizzlies

It’s a straight up crime that Boozer wasn’t the No. 1 overall pick, because he was very clearly the best prospect in the draft. Boozer is literally the youngest player in the NBA this season with a July 2007 birthday, but I fully expect him to be Memphis’ best player from the jump. Pick a play type, any play type, and Boozer is already excellent at it. He can body people in the pick-and-roll as the handler or screener, he can nail three-pointers off the dribble or the catch, he can drive, he can clean the offensive glass for putbacks, he can crush the offensive glass like a traditional big man, and he’s an expert decision-maker with the ball in his hands. No rookie has made All-NBA since Tim Duncan in 1998, but I think Boozer can challenge for a spot this year.

NBA Coach of the Year prediction: Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics

The Celtics are my pick to earn the No. 1 seed in the East this year, and if Mazzulla pulls that off after the Jaylen Brown trade, he’s going to get hailed as a genius. Mazzulla optimizes every possession for success in a way no other coach can match. His teams have a clear identity of launching threes, hitting the offensive glass with aggression (hello, Mitchell Robinson), and challenging every shot at the rim. It brings me no joy to predict greatness for the Celtics, but I really think it’s going to happen this season.

NBA Sixth Man of the Year pick: Ajay Mitchell, G, Oklahoma City Thunder

Mitchell was one of last season’s breakout players, but it felt like he never got the recognition he deserved because injuries limited him to 57 games (taking away award consideration) and put him on the sidelines for OKC’s most important playoff games. The former UC Santa Barbara product can provide everything teams want from a secondary ball handler with airtight driving ability, improved outside shooting, and a knack for finding teammates without turning the ball over. SGA can’t do everything for the Thunder, and Mitchell will be there to pick to the scraps as the Thunder put together another dominant season.

NBA Most Improved Player 2027 pick: Scoot Henderson, G, Portland Trail Blazers

Henderson looks fantastic in preseason for the Blazers team that is no longer counting on him to be a savior with Damian Lillard and Ja Morant entrenched in the starting backcourt. I think it’s only a matter of time before Scoot breaks up that pairing, because his feisty on-ball defense, improved three-point stroke, and extra gear going to the basket makes him the most well-rounded guard in Portland’s backcourt. He’s slated to be a restricted free agent after this season, and he should have plenty of suitors if he finally starts living up to his former draft hype in his fourth season.

NBA Clutch Player of the Year 2027 pick: Jalen Brunson, G, New York Knicks

The NBA will be bending over backwards to give him this award if he hits a few clutch shots this year as a make-up call from last season. Brunson is the most terrifying clutch demon in the league, the Knicks are going to be awesome again, and he should win this award going away.

All-NBA Team 2027 picks and predictions

First-Team:

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder
• Luka Doncic, Lakers
• Giannis Antetokounmpo, Heat
• Nikola Jokic, Nuggets
• Victor Wembanyama, Spurs

Second-Team:

• Jalen Brunson, Knicks
• Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves
• Jayson Tatum, Celtics
• Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers
• Donovan Mitchell, Cavs

Third-Team:

• Scottie Barnes, Raptors
• LaMelo Ball, Timberwolves
• Cade Cunningham, Pistons
• Alperen Sengun, Rockets
• Franz Wagner, Magic

NBA regular season conference predictions

• Eastern Conference predictions
• Western Conference predictions
• Over-under win total picks

Leave your NBA predictions below

It’s going to be a great season.

Sorry.

It’s the start of the NBA season this week, meaning Phoenix Suns basketball is back. But the most talked-about topic in Suns basketball right now is the comments from someone who’s not on the team anymore, Kevin Durant, who had a back-and-forth with team owner Mat Ishbia on the framing of the former Finals MVP’s tenure with the team.

So despite the fact that Suns basketball is returning in two days, we’re gonna start with the back and forth between the team’s owner and the Houston Rockets superstar for questions we want your answers on.

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If not Kevin Durant, what should the Suns have done to improve the roster?

It’s February of 2023.

Mat Ishbia buys the team, and the team still has their draft picks, Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, and Cam Johnson. INSTEAD of trading for Kevin Durant, which Ishbia has deemed a mistake since the decision, what should the team have done with the assets at their disposal to improve the roster as the Suns were struggling and coming off a disappointing playoff performance that saw them embarrassed on their home court in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks?

You be the GM.

The opening night starting center will be?

Both Khaman Maluach and Oso Ighodaro started at least two of the team’s five games this preseason, with Maluach starting at center in the final three games, with the last one being alongside the team’s four other presumed starters, Jalen Green, Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, and Miles Bridges.

While Ighodaro didn’t play in the team’s final two games, he should be ready for the start of the season, so let’s not factor in health. If you’re the coaching staff making the decision between the two, who are you picking and why?

What are your Suns predictions for the season?

The start of the regular season calls for prediction time, and in a Western Conference that’s lost LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, and Anthony Davis since the start of last season, there’s been a lot of turnaround over the past 12 months when the Suns began the 2025-26 campaign. Last year, the Suns surprised many when they won 45 games and made the playoffs after losing Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal in the previous offseason. This year, they’re not gonna take as many by storm, as reflected by their win total projections by the sportsbooks and prediction markets.

What are your predictions for the 2026-2027 Suns season?

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On the Suns’ Plate This Week

The regular season is here!

Phoenix has two games this week. On Wednesday at 7 pm AZ time, they’ll play the new-look Portland Trailblazers for their first game of the season. Then on Saturday at 7 pm AZ time, the Suns will host the Golden State Warriors in their regular-season home opener in a rematch of the 8/9 play-in game from a season ago.

We are back!

Back in 2022, the San Antonio Spurs drafted three players in the first round — Jeremy Sochan (9th), Malaki Branham (20th), and Blake Wesley (25th). The pick that brought Branham was acquired from the Toronto Raptors and the Wesley pick from the Boston Celtics.

All three joined the Silver & Black and began developing. Sochan in particular was shuffled through various roles as the team developed, but never locked into a position. As the Spurs continued to grow, Branham and Wesley found themselves with diminishing roles as the team built around Victor Wembanyama. The emergence of Stephon Castle and a monster trade for De’Aaron Fox left the 2022 drafted duo in the dark.

On July 9, 2025, Branham and Blake Wesley were traded to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Kelly Olynyk. Last February, the Spurs waived Sochan. He went to the Knicks and picked up an NBA championship.

The NBA season starts Tuesday. On October 17, all three of the Spurs 2022 draft picks were waived by their respective teams.

Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham oraz Blake Wesley.

Panów łączą dwie kwestie. Każdy został wydraftowany przez Spurs w 2022 oraz zwolniony z NBA w przeciągu ostatnich 24H.

Nie tak to miało wyglądać :((( pic.twitter.com/3D2PzULQPn

— trapownia (@TrapowniaOG) October 17, 2026

After picking up his championship ring, Sochan signed with the Portland Trail Blazers but was waived after four preseason games. Branham, who’d been with the Washington Wizards since being traded in 2025, he signed with the Orlando Magic in September. Wesley, who landed in Portland after initially being traded to the Wizards, signed with the Los Angeles Clippers on a one-year contract.

All three were waived within 24-hours of one another on Saturday.

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Welcome to the Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.

Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, not to troll and to watch the language.

He is unwavering in his belief that the newly constructed Lakers can compete for an NBA championship this season and that is the conviction coach JJ Redick has instilled into his group.

It is why the Lakers play the game, Redick mused, and it is the standard this organization has set.

The Lakers have won 17 NBA championships — the second most in the league — with the last coming in 2020.

So, as the Lakers prepared to open the regular season Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena, Redick explained why he believes these Lakers are championship contenders.

“Well, I think that every season,” he said. “Unless somebody blatantly tells me that we’re not trying to win, I think that every year. That’s why I say I’m confident. I said the same thing last year and for all of January and February that we were going to figure it out at some point and we did. And then we had some injuries. So, being a championship-level team or being a — I don’t like the word ‘contender’ — but being a team that can make a run and can play in the playoffs and can play different ways in the playoffs, those things take time and it doesn’t mean you’re going to be in the NBA Finals.

“It’s just not the way this works, particularly with the way the playoffs work in terms of just matchups and what you can exploit and what you can’t exploit versus certain teams. But I think because of our talent, because of our fit, because of our depth, I really like our team.”

Read more:What we learned from the Lakers' preseason games and training camp

Luka Doncic said his first glimpse of what the Lakers could become was when he invited his teammates to his home country of Slovenia for a bonding experience.

As the unquestioned leader of the Lakers now that LeBron James has departed to Philadelphia, Doncic organized the trip. It was basketball, golfing and rowing. It was dinners and get-to-know-you conversations.

It was over these four or five days in August that Doncic also saw a Lakers team with championship potential.

“Since the first day. That simple,” Doncic said. “Since the first day everybody came together in Slovenia, I believed that we can win a championship.”

Yet this is a team with nine new players and Redick is trying to incorporate them on a Lakers team that is playing in the uber-tough Western Conference that most experts believe the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder are the creme de la creme of the NBA.

The Lakers acquired Walker Kessler, a 7-foot-2 center they received from Utah in a sign-and-trade deal in which he was paid $130 million over four years and in which L.A. sent two unprotected first-round picks and two first-round swaps to the Jazz.

The Lakers added depth in Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Kevon Looney.

They join Doncic, Austin Reaves, Jake LaRavia, Adou Thiero and others to form the 2026-27 Lakers.

“I think in terms of integrating all the new guys that have been available, which I think is everybody except for Collin in live play, it’s been pretty seamless,” Redick said. “It’s a smart group. … We’ve been able to probably install more, particularly on the defensive end, than we have in the last couple years.

“Last year we had six total practices in the preseason because of the amount of games and the back-to-backs and the travel and all that. And we played opening night, so that’s another day that we didn’t get to practice. So I think we end up with 12 [practices] this year. We get double the amount of practice time, so I think that’s a blessing when you have new guys.”

The starting five is still unclear.

Doncic, Reaves and Kessler are the sure things, but the other two spots are not certain. Those three started alongside Williams and Thybulle in the final preseason game against the Denver Nuggets on Friday night. Grimes started the first four preseason games.

“I think we have a lot of guys that could start,” Reaves said. “Unfortunately there’s five guys that are gonna start. Like JJ said a while back, he’s pretty sure of three of them. The other two, regardless of who we roll out there, we have high confidence in.”

Reaves is the longest-tenured Laker entering his sixth season and he knows the high expectations that come with playing for the iconic franchise.

Last season, he had James to lean on, Marcus Smart was steady and Rui Hachimura was part of the fabric.

But they are all gone and now Reaves, who signed a four-year, $180-million contract extension, is one of the leaders.

“Yeah, I don’t know anything else,” Reaves said. “This is what I came to, but obviously it’s the Lakers, and it’s one of the most covered sports organizations in the world. So they’re gonna praise you when you’re doing good and not when you’re not.

“So you just gotta [know] whatever that goes on outside these walls doesn’t really matter. It’s just what goes on inside these walls. And if anybody has any questions, I’ll give them the best knowledge I have. But like I said, they’re high character guys that care about the right things. So, I think that’ll take care of itself.”

The Lakers were 53-29 last season, finishing fourth in the West and getting knocked out in the second round by the Thunder.

They have two more days of practice before the journey begins.

“I think you’re always trying to get better,” Redick said. “And even later in the season, you tweak plays, you tweak the offense and you tweak coverages. It’s just constantly evolving. There’s no like, ‘Oh, we’re done. Now we’re going to go play.’

“But we’re ready to go.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.