play1:30Are the Nuggets the biggest threat to Thunder this season?Marc Spears and Brian Windhorst break down the Nuggets vs. Clippers preseason game and how much of a threat both teams are to the Thunder.
play1:26When will LeBron return to the court?Shams Charania reports on the timetable for LeBron James to return for the Lakers.
play1:13Shams: Paul George expected to miss 76ers’ openerShams: Paul George expected to miss 76ers’ opener Shams Charania joins “NBA Today” to discuss Paul George’s timeline for returning to the 76ers.
play0:58What does Russell Westbrook signing mean for the Kings?Kendrick Perkins weighs in on Russell Westbrook signing with the Kings in what is a loaded Western Conference.
Perk: Celtics will make the playoffs (0:47)Kendrick Perkins joins “NBA Today” to break down what a successful season looks like for the Celtics. (0:47)
Are the Nuggets the biggest threat to Thunder this season?Marc Spears and Brian Windhorst break down the Nuggets vs. Clippers preseason game and how much of a threat both teams are to the Thunder.
Marc Spears and Brian Windhorst break down the Nuggets vs. Clippers preseason game and how much of a threat both teams are to the Thunder.
When will LeBron return to the court?Shams Charania reports on the timetable for LeBron James to return for the Lakers.
Shams: Paul George expected to miss 76ers’ openerShams: Paul George expected to miss 76ers’ opener Shams Charania joins “NBA Today” to discuss Paul George’s timeline for returning to the 76ers.
Shams: Paul George expected to miss 76ers’ opener Shams Charania joins “NBA Today” to discuss Paul George’s timeline for returning to the 76ers.
What does Russell Westbrook signing mean for the Kings?Kendrick Perkins weighs in on Russell Westbrook signing with the Kings in what is a loaded Western Conference.
Kendrick Perkins weighs in on Russell Westbrook signing with the Kings in what is a loaded Western Conference.
It has been 120 days since MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder raised the Larry O’Brien Trophy in a grueling seven-game Finals against the Indiana Pacers.
Now, there is only one day until the start of the 2025-26 NBA season, and excitement looms as players and teams prepare for the long road to the postseason.
The league, as always, looks a lot different than a season ago. Superstar Kevin Durant will make his Houston Rockets debut, and Damian Lillard, who will miss the season because of a torn Achilles, has returned to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Injuries have also shaken up both conferences. Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton are out for the season after tearing their Achilles tendons, leaving the East wide open. And Kyrie Irving, after tearing his ACL last season, has no firm timeline for when he’ll be back for the Dallas Mavericks.
However, Dallas is ready to debut 2025 first overall pick Cooper Flagg who has already been turning heads. Along with Flagg, there is a plethora of rookies ready to impact the league this season, including San Antonio Spurs No. 2 pick Dylan Harper.
Our NBA insiders previewed all 30 teams for the 2025-26 NBA season, broke down what they’ll be watching, detailed every team’s biggest strength and concern and added their bold (but realistic) predictions.
Note: Team rankings are based on where members of our panel (ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Michael C. Wright, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin, Ohm Youngmisuk, Kevin Pelton, Vincent Goodwill, Zach Kram and Anthony Slater) think teams belong heading into this season. ESPN Research’s Matt Williams also contributed to this story.
Biggest concern: Could complacency set in coming off a championship? That’s as big a concern as any for such a talented team, but it’s not a major worry due to the maturity of the young roster. The Thunder are doubling down on their culture, as Presti emphasized during his precamp media availability that OKC’s daily priority is “chasing improvement.” — Tim MacMahon
Bold (but realistic) prediction: The Thunder become the third 70-win team in NBA history. Oklahoma City won 68 games with a record-setting point differential last season, despite Holmgren and Hartenstein missing a combined 75 games. The Thunder might regress because of championship complacency, but this is a young, hungry team with tremendous depth and a chance to be better in 2025-26. — Zach Kram
Number to watch: 13.2 There are plenty of ways to showcase the Thunder’s defensive dominance from last season, and one is to look at how they turned defense into offense. Oklahoma City averaged 13.2 points off possessions starting from live-ball turnovers in 2024-25, the most by any team in a season since player tracking began in 2013-14.
Fantasy nugget: The Thunder led the league in defensive rating during the regular season and excelled at capitalizing on turnovers. Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Wallace all finished in the top 10 in steals last season, showcasing Oklahoma City’s defensive depth and intensity, and that shouldn’t change this season. — Eric Moody
Biggest strength: The Nuggets still have the player who is widely considered the best basketball player in the world. As long as the incredibly durable Jokic remains healthy, Denver has hope of contending. The three-time MVP is coming off his best statistical season, averaging career bests of 29.6 points and 10.2 assists in addition to 12.7 rebounds.
Are the Nuggets the biggest threat to Thunder this season?
Biggest concern: The Nuggets need to overachieve on the defensive end, which will always be a challenge, given Jokic’s athletic limitations as an anchor. Denver had the worst defense of any playoff team last season, allowing 115.1 points per 100 possessions, which ranked 21st in the league. — MacMahon
Bold (but realistic) prediction: Two Nuggets make the All-Star team. Jokic has never had a teammate who has been named an All-Star, but that changes in 2025-26, as either Jamal Murray or Aaron Gordon is rewarded for a stellar first half with a trip to the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles in February. — Kram
Number to watch: minus-9.3 Last season, the Nuggets were outscored by 9.3 points per 100 possessions with Jokic off the floor. When he was on the court, the Nuggets had a plus-10.5 net efficiency, which would have ranked second in the NBA.
Fantasy nugget: Jokic became the first player in NBA history last season to finish in the top three in points, rebounds and assists. He is projected to finish in the top five in these categories on a per-game basis again this season. Jokic remains a fantasy dynamo, though the Nuggets added Valanciunas to back him up, which could lead to Denver reducing Jokic’s workload a bit. — Moody
Biggest strength: The defensive duo of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Cleveland’s offense should be strong again, but what immediately gives this group a high floor is that it has two durable, excellent defensive big men in Mobley and Allen, enabling the Cavs to maintain solid defense throughout an 82-game season with nearly any lineup combination.
Bold (but realistic) prediction: The Cavaliers finish with a below-average defense. Allen and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Mobley are stellar at protecting the paint, but Cleveland’s perimeter rotation could pose a problem because of injuries; meanwhile, Mitchell and Sam Merrill aren’t lockdown stoppers. — Kram
Number to watch: 1.08 The Cavaliers had the top offense last season thanks to their pick-and-rolls. According to GeniusIQ, Cleveland averaged a league-best 1.08 points per direct pick last season while running the fourth-most on-ball screens per 100 possessions.
Fantasy nugget: The Cavaliers were fourth in the NBA in 3-pointers made and second in 3-point percentage last season. They run an offense predicated on getting their team high-quality looks from behind the arc. From a fantasy perspective, this makes the Cavaliers a good source of 3-pointers. This is worth keeping in mind when drafting, but also when preparing to scour the free agency wire when bench players get more opportunities at various points in the season. — Andre Snellings
Biggest strength: Jalen Brunson, the reigning Clutch Player of the Year, rescued the Knicks many times last season. It might’ve obscured some real concerns, but knowing he leads this top-heavy roster has to give coach Mike Brown some ease as he adjusts to the expectations of his new role. Brunson embraces everything that comes with being a Knick
Biggest concern: Health. Mitchell Robinson is slated for a bigger role that should help last season’s middle-of-the-road defense, but he has played just 107 of a possible 246 games in the past three seasons. Josh Hart is an iron man, but his right ring finger will likely bother him all season, even if he comes off the bench. Regardless of their depth, the Knicks need their top seven players to be healthy. — Vincent Goodwill
Bold (but realistic) prediction: The Knicks finish third in the East in the regular season … but still reach the Finals. This two-part prediction assumes that the Knicks take a step back in the regular season, as Brown doesn’t play his starters as much as the departed Tom Thibodeau. But Brown’s regular-season lineup experiments might position the Knicks for greater playoff success, and Cleveland’s injury concerns could pave a path for New York to reach its first Finals since 1999. — Kram
Number to watch: 17 How much faster will the Knicks play in the half court under Brown? Over the past seven seasons, two teams have had an average half-court possession length of 17 seconds or longer: the 2023-24 Knicks and 2024-25 Knicks.
Fantasy nugget: Brown helped the Kings, his former team, improve from 25th in team offensive rating to first in his first season in Sacramento. The Knicks were fifth in ORTG last season, but with Brown at the helm, they could be even more efficient this season. An efficient team offense leads to players who can generate points and 3-pointers at good percentages, relative to players of similar talent on less efficient offenses. — Snellings