The NBA’s parity era is under grave threat to open the 2025-26 season. The Oklahoma City Thunder are the reigning champions, and they’re only getting better. OKC has a 27-year-old league MVP, a 24-year-old two-way All-NBA caliber talent on the wing, and a 23-year-old stretch five who doubles as one of the game’s best rim protectors. The Thunder also have a dominant defense, some of the NBA’s best role players, and a boatload of future first-round picks to keep the roster stacked for years to come.
The Thunder are chasing a dynasty during perhaps the only time in league history when dynasties seem dead. Seven different teams have won the championship in the last seven years. The 2024 champion Boston Celtics are proof of just how fragile success in the modern NBA really is: their repeat bid was doomed by Jayson Tatum’s torn Achilles, and they spent the summer offloading talented players with big salaries while he recovers. The Thunder might seem set up for sustained greatness, but the other 29 teams sure aren’t scared of them.
This regular season is set up to build off the fantastic 2025 NBA Playoffs and a thrilling summer of transactions. The Denver Nuggets reloaded with veteran talent after pushing the Thunder to seven games in the second round last year. The New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers feel poised for a showdown in the East with Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton both out for the year with injuries. The Lakers are turning the team over to Luka Doncic, the Bucks are trying their best to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo satisfied in Milwaukee, and the Rockets added Kevin Durant to the West’s No. 2 seed last year. There are also so many great young players around the league, led by Spurs’ 7’5 alien Victor Wembanyama and Mavericks’ rookie star Cooper Flagg.
SB Nation has been previewing the 2025-26 NBA season for months. Here’s one last preview as the season finally kicks off.
Every NBA team ranked by their 2026 championship chances
I ranked every NBA team 30-1 by their chances of winning it all this season. Here’s a small sampling:
One blurb about every team = 6,500 words total previewing the new NBA season. Read it!
9 bold predictions for the 2025-26 season
My 2026 NBA Finals pick is the Denver Nuggets over the Orlando Magic. Read the story for more bold predictions this season, but I’m going to use this as an excuse to predict every award:
MVP: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, G, Oklahoma City Thunder
Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama, C, San Antonio Spurs
Rookie of the Year: Cooper Flagg, F, Dallas Mavericks
Sixth Man of the Year: Naz Reid, F/C, Minnesota Timberwolves
Coach of the Year: Quin Snider, Atlanta Hawks
Most Improved Player: Alperen Şengün, C, Houston Rockets
Predicting all 16 playoff teams
Read the reasoning for my full playoff predictions here. This is what I got:
- Cavs
- Knicks
- Magic
- Pistons
- Hawks
- Bucks
- Heat
- 76ers
- Thunder
- Nuggets
- Rockets
- Timberwolves
- Lakers
- Clippers
- Spurs
- Warriors
2026 NBA mock draft + 7 teams in the tank race, ranked
I think the 2026 NBA Draft has the strongest top-3 since 2003. Duke’s Cameron Boozer (right), Kansas’ Darryn Peterson (left), and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa are all No. 1 overall pick caliber prospects in their own right, and that’s going to make this a highly tempting season to tank for teams that get off to a slow start.
- Here’s my way-too-early 2026 NBA mock draft, published the day after the 2025 draft (as is tradition). I would move a few players up and down after doing more research over the summer, and the one name I overlooked was Washington freshman big man Hannes Steinbach, a potential lottery pick.
- 7 teams in the tank race, ranked. The Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets, and Utah Jazz are already tanking before the season even begins. Who else will join them?
- Cameron Boozer is an NBA superstar in the making
- Meet the 2026 NBA Draft’s 3 potential No. 1 overall picks
Breakout players + 6 players under the most pressure to perform
I’m also going to use this as an excuse to my rank my top-10 young players to watch in the NBA this season. Diehards know these guys already, but if you’re more of a casual fan, these are the dudes who will take over for LeBron, Steph, and Kevin Durant as they age out of the league. All of these guys are 24 years old or younger.
- Victor Wembanyama, C, San Antonio Spurs
- Cooper Flagg, F, Dallas Mavericks
- Anthony Edwards, G, Minnesota Timberwolves
- Evan Mobley, F/C, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Amen Thompson, G, Houston Rockets
- Chet Holmgren, C, Oklahoma City Thunder
- Paolo Banchero, F, Orlando Magic
- Alperen Şengün, C, Houston Rockets
- Jalen Williams, G/F, Oklahoma City Thunder
- Cade Cunningham, G, Detroit Pistons
- Franz Wagner, F, Orlando Magic
The NBA’s best shooters + best dunkers
MVP + Rookie of the Year rankings
Every NBA ‘Big 3,’ ranked
24. Sacramento Kings: Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan
This trio feels like less than the sum of its parts. Sabonis puts up monster numbers every year, but some holes in his game (rim protection, volume three-point shooting) makes him a tough fit on a great team. LaVine is one of the league’s best three-point shooters and has real juice going to the basket, but he’s too mistake-prone on both ends to have a major impact. DeRozan is still doing his thing from mid-range and foul line even at age-36.
5. New York Knicks: Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby
It’s NBA Finals or bust for the Knicks this season. Mike Brown takes over as head coach, and his mission is to figure out if Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns can play together deep into the playoffs. Brunson has been an indefatigable little engine for New York since signing as a free agent, but less Brunson in the regular season might eventually pay dividends in the playoffs. Towns is an elite shooter for a 7-footer, but his defense is so plodding that he can be targeted on that end. I gave Anunoby the edge over Mikal Bridges, though both are great. This really might be the year the Knicks put together a full playoff run …. until the Finals, anyway.
It’s going to be a great season.
