The NBA is almost back! Here at The Ringer, we’ve already made our predictions, placed our theoretical bets, filed our power rankings, and taken stock of the league in tiers. Now, as we do each year around this time, we’ve gathered our staff to offer some takes and predictions for what’s to come. Check out their answers below, and then pour a beverage of your choice, fire up League Pass, and let the basketball wash over you.
1. Which non-Wemby player are you most excited to watch?
Danny Chau: Cade Cunningham. The 2021 no. 1 pick made a bid toward superstardom in the first year that Detroit surrounded him with a viable roster. What will happen in year two of Detroit Being Good for the First Time in a Decade? Perhaps a dark-horse MVP candidacy. Cade is already one of the league’s most prolific pick-and-roll operators, but like just about every ascendant star of his ilk, he’s realizing the importance of being able to reliably pull up for a 3, a skill that lagged behind the massive strides he made across the board last year. It’s something he’s worked on in the offseason, and should results manifest during the season, those predraft Luka Doncic comparisons could look awfully prescient.
Howard Beck: Zion Williamson. Zion Williamson? Zion Williamson! Sorry, it’s hard to know which punctuation mark to employ here. The dude’s career has bounced between exclamations and questions so many times that it’s left Pierre the Pelican with a permanent case of whiplash. But it wasn’t that long ago that Zion was the single-named phenom who had the entire world abuzz over his unique combination of power, skill, and otherworldly athleticism. That guy still exists, and he’s just 25 years old. He showed up to camp in (say it with me now) the best shape of his career! I know, I know, fool me once, etc. But his story isn’t finished yet. I’m excited to see what a healthy, slimmed-down, rejuvenated Zion can do for the Pelicans, who are once again in transition. Brandon Ingram and C.J. McCollum are gone. It’s Zion’s show now, for better or worse.
Justin Verrier: Amen Thompson. The Fred VanVleet injury was a huge blow to Houston’s title bid, but it opened the door for Amen, a nominal point guard coming into the league, to get the necessary on-ball reps and make an offensive leap to pair with his havoc-wreaking defense. It also allows the Rockets to throw some gargantuan lineups on the floor; against the Pelicans last week, Houston started Thompson (6-foot-7) alongside four 6-foot-11 or taller frontcourt players: Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun, and Steven Adams. Tall ball is back—if Amen can become a star on offense, too.
Michael Pina: Due to sheer title picture intrigue, the player I’m most excited to watch this season is Evan Mobley. After a season in which he won Defensive Player of the Year, what type of offensive leap does he have in him? The Cavs aspire to win it all but ultimately won’t come close unless Mobley can maintain his selfless aura while simultaneously thriving as a more aggressive and comfortable scorer in a system that bends toward his will.
Tyler Parker: Did everyone else say Amen Thompson? Because Thompson would be my answer even if Wemby were available to be picked. That’s how much fun it is to watch this kid play basketball. There’s burst, and then there’s [the engine ignites and sprays fire]. Thompson plays among the satellites. Wemby is incredibly tall and incredibly skilled and incredibly good. He does things nobody his height can do and completely changes the geometry of whatever court he’s on. But, and this is not a bad thing, I can explain him. He’s 7-foot-5 and fluid and flexible. His arms are historically, impossibly long. So are his legs. So are his hands. He is a physical outlier in every respect, but I watch him and understand what’s happening. Wemby might be the best player in the league by the end of this paragraph. Thompson’s more abstract. He does things on a court I cannot explain, produces moments that don’t seem real. For me, that’s more exciting. Shaedon Sharpe deserves a mention. So do Jalen Suggs, Terrence Shannon Jr., and Yang Hansen. I’m also excited for Collin Murray-Boyles. It’s early, and these things are fluid. But based on the initial images coming out of Toronto, there’s a very good chance this kid lives más.
Logan Murdock: Jalen Williams. J-Dub flourished on the league’s biggest stage last postseason, scoring 40 points in a decisive Game 5 NBA Finals game. This season, he’ll have more responsibility offensively and likely will put up career-high numbers. He’s been consuming Kobe Bryant propaganda videos all offseason, healing the surgically repaired ligament in his shooting hand, and traveling the world. Sounds like a recipe for another breakout year, and I can’t wait to see it.
Isaac Levy-Rubinett: I’ve fallen hook, line, and sinker for Luka Doncic’s summer media tour. As Men’s Health magazine so aptly put it, he is looking “lean as heck now”! Do Luka’s abs come with more foot speed, more explosiveness, and more drives to the rim? Did last season’s surprise trade awaken some highly focused, purpose-driven part of him that’s hell-bent on revenge? And even though LeBron will miss the beginning of the season due to sciatica, he and Doncic were my favorite duo in the league last season—a symphony of run-outs, outlets, and precision cuts that brought out a new side of LeBron in his 22nd season.
Matt Dollinger: Cooper Flagg. I had to wait for him to leave Duke to say this, and I’m still not thrilled about him falling into Nico Harrison’s lap, but I’m dreaming big here. A Cooper-Wemby rivalry dominating the NBA for the next 10 to 15 years would do just fine. I’m all in on Flagg, and I don’t even know who or what he’s going to be yet—I just know it’ll be awesome. With Jason Kidd in his ear and Anthony Davis on the receiving end of his passes, it should be fun to see what Flagg can do in year one.
2. Who will be the biggest star traded, and where will they go?
Verrier: Lauri Markkanen to the Spurs. Giannis’s situation has too much emotional baggage to sort out in the season, but the Ainge family rarely gets caught up in the warm fuzzies. Markkanen already seemed like trade bait the moment he signed his $238 million extension last summer, and the Jazz’s tank bloodlust has only ratcheted up after they ended up with just the fifth pick in last season’s lottery. The question isn’t if, but where. Markkanen is a clean fit in Detroit as a Tobias Harris upgrade, but it might be a year too early for the Pistons, who still have a lot to discover about their young core. The Spurs, meanwhile, seem ready to take off and can make a Markkanen deal happen way more easily than you might think even though they traded for De’Aaron Fox nine months ago: Stephon Castle, Harrison Barnes, Keldon Johnson, and picks would get it done.
Dollinger: Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Knicks. It sort of feels like we got cheated out of a big summer blockbuster this offseason. (Kevin Durant getting traded the morning of Game 7 of the Finals doesn’t count.) It also sort of feels like Giannis wants to break up with the Bucks but hasn’t mustered the courage to tell them yet. Maybe a long losing streak or a few unfortunate injuries will lead him/Shams to finally break the news. New York would need to get creative to deliver the picks Milwaukee covets, but it has enough talent and gall to get the deal done.
Pina: Markkanen will be traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Brandon Clarke, Cedric Coward, and three first-round picks (all via the Orlando Magic). My ideal destination for Markkanen is the Detroit Pistons, but that theoretical trade falls apart if the Jazz do not want to pay Jaden Ivey a massive contract extension, which … there’s a decent chance that they would not want to do that. Memphis makes plenty of sense as an alternative, though. Markkanen would be a perfect complementary piece next to Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., whether the Grizzlies want to play big or small, fast or slow. Equally important, they should have enough stuff to satisfy the Utah front office, which typically squeezes more juice than its cup can hold: draft capital, one blue-chip rookie prospect, and contracts that expire after next season. Also, Markkanen and Memphis head coach Tuomas Iisalo are both Finnish!
Chau: Trey Murphy III to Golden State. Oh, sorry, you asked for a star. Is Murphy a star? … I think so! While Murphy’s injury history has become worrisome, his production ramped up considerably in year four before a shoulder injury ended his 2024-25 season. There was a 15-game stretch from January into February wherein Murphy averaged 25.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.8 blocks while logging 50/40/88 shooting splits. Is it irresponsible to extrapolate those figures over the course of an entire season? Absolutely. But if you did, you’d get season-long numbers that only Jordan, Bird, and KD have reached. The Warriors need to do something. The holding pattern with Jonathan Kuminga is not doing anyone any favors. After it’s spent what seems like lifetimes striking out on Markkanen, Golden State needs to do what it can to land a player who can expand Steph Curry’s orbit and keep that contending window ajar. Murphy is that guy.
Beck: Devin Booker, to Miami. No, I don’t think that this will happen. But here’s why it could: The Suns are dead in the water, with a wonky roster, a dearth of draft picks, and no cap room for years to come. Booker is about to turn 29 and will be in his late prime by the time the Suns are relevant again. Both parties would benefit from a divorce. Miami is desperate for a franchise star to replace the departed Jimmy Butler. And although the Heat (like every other glamour franchise) are angling for Giannis, they probably don’t have the assets to land him. Booker is more gettable, perhaps for a deal built around Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, and picks.
Levy-Rubinett: The great irony of the Luka-for-AD trade is that Doncic and Anthony Davis would be incredible teammates. In fact, I can’t think of a better costar for either player. Davis is the lob-catching, defense-anchoring big man that Luka covets, and Doncic is the 1A offensive engine that can set AD up in his most effective spots, like LeBron did earlier in their partnership. In a less chaotic timeline, the biggest NBA blockbuster in recent memory would have paired these two complementary talents together, not swapped one for the other in a nonsensical trade that has left two confounding teams in its wake. Now, both the Mavs and Lakers are caught between eras. Dallas set itself up for a three-year championship window and then fell ass-backward into a generational 19-year-old, while L.A. is managing the awkward fallout after relegating LeBron to second fiddle.
Let’s close the loop on the Luka trade and restore balance to the NBA. Here’s how: The Lakers trade LeBron, Austin Reaves, Bronny, two unprotected future first-round picks, and however many first-round pick swaps for Davis, Naji Marshall, and Jaden Hardy. The Mavs get to reset around Flagg, Reaves, Dereck Lively II, and P.J. Washington, plus a juicy draft asset—and they avoid having to sign the 32-year-old Davis to a massive extension next summer. The Lakers, who are reportedly willing to trade for long-term salary, would assemble what immediately becomes the best duo in the NBA. And for LeBron, who holds a no-trade clause, the appeal is multipronged: One, he gets out of Luka’s shadow. Two, he reunites with Kyrie Irving on a pretty competitive roster. And three, he can mentor the relentlessly competitive, über-talented Flagg before becoming a free agent at the end of the season.
Parker: Seems like Giannis is staying put for now? I would love to see Markkanen get somewhere that’s trying to win, but he seems cool in Utah, and it’s not like he’s such a transformative player that he’s affecting their tank efforts that much. They can play him some and still lose as much as Danny Ainge wants to. Still, if Tobias Harris’s shot gets frosty and the Pistons offense finds itself in need of more elbow room, Lauri and Tobias could form the basis of a sensible deal.
Group Chat’s Preseason Power Rankings
3. Who is the Thunder's biggest challenger?
Pina: The Denver Nuggets pushed Oklahoma City to seven games in the Western Conference semifinals and, without Aaron Gordon—who badly strained his hamstring in the closing moments of Game 6—were blown out in the series finale. At times, the Thunder made Nikola Jokic look mortal. Basketball’s best player was exhausted and overmatched throughout the second round but still miraculously led Denver’s depleted six-man rotation to three victories.
Now, Jonas Valanciunas, Cameron Johnson, Bruce Brown Jr., and Tim Hardaway Jr. are in, while Michael Porter Jr., DeAndre Jordan, and Russell Westbrook are out. Across the board, these are essential upgrades in key areas that directly complement Jokic while alleviating his regular-season workload. The Thunder are awesome, but the Nuggets just surrounded a three-time MVP with the most complete supporting cast of his career. I doubt that the defending champs will feel queasy about this development, but maybe they should.
Parker: [Hemming, hawing, stalling.] Gut reaction was Denver, second reaction was Wolves, third reaction was Knicks? Cavs? Rox? Clips? I’m going with the Nugs. They took OKC to seven games last postseason and added more talent to the roster this offseason. Valanciunas will finally be back in turtleneck weather delivering timeless turtleneck looks. Christian Braun elevated his play last postseason. The kid can go. There’s depth aplenty. The pieces fit. More importantly, though: They employ a beautiful Serbian Sasquatch. A world wonder with Jerry Rice’s hands and Greg Maddux’s ball placement. The touch is extraterrestrial. Maybe there’s finally enough zip off the Denver bench so that Jokic won’t have to play damn near every minute of every game, lest the team fall in a hole so deep that not even he can carry them out.
Chau: The Nuggets, who have the makings of an all-time great offense with the new (and old) additions. Brown is a proven force multiplier on a team built around Jokic. Johnson’s 3-and-D integration could be game-changing. In Valanciunas, the team has a legitimate reliever at center for the first time since … Mason Plumlee? Jalen Pickett is casually hitting H-O-R-S-E shots in the preseason? All that, with their championship-winning core intact—a significant leveling up for a team that pushed the defending champs to seven games mere months ago.
Beck: It’s absolutely the Nuggets. This was a two-team conversation until VanVleet’s injury took the Rockets down a notch. As of today, Denver is the only team in the West with the elite star power (hi, Nikola Jokic), experience, continuity, and depth to make OKC sweat. Houston could perhaps rejoin the fray if it swings an in-season deal for a VanVleet replacement or if it gets massive leaps from both Thompson and Sengun. But the Rockets’ title contention case still rests on a 37-year-old Durant, who needs to make it through the season intact. The other would-be contenders—the Warriors, Timberwolves, Lakers, and Clippers—need a lot of health luck to mount a serious challenge to the young and spry Thunder.
Verrier: The Nuggets. They already pushed OKC to seven games—and may have even won the second-round series if Gordon weren’t hobbled—and now they have more than four reliable players. Jokic is still squarely in his prime, and Jamal Murray has looked sharp in the preseason for the first time in recent memory. But the big reason to believe in Denver is that there are now real options who are able to play credible minutes once its stars sit. Jokic played almost 37 minutes a game last season and took on a part-time job as a floor spacer to compensate for the Nuggets’ lack of shooting. Now imagine what he can do with a little rest. Or just look back to 2022-23, when Denver locked up the 1-seed early on and was able to coast the final month-plus, setting up its title run.
Dollinger: The Nuggets. An army of T.J. McConnells would also be pretty formidable, but Denver represents Oklahoma City’s biggest (and most realistic, absent immediate advancements in medical technology) hurdle to repeating. The Nuggets took the Thunder to seven games last postseason, and they should be an even tougher out this spring with a fortified roster.
Levy-Rubinett: The team that dragged them to seven games in last season’s playoffs and spent the summer retooling around the best player in the world. The Denver Nuggets are big, tough, and creative; they were one of the few teams that could dictate pace and style against the Thunder’s overwhelming swarm. And they aced the offseason, having swapped Porter for Johnson, added Brown and Hardaway, and wedged Valanciunas into the gaping hole at backup center. In fairness to the Thunder, they will also be better in 2025-26. OKC can bank on continuity and the internal development of its best players. But I think that the gap between these two outfits was pretty narrow last year, and this year it looks like a toss-up.
Murdock: The team that took OKC to the brink last year. The Nuggets are the only team that gives the Thunder matchup fits in the interior. Jokic feasted on every big OKC threw at him five months ago, and that was with a roster that seemed to have capped out entering the series. Now, Denver will have the proverbial oomph all season, and if the Thunder aren’t careful, they’ll be put on that Summer Jam screen.
4. Which team will be the biggest disappointment?
Parker: Gimme the Kings. What happened to the beam I love? I don’t understand the plan. I don’t understand the roster. I don’t understand how they expect to guard anybody. I guess expectations aren’t even that high to begin with, and I would sincerely like to be wrong. But it’s hard to be inspired by much of anything they’ve done this offseason, aside from signing Westbrook, who should win his second MVP.
Chau: The Lakers. Put enough live bodies around Luka, and he can probably carry a team to the postseason. But that’s not exactly the bar in L.A. This isn’t about Doncic’s towing capacity; it’s about the depth of the roster—I like Jake LaRavia, but he isn’t working miracles here. LeBron’s dealing with nerve pain most commonly referenced in commercials between Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, right before the one about multivitamins and right after the one about mesothelioma. Losing out on LeBron for the first month or so hurts; if the Lakers can’t rely on depth, they’ll have to rely on chemistry. And if they can’t rely on chemistry, it might be yet another year of the Lakers digging themselves out of a hole late in the season.
Verrier: The Warriors. The hype train, driven in large part by some encouraging signs from the statistical models, has gotten a bit out of control. Golden State was excellent after trading for Butler last season and added veterans tailor-made for its system, like Al Horford and De’Anthony Melton. But all of its best players are old, injury-prone, or both, which will make it tough to power through a regular season that is getting harder by the year, in a conference that may be deeper than ever. The Warriors could be a very dangerous playoff team, but getting a top seed seems unlikely. And as we saw last season, seeding and matchups really matter in the West.
Dollinger: The Milwaukee Bucks. I just don’t think this will work. I commend the Bucks for the inspiring level of “fuck it”–ness they reached while doing everything they could to keep Giannis this summer. But man, is it going to sting if this doesn’t go well. Waiving and stretching Damian Lillard feels downright Bobby Bonilla–ish. Overpaying Myles Turner isn’t a stroke of genius. Kyle Kuzma is still gainfully employed. Giannis’s brothers, I mean, come on. Giannis will have to be a world destroyer to buoy this roster.
Murdock: Philadelphia. The Sixers’ two nominal superstars have barely shared the floor, and even if they had, there’s nothing that scares me about Joel Embiid and Paul George, even in an Eastern Conference as down bad as this one. It will be cool to watch the occasional Tyrese Maxey scoring outburst and the athletic flourishes from V.J. Edgecombe, but unfortunately, we won’t be seeing much of this team past April.
Beck: I’m afraid that it will be the Rockets, especially if they can’t find a way (internally or via trade) to adequately replace VanVleet. They ended last season as a breakthrough team, with all the upside in the world. Then they got Durant, and expectations skyrocketed. They’ll be excellent, regardless, and the future is supremely bright. But there’s a scenario here in which they can’t replace VanVleet, Durant can’t stay healthy, and all the summer hype turns to dust.
Levy-Rubinett: Cleveland, this is for youuuuu. And I’m sorry! I know the East is a wasteland this season. I know you just won 64 games. I know that Evan Mobley is shooting pull-up 3s this preseason. I just don’t believe that the Cavs’ four core players bring out the best in one another, and I think that it’ll take one more postseason disappointment—in a year when the path has been cleared for them—to bring about a larger reckoning.
Pina: I’m not sure that this would be a disappointment, per se, but the Milwaukee Bucks are my pick. Expectations for this team shouldn’t be too high, even though it employs one of the four best players in the world. But I’m still lower on the Bucks than the consensus, enough to think that there’s a good chance they’ll finish out of the play-in altogether. The roster around Giannis is one-dimensional and features precisely zero players who, even in a career year, would come close to sniffing an All-Star appearance. Throw in Antetokounmpo’s never-ending and increasingly tired tendency to threaten his departure (including the recent revelation that he went so far as to tell Milwaukee that he’d be open to playing for the New York Knicks), and there’s just too much drama for this roster to overcome.
The Annual NBA Over/Unders
5. What is your NBA Finals prediction?
Pina: Nuggets over Magic. The Nuggets have already been spoken for and require no explanation. The Magic, though, come into this space with a fair share of skepticism. I ultimately chose them with the belief that a few variables can go their way—from the hitch in Franz Wagner’s outside shot to the looming question mark at center to Jalen Suggs’s availability throughout a monthslong postseason—in the Eastern Conference, which is up for grabs. I respect their defensive identity, love the additions of Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones, and think that Paolo Banchero will become a top-15 player. The ingredients for a deep run are all here.
Beck: Nuggets over Cavs. In part because, as noted earlier, I think that Denver has a more than legit shot at knocking off OKC, based on the merits. But this is also a bet on trend lines holding—namely, the fact that in this era of über-parity, NBA champions just don’t repeat anymore. All it takes is one untimely injury or hiccup to derail a title defense. Given a choice, I’ll take the field over the defending champ, even though in this case, the Thunder are still clearly the most talented team from top to bottom. The Cavs get the slight nod here over the Knicks, but the East is a coin flip between them.
Chau: Nuggets over Knicks. If last season’s Finals motif was about depth, stamina, and defensive pressure, perhaps this season will bring things back to basics: a celebration of the big man as an offensive hub, old school in concept with future-leaning applications. If the Knicks want to make it back to the Finals for the first time since 1999, with an all-or-nothing cap sheet devoid of even an ounce of wiggle room, they’ll need Karl-Anthony Towns to take the final step in his long-deferred evolution as a true offensive centerpiece. It’s why they hired Mike Brown, to see whether there’s any potential left to mine. Of course, that idealized version of KAT sounds a lot like Jokic. And there isn’t any basketball player, dead or alive, who is out-Jokicing Jokic.
Dollinger: Thunder over Cavaliers. Picking a team to advance out of the East is like trying to pick something to eat at the gas station. If I knew Jayson Tatum was coming back, I’d probably pick the Celtics (and I’m not even a Boston guy!). Instead, I’m going with Cleveland, a regular-season juggernaut that will hopefully use last postseason’s brutal exit as jet fuel for a run this year. Meanwhile, the Finals are still [checks watch] eight months away, and SGA is already a comically low +200 to win Finals MVP. Just filthy.
Verrier: Nuggets over Knicks. Both teams should benefit from finally having benches to support their top-end talent, as well as coaches who are a bit more freewheeling than their hardo predecessors. New York’s size, especially in the two-big frontcourt look it leaned on last postseason, could make things interesting in this matchup, but if Denver’s gotten this far, it means that it’s healthy, clicking, and thus damn near impossible to stop.
Parker: What I did first was I typed “Thunder over Knicks.” And I looked at it. What I did second was I typed “Thunder over Magic.” And I looked at it. I kept typing. I kept looking. Nuggs over Knicks, Knicks over Thunder, Knicks over Nuggs, Nuggs over Cavs, Cavs over Wolves, Wolves over Cavs, Rox over Knicks, Clips over Magic, Rox over Cavs, Wolves over Magic, Dubs over Hawks, Wolves over Knicks, Dubs over Magic, Magic over Rox, Rox over Magic. This is how people lose it. And I have imagined horrible things in the name of thoroughness, and I’m not saying any of them. I save you. I keep those images out of your head, and I save you. I save you from “Finals MVP Chris Paul.” I think that, so you don’t have to. In that way, I guess I’m kind of like Jesus.
In the end, I landed where I started. Thunder over Knicks. OKC is the defending champ and bringing everybody back. It has the best defense in the league and an offense that ended last year ranked third. And in the East, no matter how fancy I tried to get, I kept coming back to New York. Clearly, there is something wrong with me, and I would like it to stop. This has not been a team that, traditionally, things have worked out for. It is battling against the karma Jimmy D has brought upon the organization by being himself. That’s a strong wind to be up against. It doesn’t matter how much fun the Sphere is. The stink’s still strong. The hat’s still stupid. But Jalen Brunson’s will is strong. And if not now, when?
Levy-Rubinett: Nuggets over Magic. I don’t trust the Cavs in the postseason, and I don’t trust the Knicks defense. I don’t really trust Orlando’s offense, but I do think that the Magic are best positioned to take advantage of a weakened Eastern Conference. They have young legs, two rising stars, and a new acquisition in Bane that is giving “missing piece” energy. This pick isn’t a declaration that the Magic are the new “it” team in the East, but the stars will align for a random Finals trip … where the best team in the NBA will be waiting.
Murdock: Nuggets-Knicks. Nuggets in six. Thanks for the parity, Adam!
