When the NBA launches the 2025-2026 season next week, the top-line story will be all of the missing faces: LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton, Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving are among the stars expected to be sidelined for opening night.
Even so, the formidable defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder and a fresh chase pack will fill that star-power vacuum, while new broadcasters NBC and Amazon will shake up the league’s television and streaming products.
Here are 10 defining questions to ponder as the NBA tips off its 80th season.
1. Can anyone stop the Thunder?
By now, most NBA fans have become conditioned to the parity era: No team has won consecutive championships since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018, and only three teams have gone back-to-back in the past 20 years. Oklahoma City, which stormed through the NBA last season, has an excellent chance to make it four.
The winning formula in Oklahoma City will be virtually identical: The Thunder returns the top 12 players from its playoff roster, including reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, all-star Jalen Williams and a deep pack of all-defense candidates that includes Chet Holmgren, Lu Dort, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace. That absurd continuity would be valuable for any team, but this isn’t just any team. Oklahoma City won 68 games last season – the second most by any team since Michael Jordan retired – and compiled the best point differential in league history.’
In the playoffs, the Thunder had to survive seven-game series against the Denver Nuggets and the Indiana Pacers, but it went 11-2 at home and its only losses came on game-winning shots in the closing seconds. Another year of aging should help the Thunder more than it hurts; Caruso is the only key member of its rotation who is older than 30. Coach Mark Daigneault is also uniquely positioned to manage minutes for his key players: Oklahoma City goes two deep at every position and can look forward to plenty of garbage time after winning 40 games by at least 15 points last season.
Where are the vulnerabilities? The league’s best defense will probably continue to be near-impenetrable, but the Thunder’s offense struggled at times on the road in the playoffs, and Gilgeous-Alexander showed signs of fatigue as the marathon Finals unfolded. Oklahoma City’s attack is reliant upon a fair number of so-so shooters hitting three-pointers to open things up for Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams, which leads to occasional droughts and choppy play. And while Oklahoma City got by during extended injuries to Holmgren and center Isaiah Hartenstein last season, the road would get much tougher if Gilgeous-Alexander or Williams were to miss significant time.
The oddsmakers have installed the Thunder as strong preseason title favorites, in part because none of its top competition enjoyed transformational summers. In the East, the Pacers, the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks were all kneecapped by major injuries. Out West, the Nuggets and the Houston Rockets can claim to be offseason winners, but they have a lot of ground to make up given that Oklahoma City won the conference by 16 games last year.
2. Who replaces the Celtics atop the East?
Since James left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, the Celtics have lorded over the Eastern Conference. Over the past seven seasons, the Celtics won one championship, reached the Finals twice, made the Eastern Conference finals four times and never missed the playoffs. All told, Boston has won a league-best 63 playoff games during that span and Milwaukee ranks a distant second among East teams with 42.
The Celtics can’t expect to keep up their typical pace without franchise forward Tatum, who was lost to a season-ending Achilles injury during the playoffs. Tatum is reportedly pushing hard to get back on the court at some point this season, but Boston also lost Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in salary-slashing summer trades and watched big men Al Horford and Luke Kornet find new homes in free agency.
While there’s still enough talent on hand to be competitive during Tatum’s gap year, Boston’s thin frontcourt rotation opens the door for the rest of the conference. Unfortunately for several rivals, the timing of Boston’s regression isn’t ideal: The Pacers will be without Haliburton because of an Achilles injury, the Bucks waived Damian Lillard after an Achilles injury, the Philadelphia 76ers continue to be hamstrung by injuries to Embiid and Paul George, and the Miami Heat is in transition following Jimmy Butler’s ugly trade saga.
Who’s left? The Cavaliers and the New York Knicks. The Cavaliers won 64 games last season before the injury bug bit in the playoffs, and they are seeking their first Finals appearance without James in franchise history. Knicks fans, meanwhile, are back dreaming of their first Finals appearance since 1999 after having their hearts ripped out by Haliburton and the Pacers in last year’s conference finals.
3. Can Luka Doncic rediscover his magic?
Lakers guard Luka Doncic put up 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game last season, a stat line that was matched only by Nuggets center Nikola Jokic. Make no mistake: Gaudy numbers aside, Doncic’s whirlwind season was clearly disappointing by his high standards.
Though Doncic couldn’t control the fact that he was blindsided by a midseason trade, he played a career-low 50 games and saw his overall output dip sharply from his last full season with the Dallas Mavericks. Doncic’s playoff run was forgettable: The Lakers were bounced in the first round, and his conditioning wasn’t up to par. Doncic responded by shedding weight during the offseason and committing to the Lakers on a three-year, $165 million extension, setting the table for a more stable and exhilarating campaign this time around.
But high expectations are inescapable in Hollywood. The Lakers have advanced in the playoffs just once in the past five years, and the 26-year-old Doncic is playing in the shadow of his sensational run to the 2024 Finals with Dallas. Given all the hype around his acquisition and his fitness-focused summer, the pressure is on Doncic to deliver an MVP-caliber season and a real playoff run.
4. Will LeBron James be on the move?
For the first time in his legendary career, James has been demoted to subplot status. The 40-year-old superstar forward didn’t receive a contract extension from the Lakers this summer, leaving him to play this season on an expiring deal. After saying all the right things at media day, James sat out training camp and is expected to miss the opening portion of the season as he deals with sciatica, a nerve condition in his back.
The Lakers were constructed as a two-star model, and they need both Doncic and James to play at a high level to have any hope of contending. But this doesn’t necessarily look like a long-term partnership: Both stars need the ball, the Lakers have signaled that Doncic represents the franchise’s future, and James’s playoff impact has slipped in recent years.
Perhaps James will get healthy at some point in November and the season will carry on as normal. It’s also possible that the time apart leads one or both sides to further consider a split, whether via midseason trade or contract buyout. James, who is entering his eighth season in Los Angeles, will earn $52.6 million this season, a huge chunk of the salary cap that the Lakers could theoretically spend on players who are more aligned age-wise with Doncic.
5. Did Kevin Durant find a functional home?
Unlike James, Kevin Durant settled his business during the summer thanks to a trade that sent him from the Phoenix Suns to the Rockets. After a star-crossed stint with the Brooklyn Nets and a demoralizing run in Phoenix, Durant has joined a young, defensive-minded team that finished second in the Western Conference with 52 wins. The Rockets are well-coached by Ime Udoka, and they have plenty of athletes to help cover for Durant’s age-related slippage.
Houston’s best-case scenario involves Durant providing reliable scoring and clutch shot-making to power a deep playoff run. The loss of lead guard Fred VanVleet, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in September, made achieving that goal substantially more difficult. The Rockets are short on ballhandlers and will probably lean heavily on Durant, who has averaged 55 games played over the past five seasons because of a series of minor injuries.
The biggest adjustment for Houston will be the expectations that follow Durant, who hasn’t reached the conference finals since leaving the Warriors in 2019. The Rockets’ steady rebuild around Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr. has shifted into warp speed because the 37-year-old Durant has no time to waste. Is Houston ready for prime time?
6. Will Victor Wembanyama make the playoff leap?
It’s easy to forget that Wembanyama showed major progress in his second season before suffering a season-ending blood clot in his shoulder in February. The 2023 No. 1 pick made the most of his long summer, traveling the world in preparation for a possible breakthrough third season for the San Antonio Spurs. While the 7-foot-5 French center might enter the season as something of a forgotten man, it shouldn’t take more than a week of his impossible blocks and jaw-dropping dunks to return him to the national radar.
James, Durant and Anthony Davis are among the highly touted draft prospects who entered the MVP conversation and made their playoff debuts during their respective third seasons. To follow that path, Wembanyama must jell with star guard De’Aaron Fox, who was acquired from the Sacramento Kings last season in a midseason deal, and carry a defense that will feature plenty of young pieces, including intriguing rookies Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant.
7. What can we expect from Cooper Flagg?
Cooper Flagg is the definition of a basketball prodigy: The Maine native was the No. 1 pick and the youngest player in June’s draft after establishing himself as the best player in college basketball during his freshman year at Duke. With Irving sidelined for some or all of this season with a knee injury, the Mavericks plan to test Flagg’s readiness by putting the ball in his hands as a playmaker.
Even the most talented and polished rookies experience a learning curve, and Flagg will be tasked with setting up a veteran roster that includes Davis, an all-star forward, and centers Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford. Given the limited backcourt options around Flagg, Dallas will be counting on him to be an impact scorer, too.
Flagg’s pedigree as a coveted prospect and his experienced supporting cast place him at the head of the rookie-of-the-year list. From a statistical standpoint, one possible comparison would be Paolo Banchero, another former No. 1 pick from Duke. Banchero, who posted similar college numbers to Flagg, averaged 20 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists for the Orlando Magic to win 2023 rookie of the year.
8. Did the Nuggets get Nikola Jokic enough help?
Just as Oklahoma City is the odds-on title favorite, Denver enters the season as the consensus top challenger. Jokic, a do-everything center, has finished first or second in MVP voting for five straight years, and he pushed the Thunder to seven games in the conference semifinals despite the firing of Coach Michael Malone shortly before the playoffs and injuries to Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr.
Denver finished its housecleaning this summer, naming interim coach David Adelman as Malone’s permanent replacement and installing Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace to run the front office. The early returns were strong: The Nuggets traded Porter for Cam Johnson and brought back guard Bruce Brown, who was a key piece of their 2023 championship team. Denver also let Russell Westbrook go – a move that could be viewed as addition by subtraction – and added veterans Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas to the bench.
Oklahoma City still boasts more total talent, but the 30-year-old Jokic remains the best player in the sport and he will be surrounded by a battle-tested and complementary core. Johnson should replace Porter’s outside shooting, and guard Christian Braun showed rapid improvement last year in his first run as a full-time starter.
9. Which teams could make a Pacers-like run?
As the NBA commences its 80th season, it’s worth noting that it might be another 80 years until an unheralded team enjoys an improbable postseason joyride like the Pacers’ run to the 2025 Finals. A brief recap: Indiana had a losing record on Jan. 1, gained momentum after the all-star break, entered the playoffs as the No. 4 seed in the East and came within one win of its first NBA championship thanks to four Haliburton game-winners in the postseason. Haliburton’s Achilles injury, which he suffered early in Game 7 against the Thunder, instantly became one of the all-time “What if” moments in league history.
Replicating all of that is too much to ask of any team this year, but the wide-open nature of the East should create opportunities for young teams such as the Magic, the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks to make noise in the playoffs.
In addition to Haliburton’s heroics, Indiana’s playoff push relied upon gutsy defense and a balanced approach on offense. The Magic, already flush with good defensive pieces, landed Desmond Bane in a summer trade to increase its offensive ceiling. Meanwhile, the Pistons have smartly surrounded dynamic former No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham with a physical supporting cast and shooters. And the Hawks will be counting on young forwards Jalen Johnson and Zaccharie Risacher to help diversify an offense led by Trae Young.
10. Who are the Wizards’ top challengers in the tank race?
The Washington Wizards are approaching a decade without a playoff series victory, but there doesn’t appear to be much urgency to win in what will be the third year of a deep rebuilding effort. Washington, which has collected lottery talent such as Alex Sarr, Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington and Bilal Coulibaly, is still seeking a franchise-changing headliner.
Talent evaluators see at least three strong candidates for that tag in the 2026 draft class: BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson and Duke forward Cameron Boozer. The 2026 lottery field is viewed as superior to the past two classes, so Washington can expect fierce competition from the Utah Jazz and the Nets, among others, in the race for ping-pong balls. The Jazz plunged further into a youth movement this summer and still has forward Lauri Markkanen as trade bait. The Nets somehow made five selections in the first round yet still appear to be lacking in franchise cornerstones.