22 impeccable predictions for the 2026-27 NBA season

With the season ready to begin, it's time to make a fool of ourself. Unless ...

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The NBA season begins Tuesday. (That's tomorrow, if you're reading this the day it's published.) That means it's time for some fearless predictions for the season. We'll do 22 in honor of this being the 22nd season I'll be writing about basketball on the internet.

Before we begin, let's offer up a quick refresher on last year's predictions. More than half were wrong, and a couple of those badly wrong, but I did predict that the New York Knicks would win their first championship in five decades, and that came true, so I'm feeling pretty good.

Time to ruin that feeling.

1. The Sixers come out of the gate slow, and LeBron spends more time in Philadelphia while Nick Nurse faces pressure. A winning streak during a Joel Embiid rest period rights everything, and the team thrives once Embiid comes back.
2. Kon Knueppel becomes the sixth player ever to hit 300 threes in a season. LaMelo Ball and Donovan Mitchell become the seventh and eighth. It's a three-pointer bonanza.
3. The Knicks make an excuse to not visit the White House when the team visits the Wizards in December. James Dolan gives a horrible quote about it in the New York Post.
4. Another gambling scandal rocks the NBA. This one involves a higher-profile personality, but is politicized enough to give some commentators (hi) pause in assigning guilt.
5. Pablo Torre puts out two new investigations. Some sectors of the sports media continues to act as if the investigations are irrelevant, even as Steve Ballmer watches Keaton Wagler play his way onto second team All-Rookie from his couch.
6. Three coaches get replaced during the season. Shockingly, one of them is Doug Christie!
7. The Knicks repeat as NBA Cup champions, beating the Rockets in a thriller. This leads to widespread belief that the Knicks are on an all-time heater and the favorites to win the title.
8. Expansion to Las Vegas moves forward, but Seattle stays on ice until next summer. Owners and the league office get greedy after seeing what Vegas pulled in for franchise valuation.
9. NBA Europe gets announced without Euroleague participation, but with a couple of Euroleague defectors. Most American fans do not notice or care.
10. The most decorated player traded is Anthony Davis. He plays even fewer games for the Wizards than he did for the Mavericks (29).
11. Lottery reform fixes tanking ... except for the teams that don't have their picks. Brooklyn and the Clippers take glee in falling into the Zone of Shame at the expense of the Rockets and Thunder, respectively. Milwaukee is not embarrassing through the first half of the season – but not good enough to challenge for the play-in – and lose a ton of games down the stretch after trading capable veterans and unleashing the kids.
12. Three teams strategically drop out of the play-in race around February to boost their lottery odds by resting "injured" players. These teams are the Warriors, Grizzlies and Wizards.
13. A good East play-in team lands a top-5 pick. Teeth are gnashed. People wonder if Adam Silver overreacted.
14. The West's top six ends up identical to last season. This might be the least bold prediction in this piece.
15. The Suns, who caught mere lightning in a bottle last season, tumble out of the weak West play-in race and end up with a top-5 pick in the draft. Unfortunately, that pick is owed to Houston (via Brooklyn) as a result of the Kevin Durant trades.
16. The East playoff race is epic all the way to Game 82. Another bold one from yours truly! The East ends up with 10 legitimately good teams, even if the records aren't all beautiful and flawless. It's a bloodbath every night, and the action on April 11 is impactful and stirring.
17. The Pistons shockingly repeat as the East's No. 1 seed. Vibes matter, and the vibes on this team are anger and disrespect. Damn if that isn't a hearty fuel. Cade repeats as an MVP ballot contender, and while Jalen Duren doesn't make All-NBA again, eyes are being opened. (Pistons fans: please don't read all the way to the bottom of this newsletter. In fact, just stop here.)
18. A.J. Dybantsa wins Rookie of the Year as the Wizards look stunningly competent for stretches. Caleb Wilson becomes the peoples' choice thanks to his unending highlights. Cam Boozer and Darius Acuff Jr. also have really strong seasons.
19. Victor Wembanyama wins MVP, his first of several. Cade Cunningham launches into No. 2 thanks to the Pistons' encore regular season, with Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton filling out the top five.
20. The Spurs win the West. They again avoid the Nuggets' due to Denver's perennial struggle against Minnesota, but they get a healthier OKC team and still beat them because San Antonio is still leveling up.
21. The Sixers win the East. It takes another upset of the Celtics (that's not really an upset, but is cathartic for Jaylen Brown), it takes an eye-popping upset of the Knicks (finally!) and it takes the nightmare fuel of facing Kawhi in Toronto with those damn friendly rims. But they get it done.
22. The Spurs win the title. What if LeBron's biggest rival all along was the San Antonio Spurs? What if known grudge-holder Big Vic is furious that Embiid chose to play for Team USA over France, helping lead the French to its home Olympic defeat in 2024? What if known grudge-holder Big Vic is still mad about the time Embiid dropped 70 on him when he (Wembanyama) was a rookie? What if the Spurs are just simply the best team of the back half of this decade (and the front half of the next one)?

BONUS: predicted standings and playoff results (this is an insane endeavor in mid-October).

EAST

1. Pistons
2. Knicks
3. Celtics
4. Cavaliers
5. Pacers
6. Sixers
7. Heat
8. Raptors
9. Magic
10. Hawks
11. Wizards
12. Hornets
13. Bucks
14. Bulls
15. Nets

WEST

1. Thunder
2. Spurs
3. Nuggets
4. Lakers
5. Rockets
6. Timberwolves
7. Jazz
8. Blazers
9. Mavericks
10. Pelicans
11. Suns
12. Warriors
13. Grizzlies
14. Kings
15. Clippers

PLAY-IN
Heat defeat Raptors
Magic defeat Hawks
Raptors defeat Magic

Jazz defeat Blazers
Mavericks defeat Pelicans
Mavericks defeat Blazers

PLAYOFFS
Raptors (8) defeat Pistons (1)
Pacers (5) defeat Cavaliers (4)
Sixers (6) defeat Celtics (3)
Knicks (2) defeat Heat (7)

Raptors defeat Pacers
Sixers defeat Knicks

Sixers defeat Raptors

Thunder (1) defeat Mavericks (8)
Lakers (4) defeat Rockets (5)
Timberwolves (6) defeat Nuggets (3)
Spurs (2) defeat Jazz (2)

Thunder defeat Lakers
Spurs defeat Timberwolves

Spurs defeat Thunder

Spurs defeat Sixers

There you have it: a blueprint for, like, 40% of what's going to happen this season. Which 40%. Dunno. Good luck.

Be excellent to each other.