The NBA preseason has already returned. Games will start to matter on the win-loss ledger very soon. A lively offseason featured plenty of teams reshaping themselves in an aim to improve their immediate outlook for 2026-27 or with an eye toward their long-term aspirations.
The New York Knicks want to defend their crown. The San Antonio Spurs want to avenge their Finals defeat. The Oklahoma City Thunder want to reclaim their perch atop the mountain. A host of other teams are looking to join that premier tier of contention. It’s going to be a delight of a season.
Here are seven bold predictions for 2026-27.
The Boston Celtics earn the No. 1 seed in the East
Perhaps, this forecast is not too bold of a claim, given Boston finished second in the East with 56 wins last season, despite Jayson Tatum only playing 16 games and looking like his All-NBA self for about half of them. But Boston fizzled out of the playoffs by squandering a 3-1 lead in the first round and was clearly not ready to vie for its second Eastern Conference title in three seasons.
Now, though, Tatum is back fully healthy and found his form as he further progressed from injury, including averaging 23-11-7-1 on 60.8 percent true shooting in six first-round games. I expect him to firmly be an All-Star and All-NBA candidate again.
By and large, the Celtics are swapping in Tatum for Jaylen Brown, whom they traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George (and some draft picks). Tatum is a much better player than Brown, so that alone represents an upgrade. While George will presumably miss some games and be inconsistent as a scorer and decision-maker, his versatile long-range shooting, point-of-attack defense and defensive playmaking all snugly fit Boston’s ethos. They also poached Mitchell Robinson away from the Knicks. Robinson’s offensive rebounding and interior defense are massively impactful and tenets of what Boston wants to do on both ends: generate tons of second chances and safeguard the rim.
I’m a little skeptical the Celtics have the high-end talent to be a dangerous threat deep into the playoffs. Their specialized role players and very good-but-flawed starters (Derrick White, Neemias Queta) struggled mightily last postseason. But they will be, at worst, an excellent regular season team led by Tatum, a bevy of credible floor-spacers, a vast mix of perimeter stoppers and high-level rim protectors, and winning the possession battle. That’s a great recipe for racking up wins.
Jayson Tatum, left, and Paul George posing side by side in green Boston Celtics Nos. 0 and 13 uniforms, each holding a basketball against a white studio backdrop
The Houston Rockets trade Reed Sheppard
I’m actually fairly optimistic about the Rockets’ prospects for 2026-27. I think the return of Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams will do wonders while Marcus Smart’s addition will advance their defensive identity and liven up their offense with his passing/driving. Merge those with three good-to-great starters in Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson and Alperen Şengün, and valuable depth in Tari Eason and Jabari Smith Jr., and something is seriously brewing here.
Despite Sheppard taking steps forward in year two and recognizing Smart/VanVleet will allow him to play off the ball more often this season -- where he’s best suited -- I’m just not a believer in him reaching the level Houston needs. He’s a very good, daring off-ball shooter with legit defensive playmaking skills and passing chops. But he’s an incredibly timid and poor operator inside the arc -- which neuters his passing impact -- who is consistently hunted on the ball via switches or off the ball with screens, where he’s often inattentive or poorly positioned. His size is such a consistent hindrance on both ends.
The Rockets will win tons of games this regular season and aspire to bridge the gap between very good and wherever the Thunder and Spurs reside. I’m dubious Sheppard will remedy his glaring shortcomings to make them trust him as a playoff contributor and thus, they’ll move him, along with some draft capital, for a (potential) title-winning upgrade.
The Memphis Grizzlies will make the playoffs
The Grizzlies’ roster just fires me up, man. I love their ball-handling trio of Ty Jerome, Cam Spencer and Scotty Pippen Jr. (and Javon Small!). Zach Edey was ludicrously dominant in his abbreviated 11-game stint last season. Cedric Coward’s off-ball movement, slashing and on-ball defense were treats to watch as a rookie. Cameron Boozer’s feel and offensive versatility are going to amplify so much of the roster. Jaylen Wells’ shooting and defense are splendid complementary traits. Isaiah Stewart is an excellent reserve big.
I just really believe in the guards, Edey and Boozer to lead a viable offense. And I believe in Edey, Stewart, Wells, Coward and Pippen, among others, to shepherd a feisty defense. There are so many good players in different areas who can augment one another on this team. And I don’t consider the West to be particularly daunting beyond the top five or six. A healthy Grizzlies team with Boozer fulfilling his pre-draft promise should be pretty dang good.
Austin Reaves makes an All-NBA Team
Look, you can probably make the following declaration for a handful of players last season, given how aggressively the 65-game rule shapes awards season nowadays. But I feel pretty dang comfortable positing that Reaves had a very strong case for an All-NBA spot last year had he met the 65-game cutoff.
In 51 appearances, he averaged 23.3 points (64.1 percent true shooting), 5.5 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals. He shot 36 percent from deep and 58.8 percent on 2-pointers, and made 87.1 percent of his 7.3 free-throw attempts per game. During 1,092 minutes alongside Luka Dončić, he averaged 19.6 points (62.5 percent true shooting), 4.8 assists and 5.1 rebounds per 75 possessions while helping pilot the Los Angeles Lakers to a 122.7 offensive rating (6.5 points above league average). During 699 minutes without Dončić, he averaged 33.1 points (65.9 percent true shooting), 7.5 assists and 4.8 rebounds per 75 possessions and the Lakers posted a 117.7 offensive rating (1.5 points above league average).
He’s a genuine three-level scorer who gets to the foul line a bunch, is a very good playmaker and seamlessly toggles between operating and on or off the ball. He thrives with and without Dončić, and is poised for a sensational 2026-27 on the new-look Lakers.
The Miami Heat are a Play-In team
Giannis Antetokounmpo remains great. Bam Adebayo is very good. I like how Andrew Wiggins fits alongside them and deem him primed for a nifty year. But otherwise, I just don’t love the Heat’s roster composition when scrutinized through the lens of title contention or earning home-court advantage.
Their perimeter play, whether it’s passing or scoring juice, worries me. Aside from Wiggins (who shot 41 percent from deep last year!) I don’t love the shooting around Antetokounmpo and Adebayo with regard to what will likely be Miami’s best lineups. Bobby Portis Jr. is a great shooter but how often can he play alongside Antetokounmpo and Wiggins? Tim Hardaway Jr. and Klay Thompson are stellar snipers but how many minutes can they play, given their defense, dribbling, passing and interior scoring woes?
Davion Mitchell is a fine shooter whose point-of-attack pressure, ball-handling and driving are his foremost appeals. Pelle Larsson has nailed only 32.8 percent of his career triples; his physicality, wing defense and off-the-catch driving earn him minutes. Maybe, Simone Fontecchio can re-enter the rotation. Or, Nikola Jovic can do the same and rediscover his 38.3 percent clip from deep across 2023-24 and 2024-25.
I trust this defense to be very good and believe in Antetokoumpo and Adebayo’s blend of fluidity, size, passing and paint scoring to render their offensive fit tenable. But I just don’t know how far all that will take the Heat in a busy East when I consider other key aspects are so precarious.
Isaiah Joe averages 15 or more points per game
The Pistons did not wheel and deal much this offseason. A glaring hole at secondary creator alongside Cade Cunningham persists. Many of the same flaws that hamstrung their playoff run after a 60-win regular season are still at the forefront. But of the transactions they did make, my favorite as it pertains to their 2026-27 outlook was acquiring Isaiah Joe.
Joe is a supreme off-ball shooter, having netted 41.5 percent of his 13.2 triples per 100 possessions since 2022-23. He’s audacious from well beyond the arc, shoots on the move, relocates into space, is a good transition player (Detroit will run), wields the pump-fake, sidestep move so many of the league’s top shooters do and is a savvy screener, whether it’s back-screens out of Spain pick-and-rolls or slipping out of guard-guard actions. His execution in those sets lathered up the Thunder offense and I anticipate that being the case in Detroit, which also runs those actions fairly often.
The Pistons do not tout many legit shooters who invoke fear in defenses. Duncan Robinson is one. Joe is another, and Joe’s a pesky defender, despite his slender frame. I think he’s going to play a lot because of his shooting, ability to attack closeouts and willingness to hold up defensively. He is one of their best players (lotta candidates for fourth behind Cunningham, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren) and can invigorate the offense without tilting too far away from the Pistons’ defensive identity. He pairs very well next to Cunningham offensively (guard-guard screens!) and should see a substantial workload to light up the scoreboard as a play-finisher with some second-side ball-handling chops.
Zach Edey is an All-Star
If the Grizzlies do entrench themselves as a playoff contender, Edey will be a catalyst. He’ll need to play more than the 25.8 minutes per game he did last year (and stay healthy!!) to garner a selection, but I’m hopeful he can. His per-minute dominance on both sides of the floor was immense in 2025-26; he’s an unmatched two-way force inside the paint.
Per 36 minutes, he averaged 19.0 points, 15.5 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. He shot 65.6 percent inside the arc and posted a 66.9 percent true shooting clip. When Edey was on the floor, opposing offenses shot 14 percent worse at the rim and took 13.4 percent fewer shots there, compared to when he was off the court, per Cleaning the Glass. His offensive rebounding rate (17.5 percent, per Dunks & Threes) was in the 99th percentile; his defensive rebounding rate (26.6 percent, per Dunks & Threes) was in the 96th percentile. Opponents shot 17.8 percent worse than their average when Edey was the primary defender on field goals within 6 feet, per NBA.com.
The surrounding infrastructure heading into 2026-27 is quite favorable, too. The playmaking of Ty Jerome, Scotty Pippen Jr., Cam Spencer and Cameron Boozer will spotlight his imposing interior scoring. The shooting of Jerome, Spencer, Boozer, Cedric Coward and Jaylen Wells will help space the floor for his post touches. Boozer, Isaiah Stewart and Quinten Post are all viable front-court partners defensively.
It’s entirely possible Boozer is the leading man for Memphis’ playoff hopes or that Edey just doesn’t quite play enough minutes to be an All-Star-level player but I loved what I saw during his brief 2025-26 and think he’s going to be a rockstar this season.