12 key storylines to follow during the 2025-26 NBA season
With the start of the 2025-26 campaign days away, here are 12 intriguing storylines to follow throughout the basketball calendar.
Giannis' last stand in Milwaukee
Everyone associated with the Bucks will downplay reports of offseason trade discussions with the Knicks, Giannis Antetokounmpo's discontent, and the franchise's generally murky future. It's merely a coping mechanism. Antetokounmpo will remain diplomatic as he and Milwaukee navigate the 2025-26 campaign, but the Greek Freak has already soft-launched his eventual trade request and Wisconsin exit with recent comments about potentially changing his mind in six or seven months.
The Knicks are reportedly his preferred destination, and the fact that Antetokounmpo is extension-eligible next summer (with only one guaranteed year remaining on his contract at that point) gives him leverage. But don't get it twisted. A sizeable portion of the league will spend this season assessing their chances of landing the two-time MVP - as they should. If Antetokounmpo remains as effective as ever this year, he'll be the best player to hit the trade market since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar left Milwaukee (for Los Angeles) 50 years ago.
Will Leonard, Clippers face punishment?
If the NBA finds sufficient evidence to confirm the allegations from the "Pablo Torre Finds Out" podcast - notably, that the Clippers circumvented the cap when they re-signed Kawhi Leonard in 2021 - commissioner Adam Silver will have no choice but to bring the hammer down.
The closest precedent for such a CBA crime was when the Timberwolves skirted the cap to sign Joe Smith in 1999. Then-commissioner David Stern voided Smith's contract, fined Minnesota $3.5 million, and stripped the franchise of four first-round draft picks (originally five before one was returned). What the Clippers allegedly did was arguably worse: using a third party to funnel funds to Leonard.
Los Angeles quietly went about building arguably the deepest team of Leonard's tenure this summer after last season's surprising 50-win campaign. The Clippers will also host the 2026 All-Star Game, so the eyes of the basketball world would've found themselves on Steve Ballmer's squad at some point. The specter of this scandal only brings more. Will Ballmer, Leonard, and the Clippers be vindicated, or will a club already without control of its own first-rounder until 2030 be taken to the woodshed?
LeBron's future with Luka's Lakers
LeBron James' latest decision may have been a Hennessy marketing ploy, but it doesn't change the fact that the end is near for the NBA's all-time leading scorer.
With the 40-year-old playing on an expiring contract and having already become the first player to enter a 23rd season, questions about James' future were always going to hover over the 2025-26 Lakers. And that was before it was announced he would miss the start of the season due to sciatica.
Even if this season isn't King James' last dance, it sure feels like the end of his Lakers tenure, which has now lasted longer than any of James' continuous runs with another team.
Adding to all that James-centric drama, the Lakers enter the new season as Luka Doncic's squad now. They may not be ready to contend as presently constructed (and Deandre Ayton isn't the right center to pair with the Slovenian), but a motivated and leaner Doncic should find himself squarely in the MVP discussion.
Can the reloaded Nuggets (or anyone else) stop OKC?
Oklahoma City was in a class of its own last season, compiling 68 regular-season wins and claiming the franchise's first title despite being younger than the previous 47 NBA champions. That young core is somehow still getting better, with reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander only entering his prime years and Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren on the cusp of superstardom. Additionally, 20-year-old guard Nikola Topic is ready to enter a championship rotation that otherwise looks the same as the one that was drenched in champagne when we last saw it.
Earning 70 wins and a second straight title is well within reach. The only question is whether there's a team out there that can even challenge the healthy Thunder. Nikola Jokic's Nuggets look like the biggest threat after they turned Michael Porter Jr. into Cam Johnson this summer, then added Jonas Valanciunas, Bruce Brown, and Tim Hardaway Jr.
Fred VanVleet's knee injury already weakened one legitimate challenger to OKC's throne, as the Rockets had essentially plugged every hole when they acquired Kevin Durant to address their shot-creation issues.
Can the Knicks or Cavs get over the hump?
The East has long been the lesser conference, and that divide will only grow this year, with the Celtics and Pacers taking a step back after losing Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton to Achilles injuries last spring. The Cavaliers and Knicks are head and shoulders clear of any other East teams. If either one stumbles, finishes outside the top two during the regular season, or falls short of the conference final, it'll be a monumental failure.
Of course, at least one of the Cavs or Knicks won't reach the Finals, and it'll be as painful a missed opportunity as any club can endure. Cleveland enters the season as the league's only second-apron team, while New York is staring down its best chance to end a 53-year title drought since the mid-'90s heyday of Patrick Ewing and Pat Riley.
Is Wembymania about to run wild on the NBA?
We've caught glimpses of the NBA's Victor Wembanyama-dominated future over the giant Frenchman's first couple of seasons, but it feels like the full scope of his powers is about to be revealed.
The Spurs have a team ready to at least compete for a Western Conference postseason berth, while Wembanyama's two-way game should continue to develop. The hope is that San Antonio can keep him healthy after he missed 46 contests last campaign (mostly due to a blood clot). Should the big fella meet the 65-game minimum required for major award consideration, expect Wembanyama to run away with Defensive Player of the Year, earn his first All-NBA selection, and receive some downballot MVP votes.
Having said that, another injury-riddled year or lost Spurs season would bring some uncomfortable questions for a player whose size (7-foot-5) would seem to lend itself to durability issues. Such is life when you've been dubbed one of the greatest prospects in the history of team sports.
Flagg and the Mavs are the biggest wild card
There's a world in which the Mavericks contend for Western Conference supremacy. After all, Dallas has a litany of positives: a ready-made defensive infrastructure, an All-NBA caliber talent in Anthony Davis, the offensive wizardry of Kyrie Irving waiting in the wings, a solid stable of two-way depth players, and one of the best rookie prospects of his generation in Cooper Flagg.
The Mavs are also wholly capable of plummeting in the unforgiving West. For starters, Irving isn't due back from his torn ACL until January at the earliest. Expecting Davis to remain completely healthy by the time Irving returns seems like wishful thinking. Plus, for as deep as Dallas is, shot-creation and offensive initiation will be a real issue with Irving sidelined. D'Angelo Russell is no contender's idea of a go-to guard, and for all of Flagg's otherworldly abilities, running an NBA offense is asking too much of the 18-year-old forward.
Perhaps no team has as wide a range of outcomes this season, and that makes the Mavericks as fascinating as any in the league. Also, you just know general manager Nico Harrison will say something ridiculous about his own squad, Doncic, or both at some point.
One more run for the aging Warriors?
The Warriors could tip off the campaign with the oldest starting lineup in NBA history, which feels untenable in the blood bath that is the Western Conference. However, Golden State went 22-5 (a 67-win pace) with Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler in the lineup last season, and Al Horford should still bring plenty of two-way utility to The Bay.
The eight-month grind to a championship requires a delicate blend of talent, smarts, chemistry, coaching, and luck. In Curry, Butler, Draymond Green, Horford, head coach Steve Kerr, and some of the depth pieces present, the Warriors should check the first four of those boxes. Whether injury luck is on the side of such a geriatric team will determine whether the Dubs have another deep run left in them.
Can Embiid and the Sixers get healthy?
Speaking of injury luck, no club needs it more than the 76ers.
Last year's offseason darlings quickly became a debilitated and dysfunctional train wreck en route to a 58-loss campaign. What does this season have in store for Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey, who played just 15 games together in 2024-25?
The state of Embiid's surgically repaired left knee is the biggest swing factor in Philly, and it already doesn't sound great. "I'll be honest and say it's going to be unpredictable at times, and that's OK. We're going to work with that," Embiid said at media day after appearing in only 58 regular-season contests over the last two seasons.
Even if George stays healthy and returns to All-Star status, Maxey continues his ascent to stardom, and No. 3 overall draft pick V. J. Edgecombe hits the ground running, the Sixers have no shot at competing for a title without Embiid playing like an MVP again. The bloated contracts of Embiid and George also make rebuilding around Maxey and Edgecombe easier said than done. Philly's outgoing 2026 pick (to OKC) is only top-four protected, so there's not much of an in-season pivot available, either. Fun!
The Pelicans' future hangs by a thread
Pelicans fans, Hawks fans, and anyone who enjoys the misery of others will be monitoring New Orleans' pressure-packed season.
Sure, things could turn out OK if Zion Williamson plays 60-plus games for only the third time in seven years, but does anyone outside the Big Easy actually believe that will happen? The far more likely result is that the Pelicans, who went 21-61 last campaign and appear to be the second- or third-worst team in the West, will have to navigate large stretches again without Williamson.
That would be a tough fate in any year. But let's not forget, New Orleans traded an unprotected 2026 first-rounder (the more favorable between its own pick and Milwaukee's) to Atlanta to secure the draft rights for Maryland big man Derik Queen. And the 2026 class may be even better than the vaunted 2025 group.
If the season and the lottery odds play out as expected, the Pelicans will likely be sending an extremely valuable building block and asset to the Hawks. New Orleans is the one NBA market that can least afford such a calamity.
Trae Young's trade market
New Orleans' pain will be Atlanta's gain, but the Hawks may stumble upon their own crossroads at some point this year when it comes to Trae Young.
Atlanta has done an admirable job of building the type of team that can insulate Young defensively. The additions of Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Luke Kennard should also bolster a roster that looks capable of a top-four seed in the East, particularly if rising star Jalen Johnson stays healthy. Such a best-case scenario could lead to a contract extension for Young, who only has a 2026-27 player option on the books beyond this season.
However, if the Hawks stumble out of the gate, Johnson's in and out of the lineup, or Young's just unwilling to commit, the four-time All-Star could headline trade season instead, shifting the NBA's balance of power in the process.
Can the Hawks contend in the weak East? Will Young's one-way game even appeal to contenders if they don't? Does he already have a destination in mind for free agency next summer? Those questions are among the many that make Atlanta one of this year's most fascinating teams.
Can Boston, Indiana survive without their stars?
The last two East champions may have been favored atop the conference again had Tatum and Haliburton not been sidelined, and there's still reason to keep an eye on both Boston and Indiana.
The Celtics will certainly roll out a shell of their 2024 championship squad. However, if Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, the newly-acquired Anfernee Simons, and head coach Joe Mazzulla can keep Boston afloat in the weak East, the prospect of Tatum's return would make any intra-conference rival nervous.
As for the Pacers, the Haliburton-less version of this team has much more to work with than the Tatum-less Celtics. Pascal Siakam is a genuine star, the roster is balanced and stocked with two-way players, and head coach Rick Carlisle will maximize the talent at his disposal. The combination of Andrew Nembhard and Jay Huff could also give the Pacers an off-brand version of the Haliburton-Myles Turner duo.
Joseph Casciaro is theScore's lead NBA reporter.