And what of 30-year-old Nikola Jokic? Can the Nuggets star win his fourth MVP award, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James as the only players to walk that path to all-time greatness? Or will this be the Season of Wemby, where San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama shows the world that the future of basketball will be held in his very large hands? Among the obstacles he’ll have to navigate is a deep and competitive Western Conference, headed by the Thunder and Nuggets and with the Golden State Warriors and their roster of late-30-somethings also looking for one more ring.

The variables are too many to count, but the potential they present should make for a scintillating regular season and beyond. And however it plays out, these 26 names will be at the heart of the action when the ball goes up.

DANNY AINGE USED a landmark trade to create a championship infrastructure with the Celtics when he dealt Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2013, allowing Boston to build a Finals-winning team on the broad shoulders of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. So far, the same approach hasn’t worked for him as president of the Utah Jazz: three years after moving on from the likes of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, Utah remains very much mired in a race for the No. 1-overall pick. But Ainge has one more card to play in all-star forward Lauri Markkanen, perhaps most the desirable trade asset in the NBA. How Ainge plays it could shape Utah’s future, and the outlook for whichever contending team can nab the big Finn. —MG

THE NBA’S NEAR-ANNUAL superstar trade watch is usually saved for the summer, when cap sheets are more flexible, draft picks are restocked, and navigating a fresh rebuild is a bit easier. That’s less the case lately, and reporting around Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future leaves enough doubt that the Bucks’ performance up until February will be monitored closely by other teams, particularly the Knicks. If Antetokounmpo ultimately decides his best chance at another title is outside of Milwaukee, it could spark a rare in-season bidding war. It won’t be as out-of-nowhere as Luka Doncic to the Lakers, but it could shake the league up nearly as much. —BM

IF LAMELO BALL is ever going to establish himself as a player with substance to go along with his overflowing style, Year 6 of his NBA career would be a good time to start. His talent remains almost unmatched, as a 6-foot-7 point guard who can rip passes to every corner of the floor and knock down threes from any angle. It’s just that he averages nearly four turnovers per 36 minutes and shot just 33.9 per cent on 11.2 three-point attempts per game, making him more chucker than shooter. Oh, and he gets hurt a lot: 141 games missed compared to 105 games played over the past three years. Having just turned 24, if Ball can stay healthy and play the game with more purpose, he can still be a foundation piece for a slow-motion Charlotte rebuild or one of the most talented players in the league available for trade. If not, Ball and his max contract will weigh the Hornets down for years. —MG

IN A WIDE-OPEN Eastern Conference, the Orlando Magic can dream on a few good breaks, some internal development, and a path to the conference finals, if not further. One of Paolo Banchero or Franz Wagner taking the leap to true stardom would clarify that path even further. A year younger than Wagner and on the last year of his rookie deal before his max extension kicks in, Banchero’s shown an ability to expand his usage yet lagged behind Wagner in terms of actual on-court impact. He should be a better finisher at the rim given his strength, and the 3-point shot becoming passable could make the fit with Wagner even deadlier. —BM

YOU’RE REPLACING A COACH who took a team to the Eastern Conference Finals last year. No pressure! Can Mike Brown get more out of a top-heavy Knicks roster than Tom Thibodeau did? Will he be more willing to experiment with depth pieces (Tyler Kolek!) to improve lineup flexibility and better develop injury contingencies? How valuable was Thibodeau’s commitment to a set style of play, relative to a more open-minded approach? Brown doesn’t have the benefit of modest expectations or patience in New York, but he does inherit a very good top seven to work with. —BM

LAST SEASON, Jimmy Butler pulled what will likely be the last of his patented power plays as he forced his way out of Miami, just as he had from Philadelphia and Chicago before that. But one of the NBA’s best two-way players has always been able to deliver, shenanigans aside. At 36, though, and as part of an ageing Warriors core looking for one last title run, it will be fascinating to see if Butler can lift a team one more time. The Warriors went 22-5 with Butler and Curry in the lineup last season, giving everyone reason to believe. But if Butler can’t muster more than the 57 or so games he’s averaged the past two seasons, or if his penchant for rubbing organizations the wrong way surfaces sooner rather than later, the Warriors’ last run could end in a stumble. —MG

THE LAKERS’ SEASON isn’t off to the greatest of starts with LeBron James’ injury, but it will open a window into what the future will look like with Luka Doncic as the undisputed star of the team. When James returns, his fit with Doncic is one of the more fascinating on-court storylines of the NBA season. Both are so smart, and James is so versatile, that there are a number of ways for JJ Redick’s offence to leverage the star power of both. There’s not much question Doncic is a superstar, one of the best players in the league; how he handles a full season of the L.A. spotlight, the weight of exceptionalist expectations, and a potentially awkward (if effective) baton-passing could set the tone for the next era of Lakers basketball. —BM

AS MUCH AS the 2024-25 season was shaped by teams in the bottom third of the league positioning themselves for a chance to draft Cooper Flagg, the 2025-26 season could have even more draft buzz. The likes of the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, and Charlotte Hornets could all end up vying for the chance to take their pick from an even more top-heavy class led by AJ Dybantsa (BYU), Darryn Peterson (Kansas) and Cameron Boozer (Duke) — all of whom are in the running to be the first-overall pick. —MG

LEBRON JAMES AND STEPH CURRY were each in their sixth seasons when they earned MVP recognition for the first time. Kevin Durant was in his seventh. Would anyone be all that shocked if the Minnesota Timberwolves star lifts himself into the MVP conversation in his sixth season? A year ago, Anthony Edwards joined Curry and James Harden as the only players in league history to make at least 300 threes in a season, the high-flying guard scoring at a career-best 27.6 points a game while taking the Timberwolves to their second consecutive Western Conference Finals. But if Minnesota is going to make the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, Edwards will need to do even more of everything — scoring, shooting, attacking the rim and playmaking. If he can lift his game yet again, the Wolves will remain a contender in the crowded Western Conference, and MVP consideration will follow. —MG

THE 76ERS WON 24 games last year amid injuries for Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, and Jared McCain. Things should be looking up, then, with (presumably) better health ahead, not to mention Quentin Grimes back and VJ Edgecombe there now, too. With the conference wide open, it wouldn’t be surprising to see an even semi-healthy Sixers squad vault back to the top of the conference. Nor would it be surprising to see them held down by injury again. Embiid is the great unknown, an MVP with All-World talent and a difficult — and difficult to predict — injury history; he projects as a top-10 player by impact … when on the court. How Embiid bounces back, and how he fits with some of the younger guards on the team, is one of the bigger swing factors in the East. —BM

THERE IS LITTLE doubt former Duke star Cooper Flagg will have a successful rookie season with the Dallas Mavericks. He’s too good a defender, too dynamic an athlete and too polished a talent to be anything other than a net positive, even though he doesn’t turn 19 until just before Christmas. The real question is if he’ll be a star as a rookie, and one capable of helping the Mavericks hold down the fort until Kyrie Irving returns from knee injury and Dallas can embark on what it hopes will be a championship push. It’s a lot to ask of the NBA’s youngest player, but Flagg has only ever exceeded expectations. —MG

WINNING 68 GAMES and an NBA Championship leaves the Thunder pretty thin on curiosities. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is an MVP. Jalen Williams is a perfect co-star. Isaiah Hartenstein probably got more new tattoos than I did this summer. Branden Carlson is the one that got away for Raptors 905. Chet Holmgren, however, is in his last season before a max extension kicks in and the Thunder’s books begin to get at least moderately uncomfortable. There’s no question he’s a very good piece; where he lands between third star and top-line difference-maker will dictate Oklahoma City’s chances of repeating and the outlook for their core for years to come. How he and Hartenstein pair together over a larger minutes sample is also, tactically, one of the more intriguing on-court subplots of a regular season that doesn’t threaten to stress the Thunder too much. —BM

CAN BRANDON INGRAM stay healthy? The 28-year-old has simultaneously been one of the NBA’s most impressive talents and frustrating enigmas over his nine-year career. Since the 2019-20 season, when he was an all-star, Ingram has averaged 23 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists. The only other players to hit those thresholds over the past six seasons are six former MVPs and Luka Doncic. The differentiator is that Ingram has averaged just 51 games per season over the same six seasons, and only made it to the playoffs twice, losing in the first round each time. If Ingram can play 65 or 70 games — something he hasn’t done since he was a rookie — it could change the trajectory of the Toronto Raptors season and the complexion of the Eastern Conference. —MG

THE PISTONS DIDN’T take off last season until Jaden Ivey went down in January. Don’t let that suggest that Ivey wasn’t — and can’t be — part of the ascension. Ivey showed enormous growth from a scoring-efficiency standpoint, living at the rim and drawing a steady diet of free-throws, improving his above-the-break 3-point shooting over a small sample, and generally looking like someone who fits well next to a star version of Cade Cunningham. What should be a season to reestablish himself as a major piece of the long-term core is off to an inauspicious start, though, as Ivey will miss at least the first four weeks after mid-October arthroscopic knee surgery. That could make a rookie-scale extension tougher to land on, sending him toward restricted free agency next summer. —BM

LEBRON JAMES HAS BEEN interesting for longer than most NBA players have been alive. At age 40, and in his NBA record 23^rd season, James qualifies as interesting this year just for being in uniform — no one has played in the NBA longer than the Chosen One. But James was a second-team all-NBA player with the Lakers in Year 22 and it’s not hard to imagine him being revitalized playing alongside Luka Doncic, who dominates games at will the way James did earlier in his career. But James has never been the second-best player on a team before, and never had to adjust to an organization orbiting around another star the way Los Angeles has made clear they are around the younger Doncic. Will James become the NBA’s most accomplished Robin to Doncic’s Batman? Or will he play the deposed King, resentful at being usurped and plotting his next move? —MG

THE HAWKS KNOCKED their off-season out of the park again and look primed to take a leap from their 40 wins in 2024-25. Getting a full season of Jalen Johnson should be massive for rounding out the edges, at both ends of the floor. Johnson and Dyson Daniels make a dynamic defensive duo, and Johnson can also work well as a complement to Trae Young on offence. Linear development isn’t promised, but Johnson could be a 20-10-6 player with great defensive impact and potential for even more scoring juice if the shoulder rehab allowed him to reconstruct his 3-point shot. —BM

FIFTH-YEAR FORWARD Jonathan Kuminga won’t dominate the regular season the way his contract status with the Warriors did the off-season. But after signing a two-year, $48.5-million contract with a team option for Year 2, there is a good chance Kuminga will be on the trade market again come February. Is there an alternate storyline where the hyper-athletic 23-year-old turbocharges an otherwise ancient Warriors core to their fifth title in the Steph Curry era? Conceivably, but it will require more buy-in than Kuminga has been willing to offer so far, and perhaps more patience from Warriors head coach Steve Kerr than he’s shown. —MG

MORE IMPORTANT THAN anything else going on with the Celtics is whether head coach Joe Mazzulla inviting Boston media to get obliterated in an exhibition game against C’s coaches sets a scary precedent around the league. If Jama Mahlalela is reading this, I don’t want those problems. Elsewhere, Mazzulla will be tasked with keeping all hands on the rope in what promises to be an awkward year in Boston, one with Jayson Tatum rehabbing an Achilles injury and the front office dramatically slashing luxury tax obligations and thinning out the championship core. There are enough pieces — led by Jaylen Brown — for the Celtics to at least be interesting in an uncompetitive East, though the gap year is much more about setting the group up for their next run. —BM

EVAN MOBLEY MADE  his mark among the NBA’s elite last season after being named defensive player of the year and earning second-team all-NBA recognition as one of the pillars on a Cleveland Cavaliers team that won 64 games before injuries and a soaring Indiana Pacers club ended their season in the second round. But what should be most encouraging to Cavs fans is that Mobley may just be scratching the surface of his offensive game. The lanky power forward nearly tripled his three-point volume last season without sacrificing accuracy, connecting on a healthy 37 per cent of his looks from deep while getting to the line more and showing some nascent play-making chops as well. All this from a mobile, 6-foot-11 big who can credibly guard four positions. Another step forward from Mobley should land the Cavs in the NBA Finals. —MG

WHAT ARE WE to make of Jamal Murray looking so good in the preseason? Probably nothing. Still, a notoriously slow starter — due to injury, national team commitments, and long playoff runs — Murray coming out of the gates hot could help reestablish the Nuggets as a major threat in the Western Conference. Nikola Jokic isn’t going to be less Jokic anytime soon, and with Michael Porter Jr. gone, there’s even more room for Murray to expand his role and make his first All-Star Game. Wings on me at Moose Winooski’s if it goes down that way. —BM

SINCE BEING DRAFTED 31st by the Pacers in 2023, Aurora, Ont.’s Andrew Nembhard has carved out an enviable reputation for himself as a rock-solid defender, committed team player, bare-knuckle competitor and someone who consistently raises the level of his game as the stakes get higher. His line of 13.5 points and 5.0 assists, with an effective field-goal percentage of 59.6 across 40 career playoff games (compared with his 9.6/4.7/52.4 in the regular season) speaks to that. But with Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton out for the season after tearing his Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Nembhard will have the ball and the opportunity to show that his playoff steeliness can translate into regular-season production. Indiana’s hopes of following up that Finals run with their third straight playoff appearance likely depends on it. —MG

WHILE I CAN’T imagine the commissioner’s plate is ever not full, this feels like a particularly pivotal season for Adam Silver, the league’s future, and his legacy. The investigation into irregularities around Kawhi Leonard is at the forefront, and while Silver’s said the Clippers won’t lose the right to host the All-Star Game, the eventual punishment will be a landmark decision with ramifications for how teams and players navigate the salary cap for years. With the TV rights deal now completed, Silver can focus on other areas of league growth, including the NBA’s interest in international expansion, possible domestic expansion, and how to drive highlight-driven fans (his words!) to the actual product. Or maybe Pablo Torre is on top of those issues, too. —BM

IT’S NOT A GOOD sign when the most recognizable person in an organization is the head coach. The Heat are an NBA glamour franchise short star power, outside of Erik Spoelstra. No one can question Spoelstra’s credentials as he enters his 18th season with the Heat having led Miami to six NBA Finals and two championships. But the future head coach of Team USA will need to work some magic if the Heat are to make the playoffs, let alone another Finals run, even in the depleted Eastern Conference. In an offence-first era, Miami has finished 25th, 21st and 21st on that side of the ball the past three seasons, and will go into this one without Jimmy Butler and with all-star Tyler Herro potentially out until Christmas. The addition of Norm Powell should help, but Spoelstra will have some coaching to do for the Heat to avoid the play-in again. —MG

IN 2005-06, Mike James was traded to the Toronto Raptors. In the final year of his contract, James proceeded to put up a career year, averaging 20.3 points on a 27-win team. He signed the biggest contract of his career the following summer and never again averaged half of what he scored in Toronto. Anyway, Cam Thomas is headed for unrestricted free agency, playing on a team that’s barely above the salary floor, and coming off consecutive seasons averaging more than 20 field-goal attempts per-36 minutes. If Jordi Fernandez gives Thomas a full minutes load and a green light, Thomas might make James look like Kendall Marshall in terms of the shoot-pass balance. The Nets will be more interesting than good; we’ll find out if the same holds for Thomas. —BM

WHAT WAS ALREADY going to be a huge season for one of last year’s most improved players became even bigger with the injury to Fred VanVleet. Now, Houston will lean on Amen Thompson in an expanded ball-handling role in addition to being a transition menace and one half of the Terror Twins defensive tag team with Tari Eason. Thompson nudged his assists per-game as a sophomore but it barely moved on a per-possession basis, and he’ll need to grow more comfortable initiating in semi-transition and learn to play off of Kevin Durant (cool!) in the halfcourt. The Rockets should have the depth to let Thompson take on expanded usage with patience, and they’re thin enough on true guards (Reed Sheppard!) to throw him plenty of reps to make a subsequent Year 3 jump. —BM

YOU KNOW IT’S COMING. Over Victor Wembanyama’s first two seasons, campaigns where the San Antonio Spurs star has had his minutes managed (just 29.7 per game as a rookie) or been limited by injury (a blood clot in his shoulder ended his season after 46 games last year), the 21-year-old French phenomenon still managed to become the only player in NBA history to accumulate career averages of 22.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.7 blocks per game. So, what happens when he finally breaks out? A fully healthy and completely unleashed Wembanyama could put the entire NBA on tilt. At minimum, the 7-foot-4 do-it-all will win his first Defensive Player of the Year Award if he can play the minimum 65 games, but can he challenge for the MVP? Lead the Spurs to a 50-win season (up from 34 last year) and a deep playoff run? There is no doubt that Wembanyama will make all of that and more happen in his career. The only question is how soon. —MG