30 NBA storylines to follow this season: LeBron’s last dance? Next-level Wemby? Old-en State Warriors?

The 2025-26 NBA season is upon us. Opening night is Tuesday with the Thunder hosting the Rockets and the Warriors in L.A. to play the Lakers. Wednesday night pretty much the rest of the league kicks off, and there is definitely no shortage of storylines to follow as this campaign progresses. 

Here are 30 of them that are poised to dominate the headlines all season long. 

1. LeBron’s Last Dance?

Is this LeBron James’ last season with the Lakers? His last season period? Neither? He tried to fake everyone out with a “second decision” social media tease that wound up being a Hennessy ad, but a retirement announcement is still a possibility. Remember, Kobe Bryant didn’t announce that he was playing his final season in 2015-16 until late November. 

In the meantime, LeBron is out until around mid-November with this sciatica situation. When he comes back, are the Lakers truly built to contend? They have Luka Dončić, whom we’ll get to shortly, and LeBron was an All-NBA player last season, so we’re not exactly talking about Kobe in his final season(s). One thing’s for sure, everyone will be watching and talking about LeBron and the Lakers all season, especially if he announces it’s his last. 

2. Kawhi investigation

How is this thing going to end? It seems pretty likely that some salary-cap circumvention happened here, but it’s innocent until proven guilty and how deep is Adam Silver going to dig for whatever proof may or may not be lying below the mountain of evidence Pablo Torre has already presented? 

And if the investigation does turn up proof, how tough will the punishment be? Are we talking about a fine or a few lost draft picks? Or could Leonard’s contract be voided? This story has, for the moment, exited the front-and-center news cycle, but it’s not going away. 

3. Lite Luka

Dončić became top model for the NBA’s annual “best shape of his life” campaign when pictures of him looking like someone let the air out of the Michelin man went viral. Dončić’s weight has always been a bit overblown in the sense that he’s spectacular, and always has been, at any weight. His gifts were delivered straight from the basketball gods. 

But there’s no denying the impact Dončić’s new physique could have on his basketball health and longevity, certainly through the full-career lens but also in terms of any given season. Take this one, for instance. He’s already going to be without LeBron through mid-November at least and likely a lot more than that as L.A. is obviously incentivized to lighten James’ load whenever and however it can. 

That takes a toll on a player like Dončić doing all the heavy lifting that sometimes doesn’t show up until late in the playoffs, where the Lakers hope to be playing. In this regard, a lighter Luka is, if not better, at least more durable. Only somehow, Luka, at 244 pounds, is actually listed as 14 pounds heavier than last season.

Don’t believe a digit of that. Either last year’s number was woefully low or this year’s number is high. Don’t give me the whole “muscle weighs more than fat” thing. This dude looks like a different person. He was unstoppable at Eurobasket and scored 56 points over 54 preseason minutes on 10-of-19 shooting from 3. This guy is primed to have a monster season. 

4. The Wemby takeover

The Spurs have a serious team, and Victor Wembanyama, who was spectacular through his first two seasons and was basically unstoppable during the preseason in shooting a cool 67% from the field, is probably a lock (assuming he plays the minimum 65 games) for Defensive Player of the Year and one of the All-NBA teams at least. 

The question is if he can be more than that in year three. At some point, Wembanyama is going to burst into the MVP conversation as he hits the fast track to becoming the best player in the world. There’s no stopping it. And this could be the year with De’Aaron Fox as his running mate and a lot of intriguing, albeit young, talent around him. 

If Wemby does take the MVP shortlist leap, are the Spurs ready to contend for a playoff spot? It seems like that would be asking a bit too much considering the gauntlet that is the Western Conference, but history has shown us if you have a top-five player you have to be taken ultra seriously. Is Wemby ready to be that great this early?

5. Zion’s now-or-never season

Zion has missed the equivalent of three full seasons worth of games over his six-year career. He’s played 30 or fewer games in four of those six seasons. He has been great enough in his limited action to warrant a max deal (albeit a heavily protected one with conditioning clauses) and annual optimism that this could be the year. 

Well, this really better be the year. Williamson, like Donċić, appears to be in the best shape of his NBA life. You’re forgiven if you didn’t even realize he played last year as the Pels became a punchline, but he was his typical dominant self over a 24-game stretch to close his campaign before being shut down in mid March. 

Everyone assumes the Pelicans are going to be a joke again this season. Joe Dumars is already doing weird stuff like trading two first-round picks, including an unprotected 2026 selection that could end up being very valuable, for Derik Queen and swapping out C.J. McCollum’s expiring deal for two more years of Jordan Poole, but Zion is intriguing enough on his own to pay attention to New Orleans for however long he can stay on the court. 

Because if he can’t do that now, at 25 years old and in terrific shape, it might be time to close the book on that ever being a realistic possibility again. 

6. Cooper plants his Flagg

The Mavericks have pounded the “defense wins championships” mantra into our collective brains since trading Luka, and this is their chance to prove it. Dallas’ defense could legitimately be a monster with Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II, a ton of length on the wings and rookie Cooper Flagg profiling, already, as an elite defender with legit Draymond Green upside in terms of instincts, anticipation, timing, footwork, rim protection and ability to guard across the positional spectrum. 

If you watched Flagg in his impressive preseason debut, you know this guy is on the fast track to special. He’s going to run some point guard for the Mavericks as a teenager, and he’s likely up for the challenge as a sensational passer and ball handler with size and what should eventually be a solid jumper. 

It’s still unbelievable that the Mavericks gave up Dončić and then got bailed out by landing Flagg a few months later. They’re going to have offensive creation problems until Kyrie Irving returns, but Flagg is an anomaly player who can legitimate do everything on the court and is going to be a joy to watch from day one. And he’s not alone in what has a chance to be …

7. An all-time rookie class?

In addition to Flagg, we’ve got Dylan Harper in San Antonio. Harper already looks like a vet with how comfortably he conducts offense. He’s going to get to the basket and once the jumper comes along, which it will, he’s going to be good enough, I believe, for the Spurs to start looking at De’Aaron Fox trades. 

Then there’s VJ Edgecombe, an electric two-way athlete taken No. 3 overall by Philadelphia who punctuated his preseason with 26 points, six rebounds and five steals. Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel is going to feel like a five-year vet by January. He just knows how to play and might honestly have the highest floor of any rookie outside Flagg. 

Ace Bailey, who had No. 1 overall talent but slipped to No. 5 because his agent made it known he didn’t want to play for certain teams, looked sensational in the preseason for Utah and could be in line to be a 20 PPG scorer in year one. 

Tre Johnson should be an elite shooter at least. The Spurs are pumped about Carter Bryant. Jeremiah Fears has had his moments already for New Orleans and if he ever figures out the jumper he’s scary talented. Collin Murray-Boyles. Derik Queen. Yang Hansen. National champion Walter Clayton Jr. looks like a player for the Jazz. This is a loaded class, plain and simple. Of course it’s all projection at this point, but it’s not hard to imagine a scenario in which 10 of these guys become All-Stars.

The core is still in place, but the Knicks beefed up the bench with Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson and new coach Mike Brown, who wants New York to shoot more 3-pointers than they did under Tom Thibodeau and generally get things moving offensively. 

It’s still going to be a lot of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, but Mitchell Robinson, who played in just 17 games last season, is healthy and adds a major element with his defense and offensive rebounding, the latter of which legit has the power to swing a playoff series. 

The Knicks can play two-big lineups, which is becoming increasingly necessary in a league starting to super size again, and they have more lineup versatility with Yabusele an option over Josh Hart in some lineups with Brown needs more shooting on the floor without compromising size and defense. The Knicks are my pick to come out of the East and make their first Finals since 1999. 

9. Giannis trade watch

Giannis hasn’t done anything to silence the skeptics who think he’s as good as gone from Milwaukee. He’s made no secret of the fact that he wants to compete for championships, and though he’s saying the right things about how he likes this current Bucks team and all, let’s be honest. This isn’t anything close to an honest contender, even in this Eastern Conference. 

Waiving and stretching Damian Lillard to the tune of five years and $113 million for the right to sign Myles Turner for north of $100 million more wasn’t a desperate move. It was downright delusional. Even if, yes, Giannis and Turner as a stretch center fit well together, as was the case with Giannis and Brook Lopez. That’s not enough. Giannis trade rumors are going to be flying around this season. 

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10. Old-en State Warriors

When the Warriors open their season against the Lakers Tuesday night, they are expected to start Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green and Brandin Podziemski. If the fifth starter is Al Horford, either in the opener or at any other point in the season, they will be the first team in NBA history to start four players who are 35 or older. 

But don’t mistake the age for a weakness. There are injury concerns, yes. But that’s true for every team. Golden State is quietly loaded. They went 22-5 down the stretch with both Curry and Butler in the lineup, and has Curry stayed healthy in the playoffs they were a good bet to be in the conference finals. 

And now they’ve added Horford, an absolutely perfect fit who gives them all kinds of lineup versatility that they have traditionally lacked without a shooting center. The Warriors are deep, connected, and complementary with Butler geared to play-make and Curry free to run around off ball. We will see how the arranged and likely short-term Jonathan Kuminga goes, but however that plays out, watch out for the Warriors. 

11. Thunder become the hunted

The Thunder were historic by just about any measurement last season and yet it seems like they aren’t yet thought of as a truly dominant team. Maybe I’m imagining that. But to me, this feels a lot like when people whispered about the validity of the Warriors’ 2015 championship only for Golden State to take that perceived slight and ride it to an NBA record 73-9 record the following year. 

OKC is almost certainly not going to win 70 games, but think about this: They won 68 last season and Chet Holmgren only played 32 games. There has been a lot of talk about Denver as the team to watch in the West; perhaps rightfully so, as the Nuggets did take OKC to seven games before adding some serious pieces this summer. 

The bottom line is it’s extremely difficult to win consecutive championships. It hasn’t been done since the 2017 and 2018 Warriors. In fact, no team has won two championships, at any point, over the last seven seasons. The Thunder were on the hunt last year. Now they’re the ones being hunted. Whole different ballgame. Let’s see how they handle it. 

12. Rockets still ready for takeoff?

Houston looked sensational in the preseason when all its guys played. Adding a bonafide No. 1 scorer in Kevin Durant to a defense like this would, under normal circumstances, almost guarantee inclusion in the contender conversation, but the Fred VanVleet injury might change the equation. That’s what we’re all waiting to see. 

Numbers won’t tell you how much VanVleet means, or meant, to this team as an offensive organizer and tone setter at the top of the defense. Houston is still terrifically talented on both ends with the addition of Durant and Dorian Finney-Smith and they are absolutely gigantic with their two-big lineup they’ll reportedly be starting on opening night, but barring a trade for an established point guard, is the VanVleet injury the thing that will keep them from true title contention?

That largely depends on two players, the first of which is …

Ben Simmons was supposed to be a generational player, and for three pretty magical seasons he was trending in that direction. But we know what happened after that. Fast forward to Amen Thompson, who could be in position to being to answer the question of what Simmons could have become as the next case study for how dominant a perimeter player, let alone a point guard, who can’t shoot can be in today’s game if he overwhelms the rest of the court with size, skill and athleticism. 

Now, there’s a big difference between Simmons, who flat out refused to shoot, and Thompson, who isn’t a good shooter but is at least willing and randomly capable from beyond the arc and actually made significant mid-range strides over the course of his sophomore season. But still, as NBA point guard standards go, we’re talking about an almost dysfunctionally bad 3-point shooter and under normal circumstances that’s pretty much a positional death knell. 

But there was nothing normal about prime Simmons and there certainly isn’t anything normal about Thompson, who qualifies as one of the most unique players we’ve ever seen — an even more souped up athletic version of Simmons who will, indeed, be Houston’s starting point guard to begin the season as the head of a certifiably jumbo-sized lineup that has the seven-foot Durant playing two guard. 

Thompson won’t be on the ball as much as a typical point guard as Houston will run a lot of its offense through Durant and Alperen Sengun, and eventually Reed Sheppard may work in as the starter as part of what is a perfectly complementary future backcourt with Thompson, but to a large degree Thompson was probably always going to require a shift to on-ball creation to reach his true ceiling as non-shooters off ball are always going to be somewhat stunted in the modern game, even though he’s already a sensational cutter and open-floor finisher. 

Thompson is one of the league’s must-watch players regardless of position, but the idea that he could be starting his journey toward answering the downright scary question of “what could an even more athletic Ben Simmons have become?” is a mouth-watering menu item this season. 

Also, as mentioned, Thompson isn’t the only participant in the Rockets’ sudden point-guard project …

14. It’s Reed Sheppard Time

The 2024 No. 3 overall pick, Sheppard, who didn’t get to do much as a rookie, broke out in Houston’s preseason finale and has a premium opportunity in front of him to lay claim to a major role on a potential contender after the VanVleet injury. Sheppard, who has the electric feel of a “drop whatever you’re doing and get to a TV” type player when he heats up, can be the consistent 3-point threat Houston needs to really unlock its offense. 

He can score from all three levels, off the dribble or catch, and he’s a big-time disruptive defender (seven stocks in the preseason finale was not a fluke if you believed the handsy defense he played at Kentucky would translate to the NBA). 

Sheppard will come off the bench for at least the first game of the season, but he could very well be headed for a starting spot next to Thompson if he plays well, perhaps on a matchup basis, and he’ll likely be running things a lot in the non-Thompson minutes. In the end, we know Thompson is a rapidly rising star no matter what position is listed next to his name, and he was going to be part of Houston’s core this season regardless. Sheppard is the X-factor. The guy who can really cover up for the VanVleet loss. 

15. Nikola Jokić chasing fourth MVP

Only four players in history have managed to win four MVPs in a six-year period: LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell: Nikola Jokić has a chance to become the fourth. That’s the level he’s at. He’s starting to demand inclusion in the all-time-greats conversation even though he’s only been an elite player for a little more than a half decade. Jokić’s last five years is one of the most individually dominant runs in NBA history, and the dots are all connected for that to continue this year on a very good Nuggets team. Speaking of …

Every year it seems like we’re saying the Nuggets’ fortunes depend on what version of Jamal Murray shows up. It’s true, you almost have to have a second star come playoff time to compete for a championship, but Denver did so much to beef up its roster this summer that Murray, in my estimation, doesn’t have to be incredible. 

The bench is deeper with Jonas Valančiūnas and the return of Bruce Brown, and Cam Johnson should be terrific as one of the better movement shooters in the league being thrown open by Jokić. This is arguably Denver’s best team of the Jokić era, including the 2023 team that won the title. Murray will have to be good in general and great in spots, but the fate of the team no longer lies so heavy in his hands. 

17. Can Bane put the O in Orlando?

Only three teams had a worse offensive rating than the Magic last season. So what did they do? They sent out what used to be a superstar package that included four future unprotected first-round picks and a pick swap to the Grizzlies for Desmond Bane. And now they’re everyone’s favorite team to make the leap in … stop me if you have heard this before … a wide-open Eastern Conference. 

Will it happen? Bane will certainly help. Right off the bat he’s a career 41% 3-point shooter for a team that made the fewest 3-pointers in the league last season. He can initiate offense, facilitate, and just his threat alone should seriously open the court for Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, who both live in the paint, to play in more space than they’ve ever had with the Magic. With how good this defense is, if Bane can just help to push the offense closer to league average Orlando should be a real force. 

18. Hawks set to fly?

In the wide-open East, the Hawks are potentially positioned to step into the Pacers’ Cinderella slipper as the out-of-nowhere postseason party crasher. They have some experience with this. Nobody saw their 2021 run to the Eastern Conference finals coming, and there’s an argument to be made that this roster is better than that one. 

Trae Young finally has the kind of perimeter defensive support he requires and an elite rim-protecting/stretch-shooting big man in Kristaps Porziņģis, which is going to open up the floor even more for Young to probe the paint. The Hawks should be a top-six seed at minimum. The question is whether they can be something more than that. Which brings us to …

19. The Trae Young referendum

If Young can’t, at the very least, get this Hawks team near 50 wins and securely into a no-stress playoff spot, it’s going to be time for a real conversation about whether, for all his talent, he can actually captain a winning ship. In all honesty, the conversation is already happening. The Hawks aren’t ready to commit a max contract to him. He was widely reported to be available for trade last summer and there were no takers. 

The stats are great — other than the 3-point shooting, which we might just have to accept is never going to be too far above league average at best and in the low 30 percents at worst — but they’re beginning to pick up that empty smell and it’s high time Young change the narrative. Again, if he can’t do it with a ton of defensive support both on the perimeter and at the rim, shooters and capable playmakers all around him, and a super stretch big in a weak Eastern Conference, maybe he’s just not No. 1 material. 

You can bet a lot of people already don’t see him as a real No. 1 franchise player, possibly even the Hawks. This is his chance to get back to the script he was starting to write in 2021. 

20. Ant and the Wolves

Anthony Edwards is box office and could be in line for an MVP leap. He keeps adding to his post game and already led the league in 3-pointers last season. His footwork and finishing deft is elite. His combination of skill and athleticism is probably unrivaled. HIs charisma is off the charts. And now he’s apparently going to be trying to set personal scoring PRs as a way of keeping himself interested against the league’s inferior competition. 

But Edwards is not player that will dictate Minnesota’s season. He’s the constant. To me, the swing guy remains Julius Randle, who can play at an All-NBA level or represent a contractual albatross over any 10-game stretch. If he picks up where he left off last season, watch out for the Wolves, who have made two consecutive conference finals. 

The Wolves were 22-4 down the stretch with Randle in the lineup and he was, for the most part, extraordinary all through the playoffs. That got him a $100 million extension with Minnesota. Again, if Randle plays like he did in the playoffs, that’s a bargain. But what are the chances he keeps that up? He really took to the fit with Edwards as the lead dog and it’s easy to forget he was a two-time All-NBA player with the Knicks, but he’s a polarizing player for a reason. The efficiency and effort isn’t always there, or hasn’t been, consistently, in the past. It’s not that he hasn’t been a good player, and at times a great one, for a long time, but oddly, even as he’s no longer a No. 1 option like he was in New York, there has never been more on his shoulders than there is with the Wolves. 

21. Sneaky Sixers

The Sixers have essentially been written off, which honestly makes them feel more dangerous than when everyone was trying to catapult them into the contender conversation after the Paul George signing. There isn’t much to say here beyond Joel Embiid’s health. If he can’t hold up, which he’s basically never been able to do through an entire regular and postseason, Philly is cooked. 

But if he can, and if George can give them 60 games, this remains a talented team. Tyrese Maxey is one of just six players who have averaged at least 26 points and six assists in each of the last two seasons, and rookie VJ Edgecombe is an athletic firecracker waiting to explode. They got Jared McCain and Quentin Grimes back. The East, as you’ve surely heard ad nauseam, is wide open. Keep an eye on the Sixers. 

22. The overlooked Cavs

Darius Garland thinks the Cavs would’ve won it all last season if he hadn’t gotten hurt. Saying stuff like this is utterly pointless, but who’s to say he’s wrong? They were right there all season with Oklahoma City as the best teams in the league, and they brought everyone back but Ty Jerome and Isaac Okoro, the latter of whom they replaced with Lonzo Ball, who is a perfect fit on a team of score-first guards who can fill that role of three-man with a 3-point shot they have long needed. 

Don’t think the Cavs are hearing all this “East is wide open” talk, either. The won 64 games last season (when have you ever seen a 64-win team returning pretty much everyone go this overlooked?) and have every right to believe they are a tier above everyone else in the East. I think they’re in for another huge regular season. After that, we’ll see if they’re heathy in the playoffs. 

23. Will Warriors trade Kuminga?

The story that dragged out all summer finally wrapped up, at least for the time being, when Kuminga and the Warriors agreed to a two-year, $46.8 million deal with the second year being a team option. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Kuminga is going to be with the Warriors all season. He becomes eligible to be traded on January 15, and this is definitely a deal priced to move. 

Which is to say, Golden State’s Kuminga conundrum is interesting on two fronts: Will he embrace the role Steve Kerr has long wanted him to fill and play well enough for the Warriors to resist deadline trade packages and keep the band together into the postseason? Or will the package that the Warriors ultimately get back for Kuminga, if only a fat trade exception, be the thing that bolsters the roster for the playoffs? 

24. Will Jazz trade Lauri Markannen?

Markkanen wasn’t eligible to be traded last season after signing five-year, $238 million last summer. This year he’s fair game and you can bet the Jazz are going to be fielding a lot of calls. Markkanen fits on any team and within any system as a seven-foot marksman who moves and can also use his size in getting to and finishing around the rim. 

Markkanen doesn’t fit Utah’s timeline. By the time the Jazz are ready to compete with Ace Bailey, Kyle Filipowski and Walter Clayton Jr. (who looked really good in the preseason), Markkanen is going to be on the wrong side of 30 with diminishing value. And yet we also know that Danny Ainge, and probably by extension Austin Ainge, will not make a trade unless a ski mask being worn and an obscene ransom demand is being met. 

Will the Jazz bend this rule to simply accept fair value for Markkanen? If they will, you’d have to imagine a lot of teams will be in line to pay as Markkanen is the type of guy who can genuinely move a good team’s needle in a championship direction. 

25. The oldest team in history?

Tom Haberstroh did the math on the Clippers being the oldest team in history with an average age of 33.2. Chris Paul is 40. Brook Lopez is 37. James Harden and Nic Batum are 36. Kawhi Leonard is 34. Bogdan Bogdanovic is 33. Bradley Beal is 32 and Kris Dunn is 31. They don’t have the four starters over 35 like the Warriors might have, but top to bottom this is a straight-up senior citizen squad by NBA standards and yet also one that most people expect to be right in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race. 

Putting the Kawhi investigation aside, there’s a lot to like about what happened for the Clippers over the summer. Adding Lopez was huge. It gives them two-big lineup options and the best backup center in the league. Beal is a major value add at the price they got him at (thanks for picking up the tab, Suns). John Collins fortifies one of the better front courts in the league and should be a primo pick-and-roll partner for Harden. We know the defense is elite with the anchor being Ivica Zubac, who’s one of the better two-way big men in the league. If the Clippers were in the East, they might legit be a Finals favorite. 

And five more …

• 26. Cade Cunningham and the Pistons: Cunningham is on the verge of becoming a top-10 player. He is so smooth and strong and more or less impossible to keep out of the paint. The jumper is going to keep getting more consistent, notably off the dribble. Detroit has the chops to be a top-four seed in the East, and seems like a prime candidate to swing some sort of major trade (can we please get Lauri Markkanen here?)

• 27. LaMelo Ball’s circus act: I say this affectionately, as I love watching Ball perform. One-legged step-back 3s are just a normal shot for him now. There’s no evidence that he can be a winning player or even stay healthy, but he’s an entertainer of the highest form and as long as he’s doing his thing I’ll always be watching. 

• 28. The Bronny James project: Don’t lie. You’ll be watching. And reading all the articles with his name splashed on the headline. He might not be a legitimate NBA player, but he’s a marquee NBA story every time he steps on the floor. 

• 29. Year 3 Scoot Henderson: The Blazers are intriguing for a number of reasons, but Scoot is still the guy that has to pop if Portland is really going to be exciting moving forward. Scoot was supposed to be a future superstar. They traded Damian Lillard to hand him the keys. And at this point, he does’t look like anything more than a rotational guy of your bench. I’m holding out hope for one more season that he can show us something more. 

• 30. Sleeper Celtics: Everyone has already written this off as a gap year for the Celtics, and ultimately it probably will be. But they still have Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard and they brought in Anfernee Simons. They should be able to score with pretty much anyone. The defense is the question without Jrue Holiday and Al Horford and Jayson Tatum, but there is talk that Tatum could come back this season. If Boston can just get into the playoffs and Tatum magically returns, who knows.