2026 Offseason Previews
The hub for all 30 offseason previews covering the salary cap sitaution, assets, and goals for every team.
Atlanta Hawks | Boston Celtics | Brooklyn Nets | Charlotte Hornets | Chicago Bulls | Cleveland Cavaliers | Dallas Mavericks | Denver Nuggets | Detroit Pistons | Golden State Warriors | Houston Rockets | Indiana Pacers | Los Angeles Clippers | Los Angeles Lakers | Memphis Grizzlies | Miami Heat | Milwaukee Bucks | Minnesota Timberwolves | New Orleans Pelicans | New York Knicks | Oklahoma City Thunder | Orlando Magic | Philadelphia 76ers | Phoenix Suns | Portland Trail Blazers | Sacramento Kings | San Antonio Spurs | Toronto Raptors | Utah Jazz | Washington Wizards
Dallas Mavericks
Resetting the Mavericks - 2026 Offseason Preview
We are now one year removed from the Luka Doncic trade, and the worst appears to be behind us. The chain of events of the trade led the Mavericks to missing the playoffs and lucking into Cooper Flagg. He’s played exactly as advertised so far with one of the most outstanding seasons for a player who was 18-years-old for a good chunk of the season. Nico Harrison’s actions may have inadvertently put Dallas in a better position to win a championship in the future by having a generational player fall into their laps.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Maximizing the Cavaliers' Remaining Window - 2026 Offseason Preview
Perhaps no two teams entered the 2025-26 season with more pressure than the Knicks and Cavaliers. The Eastern Conference was weaker than usual due to various injuries to contenders and a tanking crisis. Internally, making the Eastern Conference Finals was a minimum requirement. Both teams stumbled at various points throughout the season, but they ultimately got where they were expected to go.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Resolving the Thunder's Expensive Roster - 2026 Offseason Preview
The Thunder’s campaign to win a second consecutive championship got off to a blistering start, including a 24-1 start and a 16-game win streak. Then they faced the Spurs in December and lost to them three times. They were the first team to give them real problems, and they bled into their matchup in the Western Conference Finals. They ultimately lost in what was a close series that proved that, as deep as their roster is, they will have a real challenger over the next few years in their quest to return to the Finals.
Milwaukee Bucks
Setting the Table for the Post-Giannis Bucks - 2026 Offseason Preview
After 13 glorious years in Milwaukee, including two trips to the Conference Finals, two MVPs, and a championship, the Giannis Antetokounmpo era appears to be coming to an end. The Bucks no longer have a contending roster to surround him with, and they have exhausted most of their means to significantly improve it. A separation is in both sides’ best interest.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Challenges of Upgrading the Wolves Roster - 2026 Offseason Preview
The Timberwolves couldn’t reach the Western Conference Finals for a third consecutive season, but they continue to exceed expectations since the Rudy Gobert trade. They’ve had nearly as much success over the past four years as they did in the rest of this century before that stretch. They got exactly what they hoped for: a great team that will compete in the playoffs and occasionally make a deep run.
Detroit Pistons
Elevating the Pistons to True Title Contenders - 2026 Offseason Preview
The Pistons continue to blast through expectations. After going from one of the worst teams in the league to a six seed last season, many expected them to remain at a similar level or improve only marginally, given they made no significant upgrades in the offseason. That thinking felt justified after their hot start kept them as the top seed in the East, including a 13-game winning streak.
Los Angeles Clippers
Navigating an Uncertain Clippers Summer - 2026 Offseason Preview
The Clippers just endured one of the most volatile seasons in recent history. They were expected to compete for a playoff spot with one of the oldest rotations ever assembled. Instead, they flopped out of the gate and started 6-21. They then pulled off one of the better in-season turnarounds in recent memory, finishing just over .500 despite making trades that arguably made them worse.
Atlanta Hawks
How the Hawks are Equipped to Upgrade the Roster - 2026 Offseason Preview
The Hawks are one of the best examples this decade of how quickly a team can turn things around. They went from having a poor outlook to one that should be sustainable in the present while still giving them a bright future. They have a lot of cap flexibility, several high draft picks, and talented young players to look forward to. That doesn’t even account for their lottery luck, which hasn’t helped them.
Orlando Magic
Rationalizing the Magic's Long-Term Plan - 2026 Offseason Preview
After several fantastic draft picks and feisty playoff performances, the Magic topped off their rebuild by trading for Desmond Bane. The first season didn’t go as expected, with several long-term injuries holding them back and some growing pains that limited them to the 8-seed. Their outlook looks shaky, but then they showed glimpses of their high ceiling in the first four games of the Pistons series when the group was fully healthy.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Ultimate Guide to the Lakers Cap Space - 2026 Offseason Preview
The Lakers just finished year two with Luka Doncic and have plenty of progress to report. They won more games than last season and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. J.J. Redick has established himself as a strong floor-raising coach after two straight 50-win seasons and some growth in the postseason. Austin Reaves has elevated himself to an All-Star caliber player with significant strides on offense.
Philadelphia 76ers
Making Sense of the Sixers Outlook - 2026 Offseason Preview
The Sixers are two years removed from their massive 2024 free agency, when they signed Paul George. That signing, along with new contracts for Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, was the culmination of a year-long plan meant to set them up for title contention through the end of the decade. Instead, the Sixers have been lucky to have all three on the court together in the same game.
Boston Celtics
Analyzing the Celtics Options Within Their Luxury Tax Constraints - 2026 Offseason Preview
The Celtics didn’t participate in the tanking wars, but they still had somewhat of a “gap year”. Instead of focusing on retaining or replacing high-end talent on the roster, they emphasized short and long-term salary cap and luxury tax flexibility. Perhaps it may have cost them a playoff series win or two, but the costs required to run back their 2024 and 2025 rosters were too expensive and unsustainable.
Indiana Pacers
Looking Ahead to a Quiet Pacers Summer - 2026 Offseason Preview
The pain of losing in the NBA Finals in Game 7 was compounded when Tyrese Haliburton ruptured his Achilles tendon early on in the game. Thankfully, the Pacers front office made one of the more timely trades in recent history by trading the 23rd overall pick in the upcoming draft for their 2026 first-round pick back. This put them in an enviable position compared to the rest of the league of being a contender in play for a lottery pick.
Toronto Raptors
Why the Raptors May Be Stuck in the Middle - 2026 Offseason Preview
The post-2019 title seasons have been rough for the Raptors. They missed the playoffs in four of the following six seasons and refused to enter a full-scale rebuild. Instead, they held onto veterans and replaced them with others in an attempt to push back into the playoffs. After winning a title with no lottery picks, it’s understandable why they felt they had enough to compete for one after selecting a great one in Scottie Barnes.
Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets' Complicated Path Forward - 2026 Offseason Preview
The Nuggets are now three seasons removed from their championship and appear to be at a major crossroads. Despite not making it back to the conference finals, their core around Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon showed enough fight in the playoffs to justify sticking with it. It took time for their key players to peak around the same time, coinciding with a 12-game winning streak to end the season. If everything broke right, it felt like they had a path back to the Finals.
Houston Rockets
Unpacking the Houston Rockets' Outlook - 2026 Offseason Preview
The Rockets are now three seasons removed from their rebuild, and the results have been simultaneously encouraging and worrying. They made a meteoric leap last season, going from a .500 team that barely missed the Play-In Tournament to a two-seed that lost in a hard-fought first-round series. In need of more shooting and spacing, they acquired Kevin Durant for a relatively low price. It accelerated their timeline and raised expectations, but it also validated the front office’s belief in its young core.
Portland Trail Blazers
How the Blazers are Poised for a Major Leap - 2026 Offseason Preview
After four straight losing seasons and trips to the draft lottery, it was time for the Trail Blazers to transition back toward competition. Things looked shaky early in the 2024-25 season, with little progress to show from several recent draft picks. Then they had a relatively strong second half, going 23-18, fueled by a major improvement from Deni Avdija. They also established an identity in the process with a defensive-first play style.
Phoenix Suns
Another Challenging Summer for the Suns - 2026 Offseason Preview
Perhaps no team in NBA history raised its expectations as quickly and aggressively as the Suns did in 2023. They leveraged themselves to the maximum extent possible, having traded all the first and second-round picks they could to acquire Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and the rest of the roster. They could keep the team together for the first two seasons before roster expenses would’ve approached
Charlotte Hornets
Looking Ahead to a Big Hornets Offseason - 2026 Offseason Preview
When the Hornets drafted LaMelo Ball, it felt like they had turned a corner and finally nearing the end of their rebuild. Instead, subsequent draft blunders set them back and extended a playoff drought that dated back to 2016. Some teams in their position would have tried to improve the roster quickly just to end it. Then, new ownership took over, and the Hornets made the difficult decision to “re-rebuild”, focusing deeper on the draft and developing their players.
Golden State Warriors
Understanding the Warriors Complicated Summer Ahead - 2026 Offseason Preview
We are deep into the late stages of the Warriors’ dynasty, and it has been a roller coaster, to say the least. They’ve had one of the more volatile stretches in recent memory, going from missing the playoffs to winning a championship, then either missing the playoffs again or falling short of the Conference Finals. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Steve Kerr have continued to play their parts, but missed draft picks, injury luck, and general roster inconsistency have left them closer to an average team for most of this stretch.
New Orleans Pelicans
Weighing If the Pelicans Should Rebuild - 2026 Offseason Preview
The Pelicans endured a tumultuous year after coming into it with intentions to win. They received a ton of negative publicity as early as last offseason, sparked by controversial moves by their new front office. Despite earnestly trying to win games, they lost as much as the teams losing on purpose to maximize lottery odds. This was a damaging and embarrassing result considering they traded away not one but two 2026 first-round picks that ended up in the lottery.
Miami Heat
The Heat's Guide to Trading for a Star - 2026 Offseason Preview
The Miami Heat are one year removed from trading Jimmy Butler. The return did not get a massive haul of draft capital, a blue-chip young centerpiece, or a veteran who clearly raised their ceiling. Still, they have tried to balance remaining as competitive as possible while leaning more heavily on internal development, and they have managed to straddle both timelines better than expected.