Biggest Favorites Heading into Next NBA Season

We are not even a whole month removed from the 2025 NBA Finals and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s championship parade, and all eyes are already pointed toward next season.

The 2025 NBA Draft is over, the Summer League has started, and the summer trades are in full swing. There have already been a lot of big moves, as we have a nice picture of the 2025/2026 season before it even starts.

With that in mind, it is the best time of year for speculation and theorizing about who may prove the most successful and have the best chance for the title. 

OKC Thunder

Being the defending champion in the NBA means having a target on your back for the entire season, and the young OKC will be just that starting in October. They did not make any moves, as they did not have to, and will run it back again.

They will be a bit deeper, too, as the young rising star from Serbia, Nikola Jovic, will finally play in his first NBA game and bring some playmaking and scoring off the bench. While defending the title, they will grow stronger and better, all while developing their very young talent and the new rookies Thomas Sorber, Nique Clifford, and Brooks Barnhizer. Overall, MVP Shai Gilgeous Alexander and company are the biggest favorites for the title yet again as we witness a dynasty in the making.

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Denver Nuggets

It will now be the third season since the Nuggets captured their first franchise title, which was followed by two early eliminations in the playoffs in 2024 and 2025. With Nikola Jokic playing better than ever, which is scary for the league considering his three MVPs, the Nuggets finally have a solid team surrounding him.

Trading Michael Porter Junior was the right move as he did not fit, and Cam Johnson will surely fit in well with the established squad. Jammal Murray and  Christian Braun will get some spark off the bench with defense and shooting with the signing of the return of Tim Hardaway Junior and Bruce Brown.

They finally have their shooters, and Jonas Valanciunas off the bench to allow Jokic some rest is an underrated move. It could be a Western Conference Finals matchup between the Nuggets and OKC in 2026…

Houston Rockets 

…or could it? The Rockets did the unthinkable and brought over one Kevin Durant from Phoenix. The No. 2 seed last season has their finisher and leader now, and then they signed Dorian Finney Smith, a valuable scoring and defense piece.

Giving up Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green was a small price to pay in the end. But they were not done there, as they brought back center Clint Capela, extended Steven Adams, and picked Khaman Maluach with the 10th pick in the draft.

With Fred VanVleet, Alperen Sengun, Jabbari Smith Junior, and Amen Thompson thriving, they have a very deep team to make a deep push and challenge the West. 

The East is Fully Open

Free agency is in full swing, and as the West has gotten stronger, the East is in a desperate situation caused by severe injuries to star players. The Celtics have officially blown it up following Jayson Tatum’s Achilles tear.

They traded away Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and possibly Al Horford, and next season will be rough for the team with Jalen Brown at the helm. The same goes for the East finalists Indiana Pacers. Tyrese Haliburton also tore his Achilles and will miss considerable time, and the team lost Miles Turner to their rivals, the Milwaukee Bucks. For them, too, the 2025/2026 will not be kind as the young core will have to carry a significant load. 

Then there are the aforementioned Bucks. Sure, they signed Turner, but they lost Brook Lopez to the Clippers. More importantly, they waived Damian Lillard (Achilles tear) and now have a strange roster that does not help Giannis Antetokounmpo to win at all.

They brought back a few players, signed Gary Harris, but that is nowhere near enough to contend. It could be an Orlando Magic versus Detroit Pistons Eastern Conference Finals in 2026, with the two up-and-coming young teams gearing up for a season of growing and making names for themselves. 

Jury is Still Out

While the aforementioned teams and situations make things clear, others are anything but. The LA Lakers, for example, are in stagnation. Signing DeAndre Ayton will not be enough, nor as effective as people expect. LeBron and Luka need more help.

The LA Clippers signed Brook Lopez and then traded Norman Powell for John Collins. They got bigger, re-signed James Harden and Nicolas Batum, and with Kawhi Leonard leading, they could make some noise in the heavily contested West. There are rumors of Chris Paul playing his final year in the league with them, but that remains to be seen.

Dallas is in a great spot with No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg joining a stacked team of Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and Klay Thompson. However, those three are very injury prone and in the later stages of their career, so questions are being raised about how much they can do together.