NBA News August 14: NBA Schedule, Sixers in trouble and Beal stays
The NBA has unveiled the complete 2026-27 schedule, including the dates for the big returns of Giannis, Jaylen Brown and Trae Young. Meanwhile, Bradley Beal has decided his future with the Clippers
Phone calendars can officially start filling up. After Opening Night, Christmas Day and the NBA Cup, the NBA has released the complete schedule for the 2026-27 season, and we can finally find out when all those returns created by last summer’s wild offseason will take place. And there are quite a few of them this year.
Giannis returns to Milwaukee, Brown heads back to Boston
Probably the most emotional date is January 28, 2027, when Giannis Antetokounmpo returns to Milwaukee for the first time in a Miami Heat uniform. After 13 seasons, two MVPs, an NBA championship and practically an entire life spent with the Bucks, it will be quite strange to see him walk into that arena through the visitors’ tunnel. Giannis and Bobby Portis will already face Milwaukee for the first time on November 18 in Miami, but it’s pretty obvious which of the two games will carry an entirely different meaning.
Seven days earlier, it will be Jaylen Brown’s turn, with Philadelphia visiting Boston on January 21. Brown spent 10 years with the Celtics and now finds himself on the other side of one of the Eastern Conference’s historic rivalries alongside LeBron James, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. And they won’t be the only interesting returns: Trae Young will be in Atlanta on November 6, Ja Morant will return to Memphis on February 6, and LaMelo Ball will play in Charlotte again on February 15.
LeBron and the Sixers won’t have time to get acquainted
In Philadelphia, meanwhile, someone probably looked at the first few weeks of the schedule and started wondering what the Sixers had done to anger the NBA. In their first 14 games, the Sixers will face the Knicks, Pistons, Pacers and Cavaliers twice each, meaning eight games against some of the Eastern Conference’s top teams while the new group is still finding its footing.
It will be an enormous early test for a team that was completely revamped over the summer. The curiosity surrounding the new Sixers is also evident from the national television schedule: Philadelphia will have 34 nationally televised games, compared with 14 last year. LeBron still moves the needle quite a bit, apparently. At least the schedule offers a small favor from a physical standpoint: back-to-backs are down from 16 to 13.
Trae Young returns to Atlanta, AD will have to wait
Washington will also have a couple of dates to circle. Trae Young will return to Atlanta on November 6, and he’ll do so during an NBA Cup game, no less. After being traded in January without having the opportunity to immediately face the Hawks in his old arena, this time the date is set.
Anthony Davis, on the other hand, will have to wait quite a bit longer. The first game for the former Maverick in Dallas wearing a Wizards uniform won’t come until March 11, 2027. It will be interesting to see what shape Washington is in by that point of the season, especially after building a project that brings together Davis, Trae and No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa.
Bradley Beal stays with the Clippers
While everyone was looking at schedules and dates, the market also made some movement overnight. Bradley Beal has agreed to return to the Los Angeles Clippers on a two-year, $13.2 million deal, with a player option for the second year.
Beal considered several options during free agency before choosing Los Angeles again. It certainly isn’t the kind of contract he would have signed a few years ago, but for the three-time All-Star, it can become another opportunity to revive his career on a team that continues to have significant ambitions.
Now we really have everything
The Regular Season will begin Tuesday, October 20, with Celtics-Pistons, Knicks-Sixers and Spurs-Thunder, and will end Sunday, April 11, 2027, when all 30 teams will be in action simultaneously. For now, each team knows 80 of its 82 games: the final two matchups will depend on the results of the NBA Cup.
Now comes the fun part: identifying the toughest stretches, the most favorable schedules, the back-to-backs and, above all, those teams that could become particularly interesting on certain days from a fantasy basketball perspective. The NBA has given us all the dates. Now it’s time to start studying them.
That’s all for today. NBA News by Dunkest returns tomorrow morning with another recap and all the news you don’t want to miss from around the NBA.