NBA Summer Forecast 2025-26: Turnarounds, turbulent teams and the biggest questions - ESPN
The 2025-26 NBA season is less than two months away, and excitement is already building for what should be another season full of shake-ups.
As the league prepares for the ripple effect of stars like Kevin Durant, Myles Turner and Kristaps Porzingis on new squads, other teams like the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers are preparing for a season without their stars. Could these new faces in new places and injuries make way for an unexpected NBA champion?
ESPN's Summer Forecast panel made up of our NBA insiders, answers the NBA's biggest questions heading into the 2025-26 season, including which team is expected to make a turnaround, which stars are likely to make an exit from their current teams and if we'll have a new team crowned champion for the eighth straight season. (Here's the math: A first-place vote received five points, a second-place vote three points and a third-place vote one.)
Here are the results:
Note: Our 2025-26 NBA Summer Forecast continues Tuesday with predictions for all the major awards.
T1. San Antonio Spurs/Atlanta Hawks: 55 points
2. Philadelphia 76ers: 49 points
3. Orlando Magic: 48 points
4. Minnesota Timberwolves: 6 points
5. Houston Rockets: 5 points
The Spurs produced a streak of 22 consecutive postseason appearances from 1997-98 to 2018-19 and could finally be poised to end their six-year drought after drafting in the top 10 for four straight years. The health and development of San Antonio's young talent — especially back-to-back NBA Rookie of the Year winners Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle — will be crucial in leading a revamped roster that now features another Rookie of the Year candidate in No. 2 pick Dylan Harper, along with veteran additions such as Luke Kornet and Kelly Olynyk.