Inside the NBA’s 2025-26 Gamble: Which Teams Will Rise to Glory or Crash and Burn?
Alternatively, Durant missing a significant amount of time puts Houston’s spacing issues back at square one. Opposing teams now have enough film and data on Ime Udoka’s double-big lineups and can use their perceived strength as a glaring weakness.
— Read Kelly Iko’s full preview
LA Clippers
Best-case scenario: An utterly unfazed and unbothered Kawhi Leonard plays 70 games for the first time since San Antonio at an All-NBA First Team level, allowing everybody else to fit comfortably into their complementary roles. James Harden remains one of the game’s premier orchestrators, and Chris Paul ably serves as an understudy in his absence. Bradley Beal bounces back, John Collins seizes the opportunity, everybody else stars in their role, and Tyronn Lue pulls all the right levers. The Clippers win 55 games, finish with a top-two seed in the West and home-court advantage in Round 1 … and a healthy Kawhi leads them back to the Western Conference finals.


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