NBA season preview: Thunder, Doncic, Flagg and the biggest storylines for 2025-26

The 2025-26 NBA season tips off tonight. The Oklahoma City Thunder are back to defend their championship, and Luka Doncic begins his first full season with the Lakers.

Preseason games, trades, and workouts are behind us. Tonight marks the start of the new season. Less than four months after the Thunder won Game 7 of a thrilling finals series against the Indiana Pacers to claim the first title in franchise history, Oklahoma City will host its first ring night. The Thunder open the season against the Houston Rockets (7:30 p.m. ET), one of the West’s biggest threats—and the team that added Kevin Durant this summer, the former Thunder star who became public enemy No. 1 when he left for Golden State in 2016.

Doncic takes the reins in L.A.

Later, the Golden State Warriors led by Stephen Curry face the Lakers… and Doncic (10 p.m. ET). With LeBron James sidelined from the opening game due to injury for the first time in his 23 NBA seasons, Los Angeles’ night session will make clear that this team is now Doncic’s. The Slovenian star enters a pivotal eighth season in the league, physically and mentally ready after the shock trade from Dallas that rocked the basketball world in February. He’s prepared to reclaim his top form, pursue an MVP award, and lead a Lakers squad in the midst of a historic sale process, still figuring out how to build a championship-caliber team around him.

West favorites and MVP races

Still, the Lakers are far from favorites. So are the veteran Warriors, with Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler, and Al Horford. The top predictions in the West favor the Thunder, Rockets, and Denver Nuggets, led by Nikola Jokic. After another EuroBasket without a medal, Jokic is aiming for his fourth MVP and, more importantly, a second championship ring. If he falls short again, his 2023 title could begin to feel like a distant memory. Denver may face challenges this season.

Eastern Conference hurdles

In the East, which doesn’t start until tomorrow (Wednesday) with the season’s first marathon of 12 games, the last two conference champions are already down stars with Achilles injuries. The Celtics will be without Jayson Tatum for nearly the entire season, while the Pacers have confirmed Tyrese Haliburton is unlikely to play until next year.

That opens opportunities for the New York Knicks, who fell just short of a finals push in May, and a Cleveland Cavaliers squad with the league’s highest payroll at $392.3 million, including luxury tax.

Season milestones and key dates

The 82-game regular season for each of the 30 teams, totaling 1,230 games, begins today and runs through April 12.

The play-in tournament takes place April 14–17, followed by the 2026 playoffs starting April 18. The third NBA Cup, previously won by the Lakers and Bucks, will conclude in Las Vegas on December 16.

All-Star Weekend is set for February 13–15 at the luxurious Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers.

A season of generational shifts

This season could be remembered as a generational shift in NBA stardom. LeBron turns 41 in December, while Curry and Durant are both 37.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 27, begins the season atop the throne after a perfect year: champion, league MVP, finals MVP, and scoring leader. Jokic, Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, all in their theoretical primes (30 for Jokic and Giannis, 26 for Doncic), will again battle for supremacy, now facing emerging stars like 21-year-old Victor Wembanyama entering his third season with the Spurs.

The league will also welcome new talent like Cooper Flagg, the latest No. 1 draft pick, making his debut with the Mavericks at just 18. His star potential is generational, signaling the next wave of NBA stories.

As the season begins, all eyes are on the champion Thunder, who enter as favorites to repeat—a feat no team has accomplished since the Warriors in 2018.

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