The NBA 2025-26 season is here! Over the next few weeks, we will consider the biggest issues, the best and worst scenarios, and win forecasts for all 30 franchises-with still revived teams to true contenders for the title.
2024-25 finish
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Record: 30-52 (11th place in the east, missed playoffs)
In the offseason moves
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Additions: Collin Murray-Boyles, Sandro Mamukelashvili
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Subtraction: Chris Bucker
(Sports illustration of Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo)
Great question: what do predators do?
For some time there in the fog after the championship it seemed that “predators” could cover the traditional perestroika in the absence of Kavha Leonard, tanking the 2020 season and scoring Scotti Barnes with a common choice No. 4. Kyle Lawi, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunobi remained from the debris for Little.
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The fact that Raptors received from New York NIX for Anunobi was R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quipl, to whom Toronto made the total 269.5 million dollars. Along with Barnes and Jacob Coelt, which should also be a total of 306.3 million dollars. The USA, Barrett and Quickley have formed the basis of the team that won a total of 55 games over the past two seasons. They build To The middle of the package.
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So, last season they traded on the injured Brandon Ingram, leaning towards mediocrity. When a healthy, Ingram is a very good player, even All-Star in his best manifestations, but he does not move Toronto’s needle much closer to the championship dispute. And they paid him, as if he had giving Ingrem an extension of $ 120 million.
This team has talent. The ceiling of this talent is a team that can go into the playoffs and compete in the first round. In addition, however, this year there is no high expectations.
A sharp taken, but fair. It could be argued that each of their five highest paid players is not worth his contract. If in combination they are still a middle team, they certainly do not correspond to their cost as one of the 10 highest wages of the league, which is paid in order to compete for the final of the conference.
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And what value do these players have for the trading market? It is hard to imagine that the team, believing that it is Barnes or Barrett, Ingrem or Poille or Quipls away from the championship, especially for every price tag.
So what do predators do? They gathered all this talent, allowing good players to walk for other players who made them worse than when they won 50 games a year under the guidance of Loury and Demara Derosan. At least this team had reason to believe that it was a piece.
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This team does not have this. Toronto is in a few parts from the relevance, and this will be the work of the head coach Daro Radzhakovich to convince his team otherwise. The middle of the NBA can be a dark place to be when one direction (below) becomes easier to achieve than another (top). Rajakovich must convince his accusations that they are building something, and not just to the middle, even if intuition speaks differently.
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Do not understand this analysis incorrectly. There is a very real probability that predators are greater than the sum of their parts, as often the teams of Lawry and Derosan were, especially at this oriental conference. It’s just that the largest amount of these parts is still at a distance of several levels from the championship dispute.
The best scenario
Ingrem remains healthy and repels the crime from the bottom of the rating. The development of Barnes promotes the list further, and everyone begins to believe in the ability of this group. The shock Dick improves in its third season, and this year the draft in the first round Collin Murray-Boyles is a revelation. “Predators” compete for a guaranteed place in the play -off, and fans can again believe in the future of this team.
If everything falls apart
The development of Barnes continues to stagnate. The influence of Ingram is not what Toronto depicted when he bargained for him, and the choice that they made for him is the first round of Indiana Pacials in 2026, it brings real value. Meanwhile, the predators are bad enough to make a lottery, but too good to provide an elite choice. They got stuck in the middle of the NBA, and this is not even enough to leave the tournament.
2025-26 Schedule
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Seasonal beginner: October 22 and Atlanta
Believe in Rajakovich's ability to hold this team together when he trains his work. Take it.
More preliminary views of the season
East: Atlanta Hawks • Boston Celtics • Brooklyn networks • Charlotte Hornets • Chicago bulls • Cleveland Cavaliers • Detroit pistons • Indiana Pisers • Miami Hit • Miluo Bax • New York NIX • Orlando Magic • Philadelphia 76ers • Toronto Raptors • Washington wizards
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West: Dallas Maveriks • Denver Nuggets • Warriors Golden Steat • Houston Rockets • Los -Andheles Clippers • Los -Angeles Lakers • Memphis Grizlis • Minnesota Timbervolves • New Orleans Pelicans • Oklahoma -City Thunder • Phoenix Sun • Portland Trail Blayers • Sacramento kings • San Antonio Opers • Utah jazz
