5 Biggest Storylines for NBA Season: Player Movement, Parity, and Lottery Reform

The NBA is back.

The 2026–27 NBA season begins Tuesday with a tripleheader, starting with a peculiar 3 p.m. ET tip-off between the new-look Celtics and Pistons, last year’s No. 1 seed in the East. 

The revamped Sixers, now featuring LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, will visit the defending champion Knicks at Madison Square Garden at 7 p.m., followed by a Western Conference finals rematch between the Thunder and Spurs at 9:30 p.m.

All games will be on NBC and Peacock.

After another chaotic offseason, here are the biggest storylines entering the season:

Impact of Offseason Player Movement

The Thunder, Spurs, and Knicks kept most of their core intact—and remain title favorites because of it—but the rest of the league will look noticeably different.

Six 2026 All-Stars are on new teams, and that doesn’t include former All-Stars (LaMelo Ball, Ja Morant) and several who were traded midseason but barely played, if at all, with their new teams (Trae Young, Anthony Davis, Jaren Jackson Jr., Ivica Zubac). 

The most intriguing move was LeBron James choosing to sign with the Sixers on a two-year, $8 million deal. James, who turns 42 in December, will command the spotlight—even though he’s arguably not even the best player the Sixers acquired this offseason—as he chases a fifth ring. Indeed, his off-court ventures, including his Polymarket deal and the Fanatics deal that provides the helicopter he uses to commute from New York to Philadelphia, have already gotten a lot of attention.

Will Parity Continue?

Commissioner Adam Silver’s NBA has happily promoted parity, constantly pushing its prized factoid: eight different NBA champions in the last eight years.

Many believe the much-maligned second apron is the reason, but Silver has argued parity existed before the second apron took effect in 2023. Regardless of causation, the league is embracing equality. This year, 24 teams have at least five national TV appearances, while 10 have at least 25 appearances. Both are records. 

The league could have a ninth unique champion if the Spurs, last year’s finalists, win the title. They have the second-highest title odds behind the Thunder. If James’s Sixers, third in title odds, were to win, they would also continue the streak.

Year 1 of Lottery Reform

The NBA’s tanking problem had gotten out of hand, to the point that several Wizards players admitted this offseason that the team wasn’t giving its all last year in an effort to draft AJ Dybantsa. 

The league’s new draft lottery rules kick in this season, disincentivizing teams from deliberately losing by giving the bottom three teams in the standings fewer lottery balls. 

The reform will have some impact; a look across many rosters shows fewer teams positioned to tank this season. 

But to what degree will the changes impact the league? Will there be a squeeze in the middle of the standings as teams try to compete? Will fewer players be subject to strict load management regimens? Will the league deliver more competitive games in the middle of the season—and could that parlay into a ratings bump?

At least one prominent NBA voice believes in the league’s decision.

“This is their attempt, and I think it’s going to be successful,” ESPN analyst Tim Legler said Monday during a call with reporters. “I do think we’re going to have far fewer blowouts because there’s going to be more teams that are not incentivized to lose.”

Fewer Scandals, for Now

A month before the 2025–26 season, Pablo Torre released a bombshell report accusing the Clippers of circumventing the salary cap. A month later, just after the season started, several current and former NBA players and coaches were arrested as part of a federal probe into illegal gambling.

But those cases have since quieted down, particularly after the NBA handed sweeping penalties to the Clippers last month. Former Heat guard Terry Rozier and ex-Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups continue to face legal proceedings.

The NBA continues to face scrutiny from players and fans alike about the prevalence of sportsbooks and prediction markets, and questions continue about potential salary cap circumvention, but the league isn’t facing anywhere near the firestorm it did last year. At least for now.

Capitalizing on the Finals Formula

A key storyline during the 2024–25 season was declining viewership numbers. But when the Knicks hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy last year, the league seemed to have found its antidote. The five-game Finals series between the Knicks and Spurs delivered the NBA’s largest championship audience since 1998, Michael Jordan’s final year with the Bulls. 

The league had several things going for it: New York, its biggest market, was clamoring for its first title in more than 50 years but had to climb past burgeoning superstar Victor Wembanyama to do it.

This season will showcase whether the league can carry over that momentum.