2026 NBA Season

[LogitechMouse]

NBA Central is reporting that LeBron is asking for a max contract and the Lakers are “nowhere near” offering him that. This could be an ugly end in Los Angeles for LeBron. That’s why I’d like to see him go to Golden State. It would change the environment and give LeBron a chance to be happy again. He didn’t seem happy last season.

I read this article coming from Sports Illustrated with regards to Lebron, and at one part, it says:

According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the Lakers are not expected to offer James the maximum of $182 over the next three years.

The Lakers technically could offer James a maximum of three years and $182 million to stay, but nobody around the league expects the team to offer James anywhere close to that.

He's asking for the max contract, and that's the max that the Lakers can offer, but we know that the Lakers will not give him a contract like that anymore. Now we are seeing another "who surrenders first" type of negotiation yet again. Lebron wants to be a Laker still, but his asking for a max contract. On the other hand, the Lakers can still get him obviously, but they will not give him a huge contract anymore. They'll focus their roster on building around Luka, and if Lebron don't want to get a lower contract, the Lakers will not chase him anymore.

Now as for him going to Golden State, the max money that they can offer to him is only $15M per year. Would you expect Lebron to get a contract that low? Probably especially if he really is that desperate to play alongside Curry, but I don't think that he will TBH.

[tech30338]

Lebron is the second best player in that team ,and a 42 year old dude being your second best player is not a way to win a league title, you can't become champions with Lebron being your second best player. Don't get me wrong, Lebron on his peak could carry a team to a title all by himself, that dude is the greatest of all time to many, and he has done like nearly ten years in a row finals, so of course he is great.

I am just saying, he is not anymore, not like now, dude is 42 years old. If Lakers wants to win anything, they need to make sure they can put Lebron in a role, and then have another superstar for Doncic to play off of, if they can do that and put Lebron at third or even fourth behind reves, then yeah they will be fine, but they need one more star for that.

The problem with the team he is in, is the players failed to be healthy all year long, I think if he's teammates before and now are healthy he could have more than six rings to be honest, but unfortunately maybe its a curse for him having healthy all season, because his teammates gets injured on the road to the finals.
Lebron can still have impact on the team but don't put him in a position where he needs to carry the team because as much as he want's to, his body can no longer tolerate that and might get an injury along the way, but if he can be the 2nd or 3rd scorer they can win another ring for sure.

[xzone]

What a season we had. New York Knicks end the 53-year drought.

The tradition continues. No team can win championship back to back. We always see new champion in last 9 seasons. Honestly I like that way better. No dynasty, more competition.

I agree, I think the NBA isn't as enjoyable when one team wins the championship year after year. This way, the NBA atmosphere stays alive in every city, and it's more enjoyable to watch. Denver, Dallas, OKC, GSW, Phoenix Suns – the whole country has had championships one after another, I hope it continues like this. Compared to the years when the Lakers or GSW dominated the NBA, watching the games now is more enjoyable; every team has a chance this way

[Cointxz]

What a season we had. New York Knicks end the 53-year drought.

The tradition continues. No team can win championship back to back. We always see new champion in last 9 seasons. Honestly I like that way better. No dynasty, more competition.

I agree, I think the NBA isn't as enjoyable when one team wins the championship year after year. This way, the NBA atmosphere stays alive in every city, and it's more enjoyable to watch. Denver, Dallas, OKC, GSW, Phoenix Suns – the whole country has had championships one after another, I hope it continues like this. Compared to the years when the Lakers or GSW dominated the NBA, watching the games now is more enjoyable; every team has a chance this way

Only the era of Lebron which I don’t like same team winning NBA championship over and over again because we all knew that they stacked star player to create a superteam with bloated salary cap.

I don’t have problem on other team like Spurs, OKC, or GSW that has natural talent that they developed on their own until they become a superstar caliber.

However, current NBA teams is now very hard to dominate since many already applying a self development player instead of acquiring old star player with huge salary. Most of the team that still apply old strats suffer on the lowest rank like Kings.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

What a season we had. New York Knicks end the 53-year drought.

The tradition continues. No team can win championship back to back. We always see new champion in last 9 seasons. Honestly I like that way better. No dynasty, more competition.

I agree, I think the NBA isn't as enjoyable when one team wins the championship year after year. This way, the NBA atmosphere stays alive in every city, and it's more enjoyable to watch. Denver, Dallas, OKC, GSW, Phoenix Suns – the whole country has had championships one after another, I hope it continues like this. Compared to the years when the Lakers or GSW dominated the NBA, watching the games now is more enjoyable; every team has a chance this way

It's very competitive right now, as there are super teams although not every team is very successful having 2 or 3 MVP's on their lineup. Although the NBA has become so soft like SGA's flopping last season, but still very good to watch as we have young players like Wemby or even Cooper Flag and the rest of the rookies.

But now it's a total reset, and most teams are going to rebuild. I have seen news about Trae Young might not sign with the Wizards and may opt out of his contract. Or even Giannis moving to Miami or even Lebron. So there will be a lot of moves in the off-season that making a back to back champion will be very hard indeed.

[OgNasty]

What a season we had. New York Knicks end the 53-year drought.

The tradition continues. No team can win championship back to back. We always see new champion in last 9 seasons. Honestly I like that way better. No dynasty, more competition.

I agree, I think the NBA isn't as enjoyable when one team wins the championship year after year. This way, the NBA atmosphere stays alive in every city, and it's more enjoyable to watch. Denver, Dallas, OKC, GSW, Phoenix Suns – the whole country has had championships one after another, I hope it continues like this. Compared to the years when the Lakers or GSW dominated the NBA, watching the games now is more enjoyable; every team has a chance this way

Only the era of Lebron which I don’t like same team winning NBA championship over and over again because we all knew that they stacked star player to create a superteam with bloated salary cap.

I don’t have problem on other team like Spurs, OKC, or GSW that has natural talent that they developed on their own until they become a superstar caliber.

However, current NBA teams is now very hard to dominate since many already applying a self development player instead of acquiring old star player with huge salary. Most of the team that still apply old strats suffer on the lowest rank like Kings.

I feel like the Denver Nuggets had a chance to be a dynasty but injuries and eventually blowing up the roster prevented that. If I were to pick the next dynasty, San Antonio seems the obvious choice. If Wemby can stay healthy that team will be scary in the next few years.

[Cointxz]

Only the era of Lebron which I don’t like same team winning NBA championship over and over again because we all knew that they stacked star player to create a superteam with bloated salary cap.

I don’t have problem on other team like Spurs, OKC, or GSW that has natural talent that they developed on their own until they become a superstar caliber.

However, current NBA teams is now very hard to dominate since many already applying a self development player instead of acquiring old star player with huge salary. Most of the team that still apply old strats suffer on the lowest rank like Kings.

I feel like the Denver Nuggets had a chance to be a dynasty but injuries and eventually blowing up the roster prevented that. If I were to pick the next dynasty, San Antonio seems the obvious choice. If Wemby can stay healthy that team will be scary in the next few years.

You’re right about this one. I don’t know what Denver thinking when they blowup immediately their roster especially their bench players after winning the championship while the chemistry was already there when they claim championship.

It’s hard to start from scratch on their bench players since their main roster sometimes being injured that time. Also, MPJ performance drop drastically even without injury.

[yahoo62278]

NBA Central is reporting that LeBron is asking for a max contract and the Lakers are “nowhere near” offering him that. This could be an ugly end in Los Angeles for LeBron. That’s why I’d like to see him go to Golden State. It would change the environment and give LeBron a chance to be happy again. He didn’t seem happy last season.

I read this article coming from Sports Illustrated with regards to Lebron, and at one part, it says:

According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the Lakers are not expected to offer James the maximum of $182 over the next three years.

The Lakers technically could offer James a maximum of three years and $182 million to stay, but nobody around the league expects the team to offer James anywhere close to that.

He's asking for the max contract, and that's the max that the Lakers can offer, but we know that the Lakers will not give him a contract like that anymore. Now we are seeing another "who surrenders first" type of negotiation yet again. Lebron wants to be a Laker still, but his asking for a max contract. On the other hand, the Lakers can still get him obviously, but they will not give him a huge contract anymore. They'll focus their roster on building around Luka, and if Lebron don't want to get a lower contract, the Lakers will not chase him anymore.

Now as for him going to Golden State, the max money that they can offer to him is only $15M per year. Would you expect Lebron to get a contract that low? Probably especially if he really is that desperate to play alongside Curry, but I don't think that he will TBH.

I think Lebron is the 1 who caves this time as he will see that noone is going to offer him anywhere close to what he wants due to his age. He doesn't suck, but he is a liability for a team at this age. The fact that he spends so much money taking care of his body year after year is what might tempt a team to spend big, but it will not be from a  contender and I doubt James is interested in playing for a rebuild year.

[coinrifft]

Only the era of Lebron which I don’t like same team winning NBA championship over and over again because we all knew that they stacked star player to create a superteam with bloated salary cap.

I don’t have problem on other team like Spurs, OKC, or GSW that has natural talent that they developed on their own until they become a superstar caliber.

However, current NBA teams is now very hard to dominate since many already applying a self development player instead of acquiring old star player with huge salary. Most of the team that still apply old strats suffer on the lowest rank like Kings.

I feel like the Denver Nuggets had a chance to be a dynasty but injuries and eventually blowing up the roster prevented that. If I were to pick the next dynasty, San Antonio seems the obvious choice. If Wemby can stay healthy that team will be scary in the next few years.

You’re right about this one. I don’t know what Denver thinking when they blowup immediately their roster especially their bench players after winning the championship while the chemistry was already there when they claim championship.

It’s hard to start from scratch on their bench players since their main roster sometimes being injured that time. Also, MPJ performance drop drastically even without injury.

If I'm not mistaken and if my memory serves me right, MPJ is suffering from a back injury when he was with the Nuggets that's why his performance drop. And so he was traded in Brooklyn wherein he proves that he can score if being healthy.

Perhaps that was their biggest fault though, to break their roster after winning and just keep their core. And with that, not sure what kind of changes they need for the upcoming season. I guess they just needed to be healthy, specially Gordon who missed a lot of games because of injury.

[emrecemsan]

What a season for Jalen Brunson that was really... He collected every prize he could!    This will probably be his top season until the end of his career as he is 29 already.

But being this successful with Knicks who weren't able to become champions for 53 years is a very special work man! They beat the best Spurs of the recent years. They weren't that "best" in the final series though...

[Webetcoins]

Not sure about this actually, although Luka was out last playoffs so we cannot confirm, but prior to that OKC dominated them in every or most of their matchups, so if that is still the basis, they will not be able to get past OKC, how much more the Spurs. I think the current Lakers lineup is really a problem if we talk about championship, so it is better if LeBron just leaves if he still wants a chance to win a title, he should join a strong team.

Agree on this, Lakers is far worst even with Luka on their active roster if being compared to Spurs line-up. Yes, they can answer on offense but they have very weak defense which the Knicks step up on this championship to beat a solid Spurs team.

Spurs and OKC are the better team for the west. I think fatigue from long series while the Knicks coaching stuff has plenty of prep time analyzing Spurs weakness from the OKC-Spurs series.

I agree, Spurs and OKC are better even with a fully healthy Lakers. Lakers did miss Doncic for the playoff period, and the first round against Rockets where they didn't had Reaves or Doncic was a great period for them, nobody thought they could win with both of them gone, but they did.

But the reality is that even with Doncic and reaves back, OKC was too much for them and Spurs would be too. Lakers need to realize they are not going to win anything with this squad, it's just not good enough.

[danherbias07]

James Dolan says Knicks won't go into second apron to keep team together after championship
Yahoo Link

New York Knicks owner James Dolan is willing to write "as big a check as possible" to keep his championship roster intact this offseason … but only to a certain point. Dolan said he's unwilling to put the team into the second apron despite its championship.

I would do the same. Don't ruin what gave you another championship after long years of waiting.
Although there's a twist. We are all aware that a player may ask for an increase in their contract if it's available. After a championship, most agents and their players would do it without hesitation. So the "second apron" that he is talking about is going overboard in their salary cap. That means "luxury tax".
I think he is warning the players and their agents not to ask for too much, or else he will be ready to release them or trade for someone else. It's a threat in a good approach.

[Oasisman]

James Dolan says Knicks won't go into second apron to keep team together after championship
Yahoo Link

New York Knicks owner James Dolan is willing to write "as big a check as possible" to keep his championship roster intact this offseason … but only to a certain point. Dolan said he's unwilling to put the team into the second apron despite its championship.

I would do the same. Don't ruin what gave you another championship after long years of waiting.
Although there's a twist. We are all aware that a player may ask for an increase in their contract if it's available. After a championship, most agents and their players would do it without hesitation. So the "second apron" that he is talking about is going overboard in their salary cap. That means "luxury tax".
I think he is warning the players and their agents not to ask for too much, or else he will be ready to release them or trade for someone else. It's a threat in a good approach.

Well, we haven't seen any Dynasty team since the GSW, and the Knicks had a pretty good playoff run, so I guess the players should consider this. A lot of teams are trying to rebuild this off season, that means, they're gonna start build a chemistry again, something the Knicks already have. However, the salary space will be a huge challenge on resigning their best bench players. A huge cut is expected, and someone has to go. Robinson, Clarkson, and Shamet are all unrestricted FA. These players had a significant contribution to their playoff run. While I expect Alvrado to opt in.  
Dolan's decision is just right.

[arwin100]

James Dolan says Knicks won't go into second apron to keep team together after championship
Yahoo Link

New York Knicks owner James Dolan is willing to write "as big a check as possible" to keep his championship roster intact this offseason … but only to a certain point. Dolan said he's unwilling to put the team into the second apron despite its championship.

I would do the same. Don't ruin what gave you another championship after long years of waiting.
Although there's a twist. We are all aware that a player may ask for an increase in their contract if it's available. After a championship, most agents and their players would do it without hesitation. So the "second apron" that he is talking about is going overboard in their salary cap. That means "luxury tax".
I think he is warning the players and their agents not to ask for too much, or else he will be ready to release them or trade for someone else. It's a threat in a good approach.

With having 16 wins and 3 losses in playoffs this is so huge to let go by Knicks owners. This is amazing stats for their team and they can replicate this success next season if they choose to retain their current players.

Their starters are lock in then maybe their problem now is their key players, so maybe this is something they need to deal with. But it would be more interesting if they follow what Brunson done, not to ask to much on Knicks owner, since if they  also sacrifice maybe they can win more championships.

[tech30338]

James Dolan says Knicks won't go into second apron to keep team together after championship
Yahoo Link

New York Knicks owner James Dolan is willing to write "as big a check as possible" to keep his championship roster intact this offseason … but only to a certain point. Dolan said he's unwilling to put the team into the second apron despite its championship.

I would do the same. Don't ruin what gave you another championship after long years of waiting.
Although there's a twist. We are all aware that a player may ask for an increase in their contract if it's available. After a championship, most agents and their players would do it without hesitation. So the "second apron" that he is talking about is going overboard in their salary cap. That means "luxury tax".
I think he is warning the players and their agents not to ask for too much, or else he will be ready to release them or trade for someone else. It's a threat in a good approach.

With having 16 wins and 3 losses in playoffs this is so huge to let go by Knicks owners. This is amazing stats for their team and they can replicate this success next season if they choose to retain their current players.

Their starters are lock in then maybe their problem now is their key players, so maybe this is something they need to deal with. But it would be more interesting if they follow what Brunson done, not to ask to much on Knicks owner, since if they  also sacrifice maybe they can win more championships.

If they wanted the team to be intact, they need to do that, but who is willing to take the pay cut? sadly the people who are going to be let go are the players who make important plays in their run, like when the first five players are out they are the one making the team at bay, so that they could have a run, in the last few minutes, so if this team want's everybody in the second unit to be retain, those in guaranteed will have to make a pay cut or they would waste those key players.

[Maslate]

With having 16 wins and 3 losses in playoffs this is so huge to let go by Knicks owners. This is amazing stats for their team and they can replicate this success next season if they choose to retain their current players.

Their starters are lock in then maybe their problem now is their key players, so maybe this is something they need to deal with. But it would be more interesting if they follow what Brunson done, not to ask to much on Knicks owner, since if they  also sacrifice maybe they can win more championships.

What is important to the team are the starters and those backups that they can really use.

For the 2nd unit, if they will let go of some players, they should keep names like Alvarado, Mitchell Robinson, JC, Shamet, and McBride because they really helped the team, maybe not much in the NBA Finals, but before they reached the Finals.

[tech30338]

With having 16 wins and 3 losses in playoffs this is so huge to let go by Knicks owners. This is amazing stats for their team and they can replicate this success next season if they choose to retain their current players.

Their starters are lock in then maybe their problem now is their key players, so maybe this is something they need to deal with. But it would be more interesting if they follow what Brunson done, not to ask to much on Knicks owner, since if they  also sacrifice maybe they can win more championships.

What is important to the team are the starters and those backups that they can really use.

For the 2nd unit, if they will let go of some players, they should keep names like Alvarado, Mitchell Robinson, JC, Shamet, and McBride because they really helped the team, maybe not much in the NBA Finals, but before they reached the Finals.

But are those players that are going to be let go, and others might be guaranteed, so they need to make a tough decision, and like what im saying who will do a salary cut just to retain those, we will see how glued this team is, if someone will not take the cut, thats when the team will start to disconnect from their goal, its still business and money at the end of the day, so if they are let go they will sign elsewhere or be a free-agent, but someone need to sacrifice just to take this team to another shot at the ring.

[Natalim]

if someone will not take the cut, thats when the team will start to disconnect from their goal, its still business and money at the end of the day, so if they are let go they will sign elsewhere or be a free-agent, but someone need to sacrifice just to take this team to another shot at the ring.

The management will always have the last say here, but they will make sure that the main core of the team remains and gets rewarded with a good salary.

It is not hard to find backups for the team, it is not really the players 100% that make the team good, but the system that the coach has brought, and now there was an upgrade because they are good both offensively and defensively.

[jakdanyel]

Lakers had a quite unfortunate ending this year. They had more potential you know... They eliminated Rockets without Reaves in some games and more importantly Doncic throughout the series!

But it was until facing Thunder. However I have bigger expectations from them next season if they don't face serious injury problems again. But they need to make reasonable trades.

Like filling LeBron's space strongly and of course by bringing a much better center than Ayton. 

[OgNasty]

Legion Sports is reporting that multiple NBA big men are trying to find a way to play alongside Wemby in San Antonio. I guess if you can’t beat him then join him. Maybe we’ll see some interesting off season moves for the Spurs. I’m always a fan of crazy pairings.