2026 NBA Season

[Dave1]

Lakers vs the Dallas Mavericks. I think the Lakers should get this one easy, as there will be no Luka or Kyrie, so they are a short handed team. So they should take advantage of this one and not let this game slip away. Davis should be dominating the inside although there are still Lively, and Gafford, I think he can easily take them one on one.

The thing with the Lakers though is that they can't keep up with the energy they had in the first half. So it will be crucial that they have the mindset and focus specially in the 4th quarter to close out the game here. I have the Lakers winning -6.5 here.

Sorry bro, bad shooting night by the Lakers as they struggle in this game, AD, Lebron and specially Austin Reaves was cold from the field. Rui didn't scored that much, just a couple of times that their starting five didn't score double digits.

Quentin Grimes scored 8 points for the bench and it was enough for the Mavericks to help secure this win. Only consolidation is that Lebron has a highlight dunk,



Off-hand dunk with his left hand, Lebron still never ceases to amazed us even at age 40.

[LogitechMouse]

Zion Williamson will be playing tonight against Wolves. He has only played in six games this season, averaging 22 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists per game. To be honest, I think it’s highly unlikely for the Pelicans to make the playoffs or even the play-in tournament. The team had such great start to the season. If all their players had stayed healthy, I believe they could have made the playoffs this season. The real issue for the Pelicans this season has been the constant injuries.

Anyway, is there any chance of a trade between Miami and the Pelicans? For instance, Jimmy Butler for Zion Williamson? LOL

Well, Zion's return has been spoiled by ANT and the Timberwolves as they won against then 104-97.

He played well though scoring 22 points, 6 boards and 4 dimes in just 28 minutes. As for the Pelicans as a whole, they will not make it to the playoffs and most likely, they will tank this season in order to get a high spot in next year's draft. I'm guessing, they will trade their star players like Ingram and McCollum, and even Murray for draft picks and will start a rebuild, but if Zion will be healthy throughout this season (which for me is unlikely), they might keep some of their key players and will get other superstars. Injuries really is a doom for this team.

As for Jimmy Butler for Zion Williamson, there's a chance, but the question is, are both teams interested in trading with each other? Are the Heat interested in risking and getting an injury-prone player like Zion? Are the Pelicans wanting to get Butler especially now that he's on his last year of his contract and he might become a free agent and will find another team?

[Fredomago]

Lakers vs the Dallas Mavericks. I think the Lakers should get this one easy, as there will be no Luka or Kyrie, so they are a short handed team. So they should take advantage of this one and not let this game slip away. Davis should be dominating the inside although there are still Lively, and Gafford, I think he can easily take them one on one.

The thing with the Lakers though is that they can't keep up with the energy they had in the first half. So it will be crucial that they have the mindset and focus specially in the 4th quarter to close out the game here. I have the Lakers winning -6.5 here.

Mavs supporting cast managed to protect their homecourt crowd, beating the visiting Lakers, just like what you said it was a Luka and Kyrie less Mavs but still they beats the lakers with the full force of their core stars, Lakers just take the first quarter and after that Mavs begins to catch up and dominated the entire game, not letting the fans to be dissapointed even their main stars are just seating and watching the game, lucky for those who bets for the home team both ML and Handicap gave them decent earnings.

[beerlover]

The game has a crazy ending, it was really a back and forth game between the two and it's hard to predict who is going to win as both really wanted to.  And he is still on the roll, after scoring 53 points in Saturday’s loss at Detroit, he comes back again with another huge performance here.

Kawhi though is still in the restrictive minutes to he is a none factor in this game. One adjustment though is that Donte started as a point guard and Mike Conley coming off the bench. It was good experiment but not sure if this will be their starting five moving forward.

This is probably what Edwards wants , to be the main man of the team, and he got what he wished for.
However, I don’t think he can consistently drop these kinds of numbers in the upcoming games. Until they improve their lineup and distribute the scoring more effectively, the team won’t be as scary as it could be.

And no, I’m not saying this because I lost my bet but it’s just based on how they’ve been performing so far.

Honestly, these days we do not see teams to end up having just one star and end up winning the title like that. Maybe Bucks managed to do it recently, Giannis was only star, sure they had Middleton but not sure if he is a star level player, he is barely all-star level in most season. All in all, Anthony Edwards is a great player and I believe he is good enough to be number one player on a championship team, there is no doubt about that and I can see how that could happen, but they do not have number two or even three that could be in a championship run.

So, the best case would be just letting them be whatever they are, and not really have that kind of squad right now. Hopefully, with time, they could get a lot better and could get some more players but they also need to realize that when they are getting someone they should not be getting anyone that would be different from the current order, don't get anyone who will battle to take the first place.

[danherbias07]

-10.5 was the line for the Golden State Warriors and they lost in a blowout. Dang! That one heck of a trap set by the oddsmakers.

This is what happens when they are all relying on their three-point shots. Dennis Schroder only made 1 of 7 of his distance shots, Buddy Hield is 2 of 9 and it's only Steph Curry who made 8 of 17. They always don't get the ball back once they miss it because they are a small ball team so when they shoot that bad, they will lose. No second chance points.
Anyway, great win for the Heat even without Jimmy Butler due to suspension. 4 more games before he comes back.

[Yaunfitda]

Lakers vs the Dallas Mavericks. I think the Lakers should get this one easy, as there will be no Luka or Kyrie, so they are a short handed team. So they should take advantage of this one and not let this game slip away. Davis should be dominating the inside although there are still Lively, and Gafford, I think he can easily take them one on one.

The thing with the Lakers though is that they can't keep up with the energy they had in the first half. So it will be crucial that they have the mindset and focus specially in the 4th quarter to close out the game here. I have the Lakers winning -6.5 here.

Mavs supporting cast managed to protect their homecourt crowd, beating the visiting Lakers, just like what you said it was a Luka and Kyrie less Mavs but still they beats the lakers with the full force of their core stars, Lakers just take the first quarter and after that Mavs begins to catch up and dominated the entire game, not letting the fans to be dissapointed even their main stars are just seating and watching the game, lucky for those who bets for the home team both ML and Handicap gave them decent earnings.

Yes, playing at home, they are very confident, plus the visiting Lakers doesn't have any at this game, and even with two of their biggest stars, the Mavericks was able to get this needed win for the team. And the Lakers continue to suffer another defeat and from the looks of it, they are now desperate. For the Gobert, ANT and Randle combination, I think it's alarming that they are not clicking, however, it seems that ANT takes this one in his hand as he had another great game with 32 big points. So by now, ANT should established that he is the franchise player and not Randle and Julius should understand that so that there will be no friction and the team can move forward.

[TravelMug]

-10.5 was the line for the Golden State Warriors and they lost in a blowout. Dang! That one heck of a trap set by the oddsmakers.

Playing at their homecourt, we never expect that the Golden State Warriors are going to lose to a team that I will say who have their confidence down because of the potential trade of their superstar.

This is what happens when they are all relying on their three-point shots. Dennis Schroder only made 1 of 7 of his distance shots, Buddy Hield is 2 of 9 and it's only Steph Curry who made 8 of 17. They always don't get the ball back once they miss it because they are a small ball team so when they shoot that bad, they will lose. No second chance points.
Anyway, great win for the Heat even without Jimmy Butler due to suspension. 4 more games before he comes back.

As what we say to them before, they live and die with the 3 point shot. And so it does here, they have a good momentum win against the Wolves but then another bad performance erased that. Not sure what the Warriors management are thinking, but they are really inconsistent after a huge start. Buddy Hield game has regressed and Kuminga and Wiggins are not reliable. Sometimes they will play like you don't want to see them being traded, but with another of this kind of performance, the Warriors should make a overhaul in the second half of the season.

[dwyane36]

Sad part is healthy the pelicans have a great 7 man rotation.  I habe a feeling zion only has a couple more chances to take this seriously.  Would be a huge waste of talent.  If dude was serious and took his health serious he'd be an issue.  Rooting for him because the league is better off with players like him.  At 7-30 their season is likely unrecoverable at this point.  Thats a massive hole to be in.

Zion is a very good player when healthy. But the problem is that the team can't rely on him for a particular single season, or especially in the long term because of his injury-prone nature. As for the Pelicans' spot in the standings, yes, this season is a failure for them. Only the Wizards have a worse result, and the chance that the Pelicans will be able to reach at least the 10th spot is extremely low.

[ultrloa]

Sad part is healthy the pelicans have a great 7 man rotation.  I habe a feeling zion only has a couple more chances to take this seriously.  Would be a huge waste of talent.  If dude was serious and took his health serious he'd be an issue.  Rooting for him because the league is better off with players like him.  At 7-30 their season is likely unrecoverable at this point.  Thats a massive hole to be in.

Zion is a very good player when healthy. But the problem is that the team can't rely on him for a particular single season, or especially in the long term because of his injury-prone nature. As for the Pelicans' spot in the standings, yes, this season is a failure for them. Only the Wizards have a worse result, and the chance that the Pelicans will be able to reach at least the 10th spot is extremely low.

He need to manage his weight well since people believe that this is the main reason on why he's getting those injuries. Proper discipline is important and maybe he should follow what Lebron did. If Zion could just play more games provably that he can help his team to get some win. To bad for them for losing since its like they might struggle to reach far this season so I agree on what you are saying that its like they gonna fail to compete on playoffs this season.

I also don't think they could able to reach at 10 spot now since they need to win more games to get that but for now it seems impossible to happen especially on their current condition.

[Questat]

Zion is a very good player when healthy. But the problem is that the team can't rely on him for a particular single season, or especially in the long term because of his injury-prone nature. As for the Pelicans' spot in the standings, yes, this season is a failure for them. Only the Wizards have a worse result, and the chance that the Pelicans will be able to reach at least the 10th spot is extremely low.

The Pelicans might need to move on from Zion. They’ve done so much for him and made sacrifices, but he just hasn’t had the luck to stay healthy and finish a season. We’ve seen him bulk up, slim down, and make adjustments, yet injuries keep happening. Maybe he’s just not meant to be with the Pelicans.

A fresh start with a strong, established team could help lessen the pressure on him, maybe that time he'll not be injured.

he scored    22 points on his return, just his usual number.

[dimonstration]

….

The Pelicans might need to move on from Zion. They’ve done so much for him and made sacrifices, but he just hasn’t had the luck to stay healthy and finish a season. We’ve seen him bulk up, slim down, and make adjustments, yet injuries keep happening. Maybe he’s just not meant to be with the Pelicans.

A fresh start with a strong, established team could help lessen the pressure on him, maybe that time he'll not be injured.

he scored    22 points on his return, just his usual number.

To be fair, Zion is not worthy to be on any team with this kind of output in a season. This guy is surely has some disorder that makes him unable to become stay healthy in the long run. Besides his body build put a lot of stress on his lower body that makes him injury prone plus his unhealthy eating habits.

Only a team that is willing to deal with this kind of risk on player uncontrollable player can acquire Zion since his value is still considerably high due to his insane performance when healthy.

He is a walking double edged sword to any team he will join.

[Questat]

….

The Pelicans might need to move on from Zion. They’ve done so much for him and made sacrifices, but he just hasn’t had the luck to stay healthy and finish a season. We’ve seen him bulk up, slim down, and make adjustments, yet injuries keep happening. Maybe he’s just not meant to be with the Pelicans.

A fresh start with a strong, established team could help lessen the pressure on him, maybe that time he'll not be injured.

he scored    22 points on his return, just his usual number.

To be fair, Zion is not worthy to be on any team with this kind of output in a season. This guy is surely has some disorder that makes him unable to become stay healthy in the long run. Besides his body build put a lot of stress on his lower body that makes him injury prone plus his unhealthy eating habits.

Only a team that is willing to deal with this kind of risk on player uncontrollable player can acquire Zion since his value is still considerably high due to his insane performance when healthy.

He is a walking double edged sword to any team he will join.

He already proved himself in the NCAA and dominated, which is why he was a 1st-round pick.
I don’t know, maybe it’s just bad luck, not just his big upper body making him injury-prone..

The team has all the experts to keep players in shape, and I’m sure they’re doing their job well. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be called experts.
So, I think it’s more of a luck factor not being on his side.

[Fredomago]

Yes, playing at home, they are very confident, plus the visiting Lakers doesn't have any at this game, and even with two of their biggest stars, the Mavericks was able to get this needed win for the team. And the Lakers continue to suffer another defeat and from the looks of it, they are now desperate.

That's how it looks watching the game, strong start but unable to dominate even the main scorers of the home team is just watching in their bench, the role players was able to contribute not just with their offense but more on the defense not letting the visiting team overpower them, I'm sure there are Lakers backers who took advantage of betting with their handicap knowing that both Kyrie and Luka are not going to  play, need to move forward and find another match up to pick then bet.

For the Gobert, ANT and Randle combination, I think it's alarming that they are not clicking, however, it seems that ANT takes this one in his hand as he had another great game with 32 big points. So by now, ANT should established that he is the franchise player and not Randle and Julius should understand that so that there will be no friction and the team can move forward.

Unless Randle will produce numbers like how KAT is doing right now maybe ANT can give him the luxury the same way KAT did before when he adjusted for ANT and allow him to showcase his talent, we've witness how great they are just fell short to Mavs after beating the defending champ.

[arwin100]

The Pelicans might need to move on from Zion. They’ve done so much for him and made sacrifices, but he just hasn’t had the luck to stay healthy and finish a season. We’ve seen him bulk up, slim down, and make adjustments, yet injuries keep happening. Maybe he’s just not meant to be with the Pelicans.

A fresh start with a strong, established team could help lessen the pressure on him, maybe that time he'll not be injured.

he scored    22 points on his return, just his usual number.

To be fair, Zion is not worthy to be on any team with this kind of output in a season. This guy is surely has some disorder that makes him unable to become stay healthy in the long run. Besides his body build put a lot of stress on his lower body that makes him injury prone plus his unhealthy eating habits.

Only a team that is willing to deal with this kind of risk on player uncontrollable player can acquire Zion since his value is still considerably high due to his insane performance when healthy.

He is a walking double edged sword to any team he will join.

He don't deserve the hype and salary he get from Pelicans if he's prone to injury and seat the whole season when he's not healthy. Their team is badly affected with his situation and if they won't do anything provably that they won't go anywhere with Zion also with their current roster they have.

If Zion will not find a good solution with his issue then might experience the same troubles what Greg Oden get.

He must control his bad habits then make his body became more healthy and strong so that he can lessen up those injury records he get each season.

[stadus]

He don't deserve the hype and salary he get from Pelicans if he's prone to injury and seat the whole season when he's not healthy.

There's a condition attach to his salary, so they really know he is an injury prone player.

here's what I found which I believe it was just recently published.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10149119-report-zion-williamson-on-track-to-reach-weight-clauses-in-197m-pelicans-contract

As Zion Williamson moves closer to returning to game action, the New Orleans Pelicans forward is likely to satisfy the weight criteria in his contract that guarantees a portion of his salary.

Per ESPN's Tim MacMahon and Bobby Marks, Williams is "on track" to satisfy the weigh-in criteria that requires him to have a combined weight and body fat percentage below 295 to guarantee 20 percent of his salary for the 2025-26 season.

The remaining 80 percent of Williamson's salary becomes guaranteed based on the number of games he plays in the previous season. He gets 40 percent of his money guaranteed if he plays in 41 games, 20 percent if he plays in 51 games and 20 percent if he plays in 61 games.

Williamson has already missed 27 games this season, so he won't hit the 61-game benchmark. He can only miss four more games and still hit the 51-game threshold. The 24-year-old, who hasn't played since Nov. 6, is expected to return to practice at some point this week. There is no set timeline for him to play in games.

[l99l]

Zion Williamson will be playing tonight against Wolves. He has only played in six games this season, averaging 22 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists per game. To be honest, I think it’s highly unlikely for the Pelicans to make the playoffs or even the play-in tournament. The team had such great start to the season. If all their players had stayed healthy, I believe they could have made the playoffs this season. The real issue for the Pelicans this season has been the constant injuries.

Anyway, is there any chance of a trade between Miami and the Pelicans? For instance, Jimmy Butler for Zion Williamson? LOL

Zion Williamson had a very good statistic in the 28 minutes he returned. 22 points, 6 reb, 4 assists was a very good game, I didn't expect him to play more for 28 minutes anyway.
Pelicans always made easy steals in the breaking moments of the game, the team's three-point percentage was also low in general.
Pelicans' situation does not look very promising for the playoffs this season.
It's nice to see Zion, of course, I hope it will be possible to see the best potential of such a talent.

[Jating]

….

The Pelicans might need to move on from Zion. They’ve done so much for him and made sacrifices, but he just hasn’t had the luck to stay healthy and finish a season. We’ve seen him bulk up, slim down, and make adjustments, yet injuries keep happening. Maybe he’s just not meant to be with the Pelicans.

A fresh start with a strong, established team could help lessen the pressure on him, maybe that time he'll not be injured.

he scored    22 points on his return, just his usual number.

To be fair, Zion is not worthy to be on any team with this kind of output in a season. This guy is surely has some disorder that makes him unable to become stay healthy in the long run. Besides his body build put a lot of stress on his lower body that makes him injury prone plus his unhealthy eating habits.

Only a team that is willing to deal with this kind of risk on player uncontrollable player can acquire Zion since his value is still considerably high due to his insane performance when healthy.

He is a walking double edged sword to any team he will join.

He already proved himself in the NCAA and dominated, which is why he was a 1st-round pick.
I don’t know, maybe it’s just bad luck, not just his big upper body making him injury-prone..

The team has all the experts to keep players in shape, and I’m sure they’re doing their job well. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be called experts.
So, I think it’s more of a luck factor not being on his side.

Yeah, I think it's the break that he is getting in the league, very unfortunate that he can't even have one season that he is healthy. But look at how a 40 year old Lebron is still doing today, dominating and hasn't had the worst injury in his career. Similar to Kawhi as well, he is prone to have injuries, they got someone to work his lower legs and you can see that he has developed it.

But still he still got injured and sideline with the Clippers. Maybe there are players that are really unlucky in their career like Zion. Hopefully, he can still salvage the second half of the season and help the Pelicans win games otherwise, I'm seeing that he might be traded as his name has been floating around, same with Brandon Ingram.

[OgNasty]

Zion Williamson will be playing tonight against Wolves. He has only played in six games this season, averaging 22 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists per game. To be honest, I think it’s highly unlikely for the Pelicans to make the playoffs or even the play-in tournament. The team had such great start to the season. If all their players had stayed healthy, I believe they could have made the playoffs this season. The real issue for the Pelicans this season has been the constant injuries.

Anyway, is there any chance of a trade between Miami and the Pelicans? For instance, Jimmy Butler for Zion Williamson? LOL

Zion Williamson had a very good statistic in the 28 minutes he returned. 22 points, 6 reb, 4 assists was a very good game, I didn't expect him to play more for 28 minutes anyway.
Pelicans always made easy steals in the breaking moments of the game, the team's three-point percentage was also low in general.
Pelicans' situation does not look very promising for the playoffs this season.
It's nice to see Zion, of course, I hope it will be possible to see the best potential of such a talent.

Definitely great to see Zion Williamson back in uniform.  He's one of the most explosive players to ever play the game, so wasting his career with injuries is a shame for us all.  He didn't disappoint in his comeback and gave us a monster highlight.  Between him, LeBron James, & LaMelo Ball, we had quite the display of highlights yesterday.  I want to see more of that sort of basketball and less bombing 3's from half court.

[boyptc]

The Mavs won against the Lakers without their two superstars, Kyrie and Luka. What's happening with the Lakers?

He don't deserve the hype and salary he get from Pelicans if he's prone to injury and seat the whole season when he's not healthy. Their team is badly affected with his situation and if they won't do anything provably that they won't go anywhere with Zion also with their current roster they have.

Even if we all agree with that. That's part of the contract and the Pelicans can't do anything about that. Zion is easily making money from them and remains to be an injury prone guy while his body mass isn't even getting thinner.

But based on what I've read, with the remaining 3 years, it's no longer guaranteed for him and they'll give him flexibility.

[OgNasty]

I read on Bleacher Report’s X post that Kawhi Leonard is steeping away from the Los Angeles Clippers to help his family that has been affected by the current Los Angeles wildfire. Sad to see this right as he returns to the team from injury but totally understandable. This may just not be the Clippers’ year.