2027 NBA Season

[EFS]

They could have been in deep playoff run if, Jalen rose to the occasion, he struggled so much in that playoffs, like we could not see him play, now that the rockets has a legit superstar lets looks like we are going to or might see the rockets in the west finals with either Denver or OKC, no disrespect to other teams, but I'm putting the two to be the hardest to face in the west, but you can't count out , clippers, lakers, and GSW, or we might see a Cinderella team? I'm just hoping that they can play through the season and healthy in the playoffs.

Jalen Rose? Did you mean Jalen Green? Yes, Jalen Green is a promising player but he also had many shortcomings. In some games, he completely disappeared. Trading him was the best move the Rockets could've made. Giving up Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green to get Kevin Durant significantly increased their championship chances in the short term. In the next 2-3 seasons, the Rockets will definitely be in this race. I also think the Thunder and the Nuggets will be their main rivals. I don't think the Clippers, Lakers or Warriors have much of a chance.

[OgNasty]

That Houston Lineup for tomorrow is the second tallest in NBA history. They are planning to start Kevin Durant at Shooting Guard. Pretty sure that will be the first time a 7 footer has ever been a starting shooting guard. It is a Wemby future for the NBA… I also see the NBA never punished Amen Thompson for his fight… That seems odd to me. NBA already pushing Houston towards a championship?

[TravelMug]

That Houston Lineup for tomorrow is the second tallest in NBA history. They are planning to start Kevin Durant at Shooting Guard. Pretty sure that will be the first time a 7 footer has ever been a starting shooting guard. It is a Wemby future for the NBA… I also see the NBA never punished Amen Thompson for his fight… That seems odd to me. NBA already pushing Houston towards a championship?

Probably giving him another chance as he doesn't have a history of violence. But yeah, the height of Houston though, and they should really take advantage of it, as we haven't seen this kind of lineup before.

They can even force KD to play center if they wanted to, Lol. As for Wemby, yes, he is the future of the NBA and he is very much improving every season. He could be like Giannis, a work in progress and soon could win MVP.

[Shinpako09]

That Houston Lineup for tomorrow is the second tallest in NBA history. They are planning to start Kevin Durant at Shooting Guard. Pretty sure that will be the first time a 7 footer has ever been a starting shooting guard. It is a Wemby future for the NBA… I also see the NBA never punished Amen Thompson for his fight… That seems odd to me. NBA already pushing Houston towards a championship?

Compared to last year, they seem better with KD this season. He’s one of the most consistent scorers in the NBA right now. They seem to have a better chance to go deeper in the playoffs. What do you think, will they get past the first round this time? Considering other teams also strengthened their lineups, they can’t sleep on the Pelicans either. As long as Zion is there, they’re also a playoff team. I'm not confident with my Warriors either.

[OgNasty]

That Houston Lineup for tomorrow is the second tallest in NBA history. They are planning to start Kevin Durant at Shooting Guard. Pretty sure that will be the first time a 7 footer has ever been a starting shooting guard. It is a Wemby future for the NBA… I also see the NBA never punished Amen Thompson for his fight… That seems odd to me. NBA already pushing Houston towards a championship?

Compared to last year, they seem better with KD this season. He’s one of the most consistent scorers in the NBA right now. They seem to have a better chance to go deeper in the playoffs. What do you think, will they get past the first round this time? Considering other teams also strengthened their lineups, they can’t sleep on the Pelicans either. As long as Zion is there, they’re also a playoff team. I'm not confident with my Warriors either.

It’s way too early to be making a call on how deep they will go in the playoffs. I haven’t even seen them play yet. Typically with the NBA though, the biggest factor will be whether or not the team can all stay healthy. If they can, they have a good shot. Looking forward to seeing their tall lineup in action tomorrow.

[LogitechMouse]

That Houston Lineup for tomorrow is the second tallest in NBA history. They are planning to start Kevin Durant at Shooting Guard. Pretty sure that will be the first time a 7 footer has ever been a starting shooting guard. It is a Wemby future for the NBA… I also see the NBA never punished Amen Thompson for his fight… That seems odd to me. NBA already pushing Houston towards a championship?

Compared to last year, they seem better with KD this season. He’s one of the most consistent scorers in the NBA right now. They seem to have a better chance to go deeper in the playoffs. What do you think, will they get past the first round this time? Considering other teams also strengthened their lineups, they can’t sleep on the Pelicans either. As long as Zion is there, they’re also a playoff team. I'm not confident with my Warriors either.

It’s way too early to be making a call on how deep they will go in the playoffs. I haven’t even seen them play yet. Typically with the NBA though, the biggest factor will be whether or not the team can all stay healthy. If they can, they have a good shot. Looking forward to seeing their tall lineup in action tomorrow.

I wonder if it will work for them though.
I looked at ESPN on their potential starting 5, and it shows: Sheppard, Thompson, Durant, Smith Jr, Sengun.

Not the smallest, but that line-up definitely is one of the tallest right now. Also, if this really is their starting 5, it's good to see that Sheppard has given the opportunity to be their starting PG after being benched for the majority of last season due to VanVleet being their starting PG. I hope that this opportunity that has been given to him will not be wasted, and he's a great passer as well.
Anyway, just to add some contract extensions.
Nesmith agreed to a 2-year $40M deal to stay with Indiana, Daniels agreed to a 4-year $100M deal with the Hawks, and Braun agreed to a 5-year $125M deal to stay with Denver. Well, 3 of them played a big role in their respective teams so they deserve this for sure.

[btc_angela]

That Houston Lineup for tomorrow is the second tallest in NBA history. They are planning to start Kevin Durant at Shooting Guard. Pretty sure that will be the first time a 7 footer has ever been a starting shooting guard. It is a Wemby future for the NBA… I also see the NBA never punished Amen Thompson for his fight… That seems odd to me. NBA already pushing Houston towards a championship?

Compared to last year, they seem better with KD this season. He’s one of the most consistent scorers in the NBA right now. They seem to have a better chance to go deeper in the playoffs. What do you think, will they get past the first round this time? Considering other teams also strengthened their lineups, they can’t sleep on the Pelicans either. As long as Zion is there, they’re also a playoff team. I'm not confident with my Warriors either.

I'm not sure about that, as they have lost Jalen Green and their defensive player in Brooks and it seems that the chemistry has been tested last season as they have a streak in the second half after the all-star break and then they maintain that to become the 2nd rank team in the West.

Obviously they don't have that experienced but the chemistry is there. Right now, it's hard to see how deep they could go in this season as obviously even if they have KD, it's not a guarantee. We will have to see even as where is their placing. I don't think that they can repeat that run from last year. Maybe they will be in the middle of the pack as we all know that West is pretty much stack up.

[bisdak40]

Compared to last year, they seem better with KD this season. He’s one of the most consistent scorers in the NBA right now. They seem to have a better chance to go deeper in the playoffs. What do you think, will they get past the first round this time? Considering other teams also strengthened their lineups, they can’t sleep on the Pelicans either. As long as Zion is there, they’re also a playoff team. I'm not confident with my Warriors either.

With Kevin Durant on board, I believe the Rockets have a strong chance of making a deep playoff run. If Alperen Şengün can maintain—or even elevate—his performance from last season, he’ll be a valuable asset alongside KD in their push for a championship. And if Fred VanVleet recovers in time for the playoffs, it could further strengthen their title bid.

As for the Pelicans, I’m not optimistic about their season. Zion Williamson has a history of injuries that often derail their momentum.

[OgNasty]

That Houston Lineup for tomorrow is the second tallest in NBA history. They are planning to start Kevin Durant at Shooting Guard. Pretty sure that will be the first time a 7 footer has ever been a starting shooting guard. It is a Wemby future for the NBA… I also see the NBA never punished Amen Thompson for his fight… That seems odd to me. NBA already pushing Houston towards a championship?

Compared to last year, they seem better with KD this season. He’s one of the most consistent scorers in the NBA right now. They seem to have a better chance to go deeper in the playoffs. What do you think, will they get past the first round this time? Considering other teams also strengthened their lineups, they can’t sleep on the Pelicans either. As long as Zion is there, they’re also a playoff team. I'm not confident with my Warriors either.

It’s way too early to be making a call on how deep they will go in the playoffs. I haven’t even seen them play yet. Typically with the NBA though, the biggest factor will be whether or not the team can all stay healthy. If they can, they have a good shot. Looking forward to seeing their tall lineup in action tomorrow.

I wonder if it will work for them though.
I looked at ESPN on their potential starting 5, and it shows: Sheppard, Thompson, Durant, Smith Jr, Sengun.

Not the smallest, but that line-up definitely is one of the tallest right now. Also, if this really is their starting 5, it's good to see that Sheppard has given the opportunity to be their starting PG after being benched for the majority of last season due to VanVleet being their starting PG. I hope that this opportunity that has been given to him will not be wasted, and he's a great passer as well.

Interesting. That is not the lineup that I was expecting to see, but it would make more sense for sure. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow if Durant will be playing the 2 or not. I’m not sure who the original source for this is though so maybe it is just an idea someone had and wanted to discuss on X.

[avp2306]

I wonder if it will work for them though.
I looked at ESPN on their potential starting 5, and it shows: Sheppard, Thompson, Durant, Smith Jr, Sengun.

Not the smallest, but that line-up definitely is one of the tallest right now. Also, if this really is their starting 5, it's good to see that Sheppard has given the opportunity to be their starting PG after being benched for the majority of last season due to VanVleet being their starting PG. I hope that this opportunity that has been given to him will not be wasted, and he's a great passer as well.

Interesting. That is not the lineup that I was expecting to see, but it would make more sense for sure. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow if Durant will be playing the 2 or not. I’m not sure who the original source for this is though so maybe it is just an idea someone had and wanted to discuss on X.

This is what I read today from Yahoo sports.

In one of the largest lineups in NBA history, Houston’s starting five will include 6-foot-7 Amen Thompson at point guard alongside four players who are 6-foot-10 or taller (Sengun, Adams, Jabari Smith Jr., and Kevin Durant).

Source https://sports.yahoo.com/article/jumbo-rockets-open-2025-26-172812585.html?guccounter=1

So I guess those pic you have sent have make sense and they start their season playing using these big players. That line up they have is so strong and have great potential to win lot of games. But let see if they can catch up the expectation of people and looking at current situation they have big chance to win a championship this season, but its early to tell so lets find out what's going to happen.

[dwyane36]

Interesting. That is not the lineup that I was expecting to see, but it would make more sense for sure. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow if Durant will be playing the 2 or not. I’m not sure who the original source for this is though so maybe it is just an idea someone had and wanted to discuss on X.

Durant has played the SF and PF positions for almost his entire career. Although it turns out that all the players in the Rockets' starting lineup are tall, I think Durant will still play in these positions. If I'm not mistaken, he only played SG in his first season with the SuperSonics.

[xLays]

Usually, when the NBA season is about to start there are contests posted in the games and rounds section here on bitcointalk related to the NBA opening season but it seems there aren’t any this time.

NBA starts later today.. does anyone know of any good NBA promos being offered right now? Like the one from stake.com where if your team leads by 12+ points but ends up losing in the 4th quarter, your bet is still considered a win. Just wondering if there’s something similar available offered by other sites..

[OgNasty]

Here’s a crazy stat…

The Houston Rockets starters on opening night have more combined career starts for the Oklahoma City Thunder (1,239) than Oklahoma City Thunder’s starting lineup (1,092).

The projected lineup I see listed is:
PG Amen Thompson
SG Kevin Durant
SF Jabari Smith Jr
PF Alperen Sengun
C Steven Adams

[danherbias07]

Ready your wallets and your picks! Here we go for the 2026 NBA Season Tip-Off.


https://stake.games/sports/basketball/usa/nba

For sharing picks, game winner predictions, props, and tickets, here is the link to the thread of @stadus.
NBA 2025-2026 betting

Just so we can keep this thread about analysis, reports, and news about the NBA. Good luck, everyone!

[Ziskinberg]

Here’s a crazy stat…

The Houston Rockets starters on opening night have more combined career starts for the Oklahoma City Thunder (1,239) than Oklahoma City Thunder’s starting lineup (1,092).

The projected lineup I see listed is:
PG Amen Thompson
SG Kevin Durant
SF Jabari Smith Jr
PF Alperen Sengun
C Steven Adams

These are solid lineups, full of great rebounders and defenders. Durant shouldn’t have much of a problem scoring here since he can also rely on his teammates. I’m expecting them to attack more in the paint, and I got a feeling this will turn into a defensive game, under looks like the smarter bet.

Looking at the line, the home team’s the heavy favorite, but I’d like to see Durant grab his first win in their debut game...

so my pick goes to the Rockets.

[tech30338]

Here’s a crazy stat…

The Houston Rockets starters on opening night have more combined career starts for the Oklahoma City Thunder (1,239) than Oklahoma City Thunder’s starting lineup (1,092).

The projected lineup I see listed is:
PG Amen Thompson
SG Kevin Durant
SF Jabari Smith Jr
PF Alperen Sengun
C Steven Adams

These are solid lineups, full of great rebounders and defenders. Durant shouldn’t have much of a problem scoring here since he can also rely on his teammates. I’m expecting them to attack more in the paint, and I got a feeling this will turn into a defensive game, under looks like the smarter bet.

Looking at the line, the home team’s the heavy favorite, but I’d like to see Durant grab his first win in their debut game...

so my pick goes to the Rockets.

Young Core experience player like Durant can bring this team to a new level, we are now sure they might pass the first round this time, they are a defensive team with a scoring machine Durant on the line up also good in defense with long arms, steven with rebounding, just hoping he will be healthy, he does bring more than defense to the team amen Thompson last year performance showing he will be a threat to other teams, this is getting exciting everyday.

[sana54210]

in my opinion, Coach Pop was the biggest factor for the Spurs, rather than any particular player. Even if Wemby and the other players are healthy, I don't think they will be able to reach their full potential and perform as well under a different coach as they potentially could under Pop.

They don't need to worry about regarding on coaches that will handle their team since the fact is they are retaining most of those guys working on their team.

Also their Coach Mitch Johnson is working behind Coach Pop for long time. So with this they already adopt the style and provably they can still develop those players like Wemby which they think still have great potential to dominate in the league.

But with their current roster they have? I don't have strong feeling that they can reach far this season. They still need to rebuild and add good players that can help Wemby also their team to win.

Another point to remember is that Pop is not gone, he is not at home watching the games or anything, he is still there on the team. He is just not coaching anymore, he is the coach for the coaches basically, not for the players. During their homes games, he will still be there, maybe not on the sidelines but I am sure he will be in the locker room, and he will still be with the team.

And I am sure he will visit "some" away games, but it's clear that we are not going to see him in many of them. Dude still has a position there, and because of his age, he wanted to reel that back in a bit, but not completely quit. He unfortunately lost his wife in the recent years, which means that if he ever retired and went to home, there is none there, so he still kept an office job to be there.

[xzone]

That Houston Lineup for tomorrow is the second tallest in NBA history. They are planning to start Kevin Durant at Shooting Guard. Pretty sure that will be the first time a 7 footer has ever been a starting shooting guard. It is a Wemby future for the NBA… I also see the NBA never punished Amen Thompson for his fight… That seems odd to me. NBA already pushing Houston towards a championship?

Compared to last year, they seem better with KD this season. He’s one of the most consistent scorers in the NBA right now. They seem to have a better chance to go deeper in the playoffs. What do you think, will they get past the first round this time? Considering other teams also strengthened their lineups, they can’t sleep on the Pelicans either. As long as Zion is there, they’re also a playoff team. I'm not confident with my Warriors either.

I'm sure KD will be a fantastic player for this team. Alperen Şengün's performance at the European Basketball Championship was also fantastic. He's gained a lot of experience now, and I'm confident he'll be even more successful. I think we'll see them in the playoffs this season.
Of course, once the season starts, things will become clearer; it's not really fair to predict right now. If they can get off to a good start, we'll see how serious they are

[doomloop]

A 2-year $90M deal with a player option for 2027-2028. Both parties win for sure.

I guess the fact that Durant sees the Rockets as a title contender type of team is the reason why he agreed to have an extension, and maybe Coach Udoka is a factor on it as well. Durant's eligible for the max contract which is 2-year $120M, but he chooses to sacrifice some of the money, and that's a win for the management. Nevertheless, it's good to see Durant having some fun with his new team, and this extension is one proof of it.

Looking at the roster of Houston, I might underestimated them before the start of the season, but they're a playoff or perhaps a title contender team just by looking at their roster. Also, it's good that Coach Udoka is giving Sheppard more minutes right now even it's just a pre-season. I just hope that it will continue on the regular season.

Is it? I mean Rockets just gave a ton of money for a player who will be about 40 years old by the time the contract ends. Normally we see players who are 37 years old do not get max offers, there are very few people in history that ever achieved that, and while Kevin Durant does deserve it, I think it is not smart to have him for three full seasons.

I would have extended it just one more season and see how it goes, and not even do that right now, I would have waited a few more months and see how he plays first. I get that he is still a good player, but I have doubts about him lasting for that long, we are talking about this season that did not even started, next season, and the year after that. That's a lot of basketball, for someone at that age.

[Jinetics1111]

It's always a wait and see with Durant, legend has it he can't win without Steph. Ever since he left GSW what has he done?