NBA: Giannis, Banchero and more stars to define the season

Less than three weeks before the start of the 2025-26 season, the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers inaugurated the NBA preseason in Abu Dhabi. In an offseason marked by significant moves, several players and staff face new challenges: a point guard adapting to a new team, a coach with high expectations, and young talents facing crucial opportunities. These factors make them key figures in defining the NBA season. This analysis, which was updated a year later, highlights names like Joel Embiid of the 76ers, JJ Redick, coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Wyc Grousbeck, former majority owner of the Boston Celtics, among others. The list does not focus on the best or most important players in the league, so players like Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Luka Doncic are not included. Here’s a look at 10 figures who will play important roles next season, both on and off the court, considering the trade deadline, the draft, and free agency.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, forward for the Milwaukee BucksThe NBA world is waiting to see if the Greek superstar will decide to leave Milwaukee, the only city he has known in his 12-year NBA career. The Bucks have fulfilled Antetokounmpo’s wishes, first with the arrival of Jrue Holiday in 2020 and then with the acquisition of Damian Lillard in 2023. However, will the Lillard trade be enough to get Myles Turner, one of the most surprising moves of the summer, to achieve it for a third time? Antetokounmpo, who spoke via video conference on Monday due to COVID-19, acknowledged that he spent the summer thinking about his future after three consecutive first-round playoff exits.

“It’s a disservice to basketball and to the game not to want to compete at a high level, to wish your season would end in April,” he said. “It’s practically the same thing. It’s not the first time. I had the same thoughts last year. I had the same thoughts two years ago.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Later, when asked about Bucks owner Wes Edens’ statements about a conversation in June in which Antetokounmpo said he was “committed to Milwaukee”, Antetokounmpo claimed not to remember the conversation. Ironically, on the court, Antetokounmpo could be on the verge of having his best statistical season. With Lillard out of the game at the end of last season, his numbers skyrocketed. Coach Doc Rivers is expected to repeat that strategy this season, which could turn Antetokounmpo into a statistical machine. With less than two years until Antetokounmpo becomes an unrestricted free agent, and a team with many unknowns, aside from Turner, it’s safe to say that the topic of Antetokounmpo’s future will remain present.

Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic forwardIn May, Jeff Weltman, president of basketball operations for the Magic, stated in a radio interview: “We are ready to turn the page on our rebuild and enter the next stage of our team, with a perspective more focused on winning now.” Weltman acted by sending several future draft picks to the Memphis Grizzlies in a major trade for Desmond Bane. This move was praised in an offseason poll as one of the best of the summer. However, for this strategy to succeed, it will not depend on Bane, Jalen Suggs, or Franz Wagner. The key will be Banchero, who recently signed a five-year, $239 million maximum contract extension, and is on his way to becoming a superstar. Could he lead Orlando to win a playoff series for the first time since 2010 and possibly reach the NBA Finals for the third time in franchise history? This scenario is possible. Banchero, the first pick of the 2022 draft, possesses a rare combination of size, strength, and skill. Furthermore, he won’t turn 23 until November 12th. In his three seasons, Banchero has averaged 32% from three-point range and barely surpassed 50% true shooting last season. The arrival of Bane, an excellent shooter and ball handler, will be of great help. It will also be important for Wagner to break his bad streak in long-distance shots, as he went from 36% three seasons ago to less than 30% in the last two. Orlando will go as far as Banchero can take them. And, in an Eastern Conference wide open due to injuries to Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum, that could be very far, as long as Banchero continues to progress.

Mike Brown, coach of the New York KnicksWhen a coach is fired after leading your team to playoff victories for three consecutive seasons for the first time in a generation and to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in a quarter of a century, the expectations for his successor are clear. That is the situation Brown faces after replacing Tom Thibodeau this summer. And although Brown has repeatedly said, even on media day last week, that “nobody has higher expectations than him,” that’s not entirely true. There is a unique symbiosis between the Knicks and their fans, who have waited more than half a century to break their championship drought. It could be the best opportunity to do so since the Patrick Ewing-led Knicks reached the NBA Finals in 1994. Unlike recent seasons, when the Knicks exceeded relatively low expectations, an open East could turn anything less than a Finals appearance into a lost season for New York. Brown is no stranger to high-pressure situations. He led LeBron James to an NBA Finals in 2007, and he coached the Lakers. But, arguably, he has never faced the pressure he has this season, and neither has anyone on his roster.

A.J. Dybantsa, BYU Cougars forwardDybantsa is one of four players, along with Kansas point guard Darryn Peterson, Duke forward Cameron Boozer, and Tennessee forward Nate Ament, who will spend the season being debated for the top spots in a very promising 2026 NBA draft class. While there will be a lot of attention on what happens across the league, there will also be a lot of attention on the tracking of scouts, with several teams, including the Washington Wizards, the Brooklyn Nets, and the Utah Jazz, likely in positions to compete for the best odds in next spring’s draft lottery. And that doesn’t include teams like the New Orleans Pelicans, the Phoenix Suns, and the Philadelphia 76ers. If they fall further down the standings, they could be sending their selection to the Atlanta Hawks, the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Oklahoma City Thunder, respectively (in the case of Philadelphia, if they fall out of the top four picks in next June’s draft). Teams had the vision of choosing Cooper Flagg last season before the Dallas Mavericks unexpectedly got the number 1 pick, but the three- or four-way competition for the number 1 pick in 2026 could add additional intrigue.

De’Aaron Fox, point guard for the San Antonio Spurs

There is great excitement and anticipation for the return of the Spurs’ center, Victor Wembanyama, especially after he rose to number 5 in ESPN’s annual NBA rankings. But as brilliant as Wembanyama is, making the ballots for Most Valuable Player and All-NBA teams doesn’t just depend on individual excellence. It also requires a team to be able to progress alongside its young star and be in a position to reach the playoffs, even in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. For the Spurs to reach those heights this season, it’s very likely that Fox will be a good co-star alongside Wembanyama. In the brief time the two shared the court in February, the results were mixed (although the 120-minute sample should be taken with caution). Fox was acquired in a major trade in February and then received a maximum contract extension in August when he was eligible to receive it. Their investment in him is a sign that they believe he is an optimal teammate for Wembanyama. Fox will also have to fit in alongside the number 2 pick, Dylan Harper, and the reigning Rookie of the Year, Stephon Castle. The lack of consistent shooting among the three could make them fit in strangely. (As an aside, I’m proposing a nickname for Wembanyama: The Anomaly. I’d say it qualifies as an anomaly, and I like it much more than calling him extraterrestrial).

Kawhi Leonard, forward for the LA ClippersThe investigation into the possible circumvention of the salary cap by the Clippers, in relation to Aspiration, a former Clippers sponsor, will continue to be a topic of discussion throughout the season. But then there’s the on-court part of the story. Leonard again missed a large part of last season due to injuries, but returned to be an impactful player at the end of the season and in LA’s seven-game loss to the Denver Nuggets in the first round. With a very deep (albeit aging) roster around him, if Leonard can stay on the court, the Clippers could be a real factor in the West. And, this being Leonard’s 34th season, there won’t be many opportunities for him to succeed in his time with the Clippers if it doesn’t happen in 2025-26.

Adam Silver

Even before the Clippers investigation took center stage, it was already shaping up to be a pivotal season for the NBA commissioner as he enters his 12th full season in the role. How Silver decides on the case will be one of the enduring storylines of this season and possibly of his tenure as commissioner. But that’s not all. In recent months, Silver has repeatedly spoken about the league’s interest in expanding to Europe and creating a new league there to challenge the Euroleague, the best league outside the NBA. That league could potentially see the creation of several new expansion teams, with billions in expansion fees for the 30 NBA owners and new options with large resources to buy NBA teams. Then there’s national expansion, which remains a hot topic within league circles. When Silver was asked if Europe was a priority over national expansion last month, he strongly rejected the idea, saying that both projects can operate in parallel, and that’s what they’re doing. Expansion is still considered something that is a matter of when, not if. Seattle remains an obvious market to expand into, while several ownership groups are interested in pursuing a team in Las Vegas. But the coming months could show us how legitimate Silver’s argument about parallel paths is and how long expansion might take to reach the NBA.

Amen Thompson, Houston Rockets guard

The number 4 pick in the 2023 NBA draft, Thompson, quickly established himself as one of the most intriguing talents in the NBA and is poised for a successful season. Fred VanVleet suffered an ACL tear in offseason workouts, meaning Houston will be without his long-range shooting, defense, and leadership this season. But it creates a great opportunity for Thompson. Last season, he took on a more significant role in ball-handling, third on the team in terms of bringing the ball up the court behind VanVleet and Jalen Green, who has since departed. The stage is set for Thompson to lead the team and set the table for stars Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun in Houston. The Rockets didn’t make the Kevin Durant trade for this season to be a transition year. And if Thompson, a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year contender and an excellent passer, takes advantage of this opportunity, he could easily be an All-Star, the NBA’s Most Improved Player this season, and make Houston still a real threat to challenge Oklahoma City in the West.Trae Young, point guard for the Atlanta HawksNot long ago, Young would have been seen as an automatic candidate for a maximum extension. But those days were before the current collective bargaining agreement. Since the spring of 2023, teams are more reluctant to grant that kind of deal. Atlanta is entering the most anticipated Hawks season in years after an acclaimed offseason under the new head of basketball decision-making, Onsi Saleh, which could boost Young’s market in free agency next summer if the two parties do not reach an agreement. We could be entering a new era of team building and spending in the NBA, and Young’s deal could be at the epicenter of this.