Maybe! Those were among the responses The Athletic got this week when it asked its NBA staff for bold predictions for the 2025-26 season. Here’s one prediction for each team as the season tips off: The Hawks finish with a top-10 defense: Atlanta was 19th in defensive efficiency last season and has never finished in the top half of the league in the Trae Young era.

NBA rosters are locked for the 2025-26 season, which opens Tuesday on NBC & Peacock: The Rockets visit the champion Thunder & the Lakers host the Warriors.

The defending champs always start the season on top of these NBA Power Rankings (unless someone goes full Mark Cuban and blows up a champ for no good reason), but it almost feels like the Thunder should be on their own tier to start this campaign. It’s OKC and everyone else is chasing. Let’s break it all down by tiers.

The 21-time Emmy Award-winning "Inside the NBA" studio show returns as the pregame, halftime and postgame show for ESPN and ABC's NBA coverage during the 2025-26 season.