The 2025-26 NBA season is upon us, with two games on Tuesday and an entire slate of games on Wednesday.
Last season was filled with unpredictable occurrences all across the league. The Thunder elevated to NBA champions after being bounced in the second round a season before, the Dallas Mavericks surprisingly claimed the No. 1 pick, and Luka Dončić was unexpectedly traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, changing the futures of both those teams.
To help you prepare for the unexpected during the 2025-26 season, we used our NBA playoff predictor tool to project the entire season, complete with a listing of the standings, who will be in position to receive the No. 1 pick, the whole playoff picture, and who could be the next NBA champion come June 2026.
Let’s get into it.
NBA Projections for the 2025-26 Season
Eastern Conference Standings
Orlando Magic (55-27)
New York Knicks (55-27)
Detroit Pistons (47-35)
Atlanta Hawks (46-36)
Cleveland Cavaliers (46-36)
Miami Heat (40-42)
Indiana Pacers (38-44)
Chicago Bulls (38-44)
Boston Celtics (36-46)
Charlotte Hornets (34-48)
Toronto Raptors (33-49)
Philadelphia 76ers (31-51)
Milwaukee Bucks (30-52)
Brooklyn Nets (29-53)
Washington Wizards (26-56)
Fresh off trading for guard Desmond Bane to help with their shooting woes, the Magic find themselves at the top of the East in our projections. They replace the Cavaliers, who won 64 games a season ago, yet win 18 fewer this coming year, potentially due to a variety of injury issues with which they’re heading into the season.
The Hawks made several significant moves this offseason and reaped the benefits, finishing with the No. 4 seed and clinching home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Two prominent teams that drop out of the top eight are the Celtics and Bucks. Each saw their rosters taken apart due to salary cap reasons and entered the 2025-26 season with low expectations. Unfortunately for them, the bottom may fall out according to this projection.
Western Conference Standings
Oklahoma City Thunder (61-21)
Houston Rockets (55-27)
Minnesota Timberwolves (53-29)
Denver Nuggets (52-30)
Los Angeles Clippers (50-32)
Dallas Mavericks (47-35)
Memphis Grizzlies (45-37)
Golden State Warriors (41-41)
San Antonio Spurs (41-41)
Portland Trail Blazers (39-43)
Sacramento Kings (38-44)
Los Angeles Lakers (36-46)
Phoenix Suns (32-50)
Utah Jazz (29-53)
New Orleans Pelicans (27-55)
The top team should come as no surprise, as the Thunder surpasses 60 wins for the second straight season and enters the playoffs as the favorite to win it all. What may be surprising is the Rockets’ spot, as they, despite losing Fred VanVleet to a season-ending knee injury, claim the No. 2 slot and pose a major threat to Oklahoma City thanks to their offseason trade for Kevin Durant.
The Warriors, coming into the season with an old roster, finish at .500, while the Lakers surprisingly fall out of the playoff and play-in picture. Dončić has a vast injury history, and LeBron James is over 40 years old, making this a worst-case scenario for Los Angeles but a real possibility.
Projected Top Pick Recipient
Per the lottery rules, the bottom three finishers in the standings each have the same percentage chance of receiving the top pick. In this case, those teams are the Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, and New Orleans Pelicans.
Unfortunately, the Pelicans owe their pick to the Atlanta Hawks due to a trade during the 2025 draft. The Jazz and Wizards could use the pick much more, as they are on rebuilding paths and lack a superstar young player to hitch their wagon to.
Playoff Bracket
Eastern Conference First Round
#1 Orlando Magic defeat #8 Charlotte Hornets
#2 New York Knicks defeat #7 Indiana Pacers
#3 Detroit Pistons defeat #6 Miami Heat
#5 Cleveland Cavaliers defeat #4 Atlanta Hawks
Everything goes as expected here except Atlanta’s loss to Cleveland, which may be due to the Cavaliers’ immense length on the interior. This would be a highly entertaining guard matchup, with the Hawks trotting out Trae Young and the Cavaliers bringing out Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell.
Yet Cleveland prevails and will face the top-seeded Magic in Round 2.
Second Round
#1 Orlando Magic defeat #5 Cleveland Cavaliers
#2 New York Knicks defeat #3 Detroit Pistons
The top two seeds reach the conference finals, as the Magic and Knicks take care of the Cavaliers and Pistons, respectively. It will be a solid step forward for Detroit after being bounced in the first round in 2025. Cleveland, entering the season with title hopes, may be headed towards a franchise-altering decision of keeping or trading one — or two — of their star quartet that hasn’t had much postseason success together.
Conference Finals
#2 New York Knicks defeat #1 Orlando Magic
After reaching the conference finals a year ago, the Knicks finally pushed through and reached the NBA Finals after they were knocked out by the Pacers in 2025. Their decision to fire head coach Tom Thibodeau and hire Mike Brown pays off, as he takes them past where Thibodeau did and gives them a chance to win their first title since 1973.
Western Conference First Round
#1 Oklahoma City Thunder defeat #8 Golden State Warriors
#7 Memphis Grizzlies defeat #2 Houston Rockets
#6 Dallas Mavericks defeat #3 Minnesota Timberwolves
#5 Los Angeles Clippers defeat #4 Denver Nuggets
Two upsets occur here, as the Ja Morant-led Grizzlies and Anthony Davis-led Mavericks advance to the second round after defeating their opponents’ home-court advantage. The Clippers, a year after falling to the Nuggets in Game 7 in blowout fashion, get revenge and take down Denver and advance to the second round.
Second Round
#5 Los Angeles Clippers defeat #1 Oklahoma City Thunder
#7 Memphis Grizzlies defeat #6 Dallas Mavericks
This would be a wild second round, as the Clippers take on the Thunder and put any hopes of a repeat title to bed. With their revamped roster featuring several veteran additions, Los Angeles appears to be a bona fide title contender. At the same time, Memphis capitalizes on meeting another low seed in the second round, advancing to the conference finals for the first time since 2013.
Conference Finals
#5 Los Angeles Clippers defeat #7 Memphis Grizzlies
The Clippers are simply too deep for the Grizzlies, as they send themselves to the NBA Finals to battle the Knicks. James Harden avoids his playoff woes, and Kawhi Leonard stays healthy for another round, potentially giving this veteran-laden team their last shot at winning a title.
NBA Finals
#2 New York Knicks defeat #5 Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles’ run was all for nothing, as the cross-country battle resulted in the Knicks taking home the title. In this case, it’s hard not to view Jalen Brunson as someone who’s in the upper echelon of all league players, while Karl-Anthony Towns silences all doubters who say he can’t perform well in the playoffs.
And once again, New York’s decision to fire Thibodeau after an Eastern Conference Finals appearance pays off in the most significant way, as Brown leads them to a title — their first in over 50 years and leading to massive celebrations from a championship-starved fan base.