The 2025-26 NBA season is less than a week away, and while the Philadelphia 76ers’ present and the future of the NBA champion New York Knicks dominate the conversation, several intriguing narratives run across the league. Some could take all season to resolve, while others could be settled in the first quarter. Here are 10 important figures at all levels of the game who bear watching, starting with a No. 1 pick who is still looking for his first playoff appearance.
Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
Why he’s interesting: It’s now or never.
Williamson played 62 games last season, the second most of his career, trailing only the 70 he played in 2022-23. His stretch of playing 52 of 53 games from Dec. 14 to April 5 was the longest such span of his career. The Pelicans went 21-31 during that time, as a litany of players moved in and out of the lineup while the team tried to develop rookies Jeremy Fears and Derik Queen.
This is Year 8 for the 2019 No. 1 pick. The league moves fast, and Williamson’s contract for 2027-28 is not guaranteed. Pelicans general manager Troy Weaver previously went through the painstaking process of a Pistons rebuild at the start of the decade, but he doesn’t have that problem here, as he holds assets to accrue draft capital. The new regime resisted wholesale changes last season, and it hopes new coach Jamahl Mosley can have the same effect J.B. Bickerstaff had in Detroit three years ago before it makes any drastic moves.
Williamson has the most credentials but also the most questions. He has reportedly arrived at camp in great shape, having worked extensively with assistant coach God Shammgod over the summer.
Doug Christie, Sacramento Kings
Why he’s interesting: The bar isn’t high.
The Kings have no mandate to make the playoffs with the current roster, and the front office has said it will not saddle itself with win-now moves that jeopardise the future. Zach LaVine is on an expiring deal, and it remains unclear how Domantas Sabonis, who has two years left on the extension he signed in 2023, fits into the long-term plan.
Christie has yet to stamp his identity on this roster in terms of style of play, which is something Kings general manager Scott Perry values highly. If Christie can put promising rookie point guard Darius Acuff Jr. in positions to become an elite lead performer, it will be a feather in his cap as the roster begins to take shape. If the season produces another nondescript 22-win campaign with no discernible on-court quality, things could get tricky for the well-liked Christie.
LaMelo Ball, Minnesota Timberwolves
Why he’s intriguing: The Timberwolves are no strangers to big moves. They acquired Rudy Gobert from the Utah Jazz for a cache of future picks and traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks two years ago, shortly after reaching their first Western Conference finals in 20 years. Now Tim Connelly is remaking the roster, bringing in the uber-talented Ball to ease the pressure on Anthony Edwards, who took on a heavy share of facilitating duties over the past couple of seasons.
Ball, who appears to be getting along famously with Edwards in the early returns, faces two main tests. First, and most importantly, he is facing high-stakes, high-pressure basketball for the first time in his NBA career. In his first six seasons with the Charlotte Hornets, the play-in tournament was the high-water mark. Second, can he stay healthy? He has played 70 games twice in his career, and he joins a team that wants to elevate itself to the tier of the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs in the West.
Micah Nori and Ja Morant, Portland Trail Blazers
Why they’re intriguing: This is the only player-coach combination on the list, and it is notable even if the two are not joined at the hip. Nori, the highly regarded assistant in Minnesota, took this job under less than desirable circumstances. Only the first year of his contract is guaranteed, with team options for the second and third years, a deal that National Basketball Coaches Association president J.B. Bickerstaff called a “slap in the face.” Trail Blazers governor Tom Dundon has already faced criticism over his cost-cutting practices, and Nori seems to be in a lose-lose situation.
That’s where Morant comes in. It has been years since he was an All-Star (2022 and 2023), let alone a future face of the league. The trade from the Memphis Grizzlies was a merciful end, but going to Portland means he shares a position with a franchise legend returning from an Achilles injury, Damian Lillard. Jrue Holiday is still there, along with Scoot Henderson. Where does Morant fit, not just on this team but across the league?
His game has not developed an outside shot, and injuries have limited him to just 79 games over the past three seasons. He is due $42.1 million and $44.8 million over the next two years and will be 29 when free agency arrives.
Is Portland fertile ground for a hard reset? Or are matters far too complicated for either Nori or Morant to truly succeed?
Anthony Davis, Washington Wizards
Why he’s intriguing: It has been a while since Davis was an impact player. He has played a total of 71 games over the past two seasons, so he has something to prove. He has yet to play a game for the Wizards and, unlike Trae Young, did not receive a contract extension. Davis is therefore entering a potential contract year. He holds a $62.7 million player option for 2027-28, and he is doing so in a place he did not choose, which makes his situation all the more interesting. He is a veteran on a team featuring No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa, Young, who is a 20-point, 10-assist threat, and 2024 No. 2 pick Alex Sarr, who has shown considerable promise through two seasons.
The relationship between Davis and the Wizards appears to be going well, and he will want to put his best foot forward to secure his future as he turns 34 in March. If he is healthy, Davis remains one of the most versatile bigs in the league and a future Hall of Famer the day he becomes eligible. If he is healthy, he could also be a coveted player should he and the Wizards fail to agree on a contract extension. Both sides understand this is a business, and the only question is how the situation plays out and how long it takes to gain clarity.
Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks
Why he’s intriguing: The reason is fairly obvious. Talks with the Knicks over an extension have hung over the organisation since the Knicks won their first title in 53 years. Those talks have been cut off after Towns found the Knicks’ offer of $200 million over four years unsatisfactory. That figure is $76 million less than his potential maximum of $276 million over four seasons, and it would represent a pay cut from his current salary of $57 million. Like Davis, he holds a player option for next season at $61 million, which the second apron-conscious Knicks must be aware of.
One of the reasons Minnesota traded Towns a couple of years ago was his salary and its desire to get under the second apron in its first year. One wonders whether that weighs on his mind and heart as the Knicks go for a repeat. Is everything on the table, given the Knicks’ word that they will not negotiate during the season?
The Knicks were one band, one sound during their run to the NBA Finals last season, and repeating is tougher than ever in today’s league. How will they manage it? And how will Towns, who sacrificed last season and is now being asked to sacrifice again, go beyond expectations?
Kenny Atkinson, Cleveland Cavaliers
Why he’s intriguing: Perhaps we have made too much fun of his comments during the Eastern Conference finals, when he told the media that “analytically” the Cavaliers had won two of the three games against the Knicks, even though they were on the way to being swept. That remark obscured the best season and playoff run Cleveland has enjoyed in over 30 years that wasn’t headlined by LeBron James. But the Cavaliers looked emotionally and physically spent going into that series with the Knicks, so was that the maximum Atkinson could have got from his team? With the Eastern Conference looking improved from top to bottom, where do the Cavaliers fit? Can Atkinson truly unlock Evan Mobley, a No. 1 talent who is the third option in this set-up?
Donovan Mitchell re-signed for the maximum, and James Harden agreed to a three-year deal as he enters his age-37 season with plenty of miles on his body and legs.
The Cavaliers acquired Peyton Watson from the Denver Nuggets via a sign-and-trade deal, but is that enough to keep up? And can Atkinson shake off those comments and the perception they created to keep the Cavaliers in the upper echelon?
Kyrie Irving, Dallas Mavericks
Why he’s intriguing: Irving is a wizard with the ball, the perfect shot-creating guard who needs barely a sliver of space to get a shot away with either hand and is unafraid to take the big shots in the big moments. However, nobody knows how his ACL surgery will affect his game, given that he has not been on the floor in live action for 19 months.
Irving has excelled alongside LeBron James in Cleveland, Kevin Durant in Brooklyn and Luka Doncic in Dallas, so he should have little trouble working out how to play with Cooper Flagg, who stands to take a big leap in Year 2. There is new leadership in Dallas, with Masai Ujiri as team president and first-year coach Dusty May, and there have been no whispers about Irving’s current fit.
Irving will turn 35 in March. He holds a player option for 2027-28 at $42.4 million and could be a coveted veteran for several contenders if his future takes him in that direction.
It has long been said that he is comfortable in Dallas, and that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Some of his most productive and efficient play has come with the Mavericks, so it shouldn’t be assumed he will be on the way out. Either way, a return to the court for a spellbinding performer is noteworthy.
Jon Horst, Milwaukee Bucks
Why he’s intriguing: Travis Scott’s “Butterfly Effect”, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s song of choice after he scored at Fiserv Forum, will no longer be played there following his trade to the Miami Heat. But the butterfly effect of that move will keep rippling.
Unless your name is Sam Presti, trading away your franchise star usually signs your own pink slip rather than allowing you to engineer the next phase of team building. Horst did a masterful job building the team that became an NBA champion in 2021, then used every creative lever he could to keep Antetokounmpo happy until the relationship ran its course.
The return for the franchise star and Bobby Portis was three first-round picks, Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kel’el Ware. Lillard’s waive-and-stretch deal remains on the books until 2029-30 at $21 million per season.
There is also the league’s investigation into the signing of Gary Trent Jr., which is being examined as salary cap circumvention. If the LA Clippers case is any guide, and nobody is comparing the actual severity of the two instances, the NBA will look at this very seriously.
Will Horst still have the chance to rebuild the Bucks into another contender?
Kawhi Leonard, Toronto Raptors
Why he’s intriguing: The yearlong investigation into Leonard receiving impermissible benefits from the Clippers is over. He was not suspended but was required to repay $700,000 in impermissible benefits, and he was traded back to his preferred destination of Toronto, where he helped the Raptors win their only NBA title in 2019.
He would probably prefer that nobody asks about his Clippers experience, and the Raptors do not care about what happened in the past seven years. They handed him a lucrative three-year extension upon his arrival, in the hope that history will repeat itself.
The Raptors were a first-round exit last year but have talented players, even after trading Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick to the Clippers. Leonard, if healthy, can make it all fit in a crowded Eastern Conference. But can he be trusted simply to stay on the floor?
Last year was one of his best, even amid the controversy, as he averaged nearly 28 points on ridiculous 50-39-89 shooting splits. But he is 35, and there is all that physical baggage.
“I want to love Kawhi because he’s an incredible talent,” a high-ranking Western Conference executive said. “However, he doesn’t abide by the rules of the game, which is to be available. If he played 70 games, he’s a top-three player. I’d take my chances with him.”