Do the Nuggets still have the best starting lineup in the NBA? They’ve taken pride in that claim for multiple years, leaning on the combined might of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon to maintain championship contender status. A week into the 2026 preseason, it’s time to look at the projected starting lineups in the Western Conference, and rank them, of course.
This list is based on each team’s ideal lineup with everyone healthy. If a player is missing the start of the season, he’ll still be included unless he has a known long-term injury that could alter the lineup for most of the season (Jimmy Butler in Golden State). Asterisks are included next to teams with TBD starting jobs, which is, well, most of them.
15. Los Angeles Clippers*
Darius Garland, Max Strus, Brandon Ingram, Rui Hachimura, Isaiah Jackson: The Clippers begin their post-Kawhi exile with a team led by Garland and eventually Ingram, who’s out for at least the start of the season. Strus, acquired in the Peyton Watson sign-and-trade, also suffered a training camp injury, so the opening day lineup could look different. Derrick Jones Jr. started for a Finals team two years ago and can slot in as a 3-and-D wing. Rookie guard Keaton Wagler is the franchise’s great (and only) hope for the future; the best thing that could happen for LA this season would be him earning a starting role. Jackson has reportedly been working with the starters at camp instead of veteran center Brook Lopez, but neither of them moves the needle. It could be long year with a lot of lineups at Intuit Dome.
14. Sacramento Kings
Darius Acuff, Zach LaVine, De’Andre Hunter, Keegan Murray, Domantas Sabonis: Sabonis might not be a King by the end of the season, while LaVine is a $49 million lame duck without a contract extension — signs of the times in Sacramento. That beleaguered star duo shared the floor for 357 minutes last season with a whopping minus-17.8 net rating together. The Kings drafted Acuff seventh overall this summer and can only hope to empower the young point guard as they search for renewed optimism.
Devin Booker (1) of the Phoenix Suns works as Aaron Gordon (32), Jamal Murray (27) and Christian Braun (0) of the Denver Nuggets defend during the first quarter at Ball Arena on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
13. Phoenix Suns*
Devin Booker, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Miles Bridges, Oso Ighodaro: If ex-Nugget Collin Gillespie starts instead of Green, it would spare Booker point guard duties and probably help Phoenix’s ranking quite a bit. This lineup demands a lot of ugly, low-efficiency isolation basketball instead of an organized offense. With Mark Williams out for several months, the 24-year-old Ighodaro can cement himself as a valuable big with his versatile defensive skillset. Booker is an excellent player, but how far can he take Phoenix if he’s playing out of position?
12. Memphis Grizzlies*
Ty Jerome, Cedric Coward, Jaylen Wells, Cam Boozer, Zach Edey: If Boozer is the versatile plug-and-play rookie he’s been hyped up to be, this lineup could surprise people. He and Edey could develop into an extraordinary frontcourt tandem, though Edey’s durability has been a concern for years. Jerami Grant could vie for a starting job on the wing, but he doesn’t exactly fit with a young team’s timeline.
11. New Orleans Pelicans*
Dejounte Murray, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III, Zion Williamson, Yves Missi: New coach Jamahl Mosley has been running Missi with the starters instead of Derik Queen this preseason. It’s not that Queen is undeserving — New Orleans made an unfathomable investment in him last year — it’s that he and Williamson have proven to be a horribly awkward fit with ball-dependent skill sets that don’t complement each other. Last season, with Murphy, Williamson, and Missi on the court (without Queen), the Pels had a 5.7 net rating in 329 minutes, according to PBP Stats. With Missi swapped for Queen, they were minus 8.9 in 463 minutes. Can Missi help Zion yield better results? Jones vs. Jordan Poole could be another interesting decision to watch at the two. New Orleans has a fairly talented roster, just strangely built.
Draymond Green #23 reacts after Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors made a basket against the LA Clippers in the fourth quarter at Chase Center on October 28, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
10. Golden State Warriors*
Steph Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Yaxel Lendeborg, Draymond Green, Al Horford: The thing about a basketball lineup is that its best player kind of matters a lot. And so Golden State gets a free pass into the top 10, courtesy of Curry. Kristaps Porzingis can no longer be considered a consistent part of any starting five because of recurring health issues, so with him out indefinitely for mysterious reasons, Horford slots in next to Green to form the oldest starting frontcourt in the NBA. (Gui Santos could also challenge for a spot.) Lendeborg’s youth is desperately needed as the Warriors bide their time, hoping Jimmy Butler can look like himself whenever he returns from a torn ACL.
9. Dallas Mavericks*
Kyrie Irving, Max Christie, Cooper Flagg, PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford: Irving and Flagg are the only two locks in this lineup, but that’s a pretty nice starting point for first-year coach Dusty May. Derek Lively II’s health has limited his ability to compete with Gafford. Naji Marshall is an alternative to Christie. Former No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher is a newcomer who could challenge Washington. There’s an interesting skeleton forming around Flagg in Dallas.
8. Portland Trail Blazers*
Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, Donovan Clingan: This projection is based on new coach Micah Mori’s very reasonable comment to The Athletic explaining his skepticism about starting Lillard and Ja Morant together. If the Blazers ultimately try to jam them both into the lineup, their ranking might be demoted a few spots. But if they let Holiday complement one of them — let’s assume the franchise icon instead of the newcomer — then this is a coherent, playoff-worthy unit with a recent All-Star as a sixth man.
7. Utah Jazz
Keyonte George, Darryn Peterson, Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., Jusuf Nurkic: Nurkic is the apparent weak link here. Had Utah re-signed Walker Kessler in restricted free agency, this lineup might’ve claimed a top-six ranking. Instead, the Jazz seemingly made out like bandits by turning Kessler into two first-round picks and two pick swaps. The trade-off is an older, less dynamic starting center. But even with Nurkic, a physical big who screens well to free up teammates, the Jazz will be rolling out a massive lineup with loads of scoring talent. It should cause matchup headaches for many defenses.
Luka Doncic (77) of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts to being called for goaltending during the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
6. Los Angeles Lakers*
Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Quentin Grimes, Matisse Thybulle, Walker Kessler: Kessler has moved from Salt Lake to Hollywood, where he’s one of three guaranteed starters alongside Doncic and Reaves. “The other two spots will not be two white guys,” coach JJ Redick joked before training camp. Needless to say, a lot is up in the air, making this one of the tougher starting fives to preemptively evaluate. What’s clear is that Redick needs to put defenders next to his star duo.
5. Minnesota Timberwolves
LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Jonathan Kuminga, Rudy Gobert: Minnesota seems dead set on test-driving Kuminga as a starter early in the season. It could be a make-or-break opportunity for the 24-year-old forward to prove he can accept a tertiary role and function as a winning role player. If it looks clunky, the Wolves can always pivot to a three-guard lineup with Ayo Dosunmu as the fifth starter. Of course, none of this works unless Edwards and Ball mesh. Get ready for run-and-gun rollercoaster hoops, led by two of the league’s most trigger-happy pull-up 3-point shooters.
4. Houston Rockets
Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun: Thompson, Durant, Smith, and Sengun were already the league’s most-used four-man combination last season, with a 3.8 net rating in 1,138 minutes. The gaping hole in Houston’s lineup was at point guard. Thompson was forced to expand his game as a ball-handler and playmaker while VanVleet rehabbed from a torn ACL. It might be good for Thompson in the long run — Houston can lean on him when needed after a year of polish, but he should also be able to scale back his offensive role with VanVleet, the veteran floor general, returning. The key to this lineup’s success will ultimately be Sengun. He’s coming off a down year. Can he evolve into a truly elite first option, or has he already reached his ceiling?
Forward/center Victor Wembanyama (1) of the San Antonio Spurs during the first half of a game against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, April 4, 2026, at Ball Arena in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)
3. San Antonio Spurs*
De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle, Tobias Harris, Victor Wembanyama: The Spurs are going to be ridiculously good. They’re outside the top two on this particular list only because they have some awkward lineup dynamics to sort out early in the season. It remains unclear whether their five best players can actually fit together. Fox, Castle and Harper shared the court for only a few minutes last year, and it didn’t go smoothly — such is the natural obstacle of playing three ball-handling, non-spacing guards together. Coach Mitch Johnson found perfect synergy by keeping at least one of them on the floor at all times, often two, never all three. Harper, the youngest, came off the bench. He doesn’t want to anymore, and for good reason. After one of the most impressive NBA Finals performances ever by a rookie, there’s a fair argument that he’s already the best of the trio. Can they figure out how to flow together, or will Johnson have to move Castle or Fox to the bench eventually to make room for an ascendant star? Incumbent starters Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie have established themselves as better off-ball fits, but Harris and a possible promotion of Harper could push both out. The Spurs have first-world problems, but those are still problems.
2. Denver Nuggets
Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic: The Nuggets are the only team in the conference expected to start the season with the same starting lineup as last year. That makes them a known entity in a way other units can’t claim. They posted a 13.5 net rating as the seventh-most-used lineup in the NBA despite injuries that sidetracked them for much of last season, logging 360 minutes together. The only thing holding Denver back from the top spot was that pesky 44-minute sample of playoff basketball. With Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun playing through pain and Nikola Jokic out of rhythm, the known entity was minus-12 per 100 possessions in a disastrous first-round series.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein: Astonishingly, these five didn’t play a single minute together last season, in part because of Williams’ injuries. But the four-man combination of SGA, Williams, Holmgren and Hartenstein made the most of its 115 minutes, posting an absurd 28.5 net rating to follow up on a 15.6 mark the previous season. Enter Wallace, another vicious perimeter defender who has also become a more well-rounded player than his predecessor, Lu Dort. If it’s Wallace’s job, he’s not coming in blind. He has years of chemistry playing alongside OKC’s other four starters in various lineups. The Thunder sacrificed Dort at the altar of the second apron this summer, and the result might be a starting unit that’s even more dangerous than it was before.
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