{"id":223215,"date":"2025-10-18T17:26:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T17:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/223215\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T17:26:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T17:26:17","slug":"nba-cheat-sheet-everything-you-need-to-know-for-2025-26-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/223215\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA cheat sheet: Everything you need to know for 2025-26 season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Oklahoma City Thunder will start their title defensive Tuesday against the Houston Rockets to kick off the 2025-26 NBA season, and theScore has you covered with everything you need to get ready for the new campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead \ud83d\udd2e<\/p>\n<p>Securing the bag: 6 NBA players vying for big free-agent deals<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped_Players_seeking_big-money_deals-R2.jpg\" \/> Julian Catalfo \/ theScore<\/p>\n<p>Miami Heat newcomer Norman Powell and Brooklyn Nets heat-check merchant Cam Thomas are among six players looking to annex massive paydays with standout play during the upcoming campaign. <a data-in-app-uri=\"thescore:\/\/\/news\/3331593\" href=\"https:\/\/thescore.com\/news\/3331593\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Milestones watch: 8 players who could make history in 2025-26<\/p>\n<p>LeBron James and Nikola Jokic are among eight of the league&#8217;s most celebrated stars looking to vault themselves up some historic lists featuring all-time greats. <a data-in-app-uri=\"thescore:\/\/\/news\/3331581\" href=\"https:\/\/thescore.com\/news\/3331581\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>7 breakout candidates for 2025-26<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped_BreakoutPlayers.jpg\" \/> Matt Cohen \/ theScore<\/p>\n<p>Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard and Detroit Pistons defensive savant Ausar Thompson are two of seven players primed for a breakout campaign in 2025-26. Here&#8217;s why. <a data-in-app-uri=\"thescore:\/\/\/news\/3347760\" href=\"https:\/\/thescore.com\/news\/3347760\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Featured analysis \u270d\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>Offseason grades: Eastern Conference<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped_NBA_offseason_grades_for_Eastern.jpg\" \/> Julian Catalfo \/ theScore<\/p>\n<p>An offseason that included the draft and a free-agent frenzy saw several teams in the East upgrade in hopes of capitalizing on key absences and departures from conference powers Boston and Indiana. <a data-in-app-uri=\"thescore:\/\/\/news\/3332158\" href=\"https:\/\/thescore.com\/news\/3332158\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Offseason grades: Western Conference<\/p>\n<p>An arms race out West saw former champs, established squads, and emerging groups make additions with an eye on unseating the Thunder come playoff time. <a data-in-app-uri=\"thescore:\/\/\/news\/3332207\" href=\"https:\/\/thescore.com\/news\/3332207\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>NBA watchability rankings: The bottom 15<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped_Watchability_Draft_02.jpg\" \/> Marcus Stanois \/ theScore<\/p>\n<p>Not all of the league&#8217;s 30 teams are easy on the eyes. Whether the result of a sluggish pace of play, inefficiencies at both ends, or the pitfalls and perils of rebuilding rosters, these are the NBA&#8217;s least watchable teams. <a data-in-app-uri=\"thescore:\/\/\/news\/3348051\" href=\"https:\/\/thescore.com\/news\/3348051\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>NBA watchability rankings: The top 15<\/p>\n<p>Unlike the first installment, Part 2 celebrates the league&#8217;s most watchable teams that will have fans circling particular matchups on the calendar months in advance. Did your favorite team make the top 15? <a data-in-app-uri=\"thescore:\/\/\/news\/3348052\" href=\"https:\/\/thescore.com\/news\/3348052\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more &#8230; <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Betting \ud83d\udcb5<\/p>\n<p>Win total bets: 11 teams to target before season tips off<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped_win_totals.jpg\" \/> Getty<\/p>\n<p>Win totals are a valuable tool for evaluating expectations. The Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, and San Antonio Spurs are among 11 teams whose over-under win totals we&#8217;ve assessed here. <a data-in-app-uri=\"thescore:\/\/\/news\/3362465\" href=\"https:\/\/thescore.com\/news\/3362465\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Preseason Rookie of the Year rankings<\/p>\n<p>Cooper Flagg leads a capable group of first-year players looking to establish themselves at the next level. Is the Dallas Mavericks phenom a lock for Rookie of the Year, or could there be stiff competition elsewhere? <a data-in-app-uri=\"thescore:\/\/\/news\/3347908\" href=\"https:\/\/thescore.com\/news\/3347908\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Preseason Most Valuable Player rankings<\/p>\n<p>Defending winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and three-time honoree Nikola Jokic are the favorites to take home the NBA&#8217;s most coveted individual award. How do the other marquee stars stack up? <a data-in-app-uri=\"thescore:\/\/\/news\/3347915\" href=\"https:\/\/thescore.com\/news\/3347915\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Oklahoma City Thunder will start their title defensive Tuesday against the Houston Rockets to kick off the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-223215","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}