Kawhi Leonard’s transfer from the Clippers to Toronto, agreed June 30 for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, and a stack of picks, sat frozen for seven weeks whereas the league determined whether or not Steve Ballmer had quietly paid his star via a pretend endorsement deal. Investigators cleared him Monday. And surprisingly, that’s removed from the wildest story of the summer season thus far.
Giannis Antetokounmpo — a two-time MVP who by no means as soon as publicly demanded out however behind the scenes was actively seeking to go away Milwaukee behind — was traded to Miami on the eve of the draft for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakučionis, and a mountain of picks. Jaylen Brown, the Finals MVP from Boston’s 2024 title run, obtained flipped to Philadelphia for Paul George. And LeBron James, at 41, walked away from a $53 million Lakers wage to signal a two-year, $8 million cope with the 76ers, deciding after a month of weighing retirement that he wasn’t truly finished.
Layer LaMelo Ball’s arrival in Minnesota on prime of that — a four-team fever dream that took almost three weeks to untangle Charlotte, Brooklyn, and Chicago into one deal — and also you get a league that has reshuffled its hierarchy seemingly in a single day. So, which groups have made the largest strides this offseason, and will any of them be reborn in 2026-27?
Indiana Pacers
Nineteen wins. Sixty-three losses. The second-worst document within the NBA, one 12 months after Indiana was two quarters from a championship. That alone tells you ways violently a single Achilles tendon can rewrite a franchise’s trajectory. Tyrese Haliburton went down in Recreation 7 of the 2025 Finals in opposition to Oklahoma Metropolis, and Indiana spent 2025-26 discovering out how a lot of its offense, id, and ceiling had been strolling round inside one 26-year-old’s legs.
The rehab hasn’t been clear — Haliburton developed facial shingles mid-recovery, nasty sufficient to swell his eye shut and bloat him with remedy. He saved posting rehab movies anyway, marking the weeks: week 48 post-surgery by early summer season. By July, league sources had been telling reporters Indiana was “extraordinarily optimistic” he’d be ready for 2026-27’s opening night. Haliburton put it extra bluntly himself: “I’m the supply. I’m wholesome proper now.” The Pacers open on the highway in opposition to New Orleans — he’d assumed his return would come at dwelling.
That’s the entire wager for these searching for an outdoor punt on the Pacers subsequent season. The newest NBA betting at Bovada odds at the moment checklist Indiana as a +4000 fringe contender, and after the overwhelming majority of its supporting solid, past including Larry Nance Jr. and Kelly Oubre Jr., was left unchanged, that might properly be a strong sleeper wager. Pascal Siakam and a wholesome Haliburton nonetheless kind a top-four Japanese Convention crew on paper. The Pacers and their backers simply want the paper to carry.
Washington Wizards
Trae Younger was in tears driving into State Farm Enviornment on January 9, understanding he was about to play his final dwelling recreation for Atlanta. Hours later, he was a Wizard, dealt for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert — a commerce Washington followers watched with disbelief and darkish comedy, this being a entrance workplace that turned Bradley Beal into Chris Paul, Paul into Jordan Poole, Poole into McCollum, and McCollum right into a four-time All-Star, with out ever actually having cap area to spend. Younger arrived nursing a quad contusion and an MCL sprain, a fittingly unglamorous handoff.
Six months later, Washington received the draft lottery outright and took Duke wing AJ Dybantsa No. 1, handing Younger and Anthony Davis a 3rd foundational piece no one exterior D.C. noticed coming this quick. Three years of 15, 18, and 17 wins purchased this entrance workplace precisely the sort of persistence that normally will get executives fired, not vindicated. No one’s predicting a playoff berth round Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, and Kyshawn George simply but. However for the primary time because the rebuild began, “basis” isn’t a euphemism.
Philadelphia 76ers
Joel Embiid’s appendix ruptured in a single day in Houston on April 9, forcing an emergency appendectomy two weeks earlier than the playoffs. He got here again off the bench for the play-in win over Orlando, sat out the primary three video games in opposition to Boston, then returned 17 days post-surgery for Recreation 4 — a recreation the Celtics received by 32 to go up 3-1. Philadelphia didn’t die there. They received three straight to eradicate Boston, extending the league’s longest playoff rivalry to 23 all-time conferences, earlier than getting swept by the Knicks within the second spherical. Gutsy, gutted, and gone earlier than anybody might get pleasure from it.
Then the offseason blew the entire thing up anyway. Philadelphia flipped George and picks to Boston for Jaylen Brown, the identical crew that had simply eradicated them. And LeBron James, who might have chased a hoop virtually wherever, selected the crew that hasn’t reached a convention finals since 2001. Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Brown, and James now share a locker room, and each considered one of that quartet’s latest seasons has been outlined by one thing breaking on the worst attainable time. Philadelphia isn’t betting on expertise. It’s betting the harm luck lastly turns.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Again-to-back convention finals in 2024 and 2025 purchased Minnesota actual credibility — and 2025-26 almost buried it. The Wolves went 49-33, upset Denver within the first spherical regardless of shedding Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo to harm, then had been eradicated by San Antonio within the convention semifinals. Similar spherical, third straight 12 months, a distinct rising Western energy standing over them every time.
Tim Connelly’s response was the boldest of his tenure: ship out Julius Randle and fan favourite Naz Reid in a four-team swap, take up the outrage from followers watching Reid go to Charlotte for what appeared like spare components, and land LaMelo Ball — a former Rookie of the Yr who’s battled ankle accidents for 3 of his six seasons however stayed on the ground for 72 video games final 12 months.
The logic is easy even when the gamble isn’t: Edwards can’t maintain shouldering a Western Convention run alone. Ball, paired with Edwards and Rudy Gobert, is both the co-star Minnesota’s been lacking or the explanation this period ages badly.
