The NBA offseason is when hope springs eternal. But with more than four months between the Oklahoma City Thunder reaching the top of the mountain as NBA champions and the tipoff of the next climb to seize the Larry O’Brien Trophy, the offseason can also just … feel eternal.
That’s one reason why so many fans get so psyched for the annual release of the NBA schedule. Beyond the specific national-TV-and-travel-related elements to analyze (and, invariably, rant and rave about), it also affords us the chance to sketch out some notes for a new group of storylines we’re looking forward to following.
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We finally know when each new draft pick will begin his ascent to stardom, when that premier free-agent signing or trade acquisition will begin fitting in precisely as the front office imagined, and when the 29 teams that didn’t hoist the Larry O’B will get the chance to reframe last season’s heartbreak into a necessary stumble on the road to better things. It’s the first step toward turning everything we’ve been thinking about into reality.
And if all that seems a little high-minded for what is ostensibly the posting of 30 82-game tables … well, it’ll kill some time, at least.
Let’s while away those minutes together, taking a quick spin through the calendar to highlight — in no particular order — some of the most anticipated games on the just-released 2025-26 NBA schedule, starting at … well, the start:
(Stefan Milic/Yahoo Sports Illustration)
All times Eastern.
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Rockets at Thunder, Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m. (NBC)
Let’s not be too clever: It’s opening night, and the newly crowned NBA champions will hoist Oklahoma City’s first NBA championship banner and receive their rings right before taking on a Houston team that finished second in the West last season. Oh, and that Houston team, by the way, spent its summer loading for bear to take aim at the Thunder’s throne — most notably by trading for Kevin Durant, arguably the greatest Thunder player ever.
Plotlines! Incredible talent! “Roundball Rock!” What more could you ask for?
I’m glad you asked:
Warriors at Lakers, Oct. 21, 10 p.m. (NBC)
The league’s opening nightcap gives us our first look at the retooled Lakers, with Luka Dončić fully re-upped and slimmed down, with new arrivals Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia making their L.A. debuts … and oh, right, LeBron James. He’s still here!
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It’ll also provide a first look at the retooled Warriors, featuring … well, your guess is as good as mine, given how Golden State’s entire summer has been trapped in suspended animation as Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Co. work through The Jonathan Kuminga Situation.
It’ll be the second meeting between the LeBron-Luka iteration of the Lakers and the Jimmy Butler-injected iteration of the Warriors, and we can only hope it lives up to its precursor — an April contest in which both teams were vying for postseason positioning in the tightly packed West, with both teams throwing fireballs late in the fourth quarter before the Warriors finished off a 123-116 win behind 37 from Stephen Curry:
Ultimately, though: It’s LeBron vs. Steph. I don’t know how many more of these we’re going to get, and neither do you, so it’s incumbent on us to make sure we’re extracting as much enjoyment as possible from the ones that we do.
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Cavaliers at Knicks, Dec. 25, noon (ABC, ESPN)
The Cavs won more games than any other team in the East last season, and they had New York’s number during the regular season, sweeping all four games against Jalen Brunson and Co. with an average margin of victory of 17 points per game. The Knicks, however, advanced further in the 2025 playoffs, shocking Boston in Round 2 to make the Eastern Conference finals, while the Cavs again stumbled in the second round, this time falling to Indiana.
After the injury-spurred downfall of the Pacers and Celtics, Cleveland and New York are projected as the top two teams in the East — the squads most likely to make it all the way to the NBA Finals and take on whichever eldritch horror emerges from the West. One win in a high-profile nationally televised matchup wouldn’t necessarily give either team the leg up in that pursuit. It sure as hell wouldn’t hurt, though.
Knicks at Pacers, Dec. 18, 7 p.m. (League Pass)
Thunder at Pacers, Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
No, these games — rematches of both the Eastern Conference finals and one of the most compelling NBA Finals series in recent memory — won’t have the same level of juice they did back in May and June, what with Tyrese Haliburton watching in street clothes as he rehabilitates his ruptured Achilles tendon, and with erstwhile Indiana center Myles Turner now lining up next to Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee. But would you be surprised if Indiana wizard Rick Carlisle and a returning Pacers core led by Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Bennedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell felt motivated to spring a little something special against either or both of these opponents, just to remind everybody there’s still something special cooking in Indiana — even if it’s been put on low heat to simmer for a season?
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And speaking of rematches …
Timberwolves at Thunder, Nov. 26, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
A rematch of the Western Conference finals, in which OKC clearly and firmly established the bar that Minnesota — now coming off two consecutive final four appearances, but having gone just 2-8 in those series — has to clear.
After a summer largely spent retrenching — re-signing Naz Reid and Julius Randle, losing Nickeil Alexander-Walker in a sign-and-trade with Atlanta, bringing in project rookie big men Joan Beringer and Rocco Zikarsky — can the Wolves offer proof they’re ready to level up? Or will the Thunder provide a forceful reminder to last year’s Western silver medalist that everyone else is still playing for second?
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Lakers at Timberwolves, Oct. 29, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN)
The last time we saw these two teams was the opening round of the playoffs, when the Wolves smacked Luka, LeBron and the other two or three guys JJ Redick trusted so hard Anthony Edwards got to tell his story walking through the streets of L.A.:
You’d imagine Luka would like to return the favor — in an arena where, lest we forget, he’s got a bit of history.
Nuggets at Clippers, Nov. 12, 10:30 p.m. (League Pass)
Another first-round redux — this one a rematch of a seven-game slugfest between two teams that, at different points last season, looked capable of making a real title push. Both teams had strong offseasons, adding multiple contributors to give them better depth — and, in the case of the Clippers, another credible 7-footer (Brook Lopez) to throw at Nikola Jokić — with their sights set on putting themselves back in position to make a deep playoff run next spring. It’s possible they’ll have to cross paths again on the way there; this first meeting could offer an indication of what an eventual playoff Part 2 might look like.
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Rockets at Warriors, Nov. 26, 10 p.m. (ESPN)
Ditto on the whole “rematch of a seven-game first-round slugfest” thing, with the added spice of the Rockets’ primary new addition being good ol’ KD … who, in case you’d forgotten, Steph, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr are all pretty familiar with.
Knicks at Pistons, Jan. 5, 7 p.m. (Peacock)
A renewal of (un)pleasantries after April’s super competitive first-round series, which New York won in six games and which should feature no shortage of raw feelings after the controversial close to Game 4 that gave the Knicks the upper hand …
… which Jalen Brunson later used to plunge a series-icing dagger into Detroit’s heart after shaking the incredibly dogged Ausar Thompson into the Negative Zone:
The Pistons will look to get their lick back with intriguing high-octane guard Jaden Ivey — who missed the postseason matchup after breaking his leg early in the season — back in the fold, and a revamped wing rotation (in come Caris LeVert and Duncan Robinson; out go Tim Hardaway Jr. and, as you might have heard, Malik Beasley) to run with All-NBA lead guard Cade Cunningham. All the upheaval at the top of the Eastern Conference hierarchy could create an opportunity for the Pistons to build on last season’s wonderful breakthrough; knocking off the team that knocked them off would represent a nice start to the next step.
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Nuggets at Thunder, Feb. 1, 9:30 p.m. (NBC, Peacock)
Plenty of pundits at the time projected this second-round series was the real NBA Finals — a second-round matchup that would determine the eventual champion. That framing, as we’d learn, gave short shrift to what was one hell of an Indiana team … but it wound up broadly accurate, as the Thunder’s survival of a seven-game war against Jokić and his increasingly wounded brethren wound up setting them on the path to the title.
At the risk of overstating the obvious: Any time you can get the reigning champs, who enter the season as the heavy favorite to repeat, against the best player in the world — now with some more backup, after the offseason wheeling and dealing that added Cam Johnson, Jonas Valančiūnas, Tim Hardaway Jr. and fan favorite Bruce Brown — it ought to be appointment viewing.
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Warriors at Timberwolves, Jan. 24, 5:30 p.m. (ABC)
I was ready for this second-round tilt to be a heavyweight slugfest, and the early action suggested that it very well could be … right up until Steph came up limping in Game 1, effectively rendering the balance of the series a fait accompli. Running it back with both teams at full strength sounds like a ton of fun to me.
Speaking of “at full strength” (he said, whistling past the graveyard) …
76ers at Knicks, Dec. 19, 7 p.m. (Prime)
I aim to speak it into existence the Sixers will somehow find a way to be mostly healthy by the time this game rolls around, because “Joel Embiid vs. the Knicks” has the capacity to be an absolute barn-burner, especially now that Karl-Anthony Towns and Paul George can be in the mix, and especially now that New York just sniped Guerschon Yabusele from Philly. Come on, basketball gods: Just be cool for, like, a second.
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Hey, you know what’s really cool?
Spurs at Thunder, Dec. 25, 2:30 p.m. (ABC, ESPN)
I want Victor Wembanyama vs. Chet Holmgren as often as I can get it, especially since injuries limited us to just one of ’em last year:
I want Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Holmgren and the gang on major marquee holiday showcases as often as I can get it. I want De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper and all the other burbling young talent in San Antonio to get acclimated to the bright lights, because I think the big fella’s gonna demand plenty of that sort of spotlight. And I want Wemby for Christmas, because it’s at least possible that what he gave us last year …
… is just the beginning of the sort of gifts he’s planning to put under our trees.
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Emirates NBA Cup 2025 semifinals and championship, Dec. 13 and 16 (Prime)
Look, I’m going to level with you: The Artist Formerly Known as The In-Season Tournament doesn’t exactly set my heart to racing. I get the idea — find a way to shake up the existing calendar, generate some interest in the period between opening night and the holidays by adding new stakes to pre-Christmas basketball — but on balance, the first couple of seasons of it haven’t felt all that special.
That said: It is the offseason, when hope does spring eternal, and it’s worth remembering last season’s model gave us both a reminder of just how imperial Giannis can be …
… and some small sliver of doubt as to whether SGA, J-Dub, Chet and the rest of the bright young things in Oklahoma City really were ready for prime time.
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Maybe this year’s model grants us a similar combination of résumé- and narrative-building. Maybe it provides something new entirely. Either way: It’ll probably be at least worth having on in the background as we work to wrap up our holiday shopping.
Spurs at Mavericks, Oct. 22, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN)
This is both the Mavericks’ season opener — a.k.a. the proper beginning of the Cooper Flagg era in Dallas — and the season’s first meeting between the in-state rival Mavs and Spurs, which will mark:
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The first professional meeting between the the first two picks in June’s 2025 NBA draft (Flagg and Dylan Harper);
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The first matchup between two of the most highly touted No. 1 picks in years (Flagg and Wembanyama);
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A square-off between two absolutely gargantuan frontcourts, with Wemby joined by free-agent acquisition Luke Kornet and Flagg flanked by the mammoth trio of Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford; and
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A high-profile stage for the just-maxed-out De’Aaron Fox to remind everybody that, as much as size matters, having guards who can fill it up often determines just how successfully a team can climb the standings — something both the Mavs and Spurs are definitely eager to do.
And, hey, since we’re talkin’ AD …
Mavericks at Lakers, Nov. 28, 10 p.m. (Prime)
When Dallas visited L.A. after the 2025 All-Star break, Davis was sidelined with the adductor strain he suffered in his Mavericks debut. As a result, he’s yet to actually take the court against the team with whom he spent the better part of six seasons, making four All-Star teams, two All-NBA teams and two All-Defensive teams, and co-starring in the Lakers’ run to the 2020 NBA championship.
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I don’t suspect anyone associated with the Lakers has much in the way of buyers’ remorse about shipping him out to bring in Luka. Still, though: It’ll be nice to see AD get his due from Lakers fans in his first proper return.
And hey, since we’re talking returns …
Suns at Clippers, Oct. 24, 9 p.m (League Pass)
It probably won’t take very long to get used to the sight of Chris Paul in a Clippers uniform — even if it’s a different design than the ones he wore from 2011-17. No matter how familiar it’s likely to feel, though, seeing CP3 once again take the floor at home for the franchise he played a major role in putting on the map ought to be awfully cool — and, if last month’s L.A. reintroduction is any indication, pretty emotional, too.
Bucks at Pacers, Nov. 3, 7 p.m. (League Pass)
This’ll be Turner’s first game back in Indianapolis after leaving to join the team the Pacers had faced (and eliminated!) in the first round of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. Given the static surrounding his departure …
… it’s possible that, even with all Turner contributed to the franchise during his decade in Indiana, his return could be, um, a little unpleasant.
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Rockets at Suns, Nov. 24, 9:30 p.m. (Peacock)
When Kevin Durant returns to the desert to take on a Suns team that traded the moon and the stars for him, totally underperformed and then shipped him out for essentially pennies on the dollar, and when said pennies (Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks) square off against the Rockets team that deemed them surplus to requirements in pursuit of championship glory … I mean, is it a revenge game? If so, in which direction? Or is it more of a “I think we all get what happened here, and nobody really deserves to feel too hard done about it, so let’s just let bygones be bygones” type of situation?
I don’t know; I’m honestly a little flummoxed by this one. It does feel like a recipe for weird vibes, though — which, given the talent on the floor and the prospect of Amen Thompson guarding Devin Booker, seems like a decent way to spend a couple of hours on the couch.
Lakers at Celtics, Dec. 5, 7 p.m. (Prime)
This won’t be Marcus Smart’s first trip to Boston since being traded before the 2023-24 season — he got a tribute video when he returned in street clothes, and he took the floor at TD Garden in a Grizzlies win last December — but it will be his first time back wearing the colors of the C’s eternal enemy.
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Smart seems to think he’ll get booed:
But that can’t be right … can it?
Hawks at Knicks, Jan. 2, 7:30 p.m. (Prime)
The Knicks should be really good again. The Hawks, having nailed their offseason by adding Kristaps Porziņġis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard to their existing core, should be at least pretty good, too. And when these two teams are both better than bad, playing games with some stakes and juice, and bringing Trae Young onto the court at Madison Square Garden …
… well, an awful lot of fun tends to follow.
