One of my favorite annual preseason traditions is to identify one number for every NBA team, sourced from a variety of data points and statistical categories, that highlights a key aspect of each squad entering the new season.
Last year, for instance, this exercise foreshadowed Jalen Johnson's breakout in Atlanta, the Milwaukee Bucks' struggles in Giannis Antetokounmpo's final season and the Portland Trail Blazers' league-worst turnover rate.
Let's dive into this year's 30 numbers to get a sense for the 2026-27 season to come, featuring all sorts of trends, storylines and statistical nuggets to monitor over the next 10 months.
Jump to a team:
ATL | BOS | BKN | CHA | CHI | CLE
DAL | DEN | DET | GS | HOU | IND
LAC | LAL | MEM | MIA | MIL | MIN
NO | NY | OKC | ORL | PHI | PHX
POR | SAC | SA | TOR | UTAH | WAS
Atlanta Hawks: 108.6
The Hawks allowed just 108.6 points per 100 possessions after the All-Star break, ranking second in the NBA in that span, behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Over the whole season, the Hawks ranked 10th on defense -- and that was before they added Luguentz Dort, one of the most ferocious perimeter defenders in the NBA. Whether Dort and Dyson Daniels can survive on offense if and when they play together remains to be seen, but that duo with Nickeil Alexander-Walker plus Atlanta's other defensive infrastructure could combine to form one of the NBA's stingiest units.
Boston Celtics: 4
In all four of Joe Mazzulla's seasons as Boston's head coach, the Celtics have finished with a top-five offensive and defensive rating, per Cleaning the Glass. Only three other squads in that span have accomplished that feat: the 2023-24 Thunder, the 2024-25 Thunder and the 2025-26 San Antonio Spurs.
That consistent two-way excellence hasn't always translated to the playoffs. In those four seasons, Boston won one title but was upset in the three other series.
Yet after an offseason of turmoil, that consistency should also be encouraging for Celtics fans. Even without Jaylen Brown, their team will likely look like a championship contender on both sides once again -- in the regular season, at least.
Brooklyn Nets: 72%
Egor Demin was by far the best of the Nets' rookies last season, averaging 10.3 points per game and a solid assist-to-turnover ratio while making 38.5% of his 3-pointers. That latter statistic is especially encouraging for a player with shooting questions entering the NBA.
But Demin didn't find many ways to score other than 3-pointers, as 72% of his shot attempts last season were 3s. That was the 16th-highest rate out of 279 players with at least 1,000 minutes last season -- the three players immediately ahead of him were shooting specialists Klay Thompson, Gary Trent Jr. and Landry Shamet.
As a 6-foot-8 point guard, Demin should be more of a multidimensional scorer, even if that one dimension is so effective. The Nets will have more offensive talent next to him this season -- they drafted Mikel Brown Jr. and traded for Julius Randle -- and they'd surely love to see Demin expand his offensive repertoire to take the next step as an NBA player.
Charlotte Hornets: 11.6
The Hornets scored 125.0 points per 100 possessions when LaMelo Ball was on the floor last season, per Cleaning the Glass, which ranked in the 97th percentile of all offensive lineups leaguewide. But with Ball off the court, that number plummeted to 113.4 points per 100 possessions, or the 36th percentile.
That gap of 11.6 points was the second largest among all rotation players, sandwiching Ball between Nikola Jokic (with a 15.2-point gap) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (an 11.0-point gap), the top two finishers in MVP voting.
The likes of Coby White, Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller could step up in Ball's stead after he departed in a surprising summer trade. But there might also be some severe growing pains for Charlotte's offense, which took the league by storm in the second half of last season but now must reorient itself around a new set of leaders.
Chicago Bulls: 42
In "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," the number 42 is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. In Chicago, it's the combined age of Matas Buzelis (who will turn 22 years old next month, before opening night) and Caleb Wilson (20) -- who might as well be the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything for the Bulls, because their future rests on the development of this young frontcourt duo.
Cleveland Cavaliers: 14.2
The Cavaliers' defense slipped to a league-average 15th last season, after four consecutive seasons in the top 10. One chief culprit was the 3-point line, as opponents sank 14.2 long-range shots per game -- the fifth-highest tally in the league.
Put another way, the Cavaliers made just 10 more 3-pointers than their opponents across the 2025-26 regular season. In 2024-25, they made 199 more 3s than their opponents.
That increase was partially the result of bad luck, as opponents' 3-point percentage against Cleveland was also the fifth-highest mark in the NBA. But it was also the result of a change in shot diet. The Cavaliers ranked 22nd in opponent 3-point attempt rate last season, per Cleaning the Glass, after placing in the top 10 in every previous season of the Evan Mobley era.
Importing Peyton Watson as their top perimeter stopper could improve the Cavaliers' effectiveness while defending the arc next season, but they'll need a group effort to reverse that worrisome trend.
Dallas Mavericks: 3
Cooper Flagg will celebrate his 20th birthday in December. Only three previous players have made an All-NBA team at that age: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and former Maverick Luka Doncic.
Flagg has a chance to join that elite company after a scorching finish to last season that won him the Rookie of the Year award. To be clear, there wouldn't be any shame if he failed to elevate to a top-15 player by his second season; there are many more 21-year-olds who made an All-NBA team for the first time, including Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony and Tracy McGrady this century.
But Flagg is such a special prospect that he could conceivably follow in the footsteps of the last young Mavericks great and become one of the best players in the NBA before he is old enough to buy a beer.
Denver Nuggets: 4
According to the advanced stat estimated plus-minus, only four Nuggets rate as above-average players at this point in their careers. To be fair, that quartet -- consisting of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Cameron Johnson -- is generally way above-average. Jokic, for instance, is the second-most-valuable player in the league by EPM's reckoning, behind only Victor Wembanyama.
But the dearth of quality supporting role players poses a real problem for Denver entering the 2026-27 season. EPM pegs Peyton Watson as an above-average player, but he's in Cleveland now. And the Nuggets' other highest-rated reserves from last season -- Jonas Valanciunas and Tim Hardaway Jr. -- also left Denver this summer. (Fifth starter Christian Braun is exactly average, per EPM.)
Among Western Conference teams, only the Kings, Clippers and Jazz have fewer above-average players than the Nuggets, while the Grizzlies and Lakers have four each as well. Denver already has a perennial tendency to struggle when Jokic is off the court, and now its bench looks weaker than ever.
Detroit Pistons: 6
Along with Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren seem like two of the Pistons' three great building blocks -- assuming Duren signs a long-term deal rather than taking the qualifying offer. That's why it's so notable, and so potentially concerning, that Thompson and Duren made six combined 3-pointers last season.
Thompson went 6-for-24 (25%), while Duren hasn't ever made an NBA 3, nor even attempted one in two years. Their reluctance to shoot from the perimeter is largely why Detroit finished 29th in 3-point attempts and 28th in makes.
The Pistons tried to address that weakness by adding Isaiah Joe and John Collins this summer; their hope is that the rest of the rotation can shoot enough to make up for Thompson and Duren. But their long-term fit will remain in question until both players feel comfortable spacing the floor, and they remove some of the Pistons' roster flexibility because there isn't room for any more non-shooters. Fellow youngster Ron Holland II, for instance, could be jettisoned because he's also a mere 25% shooter from deep.
Golden State Warriors: 2019
The 2018-19 season was the Warriors' last with Kevin Durant, and their last of five consecutive years with a Finals trip. It was also, to this day, the last season in which Golden State finished with a top-10 rating on both offense and defense, per Cleaning the Glass. Even in 2021-22, when the Warriors won the title, their offense ranked a distant 17th.
Typically, championship contenders rank in the top 10 on both sides, but the Warriors' lengthy drought in this category exposes one of their chief problems sustaining their superlative success in this decade: They haven't been able to find enough capable two-way players. Instead, they've had to juggle offensive standouts (e.g., Jordan Poole) and defensive specialists (e.g., Gary Payton II) without enough connective tissue between the two.
Golden State's 2026-27 roster is almost entirely the same as the injury-riddled group that stumbled to a 37-45 record last season. Better health could make them a winning team again. But they need better players if they want to reemerge as true contenders.
Houston Rockets: 37.4%
The Rockets led the NBA by grabbing 37.4% of their own misses last season, per Cleaning the Glass. According to Stathead, they had the highest offensive rebounding rate for any team since 2003.
That singular advantage buoyed an otherwise unremarkable offense. The Rockets finished seventh in offensive rating despite a below-average placement in the other most important offensive stats: They didn't shoot well on their first chances, they didn't generate free throws and they committed far too many turnovers.
However, depending so much on second chances meant the Rockets were vulnerable to offensive outages once those opportunities dried up -- as they did more often following Steven Adams' season-ending ankle injury.
In 2026-27, Houston should benefit from Fred VanVleet's return, and Kevin Durant -- who played just one game in the playoffs -- remains a tremendous offensive force. But the Rockets must find more ways to manufacture points than simply trusting that a backup center will clean up their misses when he's on the court.
Indiana Pacers: 487
When Tyrese Haliburton takes the floor for the Pacers' first game of the season -- in New Orleans rather than at home in Indiana, controversially -- 487 days will have passed since his last contest (Game 7 of the 2025 Finals).
The Pacers' season will swing based on how well Haliburton recovered and rehabilitated his torn Achilles in those 487 days. The team's supporting cast looks strong, and its system is ready to roll. But without a fully healthy Haliburton, the Pacers will resemble a sleek, speedy car without an engine.
LA Clippers: 30
The Clippers were the NBA's oldest team last season, with an average age of 30.0 years. They were also the oldest team in 2024-25 and in 2023-24, and the second-oldest in 2022-23.
And even with 30-somethings Kawhi Leonard and James Harden now gone, and 40-something Chris Paul retired, the Clippers still project as one of the NBA's older teams this season. They'll feature Brook Lopez (38), Bradley Beal (33), Kris Dunn (32), Max Strus (30), Derrick Jones Jr. (29) and Brandon Ingram (29).
Or, at least they'll project that way if they don't trade the likes of Lopez, Dunn, Strus and Jones, who would all be better suited as role players on winning teams while returning some draft capital to the Clippers. A veteran-heavy team should be trying to win now, but the Clippers aren't in that position, so they could once again be one of the most active teams before the trade deadline.
Los Angeles Lakers
New Lakers center Walker Kessler is one of the most important X factors in the entire NBA this season, after his team committed so much -- in terms of both money and draft capital -- to acquire him in a sign-and-trade. The Lakers went all-in on Kessler because they believe he's the missing piece who can serve as Luka Doncic's pick-and-roll partner on offense and an anchor on defense.
Kessler remains relatively untested at the NBA level after four seasons toiling away for the noncompetitive Jazz, but his rim protection numbers are pristine. Over the course of his career, he ranks third (behind Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama, among players with at least 500 shots defended) by holding opponents to just 54.6% accuracy in the restricted area when he's the closest defender, per GeniusIQ.
The Lakers will rely on Kessler's individual deterrence, as the rest of their roster is light on defensive talent. He'll need to play like Rudy Gobert, who has been such a stout back-line defender throughout his career that he has allowed his teams to get away with playing offense-first players at other positions.
Incidentally, Gobert's career rim protection number, per GeniusIQ, is very close to Kessler's: 54.1%. Also incidentally, Kessler, as a recent draft pick, was part of the large package that Minnesota traded to Utah for Gobert back in 2022.
Memphis Grizzlies: 31
Across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, the Grizzlies won a combined 107 games, and they landed the West's No. 2 seed both years. Only three years have passed since then, but all 31 players who suited up for the Grizzlies in that brief successful span are now gone. Not a single player remains from those winning squads.
Most notably, Memphis has traded Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane in the last 15 months, completely resetting its competitive timetable and restocking its draft stash. Some new building blocks are already on the team -- Cameron Boozer, Cedric Coward -- and Memphis can only hope they eventually offer more sustained success than the previous core.
Miami Heat: 20
The 2025-26 Miami Heat played offense unlike any other team in modern NBA history. For instance, they set just 20 picks per 100 possessions, per GeniusIQ. In the tracking era (which began in 2012-13), the second-lowest pick frequency is from the 2018-19 76ers, at 38 picks per 100 possessions -- nearly twice as high as Miami's average.
Conversely, despite a lack of on-ball star talent, Miami ran 35 isolations per 100 possessions last season, which is the second-highest mark on record. Only the 2019-20 Rockets, led by isolation master James Harden at his peak, used that play type more frequently.
More broadly, the average team in the tracking era has 54 more picks than isolations, per 100 possessions. But the Heat flipped that relationship in the opposite direction: They had 15 more isos than picks, as the only team on record with more of the former than the latter.
On this graph showing the pick and isolation frequency from every team in the tracking era, the Heat are all alone on an island.
One of the most interesting strategic questions of the coming season is whether Miami sticks with that unique scheme now that Giannis Antetokounmpo is on the team, or if they instead shift back in the direction of a more traditional pick-and-roll-based attack.
Milwaukee Bucks: 11
For each of the past 11 seasons, Giannis Antetokounmpo has led the Bucks in value over replacement player, per Basketball-Reference. That streak will come to an end this season after his offseason trade to Miami.
Now the Bucks are searching for a new star, after more than a decade revolving around their last one. For context on how long they've been reliant on Antetokounmpo, the following players were in the rotation for the last Bucks team that didn't have him as its most valuable player: Brandon Knight, Zaza Pachulia, Ersan Ilyasova, Larry Sanders, Michael Carter-Williams, Jared Dudley and O.J. Mayo.
Minnesota Timberwolves: 6,008
The Timberwolves' acquisition of LaMelo Ball means they now have the No. 1 and No. 3 picks from the 2020 draft in their backcourt: Anthony Edwards and Ball, respectively. Both players are All-Stars with incredible shooting range and a flair for highlight plays in transition.
But among other differences -- such as Edwards' two conference finals trips, contrasted with zero playoff games for Ball -- one important gap separates the players' NBA trajectories thus far: Edwards has played 6,008 more regular-season minutes than his new teammate. That's the equivalent of roughly 200 extra games at a starter's workload.
Part of that disparity stems from Ball's frequent injury issues, as he's exceeded 47 games just once in the last four seasons. Another part stems from the Hornets' cautious usage of Ball to keep him on the court; he averaged only 28 minutes per game last season, which helped him play 72 games.
Yet the Timberwolves might not have the depth to engage in considerable load management practices with the 25-year-old Ball, and in any event, they might not want to, after pinning their short- and long-term hopes on his ability to pair with Edwards. When the two guards play together, the Timberwolves should thrive, but it's unclear just how often that will be, given Ball's history.
New Orleans Pelicans: Negative-12.3
When Zion Williamson and Derik Queen shared the floor last season, the Pelicans were outscored by 12.3 points per 100 possessions. That net rating ranked in the 12th percentile of all lineups, per Cleaning the Glass. In those alignments, the Pelicans struggled to score (18th percentile) and defend (12th percentile). They were miserable all around.
That's a problem going forward because Williamson and Queen are arguably the Pelicans' most important player and most important prospect, respectively, yet their skill sets overlap too much -- they're both big creators with no shooting range and defensive vulnerabilities -- to work together. This season will be a crucial test of whether they can function any better given more time to develop.
For now, if the Pelicans want to continue building around Williamson, it's hard to envision Queen getting sufficient playing time to develop. Yet if they want to build around Queen, then they might have to move their former No. 1 pick for the good of the team over the long term.
New York Knicks: 14.9
The Knicks set a record with a plus-14.9 point differential in the playoffs, which was the highest mark for any champion in NBA history. Six of the seven previous leaders in this stat went on to repeat as champions the following season.
Granted, all of those teams were much better in the regular season than the 53-29 Knicks, which is one reason New York's playoff burst was so extraordinary and unexpected. There might not be the same sort of carryover with the Knicks as with the other teams in that chart.
But it's not hard to dream that the Knicks' true talent is closer to what they showed in the playoffs than in the past few regular seasons. History is on their side as they attempt to become the NBA's first repeat champion in nine years.
Oklahoma City Thunder: 33%
In the 2024-25 regular season, when the Thunder went 68-14 and set a point differential record en route to the championship, they won 83% of their games.
In 2025-26, counting both regular season and playoffs, they did slightly better by winning 84% of their games -- if you don't count their 4-8 record against the Spurs.
But those 12 games at a 33% winning percentage -- 1-4 in the regular season, 3-4 in the conference finals -- were the most important of the Thunder's season, as they prevented Oklahoma City from returning to the Finals. The Thunder are such a dominant, well-rounded team that at this point, their main concern may be how to beat the Spurs rather than the other 28 teams put together. They couldn't solve that problem last season, and it should only grow harder as San Antonio's young core improves.
Orlando Magic: 2012
I've been performing this exercise for years, and Orlando's defining number has been 2012 in every edition thus far. That's because 2012 -- which was Dwight Howard's last year with the Magic -- is still the last year in which Orlando ranked in the top half of the league in offensive efficiency.
Even the addition of Desmond Bane last season couldn't boost Orlando over this stubborn hurdle, thanks to injuries and the continued awkwardness of the Paolo Banchero-Franz Wagner partnership. Perhaps new coach Sean Sweeney can finally solve this intractable issue; if not, the Magic might be forced to engage in larger roster changes next summer.
Philadelphia 76ers: 55.8%
According to GeniusIQ, the 76ers defense allowed a shot quality of 55.8% last season, meaning their opponents would have been expected to finish with a 55.8% effective field goal mark, based on factors like shot location and defender distance.
That was the sixth-highest opponent shot quality in the league, behind only five tanking teams that all lost at least 56 games. In other words, Philadelphia allowed the easiest shots of any team that was trying to win games.
The 76ers' defensive outcomes weren't that disastrous because they got lucky: Their opponents' actual eFG% underperformed their expected eFG% by the most of any team. But even with that luck, they still finished just 17th in defensive rating, which is below the level of a team with Finals aspirations.
Much of the focus on Philadelphia's championship chances this season has centered on offense, where Nick Nurse must figure out how to integrate Jaylen Brown and LeBron James with the 76ers' incumbent stars. But greater issues will likely arise on the other end, where they're hoping that Brown and Dean Wade can help what was quietly a major problem last season.
Phoenix Suns: 34%
Here are last season's 3-point percentages for the Suns' projected starters:
Devin Booker: 33%
Jalen Green: 31%
Dillon Brooks: 34%
Miles Bridges: 33%
Oso Ighodaro: 0% (one attempt)
The highest mark among that group is Brooks' 34%, which is still below league average. Meanwhile, Booker has been stuck at 33% for two seasons now, Green has never been above 35% in any season, and Bridges has exceeded that mark just once (in 2020-21).
Collin Gillespie is a very good shooter (40% last season) off the bench -- and he very well might need to enter the starting lineup eventually to provide more spacing -- but losing Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale in the Bridges trade could cost Phoenix dearly. The Suns were a surprising success story last season, but they might not have enough spacing to repeat in 2026-27.
Portland Trail Blazers: 27.7
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the king of drives in the NBA. Entering last year, he'd led all starters in drives per 100 possessions, according to GeniusIQ, for five straight seasons, dating back to his first year as Oklahoma City's primary ball-handler.
But that streak ended last season, when Deni Avdija averaged 27.7 drives per 100 possessions to usurp SGA's crown. (Jaylen Brown also edged out Gilgeous-Alexander, knocking him down to third place.) That was a massive increase in usage for Avdija, who'd averaged 17.3 drives just a year earlier.
It was also undeniably effective: Avdija averaged 1.11 points per drive, which ranked in the 72nd percentile among high-usage drivers. He was a first-time All-Star and finished 16th -- or, the first runner-up -- in All-NBA voting.
Yet now Avdija will share a court with a couple of ball-dominant guards in Damian Lillard and Ja Morant. Among the many questions about how Portland's new backcourt will function, one of the most interesting is whether the Trail Blazers' best player will continue to thrive if he doesn't have as many opportunities to get to the basket.
Sacramento Kings: 83
The Kings' five projected starters played just 83 combined games for the team last year. Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine and Keegan Murray were injured for the majority of the season. De'Andre Hunter played just two games after a deadline trade before suffering an injury of his own. And rookie Darius Acuff Jr., of course, was playing in college rather than Sacramento.
This data point isn't meant to suggest that the Kings will be good this season. But it's at least worth noting that their disastrous 60-loss campaign in 2025-26 was partly the result of losing almost all of their best players early on.
San Antonio Spurs: 17.0
The Spurs posted a plus-17.0 net rating with Victor Wembanyama on the floor last year, per NBA Advanced Stats. That was the second-best mark among all rotation players, and the only one in the top six that didn't belong to a Thunder player: Alex Caruso led the league in this stat, followed by Wembanyama, Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Ajay Mitchell and Isaiah Hartenstein.
In other words, while the Thunder might have the best collective team by the numbers, the Spurs enter that conversation because of Wembanyama's singular talents and impact. And he is already at that level despite being 22 years old, with theoretically much more improvement still ahead of him. As long as he can stay healthy, the Spurs should remain leading title contenders for many years to come.
Toronto Raptors: 14.4
When Kawhi Leonard was on the court last season, the LA Clippers were 14.4 points better per 100 possessions than when he was off. That was the third-best margin among all players with at least 1,500 minutes, per Cleaning the Glass.
Conversely, when Brandon Ingram was on the court last season, the Raptors were 9.0 points worse per 100 possessions than when he was off. That was the third-worst margin among that group.
And now Toronto has replaced Ingram with Leonard via an offseason trade, thereby replacing a low-impact player with one of the perennially highest-impact players in the league. This stat alone is enough to show Toronto's upside as a championship contender this year.
Utah Jazz: 31
Over Will Hardy's four-year tenure as Utah's coach, after he took over following the dismantling of the Rudy Gobert/Donovan Mitchell/Quin Snyder playoff squad, the Jazz rank 29th in cumulative win percentage. But they've arrived in a strange way: They've won at a 31-51 pace before the All-Star break, but a 17-65 pace afterward.
That disparity reflects how Utah has tended to approach recent seasons -- typically with a surprisingly competitive start, followed by a furious race to the bottom of the standings (and the top of the draft). Now that the Jazz have turned a corner toward competitiveness once again, highlighted by last season's Jaren Jackson Jr. trade, it will be fascinating to see how Hardy approaches a season when he's actually trying to win for all 82 games.
This stat also suggests that the Jazz aren't really attempting to climb from the caliber of a 60-loss team to the playoffs all at once. They were more often a run-of-the-mill bad team until engaging in tank mode come March and April.
Washington Wizards: 3.3%
The Wizards pulled off a dreadful double last season: According to Second Spectrum, they had the lowest shot quality of any team on offense, and they allowed the highest shot quality of any team on defense.
On average, every shot from a Wizards opponent had a 3.3% higher expected effective field goal percentage than every shot from the Wizards themselves. That gap was so wide that the 29th-place team by this metric (the Grizzlies) was as far away from 21st place as from the Wizards in the 30th.
Adding Trae Young for more than the five games he played for Washington last season should help the offense generate better shots, and adding Anthony Davis should help the defense force tougher looks. No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa could help on both ends. The only way out from last place is upward, after all.
But if Washington has any dreams of playoff contention with its new stars, this statistic should serve as a sobering reminder of just how far the Wizards have to go. Star power alone won't fix all the big process problems that plagued Washington last season.
