First-Round Predictions (East)! The Eastern Conference got a lot of flak this year for being subpar relative to the West.

One more at Substack (free): First-Round Predictions (East)! ericpincus.substack.com/p/first-roun...

First-Round Predictions (West)! My 3-1 play-in record took a hit on Friday with the Phoenix Suns and Orlando Magic getting the wins.

Latest Substack (free, subscribe!): First-Round Predictions (West)!
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Golden State Warriors' Top 3 Priorities During 2026 NBA Offseason Injuries defined the 2026-27 season for the Golden State Warriors, with Jimmy Butler suffering a torn ACL in January and Steph Curry missing time with knee issues.

Latest @BleacherReport Golden State Warriors' Top 3 Priorities During 2026 NBA Offseason - My quick react to the end of 2025-26 for Steph & Co.
bleacherreport.com/articles/254...

Steph Messed Me Up As a journalist, I don’t root for teams.

Latest Substack (free): Steph Messed Me Up (subscribe!) ericpincus.substack.com/p/steph-mess...

Has Kawhi Leonard Played His Last Game With the LA Clippers? Despite a strong second-half run, Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers fell short of a proper playoff run after falling victim to the hot hands of the Golden State Warriors in the NBA play-in tournament ...

Also @BleacherReport Has Kawhi Leonard Played His Last Game With the LA Clippers? - what's next, given he's heading into the last year of his contract?!?!
bleacherreport.com/articles/254...

LA Clippers' Top 3 Priorities During 2026 NBA Offseason The LA Clippers were dreadful early in the year, unstoppable in the middle, blew it up at the trade deadline, and then battled back to .500 to earn a play-in berth. It's been a journey, but the most i...

Latest @BleacherReport LA Clippers' Top 3 Priorities During 2026 NBA Offseason - my first react after Steph did Steph things last night
bleacherreport.com/articles/254...

Ranking the Top 60 Potential 2026 NBA Free Agents Even though the NBA's 2025-26 regular season is over, several upcoming free agents still have time to make their case through the playoffs. Meanwhile, half of the league will start planning for the up...

Latest @BleacherReport Ranking the Top 60 Potential 2026 NBA Free Agents -- pushed from 50 to 60, with some changes, including more folks with TBD options; Also, postseason will help determine which folks stick/depart/etc.
bleacherreport.com/articles/253...

Initial Play-in Picks With games about to start, I’d better get on the record!

Latest Substack (free): Initial Play-In Picks ericpincus.substack.com/p/initial-pl... - subscribe!

2025-26 NBA Regular Season Concludes, What's Next? The NBA’s 2025-26 regular season ended with relative calm on Sunday.

Latest Substack (free): 2025-26 NBA Regular Season Concludes, What's Next? - subscribe!
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Sacramento Kings' Top 3 Priorities During 2026 NBA Offseason The Sacramento Kings had a momentously bad 2025-26 season. The team didn't set out to "tank." It happened naturally.

ICYMI @BleacherReport Sacramento Kings' Top 3 Priorities During 2026 NBA Offseason - (seems Doug Christie is safe to return): bleacherreport.com/articles/254...

Top 2026 NBA Free Agents Most Likely To Change Teams Not every free agent this summer will be back with their current teams.

Latest @BleacherReport Top 2026 NBA Free Agents Most Likely To Change Teams - early anticipation as we start the offseason today (for some of the teams!):
bleacherreport.com/articles/254...

What's the Right Price for Austin Reaves' Next Deal? A lot to catch up on after a few days at the University of Miami to help judge the Simon Summit.

Latest Substack (free): What's the Right Price for Austin Reaves' Next Deal? Subscribe! ericpincus.substack.com/p/whats-the-...

Has Austin Reaves Already Played His Final Game with LA Lakers? Disappointing news hit the Los Angeles Lakers when Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves went down at the same time in a blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Latest @BleacherReport Has Austin Reaves Already Played His Final Game with LA Lakers? - I personally expect he stays, but the path isn't set just yet - looking at the market, Reaves' situation, the Lakers' flexibility, etc.
bleacherreport.com/articles/254...

2026 NBA Playoff Matchups We Want To See Most As the NBA's 2025-26 regular season winds down, the playoffs inch ever closer. Six teams in each conference will lock in a proper berth, while another four will fight through the play-in to earn the N...

Latest @BleacherReport 2026 NBA Playoff Matchups We Want To See Most (though the Lakers' recent injuries put a dampener on one of the picks): bleacherreport.com/articles/254...

NBA Contract Predictions for 2026 Rookie-Scale Extensions July 2026 will start the summer of Wembanyama, when one of the NBA's brightest young stars is likely to sign a giant rookie-scale extension that could reach nearly $300 million over five seasons.

Latest @BleacherReport NBA Contract Predictions for 2026 Rookie-Scale Extensions - first pass; will evolve as we get through the postseason: bleacherreport.com/articles/254...

Ranking the Top 50 Potential 2026 NBA Free Agents As the final weeks of the NBA's 2025-26 regular season conclude, it's time to start planning for the upcoming offseason.

ICYMI @BleacherReport Ranking the Top 50 Potential 2026 NBA Free Agents - from late last week, I'd probably do some minor tweaks since after the Jaden Ivey waiver
bleacherreport.com/articles/253...

Revised Projections Based on the NBA's Latest Salary Cap Figure Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, the NBA’s salary cap projection for 2026-27 is moving back down to $165 million.

Latest Substack (free): Revised Projections Based on the NBA's Latest Salary Cap Figure ericpincus.substack.com/p/revised-pr...

Punishing Teams for Being Lousy Keeps Them Lousy Longer Tanking is a difficult subject.

Latest Substack (free): Punishing Teams for Being Lousy Keeps Them Lousy Longer - and not talking the made a play-in try, pivoted to tanking in February teams, that needs to change: ericpincus.substack.com/p/punishing-...

The Best Way to Fix the NBA's Tanking Crisis Tanking is a hot-button issue, enough for NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to say, "We are going to make substantial changes for next year," per Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

Latest @BleacherReport The Best Way to Fix the NBA’s Tanking Crisis - A vital moment for the NBA to refocus on the core purpose of the draft, understand that lowercase process is inevitable & that the right incremental change can help; wrong will do damage
bleacherreport.com/articles/254...

NBA Expansion Should Also Come with a Sanity Check on Divisions The NBA has considered expansion for many years, but finally, it appears the league is ready to welcome one or two new franchises for the first time since the Charlotte Bobcats (now the Hornets) joine...

Latest @BleacherReport NBA Expansion Should Also Come with a Sanity Check on Divisions -- it's time to do away with 'em entirely: bleacherreport.com/articles/254...

To New Beginnings (Personal Update) After 10 years, I’m moving on from Sports Business Classroom.

At Substack (free): To New Beginnings (Personal Update): Moving on from Sports Business Classroom after a decade!
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Scouting Santa Clara Forward Allen Graves - Sports Business Classroom Allen Graves Frame: 6’9”, 225 lbs Position: Forward Team: Santa Clara Broncos Draft Age: 19 Stats via: Sports-Reference, Hoop-Explorer Offense Graves has quickly established himself as someone coach...

Latest @SportsBizClass Alumni Blog featuring @anirudh9765 Scouting Santa Clara Forward Allen Graves (part of our 2026 NBA Draft prospect series) sportsbusinessclassroom.com/scouting-san...

Predicting the 10 Most Dangerous NBA Contracts in 2028 What is the tipping point where an NBA player's contract goes from being a positive to a heavy burden?

Latest @BleacherReport Predicting the 10 Most Dangerous NBA Contracts in 2028 - a refresh on something I wrote last year, looking ahead to the start of the 2027-28 season, what are the largest (and by default riskiest to teams) contracts on the books?
bleacherreport.com/articles/254...

That's It for Two-Ways! The March 4 deadline to sign players to two-way contracts has passed.

Latest Substack (free, subscribe!): That's It for Two-Ways! The deadline has passed for the NBA w/several conversions and new TW deals before it was too late: ericpincus.substack.com/p/thats-it-f...

5 Things We're Hearing About Giannis Antetokounmpo's 2026 NBA Offseason One of the largest storylines of the 2026 trade deadline was the fate of former NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo—except nothing actually happened amidst a tumultuous and unproductive season for the Milwa...

Latest @BleacherReport 5 Things We're Hearing About Giannis Antetokounmpo's 2026 NBA Offseason
bleacherreport.com/articles/254...

Top 20 NBA Free Agents Available Right Now The NBA is past its March 1 deadline for playoff eligibility. Any players waived after March 1 can still join another team, but they cannot participate in postseason games.

ICYMI @BleacherReport Top 20 NBA Free Agents Available Right Now
bleacherreport.com/articles/252...

Prepping for the NBA Offseason While the NBA regular season still has a lot to offer (though not every team is playing to win games—a topic for another day), part of my responsibility at Bleacher Report is to look ahead to the offs...

Latest Substack (free): Prepping for the NBA Offseason (starts pretty much after the trade deadline, but really get clicking on it after All-Star): ericpincus.substack.com/p/prepping-f...

2026 NBA Draft Watch: Versatile Forwards - Sports Business Classroom As a part of Sports Business Classroom’s 2026 NBA Draft series, the following are versatile forwards to watch ahead of June’s draft. A versatile forward is a player with an above-average frame who ca...

Latest @SportsBizClass Alumni Blog featuring @eliasjeldridge 2026 NBA Draft Watch: Versatile Forwards (part of our 2026 NBA Draft prospect series) sportsbusinessclassroom.com/2026-nba-dra...

5 Things We're Hearing About LeBron James' 2026 NBA Offseason For over two decades, LeBron James has shone as one of the NBA's all-time greats. He's won four championships, been named an All-Star every year dating back to his sophomore campaign, and is the leagu...

ICYMI @BleacherReport 5 Things We're Hearing About LeBron James' 2026 NBA Offseason

bleacherreport.com/articles/254...

Which NBA Teams Will Go Shopping for Big-Money 2026 Free Agents? Much of the NBA's trade deadline was less about today (this season) and more about tomorrow (June's draft and the upcoming free agent period in July).

Latest @BleacherReport Which NBA Teams Will Go Shopping for Big-Money 2026 Free Agents? Mapping out all 30 relative to cap room/spending exceptions - this will evolve w/trades, draft lottery, options, etc. Very few "room" teams bleacherreport.com/articles/253...