It’s a special time of the year, folks.

The 2026-27 NBA season is upon us!

That means it’s time for our annual tradition of previewing the season, division by division, by asking two very important questions for each team:

What’s the case for the Over?
What’s the case for the Under?

LET’S GET IT.

5. Sacramento Kings — 20.5

From the Beam Team to the Bulls sloppy seconds…

It’s been a tough few years in the Sac — a.k.a. business as usual.

What’s the Case for the Over?

Darius Acuff Jr. looks like the real deal. Smooth and in control. He moves different than most rookies. He passes the early eye test with flying colors.

Sabonis is still here. Acuff and Sabonis pick-and-rolls could be a legit weapon.
Zach LaVine should have plenty of room to cook. Can his efficient scoring help lead the Kings to winning… 21 games?
Don’t forget that Keegan Murray can light it up from 3. And Monk can go on a heat check heater. And Nique Clifford can do a little bit of everything.

It’s such a low number, can they not scrape away at 21 wins, one less than last season?

What’s the Case for the Under?

The vibes here… can they be saved?

It starts at the top with ownership and Vivek has long been one of the worst owners in sports — and apparently he roasted everyone at a team dinner!? Holy KANGZ.

For as bad as this roster is, the Kings have also dealt with a lot injuries to their better players. Games played last season:
- Sabonis: 19
- Keegan Murray 23
- LaVine: 39
And it doesn’t help one bit that the depth on this team is brutal. Maxime Raynaud is already hurt and when you’re relying heavily on Maxime Raynaud in the first place…
Defensively… the roadmap to success is… is there one?

The Kings won 22 games last season and Vegas set this line lower.

Kings Final Prediction: Buckle up, fuckers. We’re fading basketball hell. Over 20.5 wins.

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4. Los Angeles Clippers — 28.5

As if the Paul George trade for SGA (and technically J-Dub and Aday Mara) wasn’t enough of a kick in the pants, now the Clippers are without a first round picks until 2034 (!!!) thanks to the Kawhi salary cap circumvention scandal.

What’s the Case for the Over?

To be honest with you, this — THIS RIGHT HERE — is the role the Clippers were actually born to play.

The rag tag left behind and forgotten younger brother LA team that rises up together through playing sound team ball and straight GRIT.

This team has some sneaky dawgs:
- Garland can run the point and handle shot creation
- Ingram can be the midrange guy (when he’s back)
- Brook Lopez can fire 3’s from atop splash mountain
- Kris Dunn can be the point of attack defender
- Beef Stew can be the muscle
- Nic Batum can still do Nic Batum things!
Rookie Keaton Wagler was proclaimed to be a bust the moment he was drafted No. 5 overall — you don’t think he will be out to prove everyone wrong?

No pressure on Ty Lue, right where he wants to be.

What’s the Case for the Under?

Up and down this roster, there isn’t exactly a sparkling history of injury-free guys. Ingram and Strus are already out.

The new tanking rules do not apply to the Clippers because they don’t have their pick anyway.
Brook Lopez is pretty ancient at this point (it’s Year 19 for both Lopez and Batum) and can’t play many minutes these days.
Teams with Brad Beal on the roster appear to be cursed. And why the hell is Beal still here! lmao

Speaking of curses, the Basketball Gods are always watching and the Clippers have believed to have been cursed since their original team inception as the Buffalo Braves. (Shoutout the GOAT BS — get those fingers moving again like ZL!)

Clippers Final Prediction: Streetlights over spotlights! Over 28.5 wins.

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3. Golden State Warriors — 37.5

The Warriors offseason included drafting Yaxel Lendeborg and acquriring Dalen Derry, Charles Bassey and Georges Niang. Not great, Bob!

What’s the Case for the Over?

The Steph and Dray 2-man game is still kicking it in The Bay. It’s their 15th season together. (Enjoy every single one while we still can!) Can they find enough magic together to… make a run at .500 record? Expectations are low.

Yaxel looks good! You have to like the idea of a floor-spacing modern big paired with Steph to help open things up.
De’Anthony Melton has always played the connector role well for this team.
If the Warriors can stay afloat long enough, there is help on the way in Jimmy Butler’s return from ACL expected in January/February for the stretch run.

At least Steph wants to stay here for his entire career!

What’s the Case for the Under?

This is the Warriors lowest pre-season win total since 2020-21 season without Klay.

This team is just flat out old and decrepit. Is there a player on this team that isn’t injury prone? Steph already had an injury scare. Without him, they would be burnt toast.
It’s a young man’s game and when the Warriors don’t have their old guys available, they are at an even bigger disadvantage.
Porzingis is currently out indefinitely with a private-related illness………

The Warriors could actually find themselves in the new position of being a middle-team that’s actually better off tanking than squeaking into the playoffs to get pummeled…

Warriors Final Prediction: All signs unfortunately point to Under 37.5 Wins.

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2. Phoenix Suns — 39.5

The Suns SOARED over their 31.5 win total line last year, winning 45 games as a Young Surprise Team.

Can they run it back with Miles Bridge added in or is regression looming?

What’s the Case for the Over?

Without KD and Brad Beal around to stink up the joint last season, Devin Booker got the Suns back on track. Booker was free to bring back cookouts with Book and he had help from the unexpected.

Dillon Brooks took his game up several levels, especially in the scoring department. Brooks averaged 20 points a night with this tenacious defense. We kept thinking he would fall back down to earth, but it just never happened. There is always a toughness to teams with Dillon Brooks.
Possibly one of the most underrated players in the league was Colin Gillespie, playing 80 games for Phoenix and shooting 40 percent from 3 on 7.2 attempts per game.
Jalen Green played just 32 games, but the 3-guard lineup (and even 4-guard!) worked. Head coach Jordan Ott knows what he’s doing.

The Suns added both additional shooting this offseason in Luke Kennard and perimeter defense in Haywood Highsmith. Improvements around the edges.

What’s the Case for the Under?

Teams should be more prepared for the Suns this time around. Not only for their style of play but also just knowing that this is a solid team that you cannot take lightly.

In their last 30 games, the Suns were 14-16.

Miles Bridges in the mix could muddle things…
On paper, it seems like this team has a lot of Me-Guys. That’s not exactly a recipe you hope to have.
Mark Williams is already expected to miss several months, continuing his long history of being injured. Is Maluach ready for serious playing time?

Will Dillon Brooks deal with the devil wear off?

Suns Final Prediction: The initial lean was Over, but no Mark Williams has us going Under 39.5 wins.

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1. Los Angeles Lakers — 45.5

The Laker’s LeBron era ended as abruptly as it started:

A summer noti that changed the entire outlook of the organization (and NBA).

What’s the Case for the Over?

LeBron signing with the Lakers 8 years ago (!!) led to them getting AD and a Championship — and then AD turned into the future of the franchise: Luka Doncic.

The team is entirely in Luka’s hands now. Luka has led a team all the way to The Finals before and finished first team All-NBA six times in his 8-year career. The time is now for Luka’s stardom to shine his brightest yet.
The Lakers landed Walker Kessler in the offseason. Kessler is a shot-blocking machine and big man rim-runner for Luka to work with.
Austin Reaves will have both more room to work and more responsibility this season. One thing about Reaves is that he has always been up to the task.

Rookie Cameron Carr looked really good in the preseason!

What’s the Case for the Under?

For starters, there is going to be a King-sized hole in this lineup…

If and when Luka misses time, the drop off in offensive production will be staggering. The same can be said for Kessler on the defensive end.
Defensively, Vando and Kessler can only do so much on the backline. And neither of them is a threat to shoot or space the floor.
The LA pressure and spotlight.

The Lakers won 53 games last season and this line is 7 wins lower in a diminished Western Conference.

Lakers Final Prediction: For the first time in the history of this here blog: Under 47.5 wins.

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OPENING NIGHT is TUESDAY.

Season Preview Division by Division

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