2026-27 NBA Season Preview: Lakers, Suns, Clippers, Warriors, Kings (Pacific Division)

With the regular season set to tip off on Oct. 20, let's take a look at where each team in the Pacific Division stands. We'll break down what to like and be concerned about, a lineup to watch and a reasonable range for them to finish in the standings.

Previous divisions: Central • Southwest • Northwest

WHAT TO LIKE: Luka Dončić + Austin Reaves

With LeBron James in Philadelphia, the Lakers have officially turned things over to Luka Dončić and, to a lesser-but-still-important extent, Austin Reaves.

Dončić is a perennial MVP candidate who looks poised for another fantastic season. Reaves is coming off the best season of his career, firmly establishing himself as one of the most dynamic offensive players in the league.

Both put a tremendous amount of pressure on defenses with their ability to get downhill for finishes, draw fouls, and make plays for others. Dončić, of course, is one of the best passers of all time; certainly a complement to his elite scoring chops.

The Lakers scored often and efficiently in the minutes Dončić and Reaves shared without LeBron last year; I'd expect that to continue.

While the price was steep, Walker Kessler should help this defense quite a bit. They've long needed someone who could protect the rim and clean the glass at a high level; he should be able to do just that.

The first Sandro Mamukelashvili grab-and-go is going to hit like [redacted]. In all seriousness, a dribble-pass-shoot 4 should vibe nicely with this group, and take some of the creation burden off of Dončić or Reaves whenever they share the floor.

I'm fascinated by the wing options the Lakers can cycle through in general, but I'm very "in" on the Cameron Carr experience. He has to get stronger, but that's just a blend of shooting and athleticism that I believe in.

I believe Kessler will help, and I like the attempts the Lakers made to address some of their perimeter woes (Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams in particular).

It's been fascinating to watch them tap the "high pick-up points" button so far in preseason, and it'll be cool to track what their blend of switching vs. more traditional coverages will be.

Ultimately, they won't hit their ceiling as a team if the defense can't get to a certain level. Could be 18th, could be 15th — I just don't think they can be a bottom-10 unit and get to where they want to go.

This is still a team that lacks athleticism, at least compared to the West's elite (OKC, SAS, MIN). It's not impossible to overcome, but it's worth monitoring what this looks like in high-wattage matchups.

While I ultimately think they can handle it, there is so much initiation responsibility on Dončić and Reaves. They'll spread it around with Mamu and others at times, but the drop-off is pretty substantial.

Who is the starting 4 for this group? I'd rather have Mamu as a change-of-pace option instead of a locked-in starter. You're asking for spacing problems if you roll with Jarred Vanderbilt, though he could help boost the defense. Do you toss an additional wing into the mix to lock in Dončić as the nominal 4 defensively? We'll see where Mr. Redick lands.

LINEUP TO WATCH: Quentin Grimes-Thybulle-Reaves-Dončić-Kessler

Don't be thrown off by the order this group is listed in. This would still be Dončić and Reaves handling most of the initiation duties; Reaves would be defending the worst opposing perimeter player, while Dončić would be the nominal 4 (a pretty common thing as is, anyway).

The Lakers will be mixing and matching different defensive trios around the Dončić-Reaves pairing all year. I'm particularly interested in this one: the solid on-ball chops of Quentin Grimes, S-tier event creation from Thybulle, and the sturdy rim protection of Kessler.

This could earnestly — some may argue "finally" — be the MVP year for Dončić. There's best-offense-in-the-league potential with this group with him and Reaves at the helm, plus a higher volume of quality role players that could slot in alongside them. If the defense is better than expected, there's a pathway to churning out a ton of wins.

Because of how vital Dončić and Reaves are to their offense, the Lakers can't really afford to lose either of them for an extended period.

You could make a similar argument for Kessler and the defense. Anything short of an elite offense and serviceable defense could leave them vulnerable to the play-in picture.

The Suns were one of my favorite teams to watch last year, largely because of how they went about things defensively.

It started early with high pick-up points, then continued within half-court possessions with their mix of ball pressure, off-ball activity, and willingness to send double teams to worthy adversaries.

Dillon Brooks returns to set the tone — it took him precisely one (1) preseason game to remind folks that he's here for any and all nonsense — and guard at an All-Defense level. Collin Gillespie (great new contract) will be part of the full-court pressure package. Jordan Goodwin (another great contract), Ryan Dunn, and Rasheer Fleming bring a collective chaos off the bench.

I imagine this is still going to be a team that really bothers people.

New jersey number, same beast. Devin Booker remains one of the best and most versatile offensive players we have in the league, able to oscillate between on- and off-ball usage. It feels so weird to say we're entering Year 12 with him.

People should already be familiar with Oso Ighodaro based on his work last year, but I think he's primed for a better, louder campaign. Honestly, between him and Khaman Maluach, I feel pretty good about the Suns' center room moving forward.

I mentioned him in the initial defense section, but I don't know if I could be a bigger fan of Jordan Goodwin than I am. Fantastic defender, crafty offensive rebounder and screener, and a guy that quietly shot 37.1% on over four attempts from deep last year. He's a winning player.

BIGGEST QUESTION MARK: Are teams more prepared for them?

I'm not sure teams were ready for how aggressively the Suns were going to play. Their backcourt pressure and emphasis on crashing the offensive glass was a lot to deal with. They bombed away from 3 (sixth in 3-point rate, 11th in percentage) on top of that.

They're not going to surprise anyone this year, so what does that look like? Are teams more dutiful about boxing out? Do we see a higher level of switching from teams to limit the Suns' shot quality — something we saw signs of in the second half of last year?

I'm curious about what Year 2 of the Jordan Ott experience looks like.

On the high end, Jalen Green can take pressure off Booker and others with his ability to score in bunches. We've already seen glimpses of him taking advantage of tilted defenses playing off of Booker's gravity. On the low end, his decision-making can go haywire, and teams are comfortable putting him in action on the other end. I wonder how much Green will have to prove he should be part of this core moving forward.

Tied to that, I'm slightly underwhelmed by the collective passing ability on the roster. Scheme and spacing can go a long way toward simplifying reads, but this feels like something that will pop up against the league's best (or at least most aggressive) defenses.

How much Mark Williams are we going to get this year? I enjoyed him when he played last season — he really made strides defensively, even mixing in some late switches when asked — but he's already slated to miss much of the season as he recovers from shoulder surgery. A shame, really.

LINEUP TO WATCH: Gillespie-Booker-Brooks-Dunn-Maluach

We haven't seen much of this group — +6 in 11 minutes last year, +3 in two minutes in their preseason opener against the Pistons — but it's easy to see why and how this unit would work with more time.

A healthy amount of shooting and creation between Gillespie, Booker, and Brooks; plenty of defense between Gillespie (at least to be annoying at the POA), Brooks and Dunn, plus whatever rim protection Maluach can provide on top of that as he grows more comfortable. Oh, and you can't forget the offensive rebounding you could get from three, if not four spots.

A strong foundation was established last year, particularly on the defensive end. What if the young trio of Dunn/Fleming/Maluach each take steps within that context?

Booker was quite good last year without shooting particularly well from deep; what does a bounceback year look like for him, in addition to everything he already does well?

A sturdy defense, another year of winning the possession battle (crushing the offensive glass, forcing turnovers), internal development, and another All-NBA level campaign from Booker could have the Suns firmly in the playoff picture.

This could simply be some combination of the league being more prepared for how the Suns want to guard, some scoring regression from Brooks, missing the 3-point shooting they sent out the building this summer, and other teams in the 7-11 range being more competitive.

WHAT TO LIKE: Darius Garland at the helm

We finally get a taste of Darius Garland as the unquestioned orchestrator of a team. He pairs elite pull-up chops with a yo-yo dribble and top-tier passing ability. If the preseason opener was any indication, the pace and tempo should be up for the Clippers compared to last year.

(A quick note: the Clippers haven't finished inside the top-15 in pace since the 2019-20 season. Their only finish inside the top-20 during this span came in 2021-22, when they finished 19th.)

In general, I'm amused by the young talent on this roster. I'm excited to see more of Keaton Wagler, mostly tracking his progress as a driver against more set defenses. Did you know Yanic Konan Niederhäuser averaged 11 & 8 in the games he logged 20+ minutes in last year? Now you do. His screening and hub work moved me to the point I made sure to ask him about it during All-Star festivities last year. I thought Kobe Sanders had an underrated All-Rookie campaign on a team that mattered; really, I enjoyed the minutes from him and Jordan Miller (if 27 counts as "young" still) last year.

Any year I get to watch Kris Dunn hound people on defense is a year that I'm personally thankful for. Regardless of how good or bad the Clippers end up being, don't take his work for granted. I'll be locked in during the minutes he and Derrick Jones Jr. share the floor.

I thought snagging Rui Hachimura from across the street was a good bit of business from the Clippers this offseason. They could certainly use all the shooting they can get, and it's felt like he hasn't missed a spot-up 3 in two years.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around acquiring Brandon Ingram and discovering a partially torn Achilles. It's also worth monitoring the health of Garland's toe — an odd thing to have to type, but an important subplot nonetheless. In today's "No, duh" portion of the program, it's less than ideal when your two best players may be hindered or unavailable.

I'm excited about the young big man room, but Brook Lopez is still the best rim protector (and screener!) of the bunch. Can he produce enough on both ends to serve as a bridge, or are we truly nearing the end with him?

It's another team for Ingram, but it's truly a new beginning for trade partner Gradey Dick. Dick has underwhelmed as a 3-point shooter in his young career (34.3% on 4.0 attempts), which puts a cap on some of the ancillary skills he does possess (don't sleep on the passing chops). Here's hoping he's able to find his footing in L.A.

The Clippers were one of the worst rebounding teams in the league last year, ranking 23rd in offensive rebound rate and 25th in defensive rebound rate. I look at this roster and find myself #whelmed by the personnel on that front. They've got to find, or limit, an edge on the glass somewhere to raise their floor.

LINEUP TO WATCH: Garland-Wagler-Miller-Sanders-Konan Niederhäuser

Call me basic for wanting to see Garland plus the young guys, but … I do want to see Garland plus the young guys.

There's shooting, there's secondary creation, there's cutting. There is so much space for Garland-YKN pick-and-rolls to operate within; even outside of this lineup, I would not be surprised if I pull up Second Spectrum a couple of months into the season and see that they're one of the best pick-and-roll combos in the league.

There's enough juice here to be annoying, especially if they get 60+ games out of Garland and Ingram. In theory, you have a high-end initiator in Garland and a quality failsafe in Ingram. A cast of role players and youngsters that can shoot and beat tilted defenses could vibe well with them.

Get enough defensive buy-in overall — lord knows head coach Ty Lue is going to ask for it — and I wouldn't be totally shocked by a high 30s/low 40s win total.

If Garland and/or Ingram miss substantial time, this could be a really rough group in the half-court. I'd worry a little about Wagler being overburdened in a context like that, though you could argue those reps could pay off down the road.

WHAT TO LIKE: Stephen Curry, still magical

It may feel like an empty platitude sometimes, but you truly do have to appreciate greatness when it's in front of you. Stephen Curry is an all-time great, a few steps above your typical future Hall-of-Famers. We've never had someone warp the floor like he does; even at this stage of his career, no one strikes the same level of " where did he go???" fear like Curry.

Cherish the deep pull-ups. Cherish the possessions where he's standing off the ball, slouched over, with a defender draped on him, only for him to jog to a spot before breaking into a dead sprint and creating chaos. Cherish the mindmeld he's developed with Draymond Green, and the two-man magic those two can still create.

Death, taxes, and the Warriors running some variation of Split action. You can set your clock to it. No matter what kind of shifts we may see to their early flow, that will (and should!) remain a half-court staple.

Yaxel Lendeborg profiles as a forward who can do a little bit of everything, and I'm naturally drawn to those types of players. It's been fun watching his aggression perk up as Summer League and now preseason play has raged on. On a lighter note, the jovial back-and-forths with Green — the Michigan vs. Michigan State rivalry will never die — have made me laugh since he's been drafted.

It's a niche point for people outside of the Warriors fan base, but I'm here for another year of Gary Payton II shaking loose as a screener and short-roll playmaker off the bench.

It's a boring one, but I don't know if there's a team in the division whose floor and ceiling relies on reasonable health as much as the Warriors do.

Curry has missed at least 10 games in four of the past five seasons, and is coming off a 43-game campaign. Green is in the same four-of-five boat as Curry. Jimmy Butler is already slated to miss a big chunk of the season as he recovers from last year's ACL injury. Nobody knows the status of Kristaps Porziņģis right now as he continues to battle through an illness. Even on the younger side, there's no telling when Moses Moody will make his return either.

There is top-end talent and depth to like on this roster, but it simply won't matter if they're not healthy enough to string wins together.

In light of the offense potentially shifting a bit, I am getting increasingly worried about Green's fit within it. We saw him ramp up his 3-point volume to career-high levels last season (4.6 attempts), but he shot well below league average (32.6%). Not only is Green still a quality passing hub, they kinda need that usage to offset his limitations as a scorer. We'll see what kind of balance is struck.

While Butler (and Porziņģis) are out, there is a massive drop-off between Curry and the next best creator. I think Podz is a tad underrated, and in a surprise to no one who's followed my work, I'm a fan of the Brandon Williams experience. The prospect of those guys being next-best options on a team with serious aspirations is a bit unfair to everyone involved.

It ties into their obvious size issues, but the Warriors were one of the worst defensive rebounding teams in the league (24th in defensive rebound rate). I'm not sure how much better that'll be this year. I'm a little concerned by how much they may need to force turnovers to offset that.

LINEUP TO WATCH: Curry-Podziemski-Melton-Lendeborg-Green

In general, I'm fascinated by how often the Warriors will lean into lineups with Green at the 5. His workload will have to be managed if there's any hope of making playoff noise, but the offense undoubtedly opens up more in smaller groups.

We only got 43 minutes of the Curry/Podziemski/Melton/Green quartet last season, but they did win those minutes by a whopping 33 points. Adding Lendeborg into that group as a versatile two-way piece sounds like a good time to me .

If Curry's healthy, he's shown that he's still All-NBA good. Green can still defend at a high level, even if he can't quite hit his DPOY-level peaks as long. There's a foundation on both ends where, if you get enough contributions from the youngsters and versatile role pieces, they could churn out enough wins to stay in the play-in picture.

If they have Butler and Porziņģis back by the time the play-in rolls around, they'd be a team much more dangerous than their 7-10 seeding would suggest.

WORST CASE: Outside of the Play-In Tournament

The core is good but aging. Another injury-riddled season — or even one where some understandable slippage from the vets happens (or continues) — could leave them on the outside looking in.

I wrote about it earlier this summer , but Darius Acuff just moves like a guy who knows he belongs. Slick handle, a fearless creator inside the arc, an audacious one outside of it. He feels like the most obvious "18 & 6 on 52 TS" rookie of all time, but it'll be fun to track his Year 1 journey.

This is a fun cast of young players, even if there isn't an obvious blue-chipper in the group. I didn't have Keegan Murray turning into one of the more underrated wing/forward defenders in the league, but he has that plus theoretical shooting chops (I'm starting to get worried ) going for him. Nique Clifford is my kind of dime-tossing, gap-filling wing and I hope he gets more put on his plate this year. I enjoyed the center duo of Maxime Raynaud and energy-on-1000 backup Dylan Cardwell last year; boy, will they need the latter's rim protection this year. Emanuel Sharp will take your lunch and help you look for it.

For however long he's on the roster, Domantas Sabonis will provide a level of half-court stability that this team will need. He's one of the best handoff hubs and screen-setters in the league; it took a singular preseason game to get a glimpse into how helpful he can be for Acuff specifically.

As one of, what feels like, the few public Ben Simmons defenders left, I'm happy that he's in a better place. I'm also glad he's going to be on a basketball court again; if nothing else, the stakes will be low, and he has plenty of scoring guards to flow into handoffs or ball screens with.

BIGGEST QUESTION MARK: Defensive consistency

There are some fun defenders on the roster — namely Sharp, Murray, and Cardwell — but I expect this to be one of the worst units in the league. I do wonder what base they'll ultimately land on — Sabonis' presence on the roster plus their early preseason film suggests they'll be an at-the-level unit — and if they can build some good habits this year.

How long are Sabonis and Zach LaVine (please get him on a good team) going to be here? Both can be useful; I talked about Sabonis earlier, and LaVine's ability to shoot, drive, and generally soak up usage should take some pressure off of Acuff. Bigger picture, I wonder what kind of deals can be found for them.

Somewhat related: as Acuff is a rookie, he's absolutely going to have moments where he's a little too gunsling-y. Who's the guard stabilizer on this team? LaVine can soak up the scoring burden, but I certainly don't want him initiating a bunch of offense if I can help it. Is it going to be Clifford by default? Is this going to wind up being Elfrid Payton at some point this year?

On the other side of my Simmons excitement: Who, exactly, is going to be his frontcourt partner? Are we seeing any minutes with him at the 5? They technically have the forwards (Murray, De'Andre Hunter) to make that alignment kinda work — Murray's a not-so-sneakily good shot-blocker — but how often will that button be pressed?

LINEUP TO WATCH: Acuff-Clifford-Hunter-Murray-Sabonis

I don't know if head coach Doug Christie has the stomach to roll out All Youth lineups in games of consequence, hence Sabonis being here instead of Raynaud.

There's room for Acuff to cook a bit with Clifford operating as a secondary. You can move Murray and Hunter around the board instead of simply spacing them. And if all else fails, you have Sabonis as the proverbial (All-Star) adult in the room to bring some direction in the half-court.

I will take no comments on the defense, though Clifford/Hunter/Murray could provide enough juice to make the group close to serviceable.

BEST CASE: Outside of the Play-In + sense of direction

This is the outcome that features an earnest Rookie of the Year push from Acuff, plus notable strides made from young guys like Murray, Clifford, and Raynaud. This is also the world where they're able to find reasonable deals for at least two of Sabonis, LaVine and Malik Monk, clearing the way (and the books, as that matters) for the team to truly lean into this phase of the rebuild.

An entertaining-but-inefficient year from Acuff that leads to even more arguments from Draft Twitter. Plateauing from the Year 2 cast. LaVine and others wasting away on this team. More unease and angst surrounding the stability of Christie's job. The Kings landing near the bottom of the standings wouldn't be inherently bad; coming out of this season feeling directionless would be a failure.