LeBron, Giannis and the NBA's 10 Most Fascinating Players This Season

The NBA is a star-driven league, where talent plus storylines equal entertainment.

We've got our eyes on a number of players this season, especially stars in new places, high draft picks beginning their careers or future Hall of Famers continuing to build their legacies.

There's also a lot of talent coming back from an injured 2025-26 campaign, ready to make their mark on the league once again.

Now heading into the 2026-27 season, these are the NBA's 10 most fascinating players to watch.

10. Ja Morant, G, Portland Trail Blazers

Only a few years ago, Ja Morant was considered one of the best young talents in the entire NBA, someone who made two All-Star teams, an All-NBA team, was Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Player all in his first four seasons.

Since then, injuries and bad off-court decisions have caused his career to tailspin, which is why the Portland Trail Blazers were able to acquire the 27-year-old for the modest price of Jerami Grant and Kris Murray.

The Morant experience in Portland with the Trail Blazers will be fascinating to watch.

How does he fit into a backcourt with Damian Lillard? Will Morant even start in a guard-heavy rotation that also features Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson? Would Morant accept a bench role now that he's extension eligible?

Morant is saying all the right things for now, although he looks like an awkward fit with this current roster. Neither he nor Lillard (36 and coming off a torn Achilles) are strong defenders and first-year head coach Micah Nori is working on just a one-year guaranteed contract .

There's some real potential for things to go poorly for a Blazers team coming off a surprising playoff run last year.

All eyes will be on Morant, who still has the talent to get his career back on track.

Cooper Flagg is coming off an outstanding freshman season, winning Rookie of the Year while averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals. The only other rookie in NBA history to meet or exceed these numbers was Larry Bird in 1979-80.

Perhaps the most remarkable stat involving Flagg? He's still a teenager, with birthday No. 20 still months away.

Flagg will be fascinating to watch not just because of his incredible physical gifts but also because of what his presence could mean for the middle of the Western Conference.

The Dallas Mavericks will be trying to win after securing just 26 victories a year ago. There's a fair amount of young talent on the roster to be sure, although players like Kyrie Irving (34), P.J. Washington (28), Naji Marshall (28), Daniel Gafford (28) and Caleb Martin (31) will want to compete now.

Will Flagg start putting up 25 points per game, make his first All-Star game and lead Dallas to the playoffs, or will he resemble fellow Duke stars and No. 1 overall picks like Paolo Banchero and Zion Williamson who wow us at first before their careers begin to mellow out?

Flagg not only represents the Mavs but is also one of the future faces of Team USA, as the Maine native looks to cement himself as a superstar in this league.

8. Tyrese Haliburton, PG, Indiana Pacers

Tyrese Haliburton is officially back on a court roughly 16 months after tearing his Achilles in the 2025 NBA Finals. His return also means a return to relevancy for the Indiana Pacers, the best team in the East not that long ago.

Indiana has become the forgotten power in the Eastern Conference, especially with the New York Knicks winning the title, Philadelphia 76ers stacking All-Star forwards and Miami Heat acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo.

If Haliburton looks like his 2024-25 self, however, the Pacers could be the No. 1 seed in a loaded East. The 26-year-old, two-time All-Star is that important.

Haliburton averaged 18.6 points, 9.2 assists and 1.4 steals in 2024-25, leading the Pacers to the Finals. The roster he returns to now is even better than that version, with Ivica Zubac taking over for Myles Turner at center. This is arguably the deepest team in the NBA as well, with players like Kelly Oubre Jr., Larry Nance Jr. and Braden Smith added this summer to an already loaded core.

Of course, Haliburton is the straw that stirs the drink. Indiana's offense jumped by 8.0 points per 100 possessions when he was on the floor two years ago (95th percentile, via Cleaning the Glass ), as the 2023-24 assist champion is one of the best playmakers in the entire NBA.

After coming just one game short of winning an NBA title, Haliburton will be hungry and motivated to return from injury and prove that both he and the Pacers are ready to be championship-worthy once again.

All No. 1 overall picks feel pressure, although AJ Dybantsa will carry a little extra weight on his shoulders this year.

Can Dybantsa prove that the Washington Wizards even made the right choice? As supremely talented as the 6'9" forward is, players like Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and even Caleb Wilson were all highly touted as well. This isn't 2023 where Victor Wembanyama was the obvious, no-doubt, don't-even-think-about-it selection. Dybantsa is great, but so are others at the top of this class.

Can Dybantsa actually lead the Wizards back to relevancy? This franchise hasn't had a winning season in nearly a decade (43-39 in 2017-18), has made it out of the first round of the playoffs just five times since the 1970s and had only made the No. 1 overall selection twice since 1962 before this summer, one of which was Kwame Brown.

Having a Wizards teammate going on record to say that the team purposely tanked last season just for the chance to draft you isn't going to ease the pressure, either.

Dybantsa was phenomenal last season at BYU with 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He's now going to start on a Washington team alongside Anthony Davis and Trae Young, players who have 14 combined All-Star trips to their name. Winning will be expected.

Can Dybantsa have a rookie season like we saw from Cooper Flagg last year, or are we setting the bar too high for the 19-year-old already?

6. LaMelo Ball, PG, Minnesota Timberwolves

On paper, LaMelo Ball is exactly what the Minnesota Timberwolves need.

The former All-Star and Rookie of the Year wasn't able to play a leading role with the Charlotte Hornets, yet could be a high-level sidekick with his scoring and playmaking now alongside Anthony Edwards.

Julius Randle never quite proved to be a No. 2 option on a championship team, and Minnesota moved on by shipping him to the Brooklyn Nets. We'll soon find out if Ball can fill that role, a gamble the Wolves were willing to make as they revamped the roster this past summer.

Edwards is singing his praises for now, although we've seen enough in six seasons of Ball to hold our breath.

Injuries have plagued Ball nearly his entire career, limiting the 6'8" point guard to an average of 50.5 games a season. For all of the scoring highlights (including an offensive swing rating in the 99th percentile the past two years), Ball has never been a good defender, an area head coach Chris Finch could grow frustrated in with his new starting floor general.

Will Ball prove that he can play winning basketball, complement another All-Star guard and be able to stay on the court, or will the Charlotte Hornets look like geniuses for trading him while Ball's value was high?

Have the stars finally aligned for Luka Dončić this season?

Now 27, Dončić is entering the prime of his career and has a Los Angeles Lakers team that's been slowly crafted around him. LeBron James is out, an upgrade at center is in and the Lakers have filled out the rest of their roster with shooting at nearly every position.

Dončić has finished as high as third place in MVP voting (2023-24 with the Dallas Mavericks), although he could be the frontrunner for the award if he leads Los Angeles to a top seed in the West.

Dončić also appears to be in the best shape of his life, looking far leaner than his days in Dallas. Austin Reaves (23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists) is back as his sidekick on four-year, $185 million contract and Walker Kessler is the type of lob-catching, rim protecting threat Dončić should love to play alongside.

The ninth-year pro is also starting to swim in some troubled waters, however, as the pressure to win a title will be felt more than ever.

Dončić could soon become one of the greatest players to never win a championship, especially with continued All-Star, All-NBA and scoring title honors. These Lakers look good on paper, but they don't look great , especially stacked up alongside the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs over the next few seasons.

Dončić has been one of the NBA's best players for years now while also benefitting from low expectations with the post-Dirk Nowitzki Mavericks.

Now in L.A., all eyes will be on the 6'8" point guard.

Nikola Jokić is likely feeling the heat from players like Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, although the three-time MVP is still the best basketball player in the world.

The world will be watching Jokić this season not only for his on-court abilities but also due to the uncertainty following his future with the Denver Nuggets as a free agent next summer.

Jokić declining to sign an extension with the team is the right financial move if he wants to maximize his earnings, as a five-year $359.5 million max deal awaits him in 2027.

Rival fans and teams will be watching for any signs of frustration from Jokić towards the only franchise he's ever known, as the Nuggets already lost Peyton Watson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Jonas Valančiūnas and Bruce Brown this offseason.

Potential free agent drama aside, Jokić is one of the most visually pleasing players to watch given that he can pull off passes like this:

We're witnessing one of the greatest centers in NBA history at the peak of his powers, as Jokić has finished in the top-2 in MVP voting in each of the past six years. He's rattled off eight straight All-Star trips and led the NBA in both rebounding and assists last season.

Watching one of the best in the league in their prime is always a treat. Mix in a little free agency uncertainty and Jokić deservedly ranks high on this list.

Seeing Giannis Antetokounmpo in something other than a Milwaukee Bucks jersey after 13 years is going to take some getting used to.

The Miami Heat were wise to pursue the 10-time All-Star, as they desperately needed a superstar to build around. It's fair to question, however, how many elite years that Antetokounmpo has left.

Set to turn 32 in December, Antetokounmpo is now seven years removed from his last MVP campaign. He played just 36 games last season due to injury and hasn't had a healthy playoff run of more than five contests since 2022.

Given the amount of talent now residing in the East, Miami needs Antetokounmpo to still be a top MVP candidate for the next few years, showing the same superman ability he showcased in Milwaukee for the past decade. His plus-14.8 swing rating last season (99th percentile via Cleaning the Glass ) was actually a career high.

Will we get this version of Antetokounmpo? Or will his tenure resemble that of the Boston Celtics' Kevin Garnett (also 31 at the time of the trade), where the individual numbers begin to slide but the team is still successful?

Those Celtics teams had far more talent around Garnett than this Heat squad does around Antetokounmpo, meaning the future Hall of Famer may have no choice but to continue putting up gaudy scoring, rebounding and assist numbers.

Was Miami right to give up so much to acquire a star who's now past his prime, or did Milwaukee make the right move by trading their franchise player?

2. Victor Wembanyama, C, San Antonio Spurs

Victor Wembanyama is unlike any player the NBA has ever seen, putting together a wildly impressive first three seasons where his individual talents have already led to team success.

Carrying the San Antonio Spurs to the NBA Finals in Year 3 as a 22-year-old is just the beginning for Wembanyama, who's already the best defender in the league and perhaps the best we've seen in decades (or ever).

Whereas Kobe Bryant followed in the footsteps of Michael Jordan, Wembanyama has completely blazed his own trail. There's simply no player in the history of the sport that has matched Wembanyama's combination of size (7'4") and skill with his ability to dribble, pass and shoot.

What does Wembanyama's ceiling even look like?

At age 22 he's already won Defensive Player of the Year, made two All-Star teams, won Rookie of the Year, been named to first-team All-NBA and led the league in blocks per game three times.

Each year the offensive game continues to grow a little more, with Wembanyama's bag of tricks expanding a little deeper. His averages of 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 3.1 blocks and 1.0 steals came in just 29.2 minutes per game, with the Spurs allowing 12.3 fewer points per 100 possessions with Wembanyama on the floor (99th percentile via Cleaning the Glass ).

Can Wembanyama lead the Spurs to a title while still on a rookie contract? Can he become just the 11th player in history to win multiple DPOYs? Is this the year the former No. 1 overall pick is considered the best player in the NBA already?

Wembanyama is already one of the most fascinating players in the NBA, and he's just getting started.

LeBron James proved to everyone this summer that we are still very much invested in his career and free agency plans, even as he enters an unprecedented season No. 24.

We can debate whether James is the greatest player of all time. It's becoming harder to deny that he's putting together the greatest career, however.

We've literally never seen a player in the history of the sport play this many seasons. The fact that James is still performing at an All-Star level now into his 40s is something we're probably not appreciating enough.

How much further can he stretch out his playing days now with the Philadelphia 76ers?

Can James really average 20-plus points per game for a 24th straight season? Or will the amount of star power around him force James to actually put up pedestrian numbers for the first time in his career? Are we prepared to see James average 18 points a game? What about 15? Less?

It's worth noting that James has made no announcement about this being the final season of his career. His two-year contract with Philly included a player option , giving him the freedom to retire, re-sign with the 76ers for up to three years or join another team.

James no longer has a no-trade clause in his contract like he did with the Los Angeles Lakers, either. If things go south, could both parties actually look to re-route the four-time MVP?

Can James actually lead the 76ers to a title for the first time in 44 years? Will his numbers stay steady or fall off a cliff? Could this be the final chapter for arguably the greatest athlete in American sports?

Over two decades since he first entered the league, James is still the most fascinating player in the entire NBA.