Preseason Notes: 25-26 Season Primer

Look, I’m always honest with y’all, especially when it comes to your mother… I’m not sure what to really call this post. Is it a buy/sell type of thing? Sure, some of that. How about a mix of some news and notes, hot takes, some rankings and you guessed it, a bunch of references (classy ones) to yo momma. So you can see, it’ll be a bit of everything, thus, we shall use the powers of advanced nomenclature (totally a thing) and call this content a “Primer”. Not to be confused with prime rib streak because I’m hungry, no, I’m here to tell you of my random basketball thoughts before the season hits. Basketball thoughts only or else it would turn out like the GOT books, except less violence, weird age-gap stuff and the dragons would most likely have lasers. And be from the future. Wearing tight black leather while blasting Daft Punk. Basketball thoughts…

Anyways, here are all my random thoughts heading into the season, PRIMER CONTENT, BRO.

Since Kevin Durant‘s signing just happened, I think one can say it’s a deal without it being that much of a deal, right? Sure, two years and 90 million seems like a lot for a 37-year-old that has had more than a few breakdowns, but it’s certainly not cost-prohibitive in the scheme of things, and the fit is just too good with this team. It’ll be interesting to see how the Rockets adapt to losing VanVleet, but another step forward for Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun could offset that. Proof of life from Reed Sheppard would be nice too.

Speaking of rankings, here’s last minute look!

By the way, is everyone looking at their waiver wires and mulling changes already, or am I just projecting my existential fantasy despair? Misery loves company, so if you’re already cooking up some wholesale changes from draft(s) that didn’t quite meet your muster, here are some potentially available players I’ve been coveting.

• VJ Edgecombe – I’m actually surprised to see Edgecombe fall below the 40% owned threshold, and while he’s a must add in deeper leagues, I love the athleticism and energy he brings, the team will offer plenty of opportunity for minutes and I think with the Sixers having an already interesting backcourt, there’s not much pressure here either. Sooner or later, he’ll be getting his, and the talent is there to take hold.
• Dario Saric –  Let’s be clear, Saric shouldn’t exactly be on anyone’s radar, especially looking so washed last year that the Nuggets paid him 10 million to sit on the bench. The Kings saw that and were like, we love it, we want it! And now with Domantas Sabonis suffering a hamstring issue for at least the first couple of weeks, it looks like Saric will be playing real minutes. He has gone 10/3 with a couple of threes as a preseason average, so just calibrate your expectations and enjoy tolerate the ride.
• Mitchell Robinson – I’ve been on the MRob bandwagon for a while now and I’m surprised we still can’t entire the carpool lane. GET IT! Anyways, it’s been absolutely no secret Mike Brown is looking to move KAT off being the primary anchor at defense to more of a stretch four role, something akin to how the Timberwolves schemed with Rudy Gobert. While the two-big trend is back, I’m still a fan of Josh Hart (who would suffer the most) and even with the hand injury, another 13/10/6 is likely at the very least.
• Davion Mitchell – With Tyler Herro out for an extended period of time combined with the Heat’s penchant for finding diamonds in the rough almost every season, Mitchell could remain fantasy relevant even after Herro’s return. After coming over from the Raptors, he put up a 10/3/5 in 30 minutes, I expect a bit more this season.

With Week 1 approaching, the opening schedule, much like every previous year, will have some quirks with an early double-header opener this Tuesday.

Early projections show that Houston, New Orleans and Utah will have the most limited opening week, playing just two games. Add the Sixers to this mix, but that might actually be a positive for Joel Embiid‘s 2025-26 debut. The Celtics also have a back-to-back this week.

Wednesday and Friday will have 12 games each, and the teams that will play three games in week one are the Celtics, Cavs, Mavs, Pistons, Clippers and Knicks.

Just some quick injury tidbits…

Keegan Murray won’t be back until November due to a thumb injury. Domantas Sabonis, as mentioned above, is dealing with a hamstring injury, but will be reevaluated in a week.

Mark Williams is still questionable, but has been ramping it up in preseason.

Jaren Jackson Jr. made his preseason debut this weekend and looked okay, but Ja Morant (ankle) is looking to be listed as unavailable for the opener as of now.