With the start of training camp mere weeks away, Kevin Pelton of ESPN takes a look at the biggest 2025/26 roster needs for all 30 NBA teams.
Beyond the reigning champion Thunder, who will be bringing back their full playoff lineup and whose perceived biggest need is a fresh arena, Pelton believes everyone has personnel issues.
Among top East contenders, Pelton posits that Cleveland could use some help along the wing in the absence of injured swingman Max Strus for multiple months. Pelton notes that New York may want to add more proven veteran help to shore up its bench. In the West, Pelton observes that the Rockets and Nuggets could use help at the point, while Minnesota could thrive with some added perimeter options.
There’s more from around the basketball world:
- The Pistons’ G League club, the Motor City Cruise, has traded the returning player rights to big man Cameron Martin and guard Javante McCoy to the Nuggets’ NBAGL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, for the rights to center Charles Bediako and a 2026 international pick, Motor City has announced (Twitter link).
- Raptors 905, the Raptors’ NBAGL affiliate, is trading their rights to guard Kennedy Chandler to the Sixers’ G League club, the Delaware Blue Coats, in exchange for wing Patrick McCaw and a future first-rounder, reports Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Murphy tweets that some EuroLeague teams considered bringing McCaw aboard earlier in the offseason. McCaw has been in the G League for four seasons, and Murphy is unsure if McCaw will continue suiting up close to NBA scouts or will take a more lucrative offer elsewhere.
- In case you missed it, newly crowned EuroBasket MVP Dennis Schröder cited Hall of Fame countryman Dirk Nowitzki as the major inspiration who helped turn Germany into an international force.