The confetti has barely settled, and the NBA is already looking ahead to next season.
The New York Knicks are set to be honored with a championship parade through the streets of Manhattan on Thursday, capping off a postseason run in which they overcame six double-digit deficits to win games, including all four of their victories in the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.
The title adds to a remarkable stretch of parity across the league. Eight different franchises have won championships over the past eight seasons — Toronto in 2019, the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, Milwaukee in 2021, Golden State in 2022, Denver in 2023, Boston in 2024, Oklahoma City last year, and now New York.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver reflected on what that means for the sport. “To me, it just really speaks to the state of NBA basketball and the state of the future of the game,” Silver said. “And now with this draft class coming in this year — again, not just the first pick, but a draft that’s considered the deepest in many years — there’s so much talent everywhere. … So, it’s a really bright future ahead for the league.”
While the Knicks celebrate, the other 29 franchises are left searching for answers heading into the offseason. Here are some of the biggest questions facing the league this summer.
Will Milwaukee actually move on from Giannis Antetokounmpo? The superstar forward has spent 13 seasons with the Bucks, earned 10 All-Star selections, won two Most Valuable Player awards, and helped deliver a championship to Milwaukee in 2021. This fall, he becomes eligible for a contract extension worth as much as $275 million. But the Bucks currently don’t have a roster capable of competing for a title, and it appears Antetokounmpo’s primary focus is on winning more championships.
Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam addressed the situation in May when the team introduced new head coach Taylor Jenkins — who was informed that Antetokounmpo’s status with the franchise heading into next season remains uncertain. “I just think before the draft is a natural time, right, because if Giannis does play somewhere else we’re going to get a lot of assets. … You’ve got to get it right,” Haslam said.
The NBA Draft is scheduled for next week, and if Milwaukee intends to trade Antetokounmpo, doing so before the draft would give the team a clearer picture of how to use whatever assets they receive in return. Miami has been part of trade discussions involving Antetokounmpo for months, and the Heat are once again in talks with the Bucks.
Meanwhile, LeBron James has never entered an offseason with more options. The Lakers star could return to Los Angeles for a ninth season, seek a new team for what would likely be a final chapter in his career, or even retire. He could push for a maximum contract or accept less money to help a contender. He could also, apparently, keep posting golf videos on social media — James has developed quite the passion for the game.
“When the time comes, you guys will know what I decide to do,” James said after the Lakers were eliminated in a 4-0 sweep by Oklahoma City this spring.
Los Angeles has other roster decisions to work through as well, including a potential extension for Austin Reaves. But clarity on James’s plans will likely set the tone for everything else the franchise does this summer.
In San Antonio, Victor Wembanyama is eligible for a four-year extension that would exceed $250 million, beginning in the 2027-28 season. There is no indication the Spurs would hesitate to lock up the league’s most captivating player. With most of their starters already under contract, San Antonio is expected to enter next season as one of the top favorites — if not the frontrunner — for the 2027 NBA title.
“Competitiveness, that’s what makes you better,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “That’s what pushes you to continue to improve in the dark, long hours when nobody is around. We improved a whole lot this year. We have … more motivation to continue to get better.”
Oklahoma City’s general manager Sam Presti offered some perspective on just how difficult it is to repeat as champions after the Thunder’s own title defense came up short. “The history of the NBA is littered with teams that were not able to find ultimate success again,” Presti said. “I think there have only been three teams that have repeated since we’ve been in Oklahoma City, and the reasons for that are many, probably too many to list. But the fact is that it helps illustrate how rare and how special it is when you do have a chance to win at the highest level in this league or in professional sports in general. However, NBA history is also built on the backs of those teams that saw their losses as a continued quest for improvement and progress.”
Other notable offseason storylines include Washington holding the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft, coaching vacancies in Chicago, Dallas, and Portland — where interim coach Tiago Splitter remains a candidate — and an ongoing league investigation into whether a $28 million endorsement deal between Kawhi Leonard and a California-based sustainability services company allowed the Los Angeles Clippers to get around salary cap rules. The NBA has not yet announced any findings from that inquiry.
