NBA 2026-27 Championship Prediction and Season Preview

The Spurs beat the Thunder in eight of their 12 meetings last season across the regular season, NBA Cup and playoffs, and the last of them was Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals in Oklahoma City.

That rivalry is the best place to start working out the 2026-27 NBA season. The two clubs head the championship market for the new campaign, even though neither of them won the title.

That belonged to the Knicks, who beat San Antonio 4-1 in the Finals for their first championship since 1973, before an offseason that sent LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jaylen Brown, Kawhi Leonard and LaMelo Ball to new homes.

Before we dig into the contenders, here are the key details:

• Competition: NBA 2026-27 regular season
• Opening night: Wednesday, 21 October 2026 (AEDT)
• Opening games: Celtics at Pistons (6am AEDT), 76ers at Knicks (10am AEDT), Thunder at Spurs (12.30pm AEDT)
• Defending champions: New York Knicks
• Where to watch in Australia: ESPN through Kayo Sports, Foxtel and Disney+, plus NBA League Pass

NBA Championship Odds 2026-27: Thunder and Spurs Head the Market

The market can barely split the two Western Conference heavyweights, with the NBA outrights market having them almost side by side at the top.

The case for each is strong, so this looks like a two-horse race on paper before you even reach the chasing pack.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Oklahoma City went 64-18 last season, finished first in the West and had Shai Gilgeous-Alexander collect his second straight MVP award.

They are generally rated as the best team in the league heading in. Opta's model has them at about 56 wins, though most projections sit closer to 60-plus.

The catch is depth, because the front office moved Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins to ease the luxury tax bill, and health has been a constant worry.

Jalen Williams' hamstring kept him out of that Game 7 loss to San Antonio, Chet Holmgren sat out the whole preseason with a bruised quad, and second-round rookie Otega Oweh will miss the season after rupturing his Achilles in a preseason game against Indiana on 13 October.

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs bring back almost the entire rotation that took them to the Finals, and Victor Wembanyama has signed a five-year extension to go with it.

Wembanyama averaged 26.0 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.6 blocks across the Finals. 

He was the runaway pick in ESPN's Summer Forecast MVP panel and took 77% of the vote in the league's annual GM survey, and young guards Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper should only get better.

The questions sit around De'Aaron Fox, who battled an ankle injury through the playoffs, and how the guard rotation shakes out with three ball handlers who all want the rock.

Knicks Title Defence and the Reshaped Eastern Conference

The East got a lot harder over the winter, and the Knicks are sitting a little further down the championship market than you'd expect from a team that went 16-3 through the playoffs.

New York Knicks

Jalen Brunson averaged 32.6 points in the Finals on his way to Finals MVP, and he finished the job with 45 in Game 5.

New York also won the NBA Cup, beating the Spurs in the December decider, and the whole starting five of Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart is back.

Backup big Mitchell Robinson has left, though, and neither Towns nor Hart has been given an extension. History isn't on their side either, since nobody has gone back to back since the 2018 Warriors.

If you are new to the in-season competition, it is worth reading up on how the NBA Cup works before the December decider rolls around.

Philadelphia 76ers

No team has made more noise in the market than the Sixers, who traded Paul George to Boston for Jaylen Brown and then signed LeBron James.

Pair those two with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe and you arguably have the most talented starting five in the league.

Embiid has missed huge chunks of the last three seasons, LeBron turns 42 in December, and many projections have Philly closer to the play-in than the top of the East, so the gap between ceiling and floor is massive.

Boston, Detroit, Cleveland and Miami

Detroit won 60 games and finished first in the East last season before Cleveland knocked them out in a seven-game second-round series, and they open the season at home to Boston.

The Celtics now run with Paul George next to Jayson Tatum, who barely played last season after his Achilles injury and missed the Game 7 first-round loss to Philadelphia with knee stiffness.

Cleveland went on to the conference finals before the Knicks swept them.

Miami is the wildcard after landing Giannis in a blockbuster with Milwaukee that sent Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakučionis and three first-round picks the other way, giving the Heat a frontcourt of Giannis and Bam Adebayo.

Western Conference Contenders Behind the Thunder and Spurs

Minnesota reached back-to-back conference finals before San Antonio knocked them out in six in last season's second round, and they've gone all in by trading Naz Reid and picks to Charlotte for LaMelo Ball.

If Ball's ankles hold up next to Anthony Edwards, the Wolves have the extra creator they've been missing in big moments. Denver still has Nikola Jokić and last season's best offence, but their defence has been below average in each of the last two years.

NBA 2026-27 Futures Markets to Watch

The championship market gets the headlines, but the full range of NBA futures gives punters plenty of ways into the season.

Conference winner markets are interesting this year because the East is so open, with the Knicks, Sixers, Pistons, Celtics, Cavs and Heat all able to talk themselves into a Finals run.

Regular season win totals come down to which contenders manage their stars' minutes, which matters for the Sixers and Celtics in particular.

In the NBA player awards market, Wembanyama heads into the season as the clear MVP favourite, with Jokić and Gilgeous-Alexander the main threats.

For more details, check out our dedicated NBA odds page here at Sportsbet.

NBA 2026-27 Championship Prediction: Spurs to Go One Better

Our pick is San Antonio to win the 2026-27 NBA Championship.

They already have the edge in their most important matchup, winning four of five regular season meetings and then taking the conference finals in seven, finishing with Game 7 on Oklahoma City's home floor.

They also return nearly the whole rotation from a Finals run, while the Thunder have thinned out their bench and are still dealing with injuries.

Then there's Wembanyama, who is the preseason MVP favourite and still improving, sitting at the centre of a group whose best young players haven't peaked yet.

The risk is the Thunder's ceiling, because a fully fit Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren could easily turn that rivalry around.

If you want an East angle, keep an eye on the Knicks in the conference market, since the reigning champions are almost inseparable from a Sixers side that is relying on two stars with big injury and age question marks.

Odds are subject to change.