Gregory spicer – 09/29/2025 – nba preseason
The NBA pre-season begins on Thursday with the Philadelphia 76ers taking on the New York Knicks at Etihad Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
This matchup starts a week of exciting games across the world. Other locations include Puerto Rico, Macao and San Diego. For the full schedule of neutral location games check out the calendar section of our home page.
Preseason games aren’t very competitive, but they still provide teams with the chance to make some crucial roster adjustments, test out lineups, and figure out their rotations. A productive preseason isn’t determined by wins or losses, but instead by how well a team takes advantage of the games to prepare for the regular season.
Here are the squads that need to to answer some questions:
Milwaukee Bucks – What will the point guard rotation look like?
Starting off the season with the wrong player at point guard could be the difference between a hot and cold start. The Bucks are projected to be a fringe playoff/play-in team, so every game will count. They don’t have flexibility to settle into the season like other competitors in the east.
Bucks Point Guard Options – Per 100 Poss Stats In 2025:
Ryan Rollins-
56 G / 19 GS / 14.6 MPG / 20.6 PTS / 6.1 AST / .600 TS% / .408 3PT%
Kevin Porter Jr.-
30 G / 2 GS / 19.9 MPG / 28.5 PTS / 9.1 AST / .616 TS% / .408 3PT%
Cole Anthony-
67 G / 22 GS / 18.4 MP / 25.5 PTS / 7.7 AST / .531 TS / .353 3PT%
Brooklyn Nets – How many minutes are they going to give to rookies, and how will they develop them?
The Nets were a headline team in the draft this summer with a record breaking five first round picks. As nice as having young depth is, giving each player proper attention and development won’t come naturally. The preseason will offer the rookies a chance to compete for minutes, and head coach Jordi Fernandez the chance to test them all out.
Also, the Nets two lead players, Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr, are ultra talented scorers. They are also infamous ball stoppers that won’t be looking to feed open looks to the rookies. Will BYU phenom, Egor Denim, get the game one start, adding playmaking to this high powered offense?
Nets First Round Picks:
OKC Thunder – Who will make the rotation, or will they go 11+ deep?
The stakes of this question are lower than other teams. Regardless of what OKC does, they will be elite in 2025. Still, having a roster with this much depth poses questions for who should play. Even if the team is good, players want time and coach Mark Daigneault will have to put some effort into keeping the bench chemistry up.
2024 first round pick Nikola Topic, who sat out the entirety of last season, is ready to go for 2025, but so are most of the players from their championship rotation. Fellow summer leaguer and NBA champion Ajay Mitchell will also be in the conversation for minutes.
Nikola Topic SL Stats – 10.8 PTS / 5.8 AST / 3.2 TRB / 33.3 FG% / 20.8 3PT%
Ajay Mitchell SL Stats- 19.8 PTS / 5.3 AST / 4.8 TRB / 46.9% FG / 40 3PT%
All Summer League Second Team
Houston Rockets – What to do without Fred Vanvleet?
VanVleet’s season ending injury was a gut punch to the entire NBA world. The Rockets projected to be one of the NBA’s most complete teams, with two-way talent at every position. Without their starting point guard, the Rockets will have to be creative if they want to compete.
Reed Sheppard was a top four pick in 2024 that had a limited rookie season. Coach Ime Udoka wasn’t able to find consistent minutes for him, but he displayed his potential with big games in the G-league, and some nice backup performances for the Rockets.
Star forward Amen Thompson has also shown flashes of ball handling talent in transition. If they play at a fast pace, letting Thompson run-n-gun could be their best option. Then they also have center Alphren Sengun. He won’t help bring the ball up, but in half-court offense, he can be a reliable playmaker.
San Antonio Spurs – Can the three guard lineup work?
Individually, I am a huge supporter of 2025 second overall pick Dylan Harper, rookie of the year Stephon Castle, and all-star De’Arron Fox. I don’t, however, see them fitting together on one team.
This is not to disrespect the talent of the players, but to support the development of rising stars on a team that fits them.
Harper shot under 30% from 3PT range in college, and Fox and Castle both shot under 30% in 2024/25. Talent can win you games, but having three undersized point guards starting at 1-3, and not being able to compensate for small size with shooting, is a bad recipe for success.
Sure you could make one of them a sixth man. That would likely increase the teams win total and make the roster fit better, but none of those players should have to come off the bench. They are all extremely gifted and a bench role would harm the development of whoever the odd man out is.
Basketball Operations Brief 
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