While most of the NBA is gone fishing for the next month, the league still has a few items of business to take care of — namely the rollout of a 2026-27 schedule.
Commissioner Adam Silver wisecracked in July that LeBron James’ Ƿfree-agent deliberations were delaying the process of building that schedule. But now that James is Philly-bound, the release should be able to proceed, well, on schedule. At least part of the regular-season slate will be unveiled on Tuesday on ABC’s Good Morning America, . The entire schedule is usually dropped around mid-August.
Here at The Denver Post, it’s a time-honored tradition for the Broncos beat writers to predict the team’s schedule before it is announced. Inspired by that meaningless exercise, we’ve decided to attempt an NBA equivalent. It makes no sense to predict all 82 Nuggets games, of course. But how about the biggest game day of the NBA calendar? As always, 10 teams will be selected to play on Christmas in an ESPN quintuple-header based largely on storylines and clout.
The balance of star power in the league is fairly widespread these days. Which 10 teams will make the cut? And are the Nuggets in danger of being left out for the first time since 2021? Here’s our guess, in order of when each predicted game will air.
Heat at Celtics, noon ET
ESPN and the NBA decided that Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks weren’t worthy of playing on Christmas the last two years. Antetokounmpo’s Heat might not be much better, but what matters is that it’s new and interesting (and a bigger market). Pairing Miami with Boston sets up an easy opportunity for the network’s talking heads to relitigate the Giannis trade six months after the Celtics were runners-up for him, reportedly refusing to include Huge Gonzalez in their offer to Milwaukee.
Thunder at Timberwolves, 2:30 p.m. ET
The Nuggets FOMO Bowl. Last Christmas, they hosted Minnesota in a late-night eggnog classic. This year, their two division rivals will face off. There’s plenty of narrative meat on the bone here, perhaps most notably that complaining about Oklahoma City’s whistle has become a national pastime, and nobody does it louder or with more disgust than Timberwolves coach Chris Finch. In general, Anthony Edwards and the Wolves should be more of a national TV staple next season, now that LaMelo Ball is in town to make them Instagram-famous.
Spurs at Knicks, 5 p.m. ET
They already matched up on Christmas two years ago, when Victor Wembanyama was a charming European rookie eager to explore Manhattan. He probably can’t get away with inviting New Yorkers to play anymore. Not because he’s internationally famous now — chalk it up to infamy instead. Wembanyama developed a reputation among Knicks fans as an arrogant and dirty player during the NBA Finals in June. He was unapologetically confident that his Spurs were the better team, even as the series unraveled on them. His first return to Madison Square Garden since then is too irresistible.
76ers at Lakers, 8 p.m. ET
Philadelphia is the first domino that will determine how most of this Christmas schedule shakes out: Should the 76ers visit Boston for a bittersweet Jaylen Brown reunion, or Los Angeles for the first time since the LeBron breakup? One of those two matchups feels almost guaranteed. We’re going with the LeBroniest option in the prime-time slot. The NBA’s newest superteam against its historic flagship franchise. Lost amid the James media circus will be an underrated storyline: Brown guarding Luka Doncic is a trippy rematch of the 2024 NBA Finals, when they were both on different teams that you probably assumed would never trade them.
Rockets at Warriors, 10:30 p.m. ET
This should be the end of Golden State’s 13-year streak of Christmas Day games, but it won’t be. The NBA just can’t quit Steph Curry. And it can’t quit Kevin Durant either, for that matter. The aging legends and former teammates remain Old Reliable for TV executives, as long as they continue to play in major markets. They get the “Pac-12 After Dark” game this year.
Predicted snubs
Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets are forced to cope with the league’s disrespect for them … as they spend Christmas with their families for the first time in five years. (Prediction for if they do play? Road game at the Lakers.)
Cleveland and Dallas are the two other teams that narrowly miss the cut. The Cavaliers are fresh off an Eastern Conference Finals run and still headlined by Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, but there isn’t an obvious delicious matchup for them. If only LeBron had returned home.
The Mavericks could be a decent (but ultimately less exciting) alternate matchup for San Antonio, if the league wants to prioritize getting Cooper Flagg in front of a national audience. It would be a Texas showdown and clash of two recent No. 1 draft picks who are supposed to be generational.
The sleeper team that real hoop heads should want to see on Christmas is Indiana, but it’s difficult to imagine that happening. The holiday would be a perfect time to reignite Madison Square Garden’s bitter feelings toward Tyrese Haliburton.
